Grand Theft Auto V – PC

First and foremost, before reading below, GTA 5’s new home to the best running and best looking port is definitely on PC.

GTA 5 for PC is simply beautiful. So much more polished, crisp, deeper colors, etc than the consoles. But that’s not the reason why I am blown away, 60+ fps makes this game come alive and play so much more mechanically sound. There are SO many options for visuals – more than any PC game currently out. GTA5 gives you a VRAM bar, which lets you know how much VRAM your current options are using in the graphic page. This alone is amazing, and hopefully every game after it does the same kind of thing. On launch day there was no problems with the servers, games, no bugs, glitches, etc. It was extremely smooth for me and the few people I was playing with.

The kicker is, I have bought this game three times now (PS3 in 2013, PS4 in 2014, PC in 2015). But I have yet to experience GTA online because I refuse to pay for ps+. Not only that, but I get to play around with the robust video recorder and eventually get to play around with the megaload of mods.

4/15 Edit: Played GTA Online for 3 hours last night without a hiccup. Had a few weird texture issues that lasted about 3 seconds before going away and a weird glitch where cops were doing some funny stuff, but ultimately it ran great compared to the awful PC releases we have had in the past.

Couple of notes I forgot to mention in my original review…
1) The shooting in a car mechanic is 100x better than the awful and awkward console way. It’s literally just a right click to aim, left click to shoot…It’s that simple.
2) Cops AND pedestrian vehicles are MUCH smarter in the PC game. I have had cops so far try to box me in, cut me off, get in front of me and slowly tap on their brakes, etc. This was a huge surprise as the cops in the console versions are complete dumb%$#@. They also group together better when they try to arrest/shoot you when you are on foot. Huge upgrades to the cop AI means this game is much more fun to play online and in story mode.

Pros:

1. Details are impeccable. I can’t believe the detail they put into the Police Car effects, such as the horns, sirens; lighting effects on cars, low/high beams, car damage, street signage, trains/train signage, POV camera movement, motion security lights over the garage, etc….very impressed. This is just a few examples out of so many. Please note, just because I don’t have the time to list them all here, doesn’t mean they aren’t appreciated or were overlooked….great work Rockstar!

2. Graphics: Incredible, for the state of art at the moment. I’m on the near max point of my GTX 680 2GB, where you can set textures very high by lowering other settings and still have a very immersible experience — search online and you’ll find examples of how to do it.

3. Radio Stations: On par with GTA: Vice City (it’s not 80’s music like Vice City, so your enjoyment of music selections may vary, but the talk radio is just as good/funny (maybe 7-8 out of 10 compared to) as it was with Vice City.)

4. Controls – finally, on par with GTA: Vicy City, as San Andreas and IV felt very awkward and kludgey.

5. No more flying cars like San Andreas!

6. Multiple save slots like GTA: Vice City

7. Reaction from people, esp. those you hit, some run, some fight.

8. Franklin’s "special ability" — really cool idea and implementation (haven’t tried the other characters yet, but so far, I’m liking Franklin.)

9. Population Density / Variety Setting — very cool option!

10. Distance Rendering Setting — much needed and much appreciated!

Cons:
1. Object persistence. Example, I park a car on the sidewalk, walk to the garage and come back, now it’s gone. No biggie at all in relation to the game in total, but kinda slightly loses the immersiveness.

2. They should have included a blu-ray copy — c’mon, 7 DVD’s! If Disney can do it, Rockstar could/should too 🙂 Sure, not everyone has a blu ray drive, but for those who do, it would’ve been greatly appreciated.

Other Thoughts:
I usually wait until prices come down a bit, but after seeing the demos for the PC version, it’s worth every penny at full price. I couldn’t wait to get mine and prefer a hard copy, so I went to game stop store and got a copy, even with having Amazon Prime!

Makes me want to get a GTX980 or 290X, but I’ll wait for Pascal/Volta on the NVIDIA side or see what AMD has to offer in the future, as I made a considerable investment with the GTX680 for Skyrim, and it’s running this game fine at the moment; although, you can’t max out everything, esp. with the 2GB version I got 🙁

Anyways, for those of you who are on the fence about getting it, get the game, it’s worth every cent, esp. if you like GTA: Vice City, you’ll like this game.

Edited for typos/some extra examples/clarity in pros.