The Most Expensive Game Ever Keeps The Xbox 360 Alive

Joseph Milcinovic ’15
Grand Theft Auto 5, by Rock star Studios has come out with a bang. Nearly $265 million dollars has been put into Grand Theft Auto 5 and the result, a giant world, endless possibilities, great dialogue and the overall feeling of an action movie.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is about the lives of ex-bank robber Michael De Santa, a lowly gangbanger Franklin Clinton, and an insane meth cooker Trevor Philips. The premise of the story starts off with Franklin, and his desire to become a bigger gang member, to move up in the ladder, which leads him to meet Michael. Michael is an ex-robber who is in witness protection, and has some debts to some local cartel that springs him from retirement. Michael and Franklin work together on jobs and eventually run into Michael’s old friend Trevor, who has been making meth since the last time they saw each other. From then on it’s about their adventures in trying to make the most money and destroying other gangs.
In GTA V the driving is really interesting, realistic and fast. When I drive I always get into accidents due to my horrible ability of driving but it’s still enjoyable because it is even fun crash and burn in this game. There are only a few aspects of GTA V that I felt are a little too realistic, but still made the game better. For example, the amount of health that I had even with armor was never enough for the epic shootouts, ranging from the barren wasteland outside of San Andres to the streets. I would die constantly, but this brought in a sense of reality to GTA V and gave a nicely added challenge to the game. Additionally, it is extremely hard to outrun cops, but it adds a sense of creativity and it so incredibly fun to do. I found that it was nearly impossible to escape a 5 star, but even at a 2-3 star I had to dodge cars, make tricky turns, and quickly change cars to outrun the police. Stars are added as the notoriety of the character increases; the more stars, the more police and equipment that the police use to catch you increases. The police are fairly intelligent in this game creating a more realistic feel to the game, and a much deserved challenge as well. Even through all this challenging aspects, the experience of playing as these men of crime is unforgettable due to the fluid storytelling.
GTA V is a movie that is a video game. Every cut scene uses shot types that create a sense of a movie. While I was playing GTA V, my sister walked in and with an elementary knowledge of games, cinema, and GTA V said “Oh my Gosh, its looks like I’m watching a movie”. This truly shows how far Rock star has come with its $260 million dollar development; it created a truly amazing interactive movie. To compare it to movie doesn’t do it justice, GTA V has brought in one of the highest form of video game art and seems almost worthy of study; one of the contributors to this is the dialogue.
In GTA V, all the dialogue has purpose and each character has his own way of speaking. This may seem very obvious but every time a character talks it draws the player into the game world and every word that is said feels like the character that is speaking. These characters come from different backgrounds, retro 80’s style speech, gang slang, and a southern vernacular. This difference in character adds to the depth that is GTA V. The sense of open world is very prevalent in GTA V.
There are so many people to see, things to do, and mayhem to ensue all combining to make every moment is amazing. This game is one of the largest open world games; it is virtually endless considering what the player can do. When pulling a heist, I felt so engaged in the game that my cell phone rang and I didn’t know about it until after I was done; it’s that intense and engaging. Robbing, buying stock, creating a gang, walking a dog, all these things can be done in GTA V and every moment is an endless euforia. GTA V is the highest form of art on this generation console. Every word that is spoken, every shot type that is used when cut scenes are done, is truly breathtaking and creates a wonderful sense of awe. This game has taken videogames to an artistic level that has set the bar high for games to follow.  Now the question is not whether or not the average gamer should have this game, it is a question of why do you want to pay $60 for a Call of Duty remake, when you can participate in a truly amazing experience? Everyone that can should own this game. If this article hasn’t convinced you yet, rent it, borrow it from a friend or watch gameplay online, because to miss out on this game it a true travesty to game players everywhere.