Grand Theft Auto V - It's Not A Review It's a Homage

Grand Theft Auto V is just one day since release and already the interweb is flush with spoilers and end game footage. It’s a bit of a shame, considering the amount of time Rockstar spent keeping the storyline under wraps, but then again it was pretty inevitable.

I won’t be writing a review for the title itself, as I’m sure you’ve seen all the ‘honest’ high scores that the major publications have been setting and for once I can honestly say that their opinions are valid.

The experience is fluid, interesting and immersive. Each of the three main playable characters has unique skills and stories that web together in clever ways. An early scene, which you probably couldn’t class as a spoiler, sees Michael point out the location of a building to Franklin even though they haven’t actually ‘come together’ at this point.

Unless you're in a mission, you can switch to any of the three characters at will. That doesn't mean you can drop any of the three characters into any point in the game, though. Each character has his own missions and switching between them moves you to wherever that character is as you join his life, which is already in progress.

As you switch between characters their life is already in play; Trevor may be waking up in the middle of the desert, wearing a dress; Michael might be smoking on the pier; and Franklin may be leaving a coffee shop. It's a good little trick that gives the illusion that these characters are off living their lives, even when you aren't directly controlling them. It also helps make each character's personal story make sense.

One of the major steps forward is the world itself, stunning to look at with interesting spots around every corner; the whole island is a joy to explore. Substantially bigger than anything the franchise has offered before, this depiction of Los Santos is the definitive sandbox for all you wannabe gangsters.

My only gripe, and it’s a minimal one, is the car handling. Taking to ease the transition of inexperienced players, you glide around corners and passed oncoming traffic with little difficulties. Personally I liked the hard mechanics of the previous titles where a four star wanted level meant you had to have a bit of luck on your side to escape an arrest.

It’s a bit unlike me to pick up this sort of game, I didn’t really enjoy GTA IV as much as I thought I would and Saint Rows, which most state is a ‘cheap knockoff’, is always a mile from my radar.

The game offers a lot of options outside of the main missions. There are movie theatres to visit with short, pre-rendered "films" for you to watch. There's a golf course, complete with a passable little golf game; as well as a fairly additive tennis mechanic.

You can also use your phone's (each character having their own phone design that mirrors the iPhone, Android or HTC browser style) built-in web browser to invest in the stock market. Adding to this is the chance to complete a series of assassination missions that allow you to influence this market a little more directly.

I tried a little bit of everything and found a lot of it to be distracting and largely unnecessary, given the quality of the main story, but if you're going to make an open world game, you might as well fill it up with a bunch of different optional events.

Overall Grand Theft Auto V will leave you wanting more, as you invest time you become glued to the very lifelike world around you. It’s a great escape from the tiresome yearly instalments, without any noticeable improvements, of COD or PES (which is indirectly mentioned in the story). I would have no problem recommending this to anyone.