Grand Theft Auto 5 / Online

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APZonerunner

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Jul 25, 2013
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#1
Earlier this week I polished off the story mode of GTA5. I have to say it's definitely one of the best and most engaging stories in games I've ever played.

It helps that I love gangster movies in general, but it feels as though GTA has finally stepped out of the shadow of merely copying or tipping its hat to famous gangsters from other media and is finally carving out entirely new characters and scenarios all of their own. There's a lot of Heat and little bits of movies like Boys in the Hood and Carlito's Way in GTA5, but it's got so much original stuff too, it's stunning.

The gameplay is ridiculous, too; to think that in five years Rockstar constructed something this vast, an open world this connected-feeling... it's really ridiculous. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what's available to do and I've finished the damn thing; there's more satisfying shooting than some (definitely not all) shooters, and more satisfying driving than some (not all!) racers - it's mind-meltingly impressive. When you look at the scope of a game like this off 5 years, it primarily makes me wonder why games like FF13 or 15 took/are taking 6 or 7 or more.

Has anyone else been playing it? What do you think of it?
 

APZonerunner

Network Boss-man
Administrator
UFFSite Veteran
Site Staff
Jul 25, 2013
1,134
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Solihull, UK
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#2
I think the characters/acting/dialogue is great, to be honest. The three main characters are some of the most well-drawn protagonists I've seen in games period; Michael and Franklin are entirely believable, and Trevor, somehow, also works, against all odds. I think some of the lesser side characters have a bit to go; they're much sketchier though necessity, I suppose, to make room in the story. I really believed and invested in things like Michael's relationship with his son, Lamar as a deadbeat best buddy to Franklin and so on.

The thing about Franklin is that the guy who plays him is actually an actor who was in gangs as a teenager, and they asked him and others to adjust the dialogue as they saw fit to make it more authentic. They also went to a bunch of guys in prison and stuff with the scripts. You might not fully appreciate or like it, but the way he and the people around him speak do represent a real subculture... and I really appreciate the subtle difference in how he speaks when he's around Michael and Trevor versus somebody like Lamar. It's a tiny detail a lot of games would miss!

I love Sleeping Dogs as well, but that's basically a deliberately over-the-top Hong Kong action movie. GTA5 is often over the top, but is at once much more grounded.