GTA 5 Review : Game of Action for 18+

GTA 5 is almost in stores, and the initial reviews have already started to appear online. We'll be taking our time with it, as it's practically impossible to see San Andreas in its entirety with only a week or two of advance play, but in the meantime we've rounded up opinions from around the web to give you an idea what to expect once the postman delivers your copy from Amazon.

Indeed it would. Since it was released, reviewers have been rewarding GTA V with five star reviews and glowing praise. Given that every major Grand Theft Auto game since III (not including handheld versions or spin-offs) have been viewed as classics, Rockstar North's newest game was always on course to be a winner.

And yet anyone who has followed the series closely would find it hard to forget the controversy it has created. The games allow players to carjack, murder bystanders and pick up prostitutes, making GTA a principal enemy for campaigners who think video games inspire copycat violence.

But does this mean that a game with more explicit themes is now likelier to get more critical acclaim than a game which both children and adults can enjoy?

Upon starting the game, this new world is free to roam - no locked out areas as has been the case on previous incarnations of GTA - and the size is as incredible as it is imaginative. Trucks clog the freeways as you pass through the industrial district while deer jump out at you in the countryside. Taking a quad bike up to the mountain tops means avoiding the hikers who are also enjoying the terrain, while sharks can be found sharing the water if you go for a dip at the beach. It’s a world that feels genuinely alive, more so than any of the previous games.

It’s as if you’ve just popped in to visit - and of course to cause a bit of mayhem. Such an ambitious setting threatened to be unwieldy with drives across town becoming timely and tedious. However, the pure richness in detail make roaming Los Santos almost as rewarding as any structured mission.

Ostensibly this is the story of three contrasting career criminals drawn together by a convoluted chain of events. Franklin is a young gangbanger with a talent for driving; marksman Michael is a master strategist skilled at planning and pulling off heists; and Trevor is a psychopathic pilot with a penchant for starting - and finishing - fights.

You’ll directly control them all, switching freely between them between missions and at opportune moments while on the job.

Each has their own special skill, starting stats and side missions but crucially, given how much time you’ll be spending with them, they’re also cracking company and the perfect antidotes to GTA IV’s more sombre storyline.

Plus, being able to dip in and out of Michael’s dysfunctional family life, Franklin’s turf wars and Trevor’s trailer park empire eliminates the element of grind that occasionally prolonged progression in past GTAs.

The gameplay will be extremely familiar to those who have played the previous incarnations. Shooting, driving and controlling your character has the same feel and fluidity that have made the series so playable since it went 3D.

Other elements are also identical to what has gone before. The stars that reflect your ‘wanted’ level by the police, the ability to perfect your aim at the shooting range at Ammu-Nation, and yes, if you so wish, the option to pick up prostitutes.

Perhaps mindful of pushing new boundaries in the series, there are more in-game activities available to your characters than ever before. Gamers can take Michael for a round of golf, play tennis with Franklin and his wonderfully inept friend Lamar and even try their luck at a triathlon. While this feature of the game is entertaining - the activities on offer are not sufficiently complex and challenging for prolonged enjoyment. This particular gamer made it through two holes before the golf club was used for hitting something other than a ball. They may come into their own when the online element of the game is launched on October 1, but having been prominently featured in the official trailers for the game, they were a disappointment.

GTA V isn’t just the greatest entry in one of its great series, it’s also one of the entire medium’s most accomplished and amazing achievements to date.