Grand Theft Auto V: Violent, sweary and amazingly ambitious It’s rare that I walk out in the mean streets of London and experience carpet-bombing marketing for a videogame, but that’s exactly what happened this week. Something called Grand Theft Auto V is now available to purchase apparently, so I thought I might start with that. Elsewhere the rather great Zelda adventure, The Wind …
But Rome 2's multiplayer is the basterd child to Shogun 2's excellent multiplayer options. Not to mention the AI is less then stellar... You could almost go as far to say Empire is the better game, but Empire had a vast number of horrible flaws. Shogun 2, particularly with Rise and Fall is the best the total war series has to offer us.
GTA online is part of GTA V, its just being launched a few weeks after GTA V (Guess they want to try and have enough servers to handle the load and avoid a Simcity type farce).
Also the reviewer clearly hasnt played game very much (if at all) the third protagonist is called Trevor not Lester... Pretty pisspoor review TBH
I don't like games where I play as a baddie, yet I like war based games, if it attacks me I will shoot it, but robbing banks ect, just doesn't seem fun.
Yes I did enjoy Dishono(u)red more in stealth mode, and I went through in hard only taking out baddies and the assassins.
So playing as a bank robbing criminal, sorry just doesn't work for me.
BTW My game of the year is The Last Of Us, and to be honest Joel is not nice, but the writing is just superb.
I was wondering whether to try GTA V as I liked sandbox games like Saints Row 3 and 4 so much. Having watched some playthroughs of GTA V on Youtube, I'm not impressed. The game looks great but the tasks look boring and the general atmosphere is just like having a 9-5 job.
There are better games around like the Saints Row series (except the first one) and Tomb Raider. I'll give this one a miss.
Phil.
I played SR II after I completed GTA IV, then had a go with SR III before GTA V came out, and I can imagine what SR IV will be like.... stupid like all the previous ones.
I get that the GTA games can *seem* a little staid but they are genuinely funny, in a clever way not in the 'DILDO! LOL' way that SR presents its humour. The tasks are not boring, unless you don't enjoy the driving/shooting/flying mechanic, which you must enjoy for Saints Row? Its cleverly scripted with some genuine story telling that includes subtlety, emotion and character development, which you won't have come across in SR.
You should give it a real go, follow the story and try to engage. You might find you enjoy it.
^ This, undoubtedly.
I tried SR3 when it was in one of the Steam summer/winter/Thanksgiving/Michaelmas sales as I wanted to see if it was worth the hype.
To be fair to it, some of the action sequences are downright stunning, and it's clear to see that Rockstar has learned from these and incorporated similar into GTA V.
However after playing through a few of the missions on SR3 I just became incredibly bored with the childishness of it all. As you say, the character development in GTA V and the other recent GTA games provides a much deeper experience.
One week and about 30% into GTA V and I'm loving it, the attention to detail is stunning, the controls are slick and while there's perhaps not quite the depth that GTA SA had, it's got to be the best GTA yet. The three character viewpoints adds tremendously to the depth, and from what I've played of the heist missions these are a great progression from the previous standard GTA missions which were starting to get a bit monotonous.
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So everyone and their dog does "let's plays" and other internet content featuring games, doing walk throughs, and tips on getting gamer score points, or various easter eggs.
Except for Nintendo. Why? Because Nintendo will sue their ass off for showing their copyrighted content in anything more than a screenshot or two in a review. Rooster Teeth has discussed this in their "Patch" gamer podcast as people keep asking "why don't you do Nintendo lets-plays?".
So the entire grass roots internet interest machine is completely unavailable to them. This is why they "haven't penetrated the mass market"
Here's a beer to toast the idiots going down in flames. Again.
I haven't played GTA5 yet, but Bioshock Infinite was a bloody excellent game, fully deserving of five stars. It has some of the most enjoyable gameplay mechanics of any game I've played for years, while still being challenging. The GTA games are at their hearts fairly basic and often tedious shooting / driving games, raised to a much higher level by their writing and satire.
(By basic I mean the central gameplay mechanic, not the open world. In GTA3 it was stand in the open and mow everyone down, in GTA4 it was upgraded to hide behind something and mow everyone down.)
Lack of replayability does not detract from a game if it's good enough the first time round. You don't generally judge films by how good they are the second time - a few you do, but most you don't.
Games aren't films. Lack of replayability makes a huge difference to a game and any game which you can't go back and enjoy again should be marked down when compared to ones you can. The best games (IMO) are the ones you can come back to and enjoy again. Of course the games studios don't like that because if you are playing the old game you won't buy another one.
Some clever bods have already identified config files intended for the PC released with the console versions, so there can be little doubt that the PC version is coming, it's just a question of when (my money is on late Nov/ early Dec in time for Chrismas sales).
<cynic mode>
I suspect the console versions are released first these days as people with both a PC and a console would probably get the PC version as it will have better graphics. By holding back that release, they probably push up console sales and may even get some double sales to people who have both.
