Beautiful, over-the-top, extravagant, and simply awesome; welcome to the world of “Grand Theft Auto Five”. This game was hyped up from the beginning, and sometimes it hurts a games sales when the game doesn’t live up to expectations.

However, The game racked up over 1 billion dollars in sales in just three days, making it the fastest selling video game, or any sort of entertainment, in history. The hype is well deserved.

Characters are as beautifully complex in this game as in any book, and Rockstar handles faults with light hearted fun and of course, hardcore over the top car chases and shootouts. Michael, Franklin, and Trevor are the maniacs of GTA 5’s story line. Michael is a “retired” bank robber who lives under the constant supervision of the Witness Protection Program with his highly dysfunctional family. Franklin is a simple criminal, making a living by repo-ing cars and selling them to new customers at over the top prices. Trevor is a psycho Canadian Air Force veteran who lives in the small town of Sandy Shores, away from the big city and spends his time selling drugs and firearms to the Mexican cartels. These three unlikely anti-heroes come together to bring us the extraordinary 30 + hour plot of “Grand Theft Auto 5”.

Graphics show a significant improvement since GTA 4. Environments are clear and colorful, not stuffy and drab like GTA 4’s Liberty City. Even the bottom of the ocean shows rainbow coral and fish, showing much more attention to detail than its predecessor. The open world map is three times the size of GTA 4 and its predecessors, and takes hours to navigate completely. In this huge open world are countless hobbies and pastimes to take up the hours between heists and plot missions. In game its is possible to buy stocks, drive people around in a stolen taxi cab, hunt, scuba dive, participate in triathlons, off road racing, and take flying lessons. And that’s not even scratching the surface. To reach 100 percent completion, you must attempt everything in the game at least once.

Modifying weapons and cars to fit needs is now possible, plus other custom options, making this game as in depth as possible.  Individual character stats play a big part during heist plot missions and can make or break the heist and even determines how much money is earned in the end. Choice is key in this game, so be sure to carefully study each choice before picking. The player always has the choice of the “smart” approach and the “loud” approach, ultimately effecting which of the three endings the player receives.

All this, and the multiplayer version hasn’t even been released yet.

Platform- Reviewed for PS3. Available for Xbox 360 and PS3. No PC port in planning.

Likes/Dislikes-

-Great graphics and textures

-Amazing attention to detail

-Engaging plot line and endless hours of side missions and pastimes

-A contender for Game of the Year

-Dont hesitate to buy this game; money well spent