Sorry I can't keep it short, so if you keep reading until it ends, I need to thank you for giving me the opportunity to vent it all, independently of your opinion about it. I must ask sorry for any mistakes on my English, it is not my native language.
Only buy your copy for PC if you really want to check the graphics out and how it looks stunning on some missions, because they're definitely there. But on my opinion this game is indeed a fine piece of would-be art. He's not that good, but has so many marvelous and impressive moments that your taste will become sophisticated by R* own damn fault. They have been setting the bar pretty high on the genre, specially with IV on my opinion. So... you might be asking what I'm doing here with such a low score?
As any game, GTA V can't keep himself looking good all the time. But sometimes it looks like the game is forcing you to be in awe, instead of truly being one - and the game really pretends to be delivering it sometimes and... GTA V's problems starts there. It's clever from the devs to do so, I'll tell you. This trick has made them very profitable so far, which is enough proof. At least some games like Sain't Row The Third are pretty honest, they don't pretend to be something more than they really are, because this is exactly what they can be.
GTA V problems can be somewhat subtle until you see them.
I never played such a good-bad game in a long time, the broken things are hidden until you first see them. You will dutifully say ''so what, no game is perfect'' or ''hey, go see if it's easy to make a game" and I shall agree with you, for the situation is pretty complex here. I've been gaming for the past 21 years in a row, and the DMA games have been on the list ever since. You probably never heard about Body Harvest, so I know what I'm talking about here.
V has several... let's say, "unchecked" flaws and failures on it's core mechanics and it seems that nobody gives a damn about it, which is kinda good for R*. But for some people, those problems are just there waiting to break the next victim's immersion in half and for my bad luck... I have seen it all. At least the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy can help you out on Online mode, just don't panic there.
But the story mode ... there is no salvation to the annoyance made in there but MODS probably. Maybe one day.
First fact: the honks. Since Vice City, the NPC cars just honk their horns aggressively at you, even when you're far away from them, in some sort of sparking glitch which can trigger the entire damn lane to behave like the first honker. Be those by mere bad programming or by bullying programming, which seems more likely. That's all what I hear up and down the streets and the confusing boulevards of Los Santos, the NPC cars exists there just for this reason. They are going to be honking those annoying horns at you for every small reason and sometimes no reason at all.
Do you remember that ghost horn on middle air from GTA IV? Only that is missing.
R* has some kind of passion for the word "cock s...cker" and you don't necessarily need to be in front of a NPC to hear that. After a while, it starts to get really annoying. It's funny at the beginning, gets boring at the half. Reckless driving is a part of GTA gameplay so you're going to hear a LOT of those annoying and unfair honks during your journey, as much you will be taking unfair shots from the police, like a standing dummy does.
I will not even bother trying to convince you that the police in V is overpowered, because the problem isn't the game difficulty at all, the game isn't that hard. Just for the record, GTA V tries its best to play the hardy here. The problem seems to be on those unwonted fast-paced gameplay brought to you by R* downgrading idea. I'm not ranting here. It's just my experience with GTA V. I just think that if a cop is holding a basic pistol, he should have all the limitations as you do, when you're holding the same pistol. It's not the case on GTA V, their code were written to be relentless no matter the weapon they're holding and it doesn't matter how far they are from you... a common pedestrian with a gun can take your life as faster than you can say - GTA On Line - and I just spotted the reason for this.
When you're inside the car, you're as vulnerable as a blind man on Iraq no matter what you do, luck is your only shield.
How the hell a single man can bring with him so many weapons at once. "Damn", says the skeptic. "It's just a game." But think how tactical and fresh it could have been, to force the player to configure his loadout before a mission? Negative, all players are nothing but a platoon of a man walking the streets.
And don't bother trying to find some cover. GTA V shootouts are meant to be fast-paced instead of cover based which is extremely ridiculous, it gives to the gameplay a goofy and unrealistic looking. The firing on GTA V can be compared to a generic 3d person shooter like Saint's Row or Just Cause 2, which is the ultimate insult against GTA. It's looks like the game just stepped back, you can't even crouch down for cover!
GTA IV wasn't perfect but much more mature on that. What the hell they were thinking?
The game contradicts himself. He pretends to be a fast-paced, click-to-aim shooter with a useless furtive mode.
Crouching during a gunfire could have been much more useful to avoid fire like S.A. and IV versions did. But no, there is no crouch for you. And yes, you're probably going to use the furtive modes a few times or not at all.
I wonder why there is a cover command on the V. Your character isn't even human, but a reptilian tank taking fire in the head like the Superman, you take fire on your lungs and legs and this is how you take your enemies down. You win this game by taking fire and not actually avoiding them, so if you can live with it (I can't) you're done.
Again that, "It's just a game man." Yeah, It's just a pretty realistic and gorgeous looking game, but they can take a headshot and keep breathing afterwards. The blood animations and the textures on your body are there for nothing but to cripple your illusion. Like a magic trip that shouldn't be revealed.
