Review - Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V

Rockstar

Xbox 360, Playstation 3 (reviewed)

Action, Adventure, Open World

September 17, 2013

The Preamble

Grand Theft Auto releases have been making a big splash for years now. I remember waiting in line with my friend's parents (my parents wouldn't let me get it :P) back when I was a teenager to pick up Grand Theft Auto III, and the mind blowing moment of diving into Liberty City for the first time. My friends and I would stay up to the wee hours of the night, getting up to 5 stars and trying to escape police, searching for the coolest car in the city, and of course, needlessly turning innocent civilians into roadkill.

It's been 12 years since Rockstar wow'ed us with this landmark release.

This is what GTA has been for years, and it continues to be that today, but with so much more. With each release the game worlds and narrative strategies evolve, making for something bigger and better than the previous game. This release is no different as far as massive hype goes, in fact, it has turned out to be the highest grossing media release of all time. It's funny how that works out: The most controversial franchise of our generation is also the biggest money maker the industry has ever seen.

In the first 24 hours, GTA V sales amounted to 800 million dollars. After 3 days, they had breached a billion.

All of that aside, Rockstar has yet again brought a truly impressive beast to the table with Grand Theft Auto V. All of the things you loved about past GTA titles is back, but it's been improved, and paired with a plethora of new activities in a region that is the biggest we've ever seen in a GTA game. Perhaps the most noteworthy is the new and unique narrative approach that has been presented, where you are given dynamic control over three different main characters. And to put a cherry on top, we are also given the most comprehensive and polished approach to GTA multiplayer we've seen yet.

The Overview

The game begins in North Yankton, where two of the three characters you play are pulling off a bank heist. This is where you get an introduction to the mechanics of the game, but it also sets the stage for the real story, which takes place in Los Santos, ten years later.

The characters you take control of are Michael, Trevor, and Franklin. It's hard to give too much detail here without giving things away, but I will say that each character has their own distinct personality and mini-story arc, as well as a master arc which intertwines the three characters stories. The magic here lies not within the individual stories, but in how each of them cross paths, allowing you to play from multiple perspectives, while progressing the overall story.

Gameplay wise, we are given a smattering of just about every game type you can think of. The bread and butter of course is third person, cover based shooter mechanics. But in addition to this, you are given, essentially, a racing (both car and boat) game, flight simulator, tennis game, golf game, as well as tons of other stuff. 

The Good

• The multi-pronged storytelling approach Rockstar took with this game is unprecedented in an open world game like this. Switching between fending off the cops, setting an explosive to open the bank vault, and manning the helicopter to escape, all while working toward the common goal of pulling off a bank robbery is a truly special experience to behold. It didn't take long for this mechanic to win me over in a big way.

• Heists! What an awesome construct to have in GTA, especially when you're playing three different characters. There are planning, preparation, hiring, and execution phases, and they are all a blast. Going through these steps to pull off a grand crime, especially when the payout is massive, is super fun and satisfying.

• Rockstar has an eye for detail that is unmatched. From the character animations, to the dialogue, to the dynamic weather in the environment, the world feels like it is a real living and breathing entity.

• As far back as I can remember, Rockstar has superb dialogue in their games, and GTA V is no different. Each cutscene is a treat to observe and the characters that you meet throughout the story are always unique and amusing in their own way. The characters and dialogue truly stand out in this game.

• While I personally don't feel the map compares to Skyrim's, like some say, Los Santos is immense in this game. It's completely open to you as soon as you get past the initial heist mission, and as I mentioned before, it is chock full of things to do. Driving, flying, parachuting, property purchasing, scuba diving, and more. There's no shortage of stuff to do in the massive open world Rockstar provides in this release.

• While I had some issues with picture quality on my monitor, it didn't stop me from being awe struck by the visuals in this game. From the skyscrapers in the city, to the mountains in the wild, to the depths of the ocean, the visuals are truly a sight to behold in this game. More so than any GTA title that has come about before.

• I haven't had a chance to spend too much time with this yet, but the GTA Online feature seems to be something Rockstar spent a lot of time on, and has consequently made a fun, unique multiplayer experience in Los Santos. There are skill progressions, gang mechanics, property acquisitions, heists, and more to enjoy with your friends online. This is something I plan on spending more time with, and perhaps will have another write-up on.

