Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Grand Theft Auto V Reviews

With the countdown to the September 17th arrival of GTAV now being measured in mere hours around the world, here is the first round-up of reviews from across the web:
 
"Grand Theft Auto V is not only a preposterously enjoyable video game, but also an intelligent and sharp-tongued satire of contemporary America. It represents a refinement of everything that GTAIV brought to the table five years ago. It’s technically more accomplished in every conceivable way, but it’s also tremendously ambitious in its own right. No other world in video games comes close to this in size or scope, and there is sharp intelligence behind its sense of humour and gift for mayhem. It tells a compelling, unpredictable, and provocative story without ever letting it get in the way of your own self-directed adventures through San Andreas. It is one of the very best video games ever made."
 
Read more and see their video review at: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/16/grand-theft-auto-v-review
 
"Set mostly within the glitzily superficial city of Los Santos, a warped mirror of Los Angeles, GTAV is a sprawling tale of criminal maniacs self-destructing on a blood-splattered career trajectory to hell... The genius of GTAV is in the sheer seductive force of its vision. The visuals are astonishing – just astonishing. Surely pushing this ageing hardware to the limits, we get the dense downtown with its soaring skyscrapers and murky, rubbish-strewn back alleys. But then out into the country, we have rolling grasslands and desert stretches, coyotes roaming, the shadows of eagles swooping overhead. The world drags you in. It begs you to explore – and then it rewards you. You feel every millimetre of the landscape has been thoughtfully handcrafted with the curious gamer in mind."
 
 
"Everything works. It has mechanics good enough to anchor games of their own, and a story that is not only what GTA has always wanted to tell but also fits the way people have always played it. It’s a remarkable achievement, a peerless marriage of world design, storytelling and mechanics that pushes these ageing consoles to the limit and makes it all look easy. As we stand on the brink of a new generation, GTAV sends an intimidating message to the rest of the industry. Beat that."
 
 
"The scale is dizzying. It's insanely detailed too. Gangs loitering on street corners, cracked roads, foreclosure notices, and police searchlights cutting through the night sky give the poor areas of the city a tangible layer of grime. In Vinewood, sports cars glint in the sun, tourists snap pictures with their phones, and obnoxious starlets bray into their phones about movie auditions. Wander through the countryside and you'll see backpackers, cyclists, and people walking their dogs. Extras in rubber alien costumes take smoke breaks on studio lots, and bikers cruise the desert highways... The world is breathtaking, the script is funny, the music is superb... and, most of all, it's really, really fun."
 
 
"Throughout GTAV you'll swap between the trio, seeing San Andreas through the eyes of three wildly different personalities, each of whom brings their own breed of psychosis to one of the most exciting games of this generation... They're all exceptionally written, and play off of each other well. Instead of forcing one character to climb his way up his own slice of the criminal underworld, GTAV does a remarkable job of providing each with their own motivations, their own missions, and their own personas you'll come to love as you swap between them."
 
 
"The driving is a lot looser and more exciting than it was in GTAIV, and the lock-on targeting and cover system means that you're never fighting the controls in the middle of combat. It also looks great on current consoles, with a solid draw distance and a frame rate that takes few major hits along the way. Furthermore, the characters themselves emote well in cutscenes, which really helps make the story feel more meaningful. The city itself is nicely evocative of Los Angeles, as well, giving you GTA-ified equivalents of studio lots, the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Santa Monica Pier, and more. Little touches like lighting as the sun rises and sets go a long way, too. That all meets well with the game's on-foot and on-mission soundtrack, which delivers tense backing tracks that heighten the heists whether you're opening fire on the obstacles in your way or watching Michael slyly convince a guard that he is, in fact, supposed to be there. And all of it comes together to bring you a fantastic approximation of LA's sleazy-yet-sunny West Coast vibe."
 
 
"Grand Theft Auto V is the pinnacle of open-world video game design and a colossal feat of technical engineering... It dares the rest of the blockbuster industry to try and match its scope and, even with new consoles on the horizon, it may be some time before anything steps up."
 
 
“...Rockstar Games has produced the most playable, well-plotted, character-driven, fictionally coherent entry in this 16-year-old series. The game is set in an immense, parodic vision of Southern California, a West Coast counterpoint to the caricature of New York City in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008). While Los Santos — the game’s version of Los Angeles — and its surroundings exist in an alternate reality, it is also a contemporary one that evokes and satirizes the anxieties of 21st-century life… Video games tell their own lies to their players: you’re powerful, you’re smart, you’re important, your problems can be solved if you just keep trying. And Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most beautiful, seductive lies yet uttered by our youngest creative medium.”
 
 
 
Also check out some international reviews from Meristation3DJuegosJeuxActuGameblogVandal,MondoXboxInsideGamerAusGamersThe Globe and MailEurogamer GermanyIGN Italia and stay on the look out for lots more reviews hitting the web throughout the day. Of course feel free to share any you find in the comments below.


No comments:

Post a Comment