GTA V Quick Impressions

GTA V (360)  Quick First Impressions

I debated picking this up because I really wanted to wait for the superior PC release but that could be 6 months away so I went ahead and got the 360 version.  I've read the PS3 version is a bit better because of some texture issues but so far the 360 version has ran fine.  The game comes on 2 disks and one is a mandatory install that is 8G, the second one is a play disk and you do not want to install that to the hard drive as that causes pop in issues because the game was designed to stream off the disk and Hard drive at the same time.  Since I have a 360 slim the drive noise is not that bad but every time I loaded the map I heard it and it bugged me so I installed the play disk on a USB drive and it works fine because it uses a different channel than the hard drive so if you have an extra 16GB usb stick lying around you probably want to use it.  I did notice a bit better loading times as well.

I've never liked the character movements in the GTA games and they have made some small refinements but controlling the characters still feels a bit like a tank, a little sluggish.  The shooting is a little better then before and I did have to turn up the aiming sensitivity.  Driving cars is a mixed bag, I had a lot of trouble controlling rear wheeled cars as they would move all over the road and not feel very realistic, the other types seem to drive fine.  I had some spectacular crashes and when you go over a special jump you can control the car in the air and slow down time which looks really cool.

The world is huge.  On the map I saw a place to take a ski lift so I found a dirt bike and started climbing a mountain.  It took me about 4 minutes to climb to the top and there were places along the way to stop and admire the view, even on the 360 which is 8 years old it was impressive.  Once I got to the top I wish that I had a parachute so that I could base jump but instead I just rode the lift down which took a couple of minutes.  I robbed a couple of gas stations where you had to point a gun at the cashier and that was hard to do, something didn't feel right about that until I made up a story in my mind that the cashier was cheating his customers......

You play as 3 characters in the game and I was about to open up the 3rd character when I quit for the night.  They each have their own skills that you can level up plus a special skill unique to each character so it does change up the game play.  There are special people you meet while playing where you do some type of mission for them and then when you go on the heist missions you can call on them to help you, just be careful helping the guy trying to legalize pot. 


New Releases - GTA V Finally releases

PC

Dragon's Prophet (free-to-play)
Foul Play (download)
Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver
Ironclad Tactics (download - $15)
MechWarrior Online (free-to-play)
Takedown: Red Sabre (download - $15)
Urban Trial Freestyle (download - $15)

Xbox 360

Foul Play (XBLA)
Grand Theft Auto V
Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver
Takedown: Red Sabre (XBLA - $15)
Foul Play and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

PlayStation 3

Capcom Fighting Evolution (PSN - PS2 Classic)
Grand Theft Auto V
Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver

Wii U

Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver

Wii U

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (eShop)
We Sing 80s

Vita

Real Boxing (PSN)

Nintendo 3DS

AiRace Speed (eShop - $5)
Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver
Star Wars Pinball (eShop - $7)