What a beautiful game. What a chaotic story. What complex characters.
If you played the any Grand Theft Auto, you have played GTA5; but this one throws a twist to expand that basic game play. Three characters interacting through a story enriched by a land bigger than any Rockstar game before.
First off, I like GTA in general, but it also had its ups and downs for me. The story drags unless you power through missions consecutively to move the story along. This has been the story for many of the games. That is still apparent even in this game, yet the pot stirs, you witness a story through the eyes of three characters, each with their own motivations and vices. I have played GTA since San Andreas and they have always dealt with the past catching up to the character. Hell, even Red Dead, had this same idea, this deepens the back story and gives a better understanding of their present. It's the Rockstar staple. If you can trudge through the various side missions of the individual, then the whole is amazing and absolutely satisfying.
San Andreas is huge. It is dense. It is alive. People drive, people talk on the phone, people consume, they interact. It takes time to drive the entire island and that's on the interstate going full bore. There are dirt roads, bike paths, walking paths, mountains, rivers, dry washes, bridges, tunnels, dark alleys and a vehicle for every instance; BMX to tanks. It's a wonder to just walk the streets. On my first trek I found the home to the original protagonist from San Andreas, just an awesome moment. Rode the roller coaster fashioned after the real pier in Santa Monica? Cable cars, trains, and I have yet to ride, but there is a tour bus of the stars. The game does a really good job of touching areas throughout the entire map. The map is huge, there is still a load of exploration if you want to see everything the environment has to offer. Or you could play golf, tennis, race, drink, go see a movie, play darts and on and on.
The story is a cast of characters with no end. Think of the craziest and most psychosocial conflicted individuals on the known Rockstar universe. Micheal De Santa, heist crime past, father with a family in need of major therapy. Franklin, a brother from the hood, just trying to get out and make it big. Then there is Trevor Phillips, past associate of Micheal and the craziest SOB of the planet. These are just the main protagonists. The list of antagonists is ten times as long. The main missions are varied and crazy, while the side missions, called strangers and freaks, is just that. Not to mention, the random events that pop up and you can either participate or drive by. The best missions are the heists, carefully set up crimes, where you call the shots, prep work and choosing your crew. Stealing jewels to robbing one of the biggest banks in San Andreas, and you make the call to go in loud or soft. The heists come in waves, to break the monotony of droll middling missions the game. Which lead up to some great lead ups.
The voice work is some of the most hilarious sh*t I've ever heard in a video game. None of it feels forced with the thought to make you laugh. There is a lot of heart and honesty among all the characters; especially Trevor. That is one of his lines in the title and he has the best in the game. From the interview I've seen it took them three years to do all the lines and mo-cap. The game even makes fun of the actors that play the characters.
If you got the time to kill and enjoy an engaging story line there is 69 story missions and another 100 more side and random missions to do. I did 100%, which isn't as involved as it sounds, 100% isn't 100%, like it was in the past...there is so much sh*t to do...the list is abbreviated for GTA5. Fun, long and worth your time, just for story alone. Solid gold Good INU.
There is the SWS chaos house that is GTA online. Just ask Rage and Ran if that mode is worth the price of admission by itself...
SWS out.
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