Grand Theft Auto V: One Year Later

So I'd like to start this new series called One Year Later. It basically allows me to go back and visit now year old games to revisit my thoughts on them and see if they've changed at all. I now wish I could have done this in June with The Last of Us, but I might go back and revisit that in due time. For now let's go back to September 17, 2013, the day of Grand Theft Auto V's release. At that point, the hype for GTA V's release had reached staggering levels. Having played every console GTA game since III as well as other Rockstar Games like Bully and Red Dead Redemption, I was very hyped. The day before, GTA V scored a 98 on Metacritic, and that only added fuel to the fire. About 75% of the people I saw that day were a bit jumpy, checking their watches or a nearby clock to know just how much time they had left before they would head to Los Santos. Finally, I got home, put the game in, went to grab myself a drink as the 8GB game installed, and began playing.


To say I got addicted to GTA V would be an understatement. I finished the game in about five days, all while putting in over 35 hours into it by the time the story was done. And even then, I still kept playing it. It was what I was playing everyday for weeks, probably only declining when I got my PlayStation 4 in mid November. What did I love about it? Virtually everything. The gameplay was amazing and refined from previous GTA games, the story was filled with funny dialogue and interesting characters, it had some of the best mission variety I had ever seen in a game, the sound design (minus the radio songs) were excellent, the game while not the most graphically impressive still was a remarkable technical achievement, it was filled with stuff to do, and it was pretty much a masterpiece in every sense of the word.


Then with October 1 came the launching of Grand Theft Auto Online. While I wasn't nearly excited about online as much as I was with the main game prior to release, I still was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, GTA Online had some issues to say the least. It was unplayable for at least a week for the vast majority of players, and those that did get in experienced many frustrating glitches, including a major one that caused your character to be deleted seemingly at random. Even after the majority of players got online, some still had issues. A friend of mine continued to have issues well into November in terms of connecting. And the actual Online wasn't really all that impressive. Sure you had all of Los Santos and Blaine County to explore with friends and there was a ton of stuff to do, but it faltered on many things as well. These things include an absolutely stupid character creator, the over-reliance on grinding, and eventually the hackers. The hackers probably killed the online for me. I think I maybe put a total of five hours into online, and I don't really have any intention of going back. Although I do appreciate that Rockstar continues to support the game with numerous updates, the heists are almost a year overdue and it's gotten to the point where I don't think the heists will keep me in online for too long.


I still keep my stance on the main game. Grand Theft Auto V is a masterpiece and that hasn't changed, I did recently rank it #3 on my Top 25 Games of the Generation list. I think it is by far the best installment in the GTA series, and one of the best open world games ever made. Unfortunately what also hasn't changed is my opinion of Online. I still am not compelled to go back to it, even though there are a ton of missions waiting to be completed. I may rent the PS4 version of GTA V to compare it to the PS3 version, but I have no intention at the moment to purchase it. However, it's still amazing to me that after all that hype, possibly the most hype I've ever had for a game, it still managed to surpass my expectations. It's really a remarkable achievement in gaming and serves as the PS3/360 generation's swan song. Even with all the games in my backlog, I still go back and play GTA V every now and then, and I still enjoy it. I'm super excited for GTA V's story expansions, and whatever Rockstar does next.


What did you think of Grand Theft Auto V? What about Grand Theft Auto Online? Will you be picking up the PS4/XB1/PC version of GTA V? Let me know! And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.