Grand Theft Auto 5

Grand Theft Auto 4 was probably my favorite game for the Xbox 360. I liked it more than Mass Effect, and I’m an rpg junkie from way back. There was something about Niko Bellic that hooked me. I think it was that we share the same sarcastic, straight man sense of humor. I’ve been anticipating the release of GTA 5 pretty much since I finished up with GTA 4.

It has (mostly) not disappointed. It is extremely similar to 4, which for me was obviously a good thing. The biggest difference, of course, is that there are three main characters in the game that you can freely swap between. From each characters perspective, no matter how crazy they act when you are looking at them from other perspectives, they often become the sane straight man of the scenario. Even the psychopath Trevor is more normal than half the people you run missions for.

Another large difference is that you don’t start the game as low man on the crime totem pole. The main characters are all veterans of the criminal life and are desperate to choose their own destiny. In fact, that is exactly where the main conflict of the story comes from – each of the main characters has a different idea of what success means for them. With the exception of some missions you run for people that are strong arming you, the story is very much directed by the characters you inhabit.

And at least one of these guys you really don’t want to inhabit. The characters in GTA 5 are incredibly well written, becoming far more fleshed out than one might expect from a game series that succeeded on over the top satire. Franklin, the ex-gang banger is a good picture of what C.J. from GTA 3: San Andreas might have been if C.J. hadn’t escaped the hood for a while. He’s the most down to earth of the trio, and while he’s a generally compassionate figure, he’s still a cold-blooded thug when necessary, and kind of a jerk to the people around him. Franklin’s life has been shaped by being forced to always help the people around him escape the consequences of their own mistakes, and his frustration bursts out at every opportunity. Michael, the ex-bank robber is also reminiscent of another old GTA protagonist – Tommy Vercetti from GTA 3: Vice City. Michael is an ex-football star who never really put himself together after his high school career ended, and in search of that same adrenaline rush he took to bank robbing. The key behind Michael is his own innate selfishness. He desires to be a good person, to be a good father and husband, and be true to his friends. However, his decision making is always hinged around his own desires, which gives him a serious case of cognitive dissonance. One of the optional activities for Michael is to visit a therapist, where he struggles through the split between the man he is and the man he wants to be.

And finally . . . Trevor. Trevor is basically a combination of Walter White from Breaking Bad and Lord Humongous from The Road Warrior. He is possibly the worst character I’ve encountered in a video game, and I don’t mean most poorly written. Trevor actually extends the standard deviation curves for human awfulness. But, in him is revealed the true tragedy of the game. Trevor, given the way he speaks and thinks, is most likely a genius. The tragedy of GTA 5 is that the three criminals you’re controlling have so much potential as people, but terribly fall short to crash and burn.

The game is also beautiful, as I’m sure that you’ve heard. It’s odd that the things that truly make the GTA series successful are the story and the raw beauty of the landscapes that Rockstar creates, when those are the last things anyone talks about when a new Rockstar game comes out. The hell with hot coffee nonsense – Rockstar is coming closer than anyone else in the industry (except maybe Quantic Dream and Naughty Dog) in producing video games that could win Oscars.

There are only three things I really dislike about the game. First, all of the cars drive like beached whales in this edition of the game until you skill up your driving, which makes the early races incredibly frustrating. I ran the first one probably twenty times because of poor car choices. I finally beat it in a taxi cab. Second, the pricing scheme for the different editions of the game were annoying as hell to me. People who bought pricier versions of the game got bells and whistles like having their special abilities recharge faster – things that would make the game easier for them. That is not my favorite pricing model.

And finally, the last thing that bothered me was the continued lack of any non-misogynized females in the game. Three protagonists, none of them women. The only women you come across in the game are prostitutes, gang molls, and crack heads. Oh, and your batshit terrible aunt or wife, depending on the character you’re controlling. I’m not going to dig into this very deep, because it’s an entire article in the making, but c’mon Rockstar. C’mon.

All in all, the game is a very worthy entrant into the series, and I’m looking forward to finishing the plot so I can track down all of the stunt jumps.