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Grand Theft Auto V - Review Thread | Take 2

MYeager

Member
Every..single..time with GTA. I am depressed how this industry has come. Really there are also other good and quality's games but this is so mutch hyperbole and they don't get mutch attention then only GTA. I am not falling in that rockstar trap again. Escapist review is pretty honest but that's about it really.


I understand that it can be depressing being a fan over a quality game that doesn't sell well when there are games that seem like they get all the attention, whether it's Mario, Call of Duty, GTA or otherwise, but disliking a game because of the popularity and hyperbole it receives is kind of a miserable way of viewing things. There are a number of games I loved this year from smaller studios that will not receive the attention of this game, but I'm happy to live in a time when smaller studios can create compelling experiences while games like GTAV also exist.

I'm sure all of the reviews are honest reflections of the reviewers opinions, the Escapist's review may just be closer to your own personal views but that doesn't make it any more or less honest than the others.
 
I can imagine, 200 years from now, like our reading of Dickens, the game will be regarded as a catalog of our contemporary travails, an accelerated reality bearing more truth than just gazing at our own reflection..
brother.... this is too much
 
Sessler's review is hilarious. I get that you like the game man, but dial it down a notch. Comparing the housers mediocre as fuck writing to dickens is the new oscar worthy, i think.

As for all the reviews, the game seems to be a solid 9 and the best open world game since san andreas. Great to hear, and I cant wait for midnight.

dan houser is a pretty good writer, its just nature of rockstar's open world games, that it might not be as "good writing" as a linear game like TLOU... but Dan is a fantastic writer
 
You know, I'm really glad the embargo ended only a day before release. It's awesome reading about how fantastic this game is while knowing I'll personally be playing it in twelve short hours.
 
"Rockstar had a chance to elevate, and they wasted it on portraying characters you don't want to spend five minutes with, let alone the hours it would take to play through the game's story."

This just defined my problems with every GTA game since Vice City...It's the setting, story and characters...
 

Nokterian

Member
Is this game not worthy of such praise? because I can't really count any game that equals this much of a game.

GTAIV was a big dissapoinment to say the least for me same goes for RDR and MP3. And i do not believe the hyperbole i am very sceptical these days. All those reviews don't do mutch to me,just impressions from other people are better to hear it then this.
 

ultron87

Member
I think Jeff from GB expects every open world game to have super powers. He really liked SRIV quite a bit. I really can't think of any other open world game beyond SRIV that made traversal easier.

This sounds like it is specifically referring to GPS routes being marked on the roadway instead of the mini map. I think Saint's Row has done this for several iterations as did Sleepy Dogs.
 

Mogwai

Member
All these 100% scores are a bit hard to digest. Need to play it myself to see if it holds up. It's good to hear that the controls have been tightened up.

Also, where is Sessler's moustache? That's just disturbing.
 

Squire

Banned
I fully understand what Sessler was going for. I think people are confusing his statement with him comparing GTAV to classic literature and he's really not. He's saying GTAV could very well be used as a case study into what 20XX life was like in a similar way that classic literature can be used to do the same for that time period.

Makes sense to me. People in 2250 will see GTAV and be able to pick out the pop culture references and the things the game touches on (NSA spying, tech, etc) that was popular today.

People get so hung up on what strikes them as a hyperbolic claim at first glance that they stop at that first glance instead of going on and actually analyzing what's been said.

Nothing crazy in Sessler's review.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Is there any early word on which version is better, or even which platform all of these reviews are from? Im getting it on PS3 and hope its not massively inferior
 
Sessler's review is hilarious. I get that you like the game man, but dial it down a notch. Comparing the housers mediocre as fuck writing to dickens is the new oscar worthy, i think..

I posted this in the other thread, but it was locked so:

I wonder how many people making fun of Sessler's Dickens quote have actually read Dickens in any real critical way.

