Game Review: Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is a title with an infamous legacy.  Whenever the video game comes up in conversation it can bring forth a lot of polarizing opinions, both good and bad.  Whether you love the series or hate it, you cannot argue that it doesn’t stand as one of the most recognizable video game franchises of all time. Its legacy has been established ever since the late 90’s with its open approach to violence and other R-rated activities.  Originally starting out as a top-down, vehicle-orientated video game, the series evolved once it entered the 3D era on PlayStation 2. Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas are touted as some of the PlayStation 2’s most iconic titles and broke multiple sales records. With the series growing more and more popular as time passed by and new iterations were released, it became more of a target for controversy. Its open approach to violence and sexual exploits made it a target for campaigns from high-profile political personas like Jack Thompson and Hilary Clinton; who touted the title as a heavy influence on young children becoming violent and producing psychopathic tendencies. As the years went on, it feels like Rockstar Games leaned into the controversy and high publicity as an opportunity to reflect on the modern society in America.  Grand Theft Auto IV was the start of this approach, by reflecting on the reality of the American Dream and the sacrifices a lot of people have to make when they attempt to make a living in the country.  Reflecting the culture at the time, it’s interesting to spend time playing through Grand Theft Auto V’s approach to reflecting on the society of America.

Released on September 17th 2013 for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Grand Theft Auto V was one of the last major AAA games of the seventh generation of consoles. Upon release the game received critical and commercial acclaim in every field possible.  As of today’s date, the title holds a high 92 rating on OpenCritic with a number of outlets providing the title full 10’s and 5’s in terms of ratings.  24 hours after release, Rockstar Games reported that Grand Theft Auto V earned over $800 million in sales and then a total of $1 billion by the three-day mark. It still stands as the most profitable entertainment product of all time based on its up-to-date sales figures.  One of its most controversial topics actually associates with the fact Rockstar games re-released the title on not only generation eight consoles but just recently generation nine consoles. It’s considered a reflection of the publishing companies desire to milk the title for all it’s popularity and value when they could have been devoting more resources for the studio to produce new titles. There’s a clear reason Take Two banked on Grand Theft Auto V’s popularity across three generation of consoles though, as it still stands as one of the best technical video game titles of all time.

The narrative of Grand Theft Auto V follows three central protagonists in the wider region of Los Santos out on the west coast of America.  Franklin Clinton is an ex-gangbanger who is trying to aspire for bigger and better things than doing low-cost jobs and getting out the hood. His ambition lands him in contact one day with one of the games other central characters; Michael De Santa.  Michael is a retired ex-con, who is living through his very own mid-life crisis in the rich end of Los Santos with a family who resents him.  Feeling trapped in what he considers a static and boring life, it’s through his meeting with Franklin that Michael turns back to his old ways and begins to pull off high-end heists to raise money and relive a bit of his glory days. Unknowingly, these exploits put Michael back in the crosshairs of Trevor Phillips; a best friend who Michael fooled into thinking he died several years back on a heist gone bad.  There’s a clear reason why Michael wanted to distance himself from Trevor however, as it becomes all too clear that he is a mentally unhinged psychopath with a lust for utter carnage.  Learning that his life-long best friend is alive, Trevor barges his way back into the life of Michael and along with Franklin the trio end up tied up doing a collection of jobs for drug dealers, mob bosses, entitled millionaires and even the US government themselves. 

It's hard to really give much appreciation to the narrative of Grand Theft Auto V, which surprised me quite a bit as I recall really enjoying it when I played it back in 2013. I think time and age has made me a bit more perceptive to what makes a well written narrative and while there are clear aspects of the game that are smartly written, I really cannot give that credit to its main story.  The whole idea of the story is that these three characters have to associate with each other whether they want to or not.  Franklin’s whole arc is about moving onto bigger and better things than a life of lowlife crime on the streets with his old gang, but his aspirations aren’t at all touched on through the context of the story.  By the narratives end he shows no sign of development or change besides being better off financially.  The lessons he learns from his time with Michael and Trevor don’t reflect any interesting level of reflection or change, he just doubles down on being rich but ultimately alone. Trevor is the worst character out of the three for me.  He exists purely as a means of allowing the game to produce crazy and bombastic set pieces which the other two central characters couldn’t logically get embroiled in.  As a character, his psychopathic nature makes him a very hard person to remotely relate to when he does down right terrible things and the game tries to wash over it with dark humor to make him somewhat likable.  His humor just feels like an obvious detractor that the writers used to try make players feel less uncomfortable following behind him.  His personal tension with Michael while interesting in the setup, failed to captivate me by the end due to its predictability and sudden stoppage for the convenience of the games final arc.  Michael is probably the only character who I found had some small element of development in this game. His struggle as a man running from his past, yet yearning for the glory it produced is remarkably realized.  You empathize with him as he tries to retain everything as his life continues to spiral out all around him. His is the only character who feels like he has a definitive development and conclusion by the time the game wraps.  

