Grand Theft Auto V has finally arrived on the PC some 18 months after its initial release on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It was originally scheduled to come out with the its fellow remastered editions for PS4 and Xbox One but was delayed further to add polish… and it’s well worth the wait!
I’ll confess I’ve had a bit of an on/off relationship with the GTA franchise, I played the first two and never really got them. Then I missed GTA III but bought Vice city and loved it. GTA IV, beloved by many a critic and the public, to me was a bit boring and took itself too seriously – sorry Rockstar.
So what have British developers Rockstar North changed for the PC version? It’s had huge upgrades to the visuals that really show off what the engine is capable of. One of the headline improvements is the resolution support, whilst the console versions run at 1080p locked at 30 frames per second, the PC version is capable of running at 4k resolution at 60FPS making an all round more immersive and visually stimulating experience. Although you will need a beast of a PC with multiple graphic cards, an over clocked processor and more ram you can shake a stick at to run at those resolutions.
The textures in the game have greater detail, buildings look more solid while landscapes are breathtaking and more natural than ever. The biggest clue to its superiority is the water, particularly as waves break against boats, docks and the shore. Another noticeable improvement is the lighting engine, giving nice soft shadows compared with the consoles much harder unnatural effects.
The wild card, Trevor.
Rockstar has carried over the improved traffic generating algorithm from the console remaster, so there is a greater variation in the type of vehicles you encounter as you speed around the map. All these elements together culminate in a world that feels more alive and real, which is brilliant considering the size of the map you have to play on.
You’ll also benefit from a first person view, a never seen before feature in a GTA game. Having tried both I was impressed with the first person view of the game especially from a developer that has almost exclusively used the third person view.
The great thing about all these improvements is that whilst you will need a beast to run the game at 4K, GTA is also highly scalable. For instance I use a 1080P monitor with an Nvidia 660GTX ti graphics card, and I can achieve highly playable frame rates whilst still maintaining superior visuals. Bravo Rockstar, bravo indeed!
The three characters you play as in the game are a little bit predictable – the young pretender, Franklin, the experienced retired teacher, Michael, and Trevor, the wild card. However the screenplay in the game and the cut scenes develop a rich and brilliant story that’s packed with loveable characters.
Most importantly they’ve fixed the driving experience – one of my biggest peeves in GTA IV! Sort of, many cars still seem to slide in corners but you can now correct it with the brake and lift off over steer. Also there is a much wider variation to the handling characteristic to the different cars you encounter, which can be improved on in the tune shops dotted around the map.
One of my favourite improvements on GTA V is the mid mission save, there was nothing worse than getting midway though only to lose and then have to start from the beginning. Thankfully the game now saves at major breaking points in missions.
So as you can probably tell I like GTA V a lot, is it perfect? No, but it is damn near close. A must play and worth shelling out on again if you’ve only played it on the last generation consoles. For an even more electrifying experience I’d definitely recommend playing it with an awesome surround sound system and the bigger the screen the better!
Author: Jon, Cardiff store