There's nothing wrong with that quote. It's not about quality of writing (though that seems high here). He's just saying that like Dickens' work is a window into that time period GTAV will be a window into ours one day. That's...true. It will be a very interesting work to look at for someone 100 or 200 years from now. It seems to be quite the cultural time capsule of 2010-2013 in terms of tone.
 

Ninjimbo

Member
I'm a bit surprised at the amount of praise to be honest. Maybe it's because I expected the reviews to not be so hyperbolic? I don't know. That Sessler quote is just strange to me.
 

Nokterian

Member
Just play it yourself, don't wait for impressions. Are reviews impressions any different from simple folk here? Not really

Well they do since those are the people who are playing it after launch. They can say what they really feel about it but like i said reviews are just a opinion from them but i do not believe it before i hear and see it from others.
 
dan houser is a pretty good writer, its just nature of rockstar's open world games, that it might not be as "good writing" as a linear game like TLOU... but Dan is a fantastic writer

Houser can excel if he's given a strong theme to stick to (bully, RDR) but he tends to get lazy in the GTA games. The only one I'd consider written well was San Andreas, which was also the most "period piece" of the GTAs.
 

Derrick01

Banned
Is there any early word on which version is better, or even which platform all of these reviews are from? Im getting it on PS3 and hope its not massively inferior

PS3 version seems a bit better from all of the people who got it early. It seems to trade a few fps here and there to eliminate most of the pop in and it seems to be a little sharper looking than the 360 version, which has bad pop in but a steadier overall framerate. We're not talking 20fps here or anything like that, ps3 version seems to be 25-30 no matter how crazy it gets.
 

hohoXD123

Member
Yeah, they shouldn't have given GTA IV that score because they knew GTA V would be better. This is going to be awful when GTA VI comes and blows GTA V away.
really?

Think you missed the point...
GTA IV had many areas that needed improving which GTA V clearly addressed, so it getting a 10 is silly. If GTA V has little that needs improving which is possible with current gen tech then it's deserving of the 10 regardless of what the next gen GTA VI achieves.
 

MYeager

Member
I posted this in the other thread, but it was locked so:

I wonder how many people making fun of Sessler's Dickens quote have actually read Dickens in any real critical way.

There's nothing wrong with that quote. He's just saying that like Dickens' work is a window into that time period GTAV will be a window into ours one day. That's...true. It will be a very interesting work to look at for someone 100 or 200 years from now. It seems to be quite the cultural time capsule of 2010-2013 in terms of tone.

Yep. I felt the same of both Vice City and San Andreas as well, they work as time capsules for both the 80s and 90s, at least in terms of pop culture of the times in a nutshell.
 

kurbaan

Banned
I really didn't like Adam sessler's review. He tries way too hard to make the game be more that what it is. Takes game way too seriously and way too many hyperbolic statements. Don't really have a problem with his score but just some if the stuff he says makes me go really?
 
"Rockstar had a chance to elevate, and they wasted it on portraying characters you don't want to spend five minutes with, let alone the hours it would take to play through the game's story."

This just defined my problems with every GTA game since Vice City...It's the setting, story and characters...

For me it's almost the opposite. Rockstar create some very dark and unsettling characters - ones that I absolutely would not want to spend 5 minutes with in real life, and that's what makes the game so appealing.

Besides, if you find them that despicable, you can always launch them off a mountain :p
 

Guevara

Member
PS3 version seems a bit better from all of the people who got it early. It seems to trade a few fps here and there to eliminate most of the pop in and it seems to be a little sharper looking than the 360 version, which has bad pop in but a steadier overall framerate. We're not talking 20fps here or anything like that, ps3 version seems to be 25-30 no matter how crazy it gets.

Good to hear.
 
After GTAIVs high scores and being bored to tears playing it, I am wanting to wait until I get impressions from non reviewers...

That said Im hyped and may give in tonight.. Damn 24hour supermarkets!

