Rockstar North 2013 "Grand Theft Auto V"

Released in September of 2013 “Grand Theft Auto V” was a huge success quickly reaching critical acclaim. Being greatly anticipated preceding its release the game hit the hype,and it hit it hard. With its current total revenue sitting between 1.5-2 billion dollars this game certainly shows its worth in the numbers coming in as the 4^th highest selling game in units sold. I bought this game the day it came out and spent hours playing it. I liked the aspect of having three different main characters who in a way were all contrasts of each other. The developers emphasised on the individuality of these characters in the random events that occurred as you changed between these characters with each character doing something that highlighted their personality: Michael lounging by the pool at his condo, Franklin going for a drive, or Trevor waking up in nothing but his boots and underwear on a train track narrowly avoiding being hit by a train. This added to the hustle and bustle of the open world setting making it feel like a real time, and progressive time line. Throughout the game I would hear news reports were the other characters had been involved. But only I knew that what Michael was hearing on the radio involved Trevor because I was the one that played through that event as Trevor. It really helped with the immersion in the game and really acknowledged your progression giving a rewarding experience to the player. In terms of the play style of the game the satirical nature of the game isn’t over exaggerated as they created a great balance between the games humorous elements and being taken as a serious contending AAA game which really draws in their large fan base.However one thing they did in the game that I and others found surprising was an event where the player as Trevor would torture a man who was innocent known by both the player and Trevor and the victim admitted he would confess all information yet you still proceedto torture him. I felt like this sort of messed with the overall flow of the game and it was a little out of context for me. I felt it wasn’t really part of Trevor’s character. Even though he was pretty psychotic and extremely violent. He seemed to be on a reprise and more misunderstood and that even with his violent tendencies he still had humanity and strong moral ground. The scene felt very out of place and was uncomfortable for players. Otherwise this was a great game with this being just a minor hiccup. This game was very deserving of its success and I thoroughly enjoyed playing it.