Grand Theft Auto V (REVIEW)

Grand Theft Auto V, which is commonly shortened to GTA V, is an action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and released by Rockstar Games. The game was launched years ago, and certainly has developed over time.

It was only available in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, back in 2013. This was first present on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 by 2014, and was then made available on Microsoft Windows by 2015. The game has amazing features and elements which have made it very appealing to many gamers.

• Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
• Game genre: Action-adventure
• Game mode: Single player, multiplayer

Set inside San Andreas’s fictional state, located in Southern California, the game has three criminals.  Their attempts are to commit heists with a government agency as well as powerful criminal figures putting a high pressure on them. As a single player, players control the three lead characters and turn among them during and outside missions.

The plot is based on the heist sequences and other missions that include shooting and gameplay driving. The game ends with your last mission done. You can still wander around and search for easter eggs that are scattered in GTA V after officially finishing the game. The most common ones are to find UFO’s and hunt down Bigfoot or you can even explore the FIB House! Go ahead and have fun with GTA V.

Three Playable Characters

There are three protagonists in the game: Michael, Franklin and Trevor. On the fly, players are permitted to switch among those characters. One character is distinctly different from the other two, each with its own set of traits, interests and skills.

Michael Townley (Michael de Santa)

Michael is a convicted bank robber who is now in the witness protection program after having made a bargain with the FIB (the FBI’s version of GTA) that involved faking his own death.

His family including his wife – Amanda, his son – Jimmy, his daughter – Tracey and him live in the luxurious Rockford Hills area of Los Santos. Unfortunately, his wife – Amanda wastes his money constantly, and as a result, the family has become increasingly dysfunctional through the years.

Additionally, Michael feels that his retirement is not as rosy as he hoped. He misses his criminal lifestyle, and the family life is not stable – these reasons bring Michael back to his old days.

Trevor Philips

When trained as a military pilot, Trevor Philips was discharged as being mentally unfit. Trevor is a maniacal subhuman having a history of extreme hostility and violence.

He did some bank jobs in North Yankton with Michael De Santa and Brad Snider, and everyone believes that Michael died after getting a bullet out during a failed heist.

Trevor now resides in Sandy Shores and runs Trevor Phillips Enterprises which primarily deals with weapons and drugs. Trevor does not like bikers and is now in conflict with The Lost motorcycle gang.

Franklin Clinton

Franklin Clinton is a young African-American man who dreams of being famous in Los Santos, in a world where street gangs ‘ glory days have long gone by. He works as a repo man for a luxury car dealer named Simeon Yetarian but has no actual criminal background until he encounters Michael while trying to hustle.

Character Swapping Feature

One of the most special features of GTA V is how you turn among characters. The character swapping function is performed smoothly in a Google Earth-styled manner.

The other two are living daily lives independently while the gamers are playing as one of the three in the game. Moreover, the players may be surprised because of what they find the characters doing when they turn back into them.

Vehicles

There are more vehicles in GTA V than in any other Grand Theft Auto games up to now, such as aeroplanes, helicopters, jet skis, motorcycles, cars, utility vehicles, and emergency service vehicles. Thanks to the larger map in GTA V, players would have the ability to use planes.

Besides, exploring the depths of the Pacific Ocean with submarines is also interesting. Vehicles have been significantly improved with additional vivid physical effects. For example, the cars can be balanced on the ground. Such driving mechanisms make the game like a real racing game.

Various vehicles as well as pedestrians have been added to scenarios to make them more interactive with the map, giving the game a sense of realism and make the map more alive.

There are a number of different kinds of vehicles available, for example: motorbikes, helicopters, planes, boats, trains…  Vehicles in GTA 5 are divided into 21 types with 262 vehicles in total, each of which is of exceptional quality with unique features. The following list contains some special vehicles in Grand Theft Auto V:

Land Vehicles

• Maibatsu Penumbra features a highly updated Penumbra version used during Shift Work.
• Declasse Rancher XL, a Rancher XL’s snow covered version, is used to escape in Prologue mission. You can steal it during Bury the Hatchet.
• Obey Tailgater whose owner is Michael De Santa. His special car has a 5MDS003 reading license plate.
• Canis Bodhi: Trevor Philips has a Bodhi in red. Players are able to obtain it after the completion of Hang Ten.
• Bravado Buffalo S: Franklin Clinton is the owner of a white Buffalo S with the license plate reading of FC1988, you cannot see any other regular Buffalos look like which.
• Karin BeeJay XL: a unique yellow BeeJay XL with more aggressive sound than other normal Beejay XL was once owned by Jimmy De Santa, then it is repossessed by Franklin.

