Grand Theft Auto V - A Game for Three Generations

Grand Theft Auto has come a long way since the 90s, from top-down 2D to full 3D, from driving dangerously to living dangerously in the criminal underworld. Yes, it caused a lot of controversies, as in "art imitates life" and vice versa, but it's simply a game for grown ups, who are wise enough to not hopefully not commit those crimes depicted in-game. Then there's the latest, most known installment that managed to stay relevant for three console generations without stopping, mostly due to its multiplayer mode that offers more than the singleplayer experience. That instalment is Grand Theft Auto V.

In the city of Los Santos, three guys are brought together by fate: street hustler Franklin Clinton, retired bank robber Michael De Santa and the wild card Trevor Philips. As their lives spiral out of control, involving FIB, a private security firm and an arrogant billionaire, the three must work together in a series of heists and crimes all around the city to survive what comes after them, from secrets being exposed and more betrayals. They either survive together or die alone.

The gameplay is similar to previous 3D titles: the player can do whatever want and commit almost all kinds of crimes, from carjacking to shooting pedestrians. The new feature is having three separate protagonists, whose personalities are best on certain types of players: newbies (who are new to the series), veterans (who played most of the series) and psychopaths (who mostly revel in this type of violent behavior without consequences... most of the time). They each have a special ability: Franklin can handle any type of cars, Michael has deadly accuracy and Trevor can become so enraged he can survive anything that's thrown at him. They can hang out together or their friends to engage in all sorts of activities (and of course, cause mayhem).

While pretty dated as of 2021, it's still a great experience, the fact that it's getting released again for the new consoles proves how good this game is, and I'm proud to say that I'm glad to have it. As previously stated, the game was originally released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but eventually got remastered (with added first-person perspective) for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam, and remastered again for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. It even has an online mode, which you can figure out on your own.