14 DAY TRIAL // 
Few video game franchises can equal the sheer amount of popularity and loyalty enjoyed by Grand Theft Auto, the open world series from Rockstar Games, which has just seen its latest installment, Grand Theft Auto 5, appear earlier this week.
After enduring a long wait during which they've tracked down every official detail from Rockstar and all the unofficial rumors, gamers can finally go back to Los Santos and experience the story of not one, but three different main characters, namely Michael, Franklin, and Trevor.
With all sorts of improvements to the car handling, shooting, and exploration, not to mention the biggest open world it's ever crafted, Rockstar's magnum opus is looking set to be one of the best games of all time.
Does GTA V live up to the phenomenal amount of hype or should its open world be left unexplored? Let's find out.
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Story
Grand Theft Auto games are great when they let players do whatever they want in their open worlds but their stories should also try to flesh out the sandbox and the characters that are living in it. After focusing on solo protagonists, Rockstar has now decided to have not one, not two, but three heroes, namely Michael, Franklin, and Trevor.
Michael is arguably the glue that holds together this trinity of characters. He's a retired bank robber now living in witness protection after staging his own death. He has the typical Vinewood (GTA's equivalent of Hollywood) life, with a big mansion, fast cars, and a family that actually hates him.
Franklin is a young African American who's trying to get out of the hood by doing whatever it takes in order to score money and live on his own. While he's similar to C.J. from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, his allegiance isn't with his gang or homies, as he just wants to look out for himself.
Lastly, there's Trevor, a former partner of Michael’s, who's been living in Blaine county, the neighboring area around Los Santos. He runs Trevor Phillips Enterprises, which is actually his own meth-dealing venture through which he distributes the drug to all of Blaine county.
After quite a few adventures on their own, the three protagonists unite in order to pull off all sorts of heists in and around Los Santos. At the same time, they're also going through all kinds of separate stories, from Michael's affairs with Latino drug lords, to Trevor's attempts at wiping out competition in Blaine county, or Franklin's complex relationship with his hood.
While the climax of these plots is pretty impressive, what's really great about GTA 5's story is its complexity and that, if you don't really care about one of the protagonists, you can still focus on the others.
There will be moments when the violence is a bit gratuitous and when the riffs on modern society wear thin, but, overall, the story of GTA 5 manages to deliver a great experience with a massive scope and is even pretty hilarious at times, as opposed to the very serious plot of GTA 4.
Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, Grand Theft Auto 5 delivers a smorgasbord of mechanics, from core things like driving and shooting, to secondary activities, like watching TV, playing tennis, or embarking on triathlons.
Rockstar has released quite a few games since Grand Theft Auto 4 and there are pieces from each of them in the newest iteration.
The driving is pretty similar to the one in L.A. Noire, as cars no longer feel like the "boats" seen in GTA IV. Instead, they feel pretty similar to an arcade racing simulator, although there are still moments when you'll lose control if you're not careful. You can also customize them in many different ways but you'll need quite a bit of cash to do so.
Shooting is pretty similar to Max Payne 3 or Red Dead Redemption, as players can wield their weapons much easier and with greater freedom, even when running around the area. Cover is quite important, however, as the characters are pretty fragile and will go down with just a few hits. Your health regenerates until the halfway point, so you need to be on the lookout for health kits.
Enemies are relatively smart and will use cover a lot, meaning you need to either wait until they pop out of it or try to flank them and hope their buddies won't shoot at you while you're on the move. Some are pretty resilient and others, like law enforcement officers, will use different tactics to take you out, especially during car chases.
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[/col] [/row] [row] [col]Of course, one of the main new mechanics is the heist one, which is quite complex. First up, players need to choose a target, go scope it out, and devise various plans to rob that store or bank. They can go with guns blazing or use more stealthy approaches. Depending on the choice, they must then secure vital components and equipment, giving a purpose to the errands of the protagonists.
After that, they need to set up escape routes and hire extra members to keep the crowd under control, to drive the getaway vehicles, or to hack the security system. These extra people, however, come with various attributes and, depending on their skill quality, will want a higher cut of the total loot so you need to choose carefully between having good teammates and less money, or more money but bad teammates.
Besides going on all sorts of crime sprees, you can embark on many other activities in Los Santos and Blaine county. There are a lot of sports, like triathlons, but also car races, plane riding, or distractions like walking Franklin's dog, Chop.
Players can jump between the three main characters whenever they want during regular gameplay, and the title will go into a sort of Google Earth-style transition, converging on the location of the next character, putting you in their shoes just as they were doing different things, like enjoying a drink or walking around the hood.
During heists, these transitions happen instantly and really turn the whole experience into a more dynamic and unpredictable one, as each character has his own special ability, from Franklin's skill to slow down time and perform impossible maneuvers with a vehicle, to Trevor's berserk-like rage mode that recharges his health and boosts his damage, or Michael's bullet-time.
Visuals and Sound
In terms of graphics, Grand Theft Auto 5 isn't doing so good, as the decision to appear on current-gen consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) meant that Rockstar had to do a lot of compromises in terms of texture quality and visual effects in order to ensure that performance wasn’t affected.
Even so, we noticed some lag at various moments in the game both on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Transitioning from one character to the other can also take a bit of time and there are quite a few dodgy animations.
In terms of sound, the game is much better, as everything from the regular soundtrack, to the songs and talk shows played by the many radio stations, are really impressive and of a high quality. The voice acting is also superb, managing to give each of the main characters a great personality. Even secondary characters, like Michael's son, Jimmy, are well-acted and impress during their moments.
Conclusion
Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the most impressive open world games of all time, managing to deliver great and extremely varied gameplay mechanics that, most of the times, work flawlessly. Sadly, the low power of current consoles means that, graphics-wise, GTA 5 isn't as impressive as it could be and even results in lag or slowdowns every once in a while.
*Given that Grand Theft Auto 5 is rated M for Mature, please be warned that discretion is advised when viewing the screenshots and watching the gameplay videos due to instances of language that might offend.