I hope the next GTA introduces a whole new city/area, don't want to go back to liberty city or miami
 

Kadin

Member
I find it slightly funny that GTA IV got 10s from the same sites which have given GTA V a 10 even though GTA V is apparently better than IV in pretty much every conceivable way. Shows how ridiculous review scores have become.
I just take it to mean that at the time, the previous game was a 10/10 by the standards at the time and now this is also a 10/10 by today's standards. Sure not a whole lot of time has passed but I think things have definitely gotten better so I can see how 2 games get the same score yet one is arguable better than the other.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
PS3 version seems a bit better from all of the people who got it early. It seems to trade a few fps here and there to eliminate most of the pop in and it seems to be a little sharper looking than the 360 version, which has bad pop in but a steadier overall framerate. We're not talking 20fps here or anything like that, ps3 version seems to be 25-30 no matter how crazy it gets.

Thanks guys, thats a relief
 
I really didn't like Adam sessler's review. He tries way too hard to make the game be more that what it is. Takes game way too seriously and way too many hyperbolic statements. Don't really have a problem with his score but just some if the stuff he says makes me go really?

If he's passionate for a game, he will go all out. If not, he will go all out in the opposite direction.
 

Avallon

Member
Think you missed the point...
GTA IV had many areas that needed improving which GTA V clearly addressed, so it getting a 10 is silly. If GTA V has little that needs improving which is possible with current gen tech then it's deserving of the 10 regardless of what the next gen GTA VI achieves.

Reviews are opinions of a game at the time they were reviewed; not looking back from several years in the future.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
I'm pretty sure that's how it went last time as well. The people that have the game now are die hard GTA fans. Of course they're going to love it. It sounds like it's more of the same. That is not a positive attribute for me though. I haven't enjoyed a GTA game since Vice City.

After other people like myself who are on the fence buy the game then it'll be interesting. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that are not willing to fork out the $60 to get burned again. When we see a sale then I'll be back with bated breath.
I don't seem to understand what you expect to get out of these reviews then. If you didn't enjoy San Andreas, which is pretty much universally loved by hardcore GTA fans and everybody else, then you've kinda gotta consider yourself a small minority on this subject, whose opinion is not likely to reflect the general opinion of others.

In other words, the reviews will be largely useless to you, so.........what are you even doing in here? No offense, you have your right to be here, I just don't get what you're doing.
 

Kacho

Member
I can tell you about hunting. There is a side mission for it where you need to hunt deer for money and completing challenges. You hunt using whistle, stealth and sniper rifle and need to snap photo of every kill.

Thanks!

You only hunt deer then? Additional hunts don't open as you progress? I was hoping for more dangerous game like in RDR.

Either way, what you described sounds great. Do you know if the hunting missions are infinite or not?
 

Toxi

Banned
Reviews look good, so at least it's probably not awful.

I'll wait several months before trying an open world game. The genre tends to garner more positive reviews at launch than later (see: Bethesda and GTAIV), with only a few titles like RDR enjoying continued acclaim of the same level from the people I look at.

It's a pity that GTAIV's ridiculous hype train desensitized me to all these 10's. :-/
 

kingocfs

Member
I really didn't like Adam sessler's review. He tries way too hard to make the game be more that what it is. Takes game way too seriously and way too many hyperbolic statements. Don't really have a problem with his score but just some if the stuff he says makes me go really?

I do like his reviews but yeah, he loves his thesaurus.

Haven't been keeping up with this game much since I'm trying to hold out for the next gen port, but a lot of the reviews I've read this morning have complained about the dependency on the mini map. That is a huge bummer. Everything else seems to be in order for a GTA game, though. I'm seeing a lot of people whining about reactions to these reviews on Twitter and I'm not sure why.
 

jrcbandit

Member
Good scores. Not surprised though.

GTA IV also had great scores. And that game turned out to be pretty mediocre in my opinion. Had way more fun in RDR and SR3.