The Bad

• I'm not saying I'm in love with Niko Bellic, but I liked him more than any of the characters you play in GTA V. That's not to say that they don't make for a good story, but on a personal level, Michael, Franklin, and especially Trevor are all pretty despicable. If it isn't from being a ruthless asshole, it's from being a pathetic coward. Of course I don't expect characters in GTA to be saints (no pun intended :P), but it would be nice if they had at least some admirable qualities from time to time.

• Grand Theft Auto games always push the limits of censorship and GTA V is no exception. Minor spoiler here, but there is a mission where, as Trevor, you needlessly torture someone in a overly brutal fashion. While I understand that this kind of thing is more a satirical commentary on the uselessness of torture, putting the player in the shoes of the torturer is pretty ham handed. To me, this felt like it was a little too far, but it begs the question, how far is too far?

• I mentioned this earlier, and maybe I've just grown too accustomed to PC graphics, but the console graphics really let me down here. I think it was partly due to the monitor I was playing on, but the textures looks pretty horrible to me, and hardly did the game justice on a visual level. Only a few hours into the game, as much as I was enjoying it, I couldn't help but wish they had waited to release this on next generation hardware.

• Along the same lines as the above criticism, if Rockstar couldn't wait to release on next gen systems, then at the very least release it on PC! It is baffling how much better GTA IV looked and played on PC vs. console, not to mention the amazing mods that have come out for the game. I really wish Rockstar would give it's PC audience some love and actually release their games on PC in a timely manner and not wait years like they typically do.

The Conclusion

Is GTA V the game of the year? Probably for some, but not for me. That being said, is it an impressive feat of gaming? Absolutely. Any fan of the GTA franchise, or open world games in general, will be thrilled with this game. Rockstar does some really neat things in this game, things that haven't been done in other games, and for that I praise them. For those gamers out there that want to have their eyes opened to a new approach to storytelling and open world gaming, I couldn't recommend this game enough, but fair warning, make sure you have a strong stomach, because Rockstar doesn't pull any punches in this one.

Early Impressions - Defiance

Defiance

Trion Worlds

Windows, XBOX 360, PS3

MMO, Third Person Shooter, RPG

April 2, 2013

The Preamble

It happened again... The MMO itch. Everytime I quit playing an MMO I tell myself I will never play another one again. Silly, silly, Thomp. I ought to know better by now.

At any rate, the itch has been lingering for the last several weeks. I’ve been fighting it off with moderate success, playing the closed beta of Marvel Heroes when I can to subvert the voice in my brain telling me to pick up a real MMO.

Well, the voice won. I picked up Defiance on Tuesday evening.

I thought I'd give a cursory overview of my thoughts so far. I’ve really only scratched the surface of the game, having not even tried the co-op missions or battleground-like PvP.

I’ve sunk about 5 hours into the game so far and while I have some gripes, I’ll definitely be continuing on this adventure through Defiance.

The Overview

For those who aren’t keeping their ear to the ground in the MMO space (I don't blame you), Defiance is a recently released MMOTPS (massively multiplayer online third person shooter) developed by Trion Worlds (creator of Rift). Money wise, Defiance uses the Guild Wars model of paying full price up front for the game and then letting you play it forever without any monthly fees. There is a micro-transcaction store (again, like GW/GW2) but the items you buy are almost exclusively cosmetic, so it’s reasonable.

The game is set in a post-terraformed San Francisco Bay area, several decades in the future. A number of alien races have come to Earth to make a new home for themselves, not realizing that the planet was already inhabited. This led to a war (what a shocker), but a war that has a semi-peaceful ending, leaving a large population of humans and aliens that become allies and attempt to live together in harmony.

You, the player, join in the story as an Ark Hunter about 20 years after the reconciliation. You crash land in the Bay Area with a mission to search out advanced alien technologies found in Arks that are scattered around the area (as well as crashing around the world map at random places and times).

The unique thing about this game is that the game world and characters tie into an upcoming SyFy television series entitled (you guessed it) Defiance. Supposedly, things that occur in the show will affect the game world, and events that occur in the game have the potential to make a difference in the show. I think this is the first time a multi-medium experience has been presented in this way, so it should be very interesting to see how things pan out. The show premieres April 15, 2013, on SyFy channel.