</cynic mode>
> they probably push up console sales and may even get some double sales to people who have both
I'm one of those. I pre-ordered the Special Edition version of GTAV and will eventually pick up GTAV over Steam once I get a 4K monitor and something that can drive all of those pixels. Maybe in a year. So yes, I can see myself buying two copies of this game (one at full price, one during a Steam sale no doubt).
GTAV looks good on a 40" LCD, though it's (or at least their code is) pushing the limit of the PS3. It would be amazing with higher resolution, plenty of AA, better viewing distances, less 'disappearing props' (I've noticed non-important things like aircon ducts disappear as they approach the edge of the screen) and possible even better detail. Oh, and less "I parked my car on the street, run up a hill to shoot something, ran back on car has disappeared". Maybe someone stole my doorless, smashed, barely drive-able COIL...
More specifically, like Reddit's /srs/ board.
I stopped reading the article the moment I encountered the word "misogyny" on the first page. That word, along with other political-correctness trigger words like "womyn" and "cisgender", act like an automatic off-switch beyond which I will not proceed.
So I'd take this review of GTA with a grain of salt. Obviously the reviewer has biases of his own which prohibit more open-minded people from establishing an informed judgement of the game based on this review.
GTA should be banned. Think of the children.
Bollocks :D
Its insanely fun, I thought I was slightly mad until I met Trevor this guy is off the reservation in a big way lol - looking forward to MP.
Although I have to think of my state of mind when I enjoyed driving to the top of Mt Chiliad, finding some hikers and pushing them off then parachuting to safety from the cops...;)
I prefer the original...that sense of claustrophobia and flat-out psychopathy added a quality that was almost totally missing in Infinite. The gradual change from heavenly to mildly alarming was interesting enough, but nothing like as powerful as the original. Plus, being called "Infinite", I was expecting something a little more sandboxy with more choices and chances to dick around on the fringes; but it's totally on rails with no choice that counts for anything anywhere...not even alternative endings.
That's what I buy it for. I suppose detail and micromanagement could be superfluous if you're 14 and just drink Red Bull and have the attention span of a gnat but there are still some grown-up gamers who like our brains stretched as well as our trigger fingers.
To be fair, the strategic side of TW games is kinda weak. It's as if TW is stuck in the 1990s. People have been complaining ever since then about things like random behaviour of AI armies and factions, the insanity of the diplomatic model, and about the sheer weakness of the strategic simulation (history shows that real empires *don't* richer and more stable as they grow bigger).
But the TW series doesn't address any of that, it's too busy ramping up the eye candy.
Fair criticism of gta5 tbh
was quite excited to play it but in the first two hours i found the experience slightly frustrating. Ive had missions fail to trigger the hud/gps to show the route to the next location... ive found the contextual controls quite unresponsive (5 attempts to open a garage door because i wasnt in quite the right position)..and the third person view is still a pain with the characters running in arcs to get round obstacles and generally its still pretty buggy feeling ('oh you want me to take cover behind THAT crate... not any of these other perfectly safe hiding places)
basically its an 'arcade' version of gta using the hud from rdr and the shooting mechanics from max payne 3. Ive yet to see anything to convince me this gta is more less linear during missions. Compared to a recent 'open world' title like far cry 3 its a disappointment.
Even the 'adult' strip club sections are pretty tame...amounting to a 'press O to touch the semi naked stripper... if you do it when the bouncer is visible he will throw you out.
GTA is an awesome and extremely extensive game, but not as perfect as some people claim it to be. To be honest I think at some point in the game it becomes frustrating and that moves to a slight sense of annoyance.
Because; money has become more important. Heck; even for full body armour you have to cough up $2500,-. But despite that you do mission after mission, heist after heist and you don't get any payment for it. Zilch! And the one time you do hit on something bigger and get more it's mostly taken away and you're left with breadcrumbs again. Just enough to cover your in game expenses for weapons and ammo, but hardly enough for more (like buying businesses).
That became a huge frustration for me while playing GTA. You end up wondering why the heck you should bother any longer; because you most obviously won't get paid anyway.
I'm currently preparing for "the big one", but am hardly motivated any more because I get a feeling you'll probably lose most of your money again.
Here's really hoping GTA online will be better than this. I love the heists, the planning aspect is simply brilliant, but I want to get something from it, not spending most of my time marvelling the graphics and cursing a lack of income.
"You'll just have to wait till the "Proper Job" add-on comes out. Apparently, you can play as a stockbroker or an IT tech support guy."
Yeah, but both aren't really good enough options for me.
The stocks work fine if you have money to spend, which you don't. Not that much that is. Worse; it seems Franklin is the only guy capable of using direct stock tips because you get those in-mission, and that means you can't switch to the other characters (who got more money) and get them to invest too.
As to the add ons.. I think they'll bet heavier on online gaming than offline.