Aircraft

• HVY Skylift: after the completion of  Sidetracked, it would be in your collection.
• Jobuilt Velum is a special baby blue Velum obtained when completing Delivering the Truth mission.
• Cargo Plane will be directed by Trevor in Minor Turbulence mission. You cannot get it during other regular missions.

Trailers

• Army Trailer: Each army trailer will appear during only one mission:
• A military-livery trailer is used to transport the Submersible to a warehouse nearby during a mission called Minisub, 
• A civilian trailer shows up in Driller mission.
• Freight-trailer is the civilian trailer’s expanded version of. It appears in Sidetracked in which it is used for the Freight Train as well as its carriages’ transport.
• Trailer (Pack Man) is a special version of the car carrier trailer . It can be seen in Pack Man mission.
• Trailer (Tanker; Series A), a special livery-less tanker trailer version, appears during a mission called Series A – Steal Meth.

Weapons

The game consists of a wide variety of weapons.

Melee weapons such as the nightstick and the golf club have also appeared in GTA V. The weapon selection menu is shaped like a wheel, like in Red Dead Redemption.

Another interesting thing is that players can store all the weapons in their bag instead of removing them in GTA V.

Other Unique Features

First, some new activities, such as yoga, tennis,  jet skiing, golf, and scuba diving…, have been added to the game, making it more vivid.

Exploring around the map, players can find many random events at any time. The cell phone is back from Grand Theft Auto IV; however, it is currently exclusively used to call players’ friends and browse the web.

The mobile phone has returned from Grand Theft Auto IV but is now only used for calling the player’s contacts, surfing the web, and quick saving.

Giving people the middle finger is another recent element that can be used by players while they are in a car. The player will get varied reactions from pedestrians accordingly depending on where they are at because the interaction between people is also enhanced. People’s reaction is smarter and more natural than before.

Moreover, GTA V’s map becomes much bigger than the combination of San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Red Dead Redemption. It is a whole landmass instead of containing multiple small islands.  From the start of the game, the map can be accessible, which you cannot see in other previous games in which each part was only accessible through players’ incremental progress in the game.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer feature presented in Grand Theft Auto IV was extended in Grand Theft Auto V, which is known as Grand Theft Auto Online.

Grand Theft Auto Online is a dynamic and persistent online world for 16 players (or up to 30 on PS4, Xbox One and PC), with gameplay features, geography and mechanics shared with Grand Theft Auto V.

New content is being continually added by Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto community, via the in-game content creator.

It will be good news for GTA fans because we could see the next Grand Theft Auto introduced this year, 2020, according to some rumours.

Nevertheless, a respected industry analyst – Michael Pachter said that the actual release of the game may be in 2022. That the next GTA would be announced in 2020 and is to be released in 2021 is the best scenario, whereas an announcement in 2021 with a release later will be a more likely scenario.

These are some rumors and leaks about GTA 6

The story: Although there are some references to drug trafficking, it seems that no ones have dared guess the main plot yet.

The map: Although a return to Vice City was stated many times, reports about GTA 6 often focused on the existence of South American influence, with the idea of moving around Vice City, the equivalent of the American city of Miami, and South America being addressed first.

The characters: While a female protagonist was the first to be referred in most rumours, more recent reports point to two main characters including a man and a woman. If this occurs in the future, it will definitely be possible that  characters GTA 5 would be altered.

Grand Theft Auto might suit those who love action gameplay, mission fulfilment and violence. However, GTA V is quite heavy (about 59GB), which requires high configuration; therefore, it is important for you to upgrade your computer before buying GTA V. Let’s experience Grand Theft Auto V while waiting for GTA 6 to be released!