Grand Theft Auto V Review

Late last year, I started playing Grand Theft Auto V for Playstation 4 and am almost finished with it. It is m-rated (mature) and has both a story mode and an online mode. The game takes place in my hometown, Los Angeles area of California, though the city is called "Los Santos" in the game. The three playable main characters are criminals Trevor Philips, Michael De Santa, and Franklin Clinton. The three are close friends with each other and at most points during gameplay, the player can switch characters. Here, I will give my take on the game, including the pros and cons.

To me, the best thing about the game is the scenery. The game has incredible graphics that depict both the characters and cities/towns. Also, the player can steal or buy an airplane, helicopter, etc. throughout the game. When flying aircraft in the game, the player gets a very nice view of the city/towns below. At night, for example, the city buildings are all lit up and when flying high above them, one can see a very cool combination of tiny points of light. The image chosen for this article shows a screenshot of that.

As for the violence in the game, I have mixed feelings about that. For one thing, it is one of the most violent video games I have encountered and is also extremely cruel. The game is set up so that the mains characters can go up and punch, kick, stab, shoot, or blow up just about anybody at any time during gameplay. This includes pets. The only people the main characters cannot go around and freely kill are each other, their families, and their other friends. Basically, gameplay is such that any of the three playable characters can walk around the city and towns, stealing vehicles and killing people any of the methods described above. The concept of being able to hurt just about anybody in a game is not something that I would put into a video game and it is not a theme I generally approve of. However, no other video game that I have played allows the main character or characters that much freedom. So while I do not like the concept of the game, I do like the freedom that it gives the player compared to the freedom that other video games give to the player. Furthermore, the fact that the player has that freedom makes the game more realistic. Overall, I am undecided regarding how I feel about this aspect of the game.

The interiors in the game are also rather cool. The player can enter clothing stores, gun shops, and so on, and the interiors are very detailed and quite real-looking. However, the game is such that the majority of the buildings are not enterable. Some buildings that normally are not enterable are enterable during specific in-game missions and through glitching into them. I think allowing the player to freely enter more buildings during gameplay would be a huge improvement to the game. I understand that that might be difficult because of the amount of space on the game disc, but I think that technology is advancing enough that video game makers will soon be able to do that. The views that one gets of the exteriors of the building in the game are great, but it is frustrating that so many of those building are not enterable.

I really think the game could use slightly milder language than it does. I am not going to get into specifics here, but I can say that some of the language is misogynistic and ultimately not a good example for younger players. The swearing is fine to me, but the misogynistic language is a bit much for me. The game is fictional, but it is also a realistic type of fiction and can potentially contribute to harmful consequences with certain players who have little-to-no knowledge of right from wrong.

My only other criticism of Grand Theft Auto V is the size of Los Santos compared to the size of the real Los Angeles. As you can probably see in the images linked below, Los Santos is large, but very small compared to the real Los Angeles. Again, the smaller size is probably due to the amount of storage that the game disc can hold, but I feel that with the way technology is today, the game could show at least slightly more of the city. Hopefully, this will be an improvement put in place in future generations of this game.

https://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/60219/Los-Santos-Tranquility-by-BNadal

https://www.flickr.com/photos/leshann/2883135615

As a whole, Grant Theft Auto V is a great game for scenery and overall realism. At the same time, it could use improvement with regards to the amount of enterable buildings, some of the thematic elements (possibly), using milder language, city size, and so on. For adults that want a game with good and realistic scenery, this is a game I would highly recommend, unless you are offended by the violence, language, and so on. For those who do not like violence or anything graphic, and for children, this is not a game I recommend.