One Life Left: Grand Theft Auto V

I knew Grand Theft Auto (GTA) V had hooked me when, minutes after putting the game down for the first time, I began referring to people as “homie.”

The game takes place in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles called Los Santos, and it is hard to imagine a more perfect setting. The reality of the game is a heightened one where criminality is the norm. Almost everyone you meet in GTA V is a criminal in some respect. The three protagonists of the game — Michael, Franklin and Trevor — are no exception to this rule. They kill, they lie, they steal and they do it not so much out of necessity, but out of anger.

Los Santos is a sick city, and I do not mean that in a complimentary way. It is a city that chewed up and spat out the American Dream. The world the player sees is corrupt and morally bankrupt. Whether it is the up and coming pop star who chases Franklin and his paparazzi friend through the streets in her car after she catches them spying on a backyard sex romp, or the marijuana enthusiast who spikes Michael’s joint with a bit of something else, everyone in Los Santos seems out to get the protagonists.

As a result, their villainous and arguably evil deeds become almost laudable. As I played through the game I found myself laughing at the awful things these characters did and that I did while controlling them. These characters kill and steal not because they need the money, but because the world around them is so insane that they can either try and fight it, or go along for the ride.

While GTA V excels in both story and theming, it struggles a bit more with its gameplay. The GTA series has always been known for controlling a little strangely. The previous entry in the series put many people off — myself included — with its awkward lock-on shooting and boring, heavy driving controls. GTA V does take steps to address those control issues. The shooting and movement feel a bit snappier, and the driving is more manic and satisfying. The controls are still weighty, however. I once climbed a ledge on a roof and found Michael taking another five steps straight off the edge due to his apparently massive inertia. And while driving around dodging cops is fun, the learning curve on the driving physics is a bit steep.

While the controls still retain some of their old clunk, they do manage to work as intended. Rockstar’s games are much more like world engines, and the characters really do feel like they are placed in the world. Walking around Los Santos feels like walking around a city, and the fact that you can so easily spin out and get overwhelmed by cops makes the car chases all the more exciting.

As the game progresses you will eventually be able to switch between all three protagonists on the fly, dropping into their lives in progress. You might switch over to Franklin to find him picking up his prescription from the green clinic, or swap to Trevor to find him waking up in a gas station covered in blood and wearing a dress (as was said in one of the game’s trailers, the less that is said about Trevor, the better). This character swapping gives the world an organic, dynamic feel and makes the characters seem like they have their own lives going on outside of your control. The character swapping is also used during the game’s heist missions. These are multi-step affairs where each character will have a role to play. Sometimes you will switch control to a different character at set moments, and other times you will be able to switch between characters on the fly as they fight their way out of a tricky spot. These scenes were some of my favorite in the game, and pulling off a successful heist always left me feeling satisfied.

Visually and orally, GTA V excels. I could go into greater detail about how the game is bright and colorful while still maintaining a realistic aesthetic, or how the radio stations are tailored wonderfully to each character, but it’s a Rockstar game: it was always going to look and sound great. GTA V is a game about terrible people doing terrible things to a terrible world. It is not a happy game, but it made me laugh. The characters are despicable, but I cared about their lives, and wanted them to win. It plops the player down in a world that might make them sick, presents them three characters who are as disgusted by it as the player is, and then hands them guns, lots of guns. GTA V is a violent game, and it uses that violence to great effect to tell its sordid tale. It is a game that can get the player thinking, even while allowing them a rip roaring good time tearing apart Los Santos. If you like open world games, gangsters, cars, or thinking about how America has failed you, look no further than GTA V.