So I learned my lesson last time. I will not be buying this based on these reviews. I'll wait for impressions from other neogaf posters. I know with GTA IV there were many people on here that I agreed with regarding the game. In neogaf I trust.

While I'll agree that GTA IV got way too high of review scores and was at best mediocre, GTA V looks to be much more deserving. The gameplay is much more entertaining than GTA IV without being heckled by a friend every 5 minutes to go bowling and thankfully including checkpoints in missions (the GTA IV expansions did have checkpoints at least ;p). The missions seem to be more varied than IV and more customizations are available again. Also, the fun factor is back in the game, as it is not trying to tell an overly serious story where a psychotic murderer keeps bemoaning all the killing, aka, GTA IV. There are a couple of scenes that are disturbing that are meant to make you feel uncomfortable, but the vast majority of the time it is about having a good time and certain characters like Trevor revel in the ridiculous violence.
 

Marleyman

Banned
Sessler's review is hilarious. I get that you like the game man, but dial it down a notch. Comparing the housers mediocre as fuck writing to dickens is the new oscar worthy, i think.

As for all the reviews, the game seems to be a solid 9 and the best open world game since san andreas. Great to hear, and I cant wait for midnight.

It is his opinion; he digs the writing. I don't think they are "mediocre as fuck" at all, so include myself w/ Sessler. What game writers are that much better anyway?
 

Neiteio

Member
I'm not particularly excited for GTAV, although I will pick it up at some point out of a misplaced sense of gamer's duty. Wish they'd announce the PC version, but I know they want us to double-dip. More power to them, I suppose.

That being said, I think some of you guys are distorting the Sessler pull-quote about Dickens. Seems obvious to me he's just saying GTAV is a good time capsule for future generations. It tries to capture the zeitgeist of 2013 and in Sessler's opinion does a good job of it, depicting our desires and anxieties as a culture. Satirical, yes; exaggerated, perhaps. But capturing the spirit of the times all the same.

That's one thing I've always found admirable about these games, even if the protags are extremely off-putting and the missions repetitive.
 

ASIS

Member
Reviews are opinions of a game at the time they were reviewed; not looking back from several years in the future.

That, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with the review scores. They do little to put these numbers into context.

Sequels are always compared to each other in reviews, that's what most publications do.
 

Squire

Banned
Yep. I felt the same of both Vice City and San Andreas as well, they work as time capsules for both the 80s and 90s, at least in terms of pop culture of the times in a nutshell.

R* excels at period pieces. The difference here is GTA V is a modern work steeped in the zeitgeist. It's going to serve the same purpose, but years from now.
 

Fletcher

Member
I know people like having the gps on screen and telling you when/where to turn, but I kind of always preferred the having to look at the map. It makes you familiarize yourself with every location and, if you play enough, able to get to places just by memory. That's how I felt with past GTA games, at least. Perhaps this maps too big and I will grow tired of it?
 

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Is that performance less than desirable? The fact this is on current generation hardware and not next generation hardware is making me wary.
If performance was bad I assume someone would have mentioned it in a review. A game this expansive and long will highlight the technical deficiencies.
 

TechnicPuppet

Nothing! I said nothing!
PS3 version seems a bit better from all of the people who got it early. It seems to trade a few fps here and there to eliminate most of the pop in and it seems to be a little sharper looking than the 360 version, which has bad pop in but a steadier overall framerate. We're not talking 20fps here or anything like that, ps3 version seems to be 25-30 no matter how crazy it gets.

Will find out for sure at 11am tomorrow when the DF analysis goes up.

There was a review on the other thread that said the PS3 version was worse and running at a lower resolution.
 

hohoXD123

Member
Reviews are opinions of a game at the time they were reviewed; not looking back from several years in the future.

It's not like we're talking about an entire console generation in the future. A lot of highly rated games which were released around that time can still stack up against the competition today, for example Uncharted 2 or MGS4. Besides, it's not just tech related improvements GTA V has made.
 
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