Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is the rare game that never quite succeeds in any one aspect, but still uses it’s disparate parts to add up to an interesting – if flawed – whole. A confused, haphazard narrative and mechanics that feel somewhat outdated mar what is otherwise probably the most refined ‘sandbox’ game to date, one that fully embraces that description.

The most discussed change in this installment is the addition of multiple player characters: Michael, a washed up old thief; Franklin, an ambitious young street hustler; and Trevor, an amoral lunatic. It’s an interesting idea that allows for some clever moments, but aside from some special abilities there’s no difference in gameplay between the three – missions will almost always involve driving somewhere and/or shooting people. In the missions where the protagonists come together, you can switch between them – but only at certain points, which are easy enough to spot because the game will keep making a beeping noise at you until you switch. Doing so can provide a better vantage point (or you may find yourself surrounded by enemies, so be careful) while failing to switch often means the other character will die, forcing you to restart the mission. Ultimately it just becomes a way of getting the player to another part of the mission without making them run all the way over there. Efficient, but nothing groundbreaking.

The narrative that binds these three men together, on the other hand, is probably the worst part of the game. While it starts out promisingly enough, the story is quickly bogged down by the problems that have become typical of Rockstar games. Too often it's never really clear why the protagonists are doing something other than that it creates an excuse for something crazy to happen. They just sort of go along with whatever they're told to do, by literally anyone, and then complain about doing it. Which is weird, but fine – after all, game stories are for nothing if not justifying the action. Compounding that is the fact that very few characters are likeable or interesting, with many supposedly standing in as some sort of ironic portrayal of lazy stereotypes – to the point that some of them just stand there and announce what their stereotype is, and then have nothing else to say. And the rest are just different types of asshole. Even this isn’t too big a deal, and it occasionally works, right up until the game makes you listen to people yell and argue with each other about absolutely nothing, often for the entire mission. In almost all the missions.

It’s understandable as to why they have characters continue conversations as you drive from point A to point B. You want to have some way of showing all these people interacting with each other. However, I could probably count the number of conversations that didn’t involve anyone screaming or loudly complaining on one hand, and there is a lot of talking in this game. And that goes for the actual cutscenes, not just the incidental dialogue. It quickly becomes incredibly irritating, to the point that I would avoid doing missions just to get a chance to relax. What’s more, at about the halfway mark, they stop saying anything new. Everyone keeps on yelling at each other, but they’re essentially just saying the same things, over and over again. It’s extremely bizarre, as if at some point they stopped writing new dialogue and just decided to splice in the unused takes from earlier scenes, sprinkling in a little plot-specific info just to be safe. But this same problem occurred to a certain extent in Red Dead Redemption, a previous Rockstar game, as well, so it’s clearly a deliberate decision, which makes it all the more baffling.

As far as actually playing the game goes, it’s a little rough, but it works. The game has a finicky control scheme, with everything – movement, shooting, driving – requiring just a little more precision than the gamepad is capable of, and making any combination of those three things nigh impossible. The game isn’t difficult by any means, but it’s probably telling that it not only has an ‘aim the gun for you’ option, but allows you to skip mission sections entirely after failing several times in a row.

The weird thing about GTA V is that somewhere in between the slightly awkward controls and grating characters is a pretty fun game. There’s one mission in particular that clarifies just what manages to be so appealing underneath it all. Trevor and Michael are robbing a train, and the climax of the sequence involves boats, cars and helicopters all thrown in together in a ridiculous jumble. The whole thing just felt like some kid messing with his toys, which is precisely what so much of the appeal in GTA is. Just as Minecraft is a virtual Lego set, the island of Los Santos is a giant playbox, one that just happens to be a particularly stunning approximation of Los Angeles. All the supposedly mature, edgy material is a distraction from what makes this game fun, be it throwing cars around in the city, flying over mountains or playing cops and robbers. I have yet to go through the Online Mode, but the general impression I’ve gotten is that it capitalizes on this aspect of the game much more readily, simply because this is the kind of thing that works best with friends.

It’s hard to shake the feeling Rockstar isn’t quite sure what to do with the series, though. The game is crammed full of half-baked parodies of pop culture and leisure activities that don’t really contribute anything to the experience, while any attempt at playing the game means you have to listen to another character talk about how awful all the things you’re doing are. Simply calling themselves out on the illegal or immoral activities in the game only comes across as an awkward attempt on the developer's part to make it more palatable, but feels half-hearted and unnecessary. They don’t seem interested in letting go of the attention they get from that debate, either. A much discussed segment midway through the game requires the player, as Trevor, to torture an innocent person. It’s made obvious this sequence accomplishes nothing for the characters, and immediately afterwards Trevor launches into a tirade about how torture is ineffective. The whole thing comes off as a cheap attempt at stirring up controversy, with some extra dialogue thrown in to give them an out. It’s not offensive, just boring.

Only once did the game ever make me feel truly uncomfortable. A late game sequence requires Michael to take out some gangsters that have been messing with Franklin. It’s no different than any of the dozens of other missions, really. You drive to a place and shoot some guys. But when it’s a middle aged white man approaching a group of young men hanging out on a basketball court and immediately mowing them down, you begin to wonder just what kind of game Rockstar thinks it’s putting together. Whether you’re cruising city streets or fleeing into the desert, there’s fun to be had here, but most likely it’s going to be of your own making.