Grand Theft Auto / GTA Online

[RoboticMonk3y]

you going to get yourself a PS4 then?

I should be receiving a parcel in the morning!

get in!

[James]

Expecting a PS4 copy at any moment. Come on, Postie!

[mikeleddy83]

Nice one Jay, currently waiting on a delivery of a ps4 to give to my brother for his birthday/xmas present. I'm starting to wish my birthday was around this time too!

I'm in no rush to get this new version of the game so I'll wait a while (£25 last of us remastered set the bar) but pending the digital foundry stuff I'll likely get it on the xbox if it's a match for the ps4 version (despite my gut feeling the SP DLC will be the real performance test). Regardless of all that self-important bullshit the game does look mighty fine indeed and I'll certainly be picking it up in the future, I'm not sure what the approach of other 100%'ers is to the game but I'm almost prepared to do it again.

[AndyKurosaki]

Got my copy on PS4 by trading Evil Within (boring) and Destiny (tedious grind fest).

[RoboticMonk3y]

Character transfer was simple.
Went from 360 to PS4 without any effort.
Playing on the vita was great too!

[DomsBeard]

Add me on psn if you're not my friend already (domsbeard) never touched the mp when I had it on 360

[JaySevenZero]

I was really impressed by the way in which they did the character transfer and having the ability to re-do your avatar if you felt so inclined.

[RoboticMonk3y]

I was really impressed by the way in which they did the character transfer and having the ability to re-do your avatar if you felt so inclined.

my avatar transferred, but looked a bit off, I had to re-jiggle a few of the sliders, but I was really pleased I've got myself up to level 27 for doing nothing at all.

[magicjoef]

Well-jell that the console versions are out already!

How are people finding first person mode?

[ratsoalbion]

I really like it. It's tougher (remember to look both ways before you cross the street!) but more immersive and really makes the insane attention to detail in the gameworld shine. 1080p makes a big difference to the overall look of the game as well as the many incidental and environmental effects that Rockstar has added.

No doubt - for those who have the kit to run it - the PC version in 4k resolution and 60fps will look truly astounding.

[RoboticMonk3y]

I found it a little jarring going form destiny to GTA, but after 5 minutes, I'd forgotten about the change.
I did find that making my field of view a bit wider made things a little easier though.
I can't drive very well at all first person!

[hazeredmist]

Question for those of you who have upgraded - I am a GTA player who typically tires of the game long before I complete it these days, pretty much since Vice City in fact which I destroyed for months, then the combat mechanics, movement and everything else involved in controlling the series got the best of me as other third person games leapfrogged Rockstar for me. I think Batman Arkham Asylum really stuck the knife in.

Anyway, I digress - what I want to know is if I wasn't particularly enamoured with GTA5 on my old PS3, will the PS4 version be any different, or is it just prettier? I always end up buying new GTA games before falling back into the familiar gripes with controls and mission structure etc...

[ratsoalbion]

If you didn't enjoy it on PS3 you almost certainly wouldn't enjoy it on PS4/XO/PC.
It's the same game with enhancements. It's possible that playing in first-person might change your perception of how you feel it should play, but the gameplay, mission structure etc. is the same.

[Indiana747]

The campaign is essentially the same as the older gen game. Yes, is far prettier but there is also more activities in Los santos to take part in. There is far more AI presence, which actually helps to make the city feel seem more plausible. The controls have several customisation options to choose from weather you want to play in 3rd person or 1st person perspective, or if you want to change perspective on the fly. More music, which is fantastic, i drove around online for 2 hrs last night just listening to the songs & radio chatter. And yeah, online player count has increased, so that means there can be even more dickheads on one server to fuck you over, not sure i like that last change. I got jumped & killed leaving Ponsonbys by two pricks and they stole my motor. But due to the luck of respawning & my comfort with the FPS genre, i ended up respawning down the block where they were headin. So i busted out the M416 & popped the driver in the head through the windscreen and the car careered into a wall. The other clown got his too as he jumped out of the car. I was grinning from ear to ear, took my motor to the garage, got it fixed up & left the server. Priceless.

[magicjoef]

Sounds pretty damn exciting!

remember to look both ways before you cross the street!

That sums up exactly the way I want delve right into that city. Can't even imagine 4k gaming yet, I have that scheduled in for late 2016 at least!

[RoboticMonk3y]

I seem to be part of the Lucky handful of people who can't join other people's games.
My online game is always empty, and on the rare occasion I do join an active lobby, people drop out and dissapear.
I've set up port forwarding and opened up my NAT. Spend an hour tinkering, rebooting and connecting with no joy.
What a crimp on my already crimped day.

[TheEmailer]

This game was great, a compelling world, controls way above the series norm, looks great, some amazing heists and set piece missions. The freedom afforded, even early game, really stands out.

The two big improvements imo were: a checkpoint system that finally doesn't force the player to restart from the beginning. Not having to commute for 10 minutes to start again is so great. The way the characters control is also much improved, finding cover and shooting now feels amongst the best in the business, driving is responsive and fun, flying is not overly difficult.

What didn't I like.
I think Franklin is underwritten, to be honest. There's some dialogue about choosing not to be like the gangsters in his neighbourhood, being his own man. But basically for the whole game he does what he is told, by Trevor, by Micheal, by Devin (up to a point). He could have been much more interesting. Same with the 2D portraits of Micheal's family.
Some have complained about the game being offensive. I saw that Rockstar's usual satirical look on America didn't work as well as previously. Previous games have broached difficult subject matter well, because they had subtle, nuanced humour and satire. On torture, racial profiling, venture capitalism, violence towards women; I can see Rockstar was trying to skewer these topics, but the execution was not up to their usual standards. It's not illogical for gangster stories to have few female characters, the majority of organised criminals are men. But even if used fleetingly, the female characters could benefit from depth.
Finally minigames. Rockstar again forces you to play shallow, button bashing minigames. The Yoga one is a poor QTE game, I sat there for five minutes thinking 'is this meant to be fun"? Or was the dialogue meant to be funny?

