I’m Playing Grand Theft Auto V For The First Time And It Lives Up To The Hype

You know how every time a new story about Grand Theft Auto V’s massive sales numbers somehow increase again – it recently surpassed 160 million copies sold – somebody makes the joke, “Who the hell hasn’t played this game yet?” Yeah…It’s me. I’m the person who hasn’t played the game yet, or at least, I was until Monday. Now that I am roughly 10 hours into Grand Theft Auto V : Expanded & Enhanced, it feels like I am a fool. 

Grand Theft Auto V absolutely lives up to the hype, despite my belief that there was no way an open-world game with so many systems and mechanics, now almost a decade old, would hold up this well in 2022. I’ve always known GTA to be the series of crude jokes, vulgarity galore, and more along those lines. Grand Theft Auto V, to be very clear, is quite similar, but it somehow works. I laugh as I type this because I imagine 99-percent of people reading this are like, “Yeah dude, duh,” but if you’re someone who still hasn’t played this game, let me tell you: play it. 

It was funny how the stories mode looked when I first opened it. Rockstar Games should not charge for the new-gen game. It should have been an update because, at best, it’s simply a 4K/60 FPS patch that makes things look a little better. Grand Theft Auto V looks very similar to a 2013 game, despite the improved lighting and textures. I finally let go of the notion that an enhanced edition shouldn’t have cost anything and was able, after much thought, to start playing Grand Theft Auto V, which I feel is already a favourite. 

One thing I found particularly striking in Grand Theft Auto V is how immediately authentic these characters feel. Michael, Trevor, and Brad all react and speak to each other how I imagine they would if they were real humans in a world robbing a bank in some remote snowy town. It was a short time before I met Franklin and his buddies, and now I’m constantly laughing about their conversation. They’re hilarious and highly engaging. I’ve already turned down the in-game music’s volume a touch to ensure I hear every interaction when driving through Los Santos and I love hearing phone calls come out of my DualSense controller’s speaker.  

The characters’ conversations feel very real. Franklin, his friends are relentlessly and lovingly giving each other crap in the same way that my friends and me do. Michael’s nihilism fits in perfectly with the setup of Rockstar’s Los Santos, and while I’ve only just met Trevor, I’m already floored by Steven Ogg’s unhinged characterization. Ogg also plays well into Trevor’s nuts. 

The driving force behind this game is for me the dialog. It varies from real and well-written to absolutely off-the-wall, but not in a bad way – the more zany dialogue feels right at home in this glamorized, centralized version of Hollywood. One minute, I’m having a real conversation as Franklin while talking to Jimmy about the faults of his dad. Another minute, I’m playing as Michael listening to a salesman pitch me a new strain of weed that gets Michael so high he goes on a machine-gun fueled rampage to murder dozens of aliens. Each corner that I go around, Los Santos has something that grabs my attention. It could be a Strangers and Freaks mission or an advertisement on a billboard that makes me laugh, or even a street that reminds me of Los Angeles. 

I’ve played past GTA games, and I adore both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption II, but I figured a 2013 Rockstar game wouldn’t deliver an open world designed as well as the latter one, and yet, I’m in love with Los Santos. It’s impressive how much Rockstar was able to cram into this city and the surrounding desert a decade ago, and my brain hurts to think about just how big Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be. 

Grand Theft Auto V is also filled with some remarkablely clever writing. As Michael, for example, I saw my wife with her tennis coach while walking in as Michael. Michael is furious and decides to take revenge on his coach. Franklin learns of the situation from Michael, who takes Franklin along with him to their Malibu-esque Malibu-esque pickup truck. The two tie the truck’s tow line to beams holding the coach’s house up on the cliff. They drive off, and the beams as well as most of the house tumble down the hill. 

I loved this scene, but I was thinking to myself the entire time, “This is funny but there’s no way a tennis coach owns a house like this.” And sure enough, 30 seconds later, Michael gets a phone call from the coach saying it’s not his house. In fact, it’s the house of another would-be tennis player the coach is sleeping with. Rockstar was quick and funny to answer a question that I had asked. That level of smart writing has been present throughout my 10 hours in Grand Theft Auto V thus far, and I can’t wait to find out what else awaits me in Los Santos. 

Do you feel 2013-like in the gaming, and especially with the gunplay? Yes. Rockstar’s visual and performance enhancements are worth the high price? Nah. Does Grand Theft Auto V hold up extremely well? It is very good. 

Perhaps it’s silly that I’m surprised – Grand Theft Auto V is the best-selling game of all time and one of the most successful entertainment properties ever, after all – but this game’s really, really good. It was a game I wished I could have played years ago.

Is anyone else playing Grand Theft Auto V first? Please comment below to let me know that you’re not the only one!