Grand Theft Auto V: Game Review

One of the best games in the series, flawed yes, buggy, yes but still a lot of fun!  And did you know – according to an article in the UK newspaper The Guardian:

“…. the company’s {Rockstar} CEO, Strauss Zelnick, {reported that} the open-world gangster adventure, originally released in 2013, has now sold more than 75m copies.

Not only that, but NPD Group sales data shows it was the sixth best-selling game across all formats in 2016. Three years after its release. If you look at the current UK games chart, GTA V is at number two, beaten only by Resident Evil 7, released last month. Why is this happening?

There are some obvious reasons. Grand Theft Auto V is the latest title in one of the most successful and acclaimed video game franchises of all time. The game drew hugely positive reviews for its vast, beautiful open-world environment, its engaging narrative, anarchic humour and its many sub-quests, side-missions and secrets which added life and longevity to the world. True, there were plenty of concerns about the game’s depiction of women, race and violence, but for many gamers, the thrill of exploring this gargantuan landscape of decadence and destruction outweighed any problematic undertones.”

That’s a pretty good review of the game from a well respected paper – but it’s actually too awesome!  Flying planes, riding bikes off cliffs and opening parachutes etc., it gets too epic and for me it started to get a bit silly.  There are some great videos on YouTube of the stoopid stuff that happens in the game. When you look forward to impossibly flying sideways though a tunnel in a jump jet – and lots of other mad-cap antics its a distraction to the game and shouldn’t, in my opinion.  It’s fun, but it’s not much of a game.

I still rate this as a great game, I’m just be doing it for all the wrong reasons!