aNewDomain.net — It’s the game of the century, that thing everyone’s been talking about. It’s Grand Theft Auto 5, the fastest-selling game in history. The pre-order revenue alone projects the game to break even. Usually I’m not one to jump on the video game bandwagon — just because something’s popular doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good.
Case in point: the Chevy Tesla.
But, after all is said and done, Grand Theft Auto 5 doesn’t disappoint. Not in the slightest — as you’ll see from my review below. In short, I consider this game to be one of the best I’ve ever played. It’s got flawless graphics, a huge free roam, and incredible realistic mechanics.
Image credit: Rockstar
Gameplay
First of all, the name Grand Theft Auto is a misnomer. It should really be called Grand Theft Anything. Rockstar has done an excellent, over-the-top job of allowing the player to jack anything from military tanks to a Boeing 747. I joyfully welcome this epic gameplay.
One hilarious (and awesome) scene I’ve seen with the theft feature is a player using a helicopter to transport a battle tank. The player dropped the tank on a blimp, which made the blimp blow to smithereens. Too much fun.
Image credit: Rockstar
The theft feature turns the iconic car chases in the GTA (Grand Theft Auto) series into fiascos that are increasingly ridiculous and unrealistic. The Fast and Furious series has nothing on expert GTA players — I found that out firsthand while watching a guy lead police to the local airport, get out of his car, and jack a passenger plane to safety.
The game does a first rate job of combining the mechanics of Need for Speed with Call of Duty, laying the foundation for some of the most-surreal antics I’ve ever seen. And I love every moment of it.
The military base is a personal favorite of mine. In short, this local U.S. military outpost has an assortment of tanks, planes and other weapons. First off, I would not recommend attacking the base for beginners. The attack is about as difficult as trying to hold up a gun store, but for veterans of the game, it adds an extra dimension of skilled fighting. It’s amazing being able to turn the military’s weapons against itself, all while under fire. I’ve even contemplated attacking the battleships found in the local port and recreating the Battle of Midway. Oh, did I mention, the battleships are steal-able?
RPG Status
Now, for those of you not familiar with the GTA series, you may think it’s just shooting, reckless car driving and fighting — so what?
Yeah, not GTA 5, my friend. This time Rockstar has gone above and beyond to create the most-realistic role playing game I have ever seen. In this version of the game you can trade stocks, eat, make money, play golf and even take a shower (which you can die in if the water’s too hot).
This component is what hooked me onto GTA 5– finally, I can live my life in game (except my life in game is better than real life). What’s better than being able to drive around the city in a nice car, go to any restaurant in town and get food (remember, just steal money if you run low) or maybe play a nice round of golf. Plus, if the need to quit the frustrating sport of golf ever occurs, the player can just resume classic GTA mode and whack his caddy with a golf club.
The best part of the RPG bent in GTA 5 is the incredible customization. GTA has a plethora of car-customization options, from pimping out tires to painting flame patters on the body. Even for GTA standards, this is a huge step up from the rest of the series, where a player simply steals the best car. Now the car, and your character, can be made even better.
Graphics
For a game whose mechanics are essentially an unrealistic version of real life, the graphics are realistically scary. It feels like walking into Los Angeles — watching this ultra-realistic world with changing traffic lights and wandering pedestrians.
To be quite honest, at times I didn’t even think it was a video game. GTA 5 can feel more like a virtual reality, like a world I was transported into. When I’m not being chased by police, people or the U.S. military, it’s nice just going for a cruise around the city. Of course, I won’t stop for a red light, but that’s why it’s a virtual world.
Image credit: Rockstar
It’s so good, as I mentioned above, that the player can even trade stocks. Hopefully my luck is better in-game than in real life.
The voice acting in the game is also highly realistic. Characters don’t simply regurgitate the same repeated line over and over, they interact with the player in real time. Depending on what you do, specifically if your in-game driving skills are as bad as mine, then these previously-static characters will have a wide variety of words to spew at you.
GTA 5 also offers a solid online mode. To be honest, I haven’t tested that out very much. But, from what I’ve seen, it is an awesome add-on to the game. Imagine: Call of Duty, horribly bad driving and an ungodly amount of antics. Times ten. That’s multiplayer. A chaotic mix of pure awesomeness with endless pawnage right across the corner.
While I say there is no such thing as a perfect game, I would have to give GTA 5 a 10/10 for awesome graphics, a huge variety of gameplay options, and most-importantly, the ultra-realism of life provided by this game. If there ever was a game where a person could realistically recreate his life, it would be in GTA 5.
For aNewDomain.net, I’m Fegelein Puching Zhang.
Based in Chicago, Fegelein Puching Zhang is our gaming scribe at aNewDomain.net. Read more of his work here or contact Fegelein at puching@anewdomain.net.