I think the reason the game has a hard time telling a truly cohesive narrative is in its secondary objective.  By its very nature, Grand Theft Auto V serves as a clear satire of the modern culture of America.  As noted prior, Grand Theft Auto IV also aimed to commentate on the culture and society of America, but it did so in a somewhat more grounded approach with a decent balance between humor and drama.  Grand Theft Auto V is not interested in being a drama or being grounded in any sense.  It wants to poke fun at American culture with an overly exaggerated flair.  I appreciate the approach and its complete commitment, but it’s clear the narrative struggles to ground itself when the wider world is built to be a satirical magnifying lens.  It’s some small conciliation then in that case that the satirical writing is so well constructed.  All the characters you meet, all the radio stations you listen to, all the buildings or billboards you see; it all works to reflect America’s overly stupid and volatile mindset in a way that is both funny yet commentative. It’s hard not to laugh at the humor of the game because it knows all the right topics and concepts to poke fun at and it does so without fear; nearly every potential political, economic or cultural topic you can think of is given a spotlight in which Rockstar shows its stupidity for the whole world to see.

What really defines Grand Theft Auto V as an all time classic though I would argue is the wider world and all it’s technical offerings.  Los Santos is a character all of its own, the region encompasses a sprawling city with different divisions and suburbs to explore.  While outside the city of fame and shame lies the county territories, filled with natural biomes like woodland and desert areas.  The map is huge and every single corner of it feels artfully crafted to reflect the real-world counterpart down to the utmost detail. Exploring all aspects of the world will take up a lot of your time and Rockstar did a phenomenal job in giving the player as much variety and options in regards to what to do within it.  Whether it’s tweaking your style through clothes stores, tattoo parlors, hair stylists or purchasing and modifying high-end vehicles there’s a plethora of ways you can define Michael, Trevor and Franklin in a way to suit you as the player.  That’s just the start of it too, the world is filled to the brim with additional activities to enjoy like tennis, golf, darts, racing, skydiving, triathlons and so much more.  The depth of life to Los Santos is the games ultimate ace in the hole because you can truly lose yourself to the variety of content within it.  The content is fully realized too as Rockstar Games are committed to giving all components of the title a serious level of immersion, down to the smallest details.

In terms of control and maneuverability, Grand Theft Auto V has a decent if somewhat dated control scheme to support it.  Its gunplay is tight and responsive and offers a great level of precision with a wide range of weapons to utilize. It’s a shame the same cannot be said about the movement behind the game.  Maybe it’s how old the game’s inherent design is, but the way the player character can move feels considerably stiff and I found there was a fair few times where I got caught against the scenery because of the games cumbersome controls. The negative only really relates to the player controls though as the vehicular controls are incredibly responsive when it comes to driving, flying and surfing the terrain of Los Santos.

Another pinnacle element of the game is its visual design.  Especially on PlayStation 5, the games graphical scope is amazing. Utilizing all the latest modern lighting and rendering techniques; Grand Theft Auto V looks and feels incredible to play in. Details are sharp in cutscenes and the depth and color behind the world design rings out at every single angle.  Even when it was originally released on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 the game was a marvelous technical feat but to see how Rockstar pushed the scope of the world design through the latter two generations is remarkable. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions feel like the definitive way to play these games and experience all the visual magnitude that inhabits it. 

GTA Online is another key portion of the title but I will hold off on diving into that in this review as I consider it a video game all of its own.  Other key notes to throw into the review is the scale of the music variety too. There are over 22 radio stations in the game, all with a wide array of licensed music with their own DJ’s and hosts to suit the style and theme of the station.  The games original score is also impressive in its own right, showing clear style and substance from The Alchemist, Oh No and Tangerine Dream in collaboration with Woody Jackson. 

On the whole, Grand Theft Auto V is a pinnacle example of what video games can offer people.  While its focused narrative feels shallow when compared to the satirical scope of the world it inhabits, it’s impossible to let that detract from what makes Grand Theft Auto V truly incredible.  It’s an entity of massive proportions with a lot to say and a whole lot more to do.  There’s a reason this game exists and is still talked about to this very day.  If this is a legacy Rockstar was able to define over 11 years ago, who knows what they’ll be able to achieve with Grand Theft Auto VI.