Grand game steals time
What a weekend, am I right? Saturday was a total blast. After a few intense games of tennis, I unwound with a bike ride down by the beach and topped the night off having some drinks with a few old friends. The best part about all of this was I never had to leave the comfort of my dorm room.
Wait, what?
Responsible students and workers beware: reality does not have a pause button, but if it did, it would be titled “Grand Theft Auto V”. For the uninitiated, Grand Theft Auto is a series famous for gritty crime drama, open-world game play, and mindless controversy. In GTA’s fifth (technically tenth) outing, you switch between three protagonists: Michael, a former thief in the middle of a midlife crisis; Franklin, a young man trying to escape the life of an inner-city gang member; and Trevor, an unhinged and unstable psychopath with a heart of, well, bronze at best. For the GTA faithful, V plays a lot like an HD, upgraded version of “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” and is currently available only on the 360 and the PS3.
Aside from the general destruction and mayhem GTA games are known for, there are more mini-games and side-quests to keep the player occupied than ever before. Compete in a triathlon, head down to the shooting range, go scuba diving, head out on the town with friends, play tennis, invest in the stock market, the list is endless, and none of these additions feel tacked-on or slapped together. The money you make in GTAV can and will be put to good use, as opposed to earlier installments where it was little more than a collectible. Purchase and customize vehicles, businesses, weapons, clothes, etc.
Grand Theft Auto is a series typically slammed by mainstream news outlets for violent content, despite the fact that the violent portions of the game are all but optional. The ratings system is there for a reason, boys and girls; this game trains you to be a killer about as much as playing Madden turns you into an NFL star. Gun-toting gangsters, explosions, and promiscuous women are usually part of the trade. That being said, GTA is not a game for the faint-hearted. Getting into the thick of the story means getting your hands very, very dirty, and publisher Rockstar Games has pulled out all the stops for this installment. Full-frontal nudity, gratuitous violence, and swearing that can almost keep up with my own sailor’s mouth run rampant in GTAV.
The game is packed with satirical humor and social criticism in the form of TV shows, radio broadcasts, websites, and advertisements all over the city of Los Santos. Nothing is safe from the bladed tongue of GTA: Facebook, Apple, Twitter, reality TV, first-person shooters, and so much more come under fire in clever, tongue-in-cheek ways.
When it comes to hardware, GTAV pushes current generation consoles as far as they will go, so much so that owners of older Xbox 360s (like myself) may run into complications getting the game to run. While playing on day one I had several people who thought I was actually watching television until they saw the controller in my hand. The game, graphically, is beautiful to say the least. The audio sounds great as always, with in-game radio stations featuring songs by artists ranging from Johnny Cash all the way to Black Flag. However, let the buyer beware: you have to have at least 8gb of free hard drive space for the game to run properly. Some people have reported issues with the game glitching and graphical slowdown, but with a game this large, it is to be expected.
Overall, GTAV is not a game so much as an experience. It feels like you’ve taken the director’s chair and are in control of the next big crime thriller. With a 16-player online mode opening up on Oct. 16, and DLC bound to be in the works, you may want to save up those sick days. You’re going to need them.