Grand Theft Auto V review: Three men who should not be making decisions together

The big picture

Grand Theft Auto V assembles a criminal team with an impressive range of personal problems and then gives it access to fast vehicles. Franklin wants a better life, Michael has money and an unhappy family, and Trevor makes most situations worse simply by entering them. Their intersecting stories give Los Santos and Blaine County a purpose beyond providing places to park cars you acquired under questionable circumstances.

Rockstar North and Rockstar Games' crime sandbox originally launched on 17 September 2013. GTA Online has since become the noisier attraction, but the complete Story Mode remains a substantial single-player reason to visit. There is a beginning, an ending and a sequence of elaborate robberies in between. You can finish a criminal adventure without agreeing to maintain a criminal lifestyle indefinitely. It's an unusually comforting distinction for a game containing Trevor.

Three perspectives, several questionable coping strategies

Franklin, Michael and Trevor occupy different parts of the world, so switching changes the meaning of the surrounding map. A wealthy suburb, a struggling neighbourhood and the desert outskirts belong to one geography without representing the same life. Their stories eventually collide, making the structure more useful than simply handing you three unrelated lists of errands.

It also spreads the burden of spending time with unpleasant people. Michael's self-pity, Franklin's ambition and Trevor's volatility create friction, although shouting at each other isn't automatically the same as having depth. The satire frequently relies on people being awful in different directions. Those relationships give the spectacle stakes, but anyone expecting a gentle story about friends supporting one another has wandered into a spectacularly unsuitable carpool.

Even criminals need a pointless afternoon sometimes

Los Santos and the surrounding countryside offer streets, hills, beaches and open terrain to drive through, escape across or investigate without a particularly urgent reason. Different vehicles change the journey, and aircraft give the wider geography another use. Tennis and golf sit beside the criminal activity, allowing a person with much larger moral failings to become temporarily annoyed by an entirely respectable sport.

That variety is a better argument for the world than size alone. Leaving the city changes the mood, and a detour can give the campaign room to breathe. The danger is treating every activity as compulsory. You're allowed to follow the story and explore selectively rather than conduct a comprehensive audit of everything Los Santos offers. Criminal ambition is one thing; personally clearing the entire recreational calendar is an unreasonable escalation.

A heist is a production, with several difficult actors

Major robberies combine preparation, a chosen approach and assembled help before moving into the action. Character switching lets coordinated sequences show different parts of the same job. The official gameplay overview illustrates how planning, vehicles and the three-character structure fit together. The appeal is anticipation: the pieces are arranged, and then everybody gets an opportunity to demonstrate whether the arrangement was wise.

These are authored missions with particular objectives, though. The freedom of driving around the city doesn't mean every robbery supports any route, rooftop or improvised solution you personally think is brilliant. Expect a crime film that lets you occupy several roles, rather than an infinitely flexible robbery simulator. The game can give you an enormous playground and still insist that, for this particular scene, you please follow the script.

The mean streak is part of the package

GTA V's humour is crude, cynical and often built around somebody's suffering. Its ESRB content information includes graphic violence, sexual material, drugs and a story sequence involving torture. These aren't stray rough edges around an otherwise cheerful driving game. They help define its tone, and readers should know that before treating attractive scenery as an indication of a relaxed evening.

The ridicule can make the world entertainingly grotesque, but it can also flatten people into targets. Finding a character funny in a scene isn't necessarily the same as wanting their company for hours. Tolerance for the writing matters as much as enthusiasm for open-world action. There is no requirement to enjoy somebody merely because the game has given them a carefully detailed house and several missions.

Los Santos now requires edition awareness

Native editions exist on Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, with the current-generation console versions distinct from the older applications. PC has separate Legacy and Enhanced versions. The original Windows release arrived on 14 April 2015; Enhanced followed on 4 March 2025 with additional graphics features and newer-generation Online content. It has different hardware requirements, including an SSD requirement on Steam. Existing PC owners received a free upgrade, but Legacy and Enhanced cannot share Online sessions. Agree on versions before the group begins downloading its evening.

Check that the purchase includes Story Mode, since standalone GTA Online is a different product. Online supplies co-op jobs, competitive activities, optional cash purchases and GTA+ membership; those purchases aren't needed to understand the campaign. PS3 and Xbox 360 Story Mode remains playable, but their Online services ended on 16 December 2021.

For adults comfortable with its tone, GTA V offers a varied, cinematic crime sandbox with a strong reason to follow the story between detours. Its missions are more directed than free roaming might suggest, and Online brings different demands. Start with the experience you actually want. The characters already contribute enough poor judgement without requiring you to assist at checkout.