Despite my negativity, I enjoyed this game enough to buy it on two different platforms. I guess I liked virtually everything, but thought the writing was a little sub par.

[seansthomas]

GTAV

I have mixed emotions about GTAV. It did everything I expect from the series such as look phenomenal, be packed with attention to detail and have perfectly judged radio stations I can drive aimlessly around to. And having skipped a console generation, I enjoyed exploring such an expansive world again.

The issue I have with the series in its current guise is that the initial facade of true open world freedom from the PS2 era has eroded and now the single player campaign inherently sits awkwardly alongside the experience of just mucking around in the environment.

In single player, which is how I largely played GTAV, what you are asked to do in the world often completely contradicts the character traits of the protagonist you play as. The biggest problem is Franklin. He's portrayed as a fundamentally nice guy, but I have the option when playing him to do all sorts of horrific things, which render his storyline redundant. Michael suffers similar issues of flip flopping between decent guy and murdering lunatic, though I enjoyed his arc and mission variety a fair amount.

Where the game gets it almost spot on is Trevor. He's a psychopath, capable of anything. So whether you're shooting joggers, fending off aliens in a drug fueled haze or nicking a military jet, it seems conceivable that this guy could do that. The issue I had when playing as Trevor was that I broadly hated him. He made me feel bad for some of the things I was being asked to do and, at times, question if GTA is for me.

What kept me hooked were the Heists and ability to character switch, and maybe they point the way forward for the franchise. A true open world experience that analyses the way you play and shapes your experience according to your play style. Like mowing down people? Become a getaway driver. Like planning peaceful, elaborate heists? Break into some banks stealthily. Enjoy driving around the mountains looking for UFOs? Join a cult. But no matter what you choose, you are in control. In GTAV, I rarely felt like I was when playing the campaign.

The heists, and to a lesser extent from what I played the online multiplayer, probably suggest where the next GTA will go. And GTAV was a step in that direction. But my overall sense is that when you strip back the sublime graphics and get over the sheer scale of the world, then there's actually a slightly antiquated and limited game engine that's torn between truly embracing open world freedom and creating scripted, cinematic storylines.

[gallo_pinto]

Grand Theft Auto V is a towering achievement in the medium of video games and I wish I liked it more. I love the gameplay and the scope, but the tone of the game actively pushes me away from it. Red Dead Redemption was my favorite game of the last console generation. The way it combined incredible storytelling with Rockstar's fantastic open world depiction of the West was stellar. I was thrilled about them using the lessons they learned from that game and bringing it back to the GTA franchise. I think they nailed the gameplay. It was much more fun to play than GTA IV. The improved check point system helped reduce frustration, I enjoyed switching between the three characters while using their different special powers and the heists were really fun to play. I remember one particular marathon session with the game where I took Franklin around to all of the different racing events and won each one. He mastered street racing, motocross and skydiving. I had started constructing a narrative in my head where Franklin had used his unbelievable driving skills to turn away from a life of crime and instead had become a professional extreme sports champion.

Unfortunately, I kind of hate the actual narrative that the game provides. I know this makes me sound lame, but I just couldn't stomach it's cruelty. The satire this time around doesn't feel clever or incisive, it just feels mean. When the characters are as shallow as Franklin or as sadistic as Trevor, it's hard to root for them. I've talked to smart people who think the torture scene was trying to say something about the state of the world, but to me it felt like Rockstar wanted us to laugh as we hit a guy in the nuts and water boarded him. The two "bad" endings have you throw Michael off a tower or burn Trevor alive, but I get it, those are the bad endings. The "good" ending however, has you kidnap the game's antagonist, drive around with him locked in the trunk of your car as he begs for his life, open the truck to gloat at him and to see him bound and gagged and then push the car off the cliff to his death. Maybe I'm getting old, but it was just too much for me. I had hoped they'd release more single player DLC in the mold of Ballad of Gay Tony that featured a more likable protagonist set in this stunning game world, but it doesn't look like that will happen. So I'm left with the opinion that GTA V is beautiful to look at and fun to play, but is kind of reprehensible.

Three Word Review: Want Better Protagonists

[jbtheskater]

Hardly a surprise; I loved this game.

I adored the world Rockstar had created in Red Dead Redemption and I my hopes were that they could turn their hand to achieving something similar with GTAV. Rockstar seemed to pretty much mail it.

Whilst I still prefer the world of Red Dead Redemption, this incarnation of Los Santos, San Adreas etc is incredible. The attention to detail is astonishing. The atmosphere is immersive. The lighting, the air, the weather effects, the ambient sounds, the incidental conversations and occurrences in the world are masterfully crafted and unmatched in any other game.

Leaving aside some of the minor gripes I had with the story (and some of the larger gripes I had with GTA online following launch), I think this is one of Rockstar's finest efforts. Oddly enough, after playing around 200 hours between release and the subsequent Christmas, I stopped playing and never returned. I am sure we all have those games we put a whole lot of time into, play thoroughly, enjoy immensely and can leave it to rest once we are done. This was one for me.

3 word review: a wonderful world