Haven't posted for a whil:
11. Grand Theft Auto 5 (PS3, also on 360)
Ah, to re-visit the sunny shores of San Andreas... driving a 'jacked' Buffalo before promptly parking in a T-junction, getting out a grenade launcher and destroying all the cars waiting at the red light. Then grabbing a random moterbike, driving to the airport whilst shooting the chasing cops and stealing a jet into the air and to the desert leaving the fuming virtual police to skid around the runway. I decide to forgo the desert airport and decide to ditch the jet and parachute onto the top of Mount Chiliad instead where I take a mountain bike and race to the bottom. Then I switch to Michael, invest in some shares, play a spot of Tennis and go out drinking with Franklin.
This is the sort of diversity I love in a GTA game that was sadly lacking in GTA IV's rather limited urban environment. GTA V on the other hand had everything I wanted in a GTA game since San Andreas. What I wasn't counting on however, was the intricately weaved narrative told through three different perspectives, the superbly organised heists and some of the most entertaining main characters in the series. Each character was seemingly a bizarre alter ego of the previous characters in GTA; the complete psychopath; the get-rich-quick apprentice that actually makes it; and the man with a dysfunctional background. Each character had an incredible dysfunctional depth to them that gave the three of them a weird chemistry that made the missions all the more entertaining. The missions themselves were carefully designed and showcased some of the best in the series.
Originally, I was disappointed that there was only one city compared to the three in San Andreas, but when you take into account the size of the world, the diversity of it, the missions and the characters, this really is the best GTA game ever made. The only thing left is to polish some of their gunplay mechanics which feel a little dated, but hopefully the upcoming PC version will have improved on that (or a mod will!).
