GTA V PS4 Review - A Worthy Second Buy

GTA V released just over a year ago to rave reviews from critics. More importantly, players found the re-imagining of San Andreas the best yet with its wealth of single-player content and a healthy online offering.

A year on and Rockstar is set to release GTA V for the PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release slated for early 2015. So the question is; is GTA V worth buying twice? Or is this just an unashamed blatant money-grabbing attempt by Rockstar?

Read on for the full GTA V review.

Story

If you’ve already played GTA V on the PS3/Xbox 360 please feel free to skip forwards to the gameplay and graphics section, simply because it’s the same character-driven tale of past glories and wannabes. If you’ve not yet played GTA V (you crazy or something?!) or just fancy reading the opinions of this particular review, then feel free to read on.

The GTA games have evolved so much over the last decade, but one of the greatest evolutions within the series, for me anyway, is the storytelling. Of course the gameplay and graphics have been expanded upon with each release, but story-driven games have always been a favourite of mine.

This time around we don’t just play as one character; we play as three. Three protagonists may seem a little overkill, but a strong script and ample pacing ensures that each of the three playable characters are fully realised and given the character development they deserve.

The three characters in question are Michael: the rich and retired former career criminal residing in Los Santos with his wife and entitled kids. Trevor: Michael’s former partner in crime, a complete and utter nut-job and an all round bad mother-effer. Finally we have Franklin: the up-and-coming criminal who’s striving to find his place in the seedy world of Los Santos.

The trio are unique in their personalities and goals, offering different missions and branching story-arcs. It’s enjoyable flitting between the three as the story progresses as well as being a necessity to advance. Each of the threesome have their own quirks and traits that makes watching them bounce off each other during the cut scenes.

Trevor in particular stuck out as a real gem amongst the expansive cast. His psychopathic tendencies provide some of the games most hilarious moments with more than a few ‘laugh out loud’ occurrences owing to the fantastic writing behind the character, not to mention to excellent voice over work. The same rings true with Michael and Franklin, though the funnies aren’t as frequent, but they don’t need to be.

The game tells the stories of three individuals who have different reasons for their criminal endeavours with each of them representing something different. Michael is stuck in the past, constantly reliving the glory days of years gone by and just isn’t happy with the boring life by the pool. When he stumbles upon Franklin stealing his car the two quickly become acquaintances and as the story move on, friends. The characters have been offered the room to grow instead of just being presented as-is, though the same can’t be said for Trevor, or at least not to the same extent.

The main story is a lengthy affair and should take around 16 hours to work through from start to finish, and that’s including the optional side-missions that are scattered throughout the course of events. There’s a lot to do aside from the main story with some of the side-missions taking on tales of their own, albeit with varying degrees of success. Some will take you on grand quests throughout the vibrant city of Los Santos and up into the unforgiving hills and out to the expansive desert, littered with little easter eggs and explorable areas.

In short, the story is perhaps the strongest in the series, possibly the best tale that’s been woven by Rockstar, second only to Red Dead Redemption. The central characters are hilarious to engage with and tell a truly epic story of greed, corruption and friendship. Whilst it relies on laughs and dark-humour to get a rise from players, there’s actually a bit more of a deep-lying story of humanity and at times it actually had me feeling genuinely happy/sad/angry at each of the characters at one point or another, especially during the final few chapters which offer multiple endings. If you’re after a story that’ll keep you entertained with blockbuster values, an entertaining cast of likeable characters and replay value, then GTA V won’t disappoint, it’s even fun to play through for a second or third time.

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GTA V is available now for PS4 and Xbox One from Amazon.

Gameplay

The core mechanics that have been on display since the very first 3D GTA, GTA III. Missions are laid out throughout the map along with other points of interest.. The first few introduce you to the game mechanics; driving, shooting, movement, you get the gist. One of the new additions to player control are the special ‘abilities’ that each of the characters possess. Franklin can concentrate and up his responsiveness whilst driving, providing some advantage when you’re being pursued by the pesky cops or racing around the city. Michael can also slow down the world around him and focus his efforts on firearms, not unlike John Marston in Red Dead Redemption. Trevor’s ability allows him to go into a feral rage allowing you to run around like a crazy fool dealing and taking more damage than usual. They work well and don’t feel tacked on or more importantly, overpowered. You have to earn the right to use the abilities, whether it be straight up murder a bunch of folks, perform daring drifts or take out enemies (or civilians if you’re so inclined…) with headshots.

The new-first person in GTA V is a bit hit and miss at times. Driving around the city through the eyes of your character is really good fun, looks great and lends a tad more realism to the over-the-top parody-ridden romp. However, I still found myself moving back to the familiar third-person when I was required to pursue a target or when there were far too many of the terminator-esque boys in blue chasing me down.

The same holds true with the gunplay and general combat. It works well, but it still feels a little bit raw around the edges, especially with GTA V’s default cross hair settings, but it fares a little better when switched out to the bigger, more traditional cross hairs. Whether GTA V can be played all the way through using the first-person mode is something I don’t think I can fairly comment on, I struggled to stay alive in crucial situations and was again forced to opt for the traditional third-person mode. I suppose it could be just because I’ve been so used to playing GTA V from the third-person that the new mode will take a bit more getting used to. Still, it’s a nice addition by Rockstar and it’s obvious they’ve taken on board what fans have been asking for and it should make multiplayer a little more competitive.