How Michael is alive with this big hole from a shot on his forehead? Okay it's just a game, so why there is a hole on his talking mouth anyway? That's hard to answer, if this is just a game why they did these bullet holes then? It's an infinite paradox.
Car racing? You mean, demolition racing.
I always liked GTA vehicles except for it's races, I never truly liked them. And no matter how you hit you car against objects, you will always end up spinning. I repeat, from GTA IV to the fifth I only see a big step back here.
Drive by? It takes ages for you to aim and shoot and drive at the same time, be you with a controller or not, while the NPC enemy is aiming at you perfectly. Sometimes you do as they do, but most of the time... you don't. If you're doing with a controller I feel very sorry for your wrists. They're going to hurt a bit during the action.
I don't know it just doesn't feel right. First GTA ever to make me feel that.
Forget about armor, the ballistic protection is useless. A few shots and your bulletproof vest is over, but not your damn health. Your body is stronger than the bulletproof vest and I just can't stand for this thing. Why the devs did that to GTA is beyond me, they should have been improving those mechanics instead of doing that.
I blame GTA Online. Officially, the game doesn't look like he was first designed for the single player experience and the on line gaming has his own algorithms and tendencies to be followed.
Who would play a boring cover to win kind of game? On line gaming demands a fast, crazy, pay to win game. Okay the business it's just faster if you die already. Got it?
Some shots are going to traverse through your cover as if the wall you're hiding isn't actually there, SOMETIMES hiding behind a wall does works and sometimes it does not. It's pretty relative for each kind of object you're using for it, and that's it. I insist, sometimes your character just walks away from your wall cover without reason too, so good luck.
How a company can release a game on such conditions!? R* guys do you even play the games you're in?
GTA V wastes one great virtual world away with a useless wilderness when it could have been filled with San Fierro, or better yet, with Las Venturas for a good cassino's heist. But no, the devs just wanted to waste time and money with a big useless mountain in the middle of the map. No seriously, who of you actually goes down hill on Chiliad more than once?
As before, the world map was made by them with the On Line mode in mind. Keep up with that and GTA's single essence will soon die.
Just take a look on the southeast, Palomino Highlands is a WASTE of space. Archipelago worlds from R* are there for a reason, everything you see is walkable and flyable. But that conception is starting to get old, to show it's age and it is becoming out of fashion. Yep, I would rather be forced to turn back at the end of a virtual landscape than actually flying above an ocean hell within a flat earth, with no clue whatsoever if the American continent even exists. Remember, this is just a fine looking game. Whatever right? This is not an issue at all.
Yeah just a small, false distant background wouldn't hurt, it's just better than filling empty space with flat water.
And what's up with those sarcasms in the game? Seriously, this is the first GTA who is trying to accomplish things that he had conquered naturally by the years. I think that this game just tried to look shocking instead of actually being shocking as he always did. GTA isn't supposed to try something like that, as he always did so naturally. But he's trying it anyway and this makes the game to look very silly. GTA IV was much more mature I think, but okay that's GTA.
Okay now, the first person is cool but also a bit disorientating and sometimes useless feature. Why i would need to look through the eyes of a man who automatically hits his enemies like the V.A.T.S. technology? Turn it off and you're doomed, specially On Line as everybody is probably using - actually I don't know if you can turn it off there. So how can this be even considered a shooter?
The first person view was just made for the next-gen to look good.
Everybody thinks that Watch Dogs was bad, but think again. At least the cover system worked when it was needed. I just had to press the right button and them the right wall was mine for a short period of time. You don't need to be clicking repeatedly trying to fix your position as it is on GTA V and dying during the process. Actually there was this time I was trying to hit a guy behind the cover on GTA V but my character didn't respond to my command.
Been running GTA V on a I7 with GTX 970 but when Steam is on, the stuttering begins. That's ugly.
In other words, I'm beyond disappointment. This is definitely my last Grand Theft Auto for I have lost all my faith on it, and even if I'm amongst the minority I don't really give a F.A.K.K. about it, as we all have the right to like or to dislike things freely. I'm just sad to see a great game going away from me like this. Maybe it's the other way around.
Some types of musics and some other artistic expressions only stays cool when they're underground. If it gets out there too much, it dies. It becomes too popular and with the masses hitting on it, the companies behind it keeps an eye out for the money and money only... and subsequently the loss of quality. It can happen, it's a reality. Like Call of Duty massive decay from an impressive WW2 shooter to an generic next-gen shooter. Like the fast-food of gaming. Been there, done that.
I wouldn't be impressed if R* comes to say as Activision once did, in declaring their games for the non hardcore audience but for the casual gamer only. Before the ranting starts, I'm not saying that the game is bad for you. If you want to believe in the hype just go ahead and buy it.
Maybe you can do what the companies want you to do, to love every game unconditionally without questioning anything?