“Grand Theft Auto” is a game that draws a lot of criticism.  As a series in which you can go from running over pedestrians to interacting with individuals working in the world’s oldest profession, it’s developed a reputation of being a plague to our youth as well as one of the greatest game series of all time.  “Grand Theft Auto V” continues this legacy by crafting a game that is not only one of the greatest gaming experiences of this generation, but of all time.

“Grand Theft Auto V” (GTA V for short) is much bigger than its predecessor.  So much bigger in fact, that instead of featuring one main character like usual, it features three (Michael, Franklin, and Trevor) that the player can switch between at anytime.  This leads to very interesting missions where the player has to use all of the character’s abilities in order to get out alive.

During one instance I was tasked with extracting a high value target.  I had to fly to the drop off point as Trevor and then, when I got there, I switched to Michael and rappelled down into the room where the target was being held.  I quickly got overrun while trying to escort him out, so I then switched to Franklin on a building across the street and used his sniper rifle to cover Michael.  Situations like these are exhilarating and keep you on your toes during the game’s many high-octane moments.

Another strength of the “GTA V” is in its writing.  All of the characters in the game feel believable.   Many developers in the past few years have put a lot of effort into making their characters seem more realistic, but “GTA V” simply blows them away.  Each one of the three men are three-dimensional, and each have the own strengths, faults, and secrets.  They don’t feel like crazy psychopaths, but instead victims of circumstance.  They don’t want this life of crime, but don’t know how to live any differently.

That is, except Trevor.  Trevor is completely insane and has no regard for anything but himself (even that is questionable at times).  He also steals every scene he’s in.  Trevor is one of the best characters in recent gaming memory, and is likely to be remembered for a long time to come.

Writing can only take a game so far.  It is a game, after all.  In gameplay, “GTA V” is even more of a success.  Not only is there a storyline that takes over 30 hours to complete, there are also other activities such as golf, tennis, and the shooting range.  That doesn’t even cover the multitudes of races,  triathlons, and plane stunt trials that you can play in order to win money for your characters.  The shooting mechanics feel better than any other game in its genre, and the cars feel fast and fun to drive.  There are hundreds of hours of gameplay here and it will definitely take a long time to complete everything in the game.

Not only is there a massive single-player game to enjoy, there’s also a big focus on online gameplay.  Included with “GTA V” is the all new “GTA Online.” This new online mode offers everything the single player campaign offers (except the missions with Trevor, Michael, or Franklin) along with over 500 new missions exclusive to the mode.  If the 500 missions aren’t enough, the developers promised even more missions to be released over the next few years.  This is a game that you will be playing for a long time to come.

The developers worked hard in order to make a game free of glitches, but one problem plaguing “GTA V” is its garage feature.  When you customize a vehicle in the game, it should go in your garage and always respawn there when it is destroyed.  However a glitch that is present in the game does not allow the vehicles to respawn, forcing you to get a new vehicle.  A fix is in the works and should be pushed out to players before October 1, so the garage shouldn’t be an issue for much longer.

In all possible ways, “Grand Theft Auto V” succeeds.  The developer strove to make “GTA V” not only the biggest and best game this year, but of all time.  Its hard to argue with the results.  “Grand Theft Auto V” is not just a game; it’s an event.  People will be talking about this game for a long time to come, and you can guarantee that nothing else will be this big until the inevitable “GTA VI.”  There’s no question about it; everyone owes it to themselves to buy this game.