Gameplay in general is just as tight as the original release with missions playing out superbly, whether they’re the big heists that require you to complete a series of smaller jobs leading up to the main event, or just your bog-standard point-to-point event. Some of the games missions will dictate how you play whilst others will allow a little more freedom, but be under no illusion, this is a scripted story and you’ll be forced to follow the beaten path more often than not.

The real freedom comes from the huge open world that’s provided. You don’t have to go along with the narrative if you don’t feel like it, you’re free to explore the biggest GTA map to date with no limitations and where you can go due to the game taking place on one island instead of the traditional three.

Some of the finest moments come from the unscripted and unexpected events that occur. I was driving around, minding my own business when out of nowhere a speeding ambulance smacked into the side of my vehicle, tipped itself over and crushed three members of the public to death. I had to laugh out loud, it was hilarious! It’s these small moments that make beating the streets of Los Santos an experience and not a chore.

One of my personal favourite ways of moving around the map is through the air, most of the time in a jumbo jet. Flight is still a little off at times, especially when helicopters are involved. It’s still as awkward as ever trying to engage in combat and maintain steady control, but that’s something evolution will have to take care of; we just don’t have that many thumbs, yet.

Once you’ve finished the main campaign and scouted out the side-missions and completed them, or at least attempted to, there’s not a lot else to do. Taking on the big city and the desolate mountains are fun for a while, but the appeal soon wears off an it becomes apparent that a vast amount of the game world is nothingness. The big city of Los Santos is well populated and if you’re bored and fancy a cop-chase or just to play some mini-games, it’s easy enough. Once you move out of the city and into the desert, that’s when things take a turn. Outside of the missions there’s not really much to keep you coming back to the Sandy Shores or it’s surroundings other than rounding up the collectibles. It’s unfortunate and it feels like it could have been avoided had Rockstar included the original three areas that were found in GTA: San Andreas.

There are very few shortfalls with GTA V’s gameplay and the transition to PS4 has been kind to the re-release. An enthralling campaign filled with some of the most exhilarating set-pieces will keep you entertained for hours. The largest GTA open-world to date is still a riot to run free in and cause mayhem, but exploring alone just isn’t the same fun as going at it with a few friends.

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GTA V is available now for PS4 and Xbox One from Amazon.

Graphics

One of the touted features in the next-gen version has been the graphical upgrade applied to the year old game. In the trailers released by Rockstar the graphics sure do paint a pretty picture, but in reality it’s not as significant as one would expect.

There have been visual upgrades and they are noticeable from the word go; character models are more detailed whilst vehicles have that extra layer of polish that really brings out the beauty under the beating Los Santos sun. It’s not just the material objects that look great, but the world itself has been given a facelift. GTA V looked stunning on the PS3 and Xbox 360, but it really shines on the next-gen machines. Weather effects are fantastic and are full of detail; the glare effect of the sun is still there too.

The already beautiful Los Santos flaunts her charms and suckers you into the seedy underbelly its colourful inhabitants. The city streets are choked full with NPC’s, all going about their business. The majority of them serve as nothing more than window dressing, but they all seem to be doing something. I followed one lady (creepy…) for around ten minutes, listening in on her phone conversation. Then she was run over by a speeding police cruiser in pursuit of a perp. The beauty of GTA V, ladies and gentleman.

Not all is rosey red in paradise. GTA V suffered from some bland and flat texture with its initial release and although Rockstar claim they’ve upped the ante in the visual department, there’s still plenty of ugly areas that feel out-of-place, especially out of the city. The mountains still seem flat and lacking in detail with many textures simply copy and pasted in a pattern, though the added shrubbery throughout the outer city does make give the impression of a deeper environment and helps it look a little more three-dimensional, rather than a flat plane with a few cacti dotted around.

Buccaneers will enjoy taking to the waves given that the water effects are a drastic improvement over the original release. Sailing the seas, whether on a speedboat or jet-ski, is still enormous fun when there’s a reason to do so, but without any specific goal I found the ocean to be a little bit wasted.

All in all, GTA V looks the part on the PS4 and stands up against the few other open-world games available on the latest consoles. Los Santos gets a fresh injection of life with draw-distances improved upon the already impressive ones on the PS3/Xbox 360 whilst the frame-rate is as steady as you could wish for. The original release saw more than a few stutters when the action got heavy, but the power under the hood of the PS4 ensures a stable and reliable experience, even if there are a few dips from time to time it’s almost negligible.

Conclusion

GTA V isn’t just another next-gen port of a last-gen release. Rockstar has made active efforts to improve the actual gameplay as well as giving the graphics a fresh coat of paint, even adding on the varnish for longevity. Is it worth a second purchase? If you’re desperate to jump back into the world of crime and don’t mind stumping up the asking price then you’ll be happy with whats on offer; it presents better value for money than previous re-releases.

If you’ve never played GTA V yet (seriously, what’s wrong with you?!) then I highly recommend the next-gen release over the original version, especially if you want to get the most from the single-player campaign and enjoy the definitive edition of Rockstar’s best effort to date.

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GTA V releases on PS4 and Xbox One from November 18th. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon UK and receive $1,000,000 in-game cash. A PC release is set for January 27th and is also available to pre-order.

If you don’t own a PS4 or Xbox One, no problem. You can still enjoy the fantastic PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

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Review carried out using a PS4 copy of the game which was purchased at the reviewers expense.