Nolan and Irisa (main characters from the TV show) taking a rest at a local watering hole. 

The Good

• Multiplatform! Defiance was released on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, and while it’s not cross-platform (PC players can’t play with console players), it’s a step in the right direction. This doesn’t affect me too much as a PC gamer, but I’m happy to see MMOs moving toward the console space. There are very few MMOs on consoles, so props to Trion for widening their horizons and releasing this on some other platforms.
• Episodic missions. There are quest (mission?) lines that intersect directly with the show’s storyline and characters. It’s hard to say exactly how this will work, but it looks like more of these missions will open up as the series goes on. This is yet another cool and unique aspect to the television tie-in mechanic.
  

  
  

  
  
• An MMO that requires some skill! You’re not going to find yourself spamming frostbolts on auto-targeted enemies like in most traditional MMOs. You’ll have to actively fight and dodge attacks in real time, and while the AI isn’t great, the game poses a significant challenge to players, especially when solo’ing.
  

  
  

  
  
• Tons of dynamic content. Rift was one of the early adopters of this mechanic (Guild Wars 2 also employs it), and it’s definitely prevalent in Defiance. Arkfall events are occurring all the time, letting you team up with a ton of people and fend off a small alien invasion, resulting in a good deal of XP, gear, and fun! Also, as you run around doing the plethora of side quests and challenges, there are all sorts of small dynamic events that you can take on in a solo or duo group that provide a good deal of XP and fun. (See Extras for extended Arkfall video.)
• Early vehicle access! Just wanted to note this, as I personally hate the grind to get a mount. Defiance throws one at you free of charge when you’re about an hour into the game. Bravo Trion!

The Not So Good

• The AI is bad. This is a weird criticism for an MMO since mob AI is almost always terrible, but it seems somehow more apparent in a shooter setting as opposed to RPG.
• The interface is awful. I guess the problem with bringing an MMO to consoles is that you have to dumb down the UI to the point of being able to use it with a controller. As a result, it’s pretty horrible for PC players. On top of this, Trion does a terrible job of explaining the damn thing. I did a lot of fumbling around and googling before I felt comfortable with it, and even now, it’s only tolerable.
  

  
  

  

  That's right, no dragging and dropping.

  
  

  

  The dreaded wheel. This is the sort of thing I hate about console-ifying interfaces. 

  
  
• I’ve never played an MMO where the chat channels are so vacant of discussion. It’s so weird, I don’t think I’ve seen a single line of text in chat since I started playing the game. I don’t know what the deal is, but it makes it extremely difficult to group up with people.

The Verdict (sort of) 

Massively multiplayer online games are unique beasts in that they each have their own evolutionary paths. Defiance adds the television tie-in element, which will bring about a new evolutionary track for the game world that other MMOs haven’t explored yet. I guess what I'm getting at is, the game has barely been out for a week. There's a lot up in the air right now.

It's really impossible to come to a verdict for an MMO so early, especially after only 5 hours of gameplay (a piddly amount for an MMO). What I can say is that I have some gripes, but overall, I'm very enthusiastic about this game and I'm looking forward to exploring and uncovering more of what Defiance has to offer.

There are many things I have yet to explore:

• PvP
• Co-op missions
• End game content
• Significance of TV show tie-in (the show hasn’t even started yet!)

I’ll be sure to post again with more details about the bullet points I’ve mentioned above, as well as the general state of the game as time goes on.

For now though, I think that if you like shooters, especially in the vein of Borderlands, and you're fond of MMOs (you know you feel that itch!), then I'd recommend picking this up. It should be an interesting experience playing the game along with the screenings of the show.

The Extras

Here's a longer look at what sort of dynamic content you can encounter in Defiance. I'm on my way to an Arkfall event, and find an abandoned vehicle on the side of the road that turns into a mini-event. Anyway, it's not a lot, but gives you some idea of what you can expect to see in the game.