1. Games really ought to get rid of auto-lock/auto-focus.
2. Firing a gun, accurately, is hard.
3. Teaching people that firearms need to be handled with respect to get the intended result, and failure to obey has consequences, might just carry over into the real world.
Discuss.
1. No they shouldn't. Feel free to turn it off if you so desire. Some people struggle to enjoy games without this feature. Play it the way you want, not how someone else tells you to play it.
2. Correct. But this is a game rather than a "firing a gun simulator".
3. Yes they should (those who handle firearms which is a very low number here in the good ol' UK) but no it won't. Should "teaching people that jumping from the bonnet of a car onto a speeding boat" be shown to need correct training to get the desired result, and failure to obey has consequences, in an effort to carry that over into the real world? And see 2 above.
4. It is a game. I realise this is the same as point 2 but feel it is so important it needs mentioning again.
WTF is it with GTA always being set in LA? ... A change of theatre to Italy or France would have been a breath of fresh air. Think of the locations used in the car chases of Ronin (1998) and The Italian Job (1969)... Or even space as someone suggested in another thread. The city still looks too much like every other IMHO. I'll buy it but after GTA4 fatigue I'm looking more forward to Watchdogs which is set in Chicago for a well needed change...
""Always"? It's the 2nd time. Unless GTA 2 was in LA then no."
Well, if you count LA Noire too it would actually make the count 3 ;)
Which IMO isn't that far fetched because it seems to me as if the new GTA engine has borrowed quite a lot from LA Noire. Including the sometimes annoying metallic clash sounds.
From TheGuardian review :=
"Rockstar North has also developed a slightly irritating narrative trope that I'll call "the exposition expedition": there are a lot of long journeys that just seem to be there so that the lead characters can chat about back-story, or engage in meandering expletive-drenched conversations on pop culture and psychology – something we probably have Tarantino to thank for.
Furthermore, the designers don't always make the rules of the system clear. Some missions will only end successfully if you carry out the correct action after a specific prompt, while others don't provide a prompt at all and then fail you if you miss the mandatory sweet spot. The game also has the habit of simultaneously providing mission instructions via in-game dialogue and an on-screen text prompt, which at the very least means you miss plot details, but at the worst means you can be left wondering what the hell you're supposed to do next because you paid attention to the wrong thing. Or at least that was my experience; others may be better at ludological multitasking."
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Really, El Reg, whilst I respect many of your fine, fine articles, reviews and submissions please stay away from game reviews as it would appear your writers are not skilled in this area. This reviewer clearly hadn't even played the game for more than 5 minutes before going straight for the moral-minority kneejerk reaction; I think perhaps he should've taken a leaf from the Radio 4 "Frontrow" review and given it a fair hearing before deciding that the bug-ridden Rome II, or the linear mindless shooter "Bioshock Infinite", were better. They simply aren't. Rome II isn't even available on consoles rendering this a poor comparison to being with.
GTA V is a biting satire of American culture of all kinds supported by a slick and intuitive control system, excellent graphics, first rate soundtrack and voice acting, intelligent story and sweeping environments, but he appears to have missed all that in favour of concentrating on moral outrage and misunderstanding the concept of adult content. I assume he's not got to the torture scene with Lester....er..I mean...Trevor yet?
If you'd like to hire a writer with a lot of gaming experience and a good understanding of the media and market, I'm available.
I am a PC gamer in general, and I have to say that for me GTA V on the PS3 is pretty much unplayable.
The framerate is awful - how are you meant to do proper car chases in 20FPS?
The controls leave a LOT to be desired - having to click in the L+R stick to activate the time dilation is about the worst choice possible - click in the thing you are STEERING with, whilst clicking in the thing that LOOKS AROUND? No, no, no that isn't going to lead to you veering off course, looking behind you as you move the stick slightly when you try to click it in.
Of course, no way to change controls on the PS3 beyond the few options (All of which suck) for joypad setup.
Such a pity, the game itself is great. Will wait until XMas for the PC version, but not holding out much hope for that - most likely another god awful port with no control options other than an XBOX joypad (ie no proper support for my logitech G27, like the last GTA game I bought).
Sigh, this is exactly the reason why SteamBox is going to rip consoles a new one. If you spend all that cash on development, but can't even make the game run at a stable 30 (or better yet 60), then what the hell is the point of a console??
Grand Theft Auto, being a shibboleth for all computer games, is just about the most disgusting thing that has happened to humanity in the last 5,000 years.
I play only one game. It's called "being in the world". Tremendous experience, very exciting. Very realistic. 3D in real time. You can't predict, and never know what is going to happen. You have to infer the rules, by induction, from the behaviour of those around you. And it you're smart, or lucky, it's a lot of fun. So, don't get sidetracked, and don't let these zombies that are trying to suck your blood use up your minutes. You only got this one time to play. Don't waste it. Play the real game.
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