The Glade 4.0

The graphics have improved quite a bit, although they don't match real life footage yet.

I'd hope the graphics would have improved... San Andreas came out 7 years ago.

I don't think GTA V looks very good.

Looks fun. I am a little sad that it appears to not take place in a different era other than modern day but I'll live.

_________________
Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Necro'd for GTAV chatter.

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

So how is it? Reviews are stellar. My copy should be here tomorrow.

Word is that story suffers because it's split between three characters, but the rest is great.

I'll tell ya this weekend after I find, rent, and play.

Reviews are strong. Wired classified it as "blowing all other GTA's away."


I'm still concerned as to whether you can do each character's story linearly, rather than having to simultaneously progress each story. I want the former, not the latter.

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

All three of them have an intertwined story so I'm assuming you can't progress one too far past the other two.

That's my assumption. And is why I'm renting first rather than buying. If my assumption (and yours) is correct, I will not buy this game.

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

One review I read said it made a bit more sense to play three different characters (which it also sounds like you can swap between them at will... just maybe not progress the main storyline?). In GTA4, Niko would wax philosophical about being anti-gun and violence and then the player would take him on a murder splat massacre spree. In GTA5, Trevor's personality fits just fine with the murder spree gamer. Franklin is all about stealing and driving nice cars. Etc.

So it sounds more like a way to play the full range of GTA without having it feel completely out of character. *shrug* Sounds reasonable to me.


I also feel that this is a perfect time to bring up my three, all-time favorite verbatim quotes from my wife.

1. "How do I shoot a gun from a car?"
2. "How do I pick up a hooker?"
3. "Dang it! There aren't enough strip clubs in this city!"

_________________
Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

You can swap between them at will. When you're playing one, the other two characters go about their own business.

Grand Theft Auto has a story? How the **** does that work?

_________________
Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I think it is hilarious that you guys are concerned about the story in an open world crime simulator.

_________________
Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

There's really only one person here that's concerned about the story.

Cousin roman!!! Let's go bowling!

Dislike.

Pretty strongly, actually.

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I'm enjoying it so far. The multiple characters mechanic seems unnecessary, but the gameplay is much more solid than GTA IV.

Hmm, that's interesting. I had serious difficulties simply driving in a straight line, and the police were literally impossible to shake.

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

It seems like the cars are much more sensitive to the throttle this time around. At first, I was just full throttling all over the place, spinning out in corners. Once I stopped being a leadfoot and drove more normally, not full throttling around corners at 100mph, it seemed to work much better. I do agree the cars feel "floatier" at high speeds, more apt to spin, etc, but I'm also curious how that will change as your driving skill improves. also, the special ability makes it simple to take a corner at 100mph, so that's interesting.

The cars also seem to be more diverse in their handling. I stole a comet from in front of my shrinks house, that thing handled like a million bucks no matter how fast I was going.

It's a fun game. I'm really curious about how the online play will turn out once they enable it in October.

I like the way cars handle in this game, and as it's been stated, they handle with far more variance based on what you're driving. This makes you think twice about what kind of car you're going to attempt to steal (especially in quick getaway situations). In GTA4, you just grabbed anything that had wheels and was nearby.

I'm a fan of arcade racers, so sensitive learning curves are nothing new to me. In fact I enjoy the challenge of figuring out the ideal speeds, breaks, and handbreak needed to perfect tight turns on the many different vehicles. I also like the fact you can now sink money into your vehicles to give them upgrades. Be it more armor, more speed, handling, etc. This is also something I enjoy from arcade racers, so I'm stoked to see it here. With the amount of time and money you could sink into one vehicle, you can easily treat that vehicle with more care than previously seen in GTA games and even be upset when it ends up at the bottom of a reservoir. Before, that never happened. Vehicles were just an endless supply, to be discarded as frequently as shell casings (and with the same amount of sentimental attachment).

Cars are a little more realistically spaced out in driving lanes, which I both like and dislike. It means you're more likely to trade paint (or worse) when trying to squeak by cars stopped at an intersection.

I'm impressed with the level of detail in the game. Stop your vehicle at random, anywhere in the game (even outside of the city), get out of the vehicle and just start walking around. It feels like a real place. GTA4 had that feeling too, but a lot of back alleys were closed off. Multiple times in this game I've ducked through backyards and alleys to get where I needed to go.

So far I am enjoying it. Especially that it has forgone the serious tone GTA4 had and added a little silliness back into the series. (There's a mission where Michael ends up on a drug-related "bad trip" and it was a blast)

_________________
Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Holy crap Trevor is fun. And I am really enjoying the airplanes.

Edit:

_________________
Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

I just want to take a moment and say how truly amazing the soundtrack and radio stations are. I don't even know if I've heard a single repeat so far, and the music selection is eclectic with some great deep tracks. My only complaint is that there isn't a pure-80's station so I can re-live the vice city glory days. Other than that, excellent.

I'm pretty much awful at flying. Gotta use the pitch controls more I guess.

Darkroland, the closest is the rock radio (DJed by Kenny Loggins himself), which is about 11 o' clock on the dial. I like there's more of a selection of radio in this game than the last (at least it seems that way).

Lenas: If you're talking about a plane, yeah... rudders (left and right bumpers) are your best friend. Use of the yoke (joystick) is doable but it's really there for major corrections. You can also see how level you are with the horizon on the dial (both are straight lines with an inverted V) and that can help you match it up. When you're not flying level, you will be turning slightly.

In the south area of the map there is an airport you can go to for flight school, it's a tutorial of flying plane, helicopters, and parachuting. Personally I find helicopters more frustrating than planes. But there are some great tutorials there and obstacle courses, and it will even increase your character's flying skill (easier handling, less turbulance).

One thing I learned after about my fourth or fifth time doing it, is that you can guide your bombs while they are dropping (and you are looking through the "bomb cam") and that made hitting targets 10x easier. Also, you can't drop bombs when flying really low to the ground.

It will all eventually become second nature. I bought the airfield with Trevor the second it became available, and I take plane missions as often as I can.

_________________
Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!