Review - Spec Ops: The Line

Game Name:    Spec Ops: The Line

Developer:    Yager Development

Publisher:    2K Games

Platform:     PC (reviewed), X360, PS3

Genre: 3rd Person, Shooter

Engine: Unreal Engine 3

Release Date: June 26, 2012

I ended up buying Spec Ops: The Line during a Steam sale this holiday season. I guess I was out of the loop when this released in June 2012, but thankfully it showed up on so many Game of the Year lists that it quickly became a must play for me (the Steam Winter Sale prices didn’t hurt either). Because I came upon this game a little late, it’s inevitable that my views are somewhat tainted by all of the hype that I heard, but I’ve done my best to make an objective evaluation.

To give you a brief overview of the story, you play as Captain Martin Walker, leading the elite Delta force squad (with a whopping size of... three) into the dust ridden depths of Dubai on a recon mission. You almost immediately make hostile contact with what seem to be American soldiers. This throws up a few red flags, obviously. So you delve down into the rabbit hole, on a journey to discover why these soldiers are shooting at you, and what the hell is going on in Dubai.

If you’ve never seen Dubai, go Google it and check out some images of the city and the insanely badass architecture of its skyscrapers. Now imagine instead of being surrounded by ocean, it’s engulfed in sand dunes. The first time you walk outside a building and see the city, the experience is genuinely jaw-dropping. Within this unique setting, the developers introduce a neat mechanic in the form of massive dust storms that you must trudge through and endure. The wind kicks in, the dust flies, it’s difficult to move around and even more difficult to see. These sequences are downright intense. A feeling of panic strikes, you squint your eyes to see the barely visible enemies, and you do whatever you can, as fast as you can, to extinguish them before making your way through the storm to shelter. The feeling of being truly swayed by these storms is a defining factor of the atmosphere of the game, and the developers did a great job with this.

Outside of these dust storms, you’re not going to see too much new as far as gameplay mechanics go. The gameplay is about as cookie cutter as it gets for a third person, cover based shooter. Moreover, the game doesn’t even fit the mold that well. The controls feel rather rigid. Jumping in and out of cover is sort of clumsy, and not as seemless as a game like Gears of War. It’s not horrible, but it could certainly use some polish.

Thankfully the formulaic mechanics are not the main focus of the game, they are simply the toolset used for conveying a creative and haunting narrative, riddled with atrocities and horrors that you will not soon forget. Because of this focus on such a dark story, I have to go out on a limb here and say that this game is not... fun. At least not in the traditional sense. This game is fun in the same way that a movie like Schindler’s List is entertaining. Schindler’s List is a spectacular film, but it’s not really enjoyable to watch. Spec Ops: The Line is very similar in this regard. It focuses less on innovative mechanics and gameplay, and more on immersing you in the atmosphere and the characters, forcing your character to make tough, “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” choices, all the while delivering a shockingly dark narrative.

It’s difficult to describe without spoiling anything, but as you traverse the path that leads you to the end of the game, things get increasingly hectic. The feeling of there being no way to turn back after what’s been done is conveyed very well via Walker’s rationale. You’ll hear conflicting arguments against Walker’s decisions throughout your journey from your vocal squad members, and honestly, they are pretty sound arguments most of the time.  The discussion and banter between squad members adds a lot of perspective to what’s happening. The dialogue isn’t the mindless, meathead banter you’ve come to expect from characters in these roles, instead it feels honest and genuine. This could have really ruined the game if it were bad, but thanks to great writing and voice acting, this aspect of the game shines.

As much as I’ve written about tough decisions in this review, you as a player don’t end up making most of these decisions. These are Walker’s decisions, and you are along for the ride. The focus is on storytelling, and this is by no means a bad thing, just don’t look for much replayability with the campaign because of the linear nature of the story. That being said, I will recommend that once you see that credits screen, do yourself a favor and check out the other endings, either on Youtube, or by replaying the last mission. Each ending delivers a different kind of blow to your mind and emotions.

With that, I’ll close this review with a firm recommendation to go play this game. While the gameplay is a bit lackluster, the story is among the most creative, interesting, and disturbing that I’ve encountered in a video game. On top of this, it’s not going to take up too much of your valuable gaming time, the campaign is only 5 or 6 hours long, and to put a little cherry on top, you can find this on sale through Steam or similar vendors for very a low price (<$10) on a regular basis.