Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/23/game_theory_grand_theft_auto_5/
Grand Theft Auto V: Violent, sweary and amazingly ambitious
The 170-MEELLION-dollar monster has landed
Posted in Games, 23rd September 2013 13:33 GMT
Game Theory It’s rare that I walk out in the mean streets of London and experience carpet-bombing marketing for a videogame, but that’s exactly what happened this week. Something called Grand Theft Auto V is now available to purchase apparently, so I thought I might start with that.
Elsewhere the rather great Zelda adventure, The Wind Waker, gets a makeover, while my PC finally decided it might want to run Rome II...
Grand Theft Auto V
It’s here and, from what I’ve seen, a choir of angels has thus far failed to descend from heaven trumpeting the news. I guess GTA5 really isn’t the messiah then, though it is a VERY NAUGHTY BOY.
Set in the States. Made in Britain
It’s also prime contender for the most ambitious videogame ever conceived. Developer Rockstar has blown a reported $170m to make GTA5 and it shows in the thrum of Los Santos and the ridiculously vast expanse of suburbs and countryside that can be explored.
Missions are on the extreme side too, leaning much more towards San Andreas than GTA4. Early forays which involve catching up with a boat before leaping aboard it from the bonnet of a moving car are just the tip of an action-packed iceberg.
Rockstar has also added a slew of new features that should keep committed players busy for weeks. Chief among them is the addition of multiple main characters who can be flipped between at will.
Extra vehicular activity
The presence of Michael, Franklin and Lester, and this ability to switch from one to another, complements the way the story plays out. Planning and staging of the series of heists which are the game's staple, makes quickly snapping from character to character essential.
Additions to the formula don't end there. Take the selection of radio stations which are greater in number, and better, than ever. You can also explore sunken cities, fly military jets, train pets and pimp cars. Plus all kinds of mini-games and optional missions become available too – even if most feel somewhat superfluous.
In that way GTA5 feels exactly like any other GTA, and still won’t win over those who quickly tire of the franchise’s tried-and-tested machinations. Rockstar has shied away from shaking up the old formula of "drive to point A, carry out job B and proceed to point C" – usually while shaking off the cops – which has become the series’ mainstay.
Cop this
Shooting isn’t entirely convincing either, being too easy with auto-lock on, or too slapdash without. It pulls absolutely no punches when it comes to violence or, even to my 30-something liberal mind, the use of swearing.
Yes it’s an 18, and yes it’s GTA, but does that have to limit the script to the "N" and "F" words? And I’m not even going to get into the depths of its misogyny. GTA is the high watermark of the industry, the game by which we gamers are judged, and even I, a seasoned gamer and reviewer, can’t help think it’s too much at times. I can see Keith Vaz tabling a question for the PM, and Daily Mail hacks drooling even as we speak.
That said, the technical achievement and the sheer bombast of GTA5 does rather shove aside such niggles. In short, this is the best Grand Theft Auto yet, offering action, laughs and manic mayhem.
One day, my son, all this will be yours
In the past that would have made it the best game of the year too. But for me, the likes of The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite have lifted the bar that measures what games can accomplish.
So, while GTA5 is admittedly great fun – and a technical marvel – it doesn’t quite hit the loftiest of heights. Half a point knocked off the score then, in the hope that Rockstar raises its game even more in the inevitable sequel. Oh and I’ve not even looked at the multiplayer yet as it’s too early to see how the community is shaping up, so more on that next time.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Nintendo’s GameCube was just like the Wii U in so many ways. It too experienced a difficult launch and likewise failed to truly penetrate the mass market. This costly combination of factors quickly led to the abandonment of the console by third-party developers.
Of course, like the Wii U, the GameCube did benefit from a steady stream of golden tickets provided by Nintendo and its support studios. Pikmin and Luigi’s Mansion were introduced, Mario Kart: Double Dash and the first-ever first-person Metroid appeared – and then there was the cel–shaded delight that was The Wind Waker.
Hello, sailor
Skip forward 11 years and here we are again, game character Link being part of a small rearguard action fighting to stave off the premature demise of the new Nintendo console.
The Wind Waker HD is beautiful. It actually makes the majority of HD makeovers look like shoddy jobs at best. Those big bold cartoony visuals – impressive in the days of the GameCube – are simply stunning in HD.
Link’s every wink, nudge, grimace, smile and wry glance is lent a new dose of character and humour. Watching the sunset as he cruises across the sea is a joy to behold. The visuals catapult us right into his ocean-covered world of forsaken castles, tropical islands and pirate-infested waters.
Eye ’toons
It seems somehow pointless to carp on about The Wind Waker’s quality. It’s a dungeon-hopping, equipment-grabbing, boss-hacking, high sea-sailing adventure that oozes virtue. That it sits at the top table of any comparative list of Zelda titles is surely praise enough.
What’s perhaps more pertinent is to ask whether it's a game worth exploring again? To that the answer is a firm "yes", albeit with the qualifier that I assume you're a fan of RPGs or in the market for something more than yet another shooter. Oh, and you're a Wii U owner, of course.
That latter point is the only concern I have. For good though The Wind Waker is, I can’t see a remake being enough to convince many Xbox or PS3 gamers to pull a wad of cash from their pocket. Especially with the One and the PS4 almost upon us.
Bug hunt
Even a remake this sumptuous, which introduces GamePad-inspired shortcuts to map viewing and item equipping, and which fixes numerous issues too, will be hard pushed to encourage buyers to buy another new console right now.
Still, here's hoping Wind Walker shifts as many copies as Nintendo need to make this first HD remake into a series. For who wouldn’t want to see remastered versions of Nintendo's GameCube and Wii classics appearing at regular intervals – particularly if prepared to such a high standard as Wind Walker.
Total War: Rome II
War. What is it good for? Beats me, but I’ll tell you one thing: it’s certainly good for inspiring countless videogame simulations.
Of these, the Total War series stands tall, a (jar) head above the rest, its depiction of the theatre of war a scale and historic accuracy few have attempted, let alone succeeded at. From ancient Japan to medieval Europe, few eras have escaped the attention of Creative Assembly’s franchise, and now – actually for a second time – it’s the turn of the Romans.
Pharoah’s pharos! The Romans are coming, the Romans are coming!
Rome II transports us to a fledgling Roman Empire and challenges us to either nurture it into the Europe- and Africa-spanning colossus it truly became, or else trample it into the Italian dust by taking charge of one of the fledgling Republic's enemies.
Representing the rise and fall of Rome is no easy task. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the associated complexities, particularly when it comes to empire-building, have been captured only half-competently.
Strategy enthusiasts will know the thrill of handling such minutiae when they are replicated well. Here though, problems with enemy AI – they’ll constantly lay siege one to city for no apparent reason, for instance – and a lack of useful feedback mean you’ll spend endless hours on the irksome micromanagement of your cities.
Seige hail
Much of this city management can be automated, but even then finishing a turn chugs slowly with mandated decision-making and computer processing. It all means you spend far too much time away from where the action is: the battlefield.
Rome II depicts the violent part of war rather beautifully. Zooming your camera into a charge of elephant cavalry is simply breathtaking at times, while watching battalions of soldiers clashing swords is mesmerising.
Though, at times, I felt completely lost in a world of tactics and strategy, I still took much pleasure in its battles simply as sheer spectacle. And even my brief jaunt on to the online portion of Rome II to check it works (it does) was enough to see how strategists might lose chunks of time as virtual Caesars.
Germania down the drainia
However – despite the admitted delights of witnessing your legions trample your opponents into the dust – there’s just too much superfluous detail in the micro-managing of your empire to really make Rome II an unqualified success. ®
