Where to begin with this game. So much to say about it. I have this game for both PS3 and Xbox360 but since there was not a review in Xbox 360 yet I decided to post it here. This is also one of the few games I bought at full price when it was released. Yes guys, its that good.

This GTA is like no other before it. All the other games in this franchise you only play one main character. In this instalment of GTA you have three to deal with. Now when I first heard this I definitely was sceptical. Hoping that they did a really good job with it but as always preparing for the absolute worst. Well I was very wrong. They did an AMAZING job making these three characters, Franklin, Michael and Trevor’s stories not only each strong in their own but as well perfectly intertwined. Lets talk about these guys for a second.

First you should know that each player has eight skills they can max out, just like in GTA: San Andreas. All these skills are the same for each character, but each have their own specialties that are almost maxed out when you start. These will determine how you perform while using these skills. For example shooting, the higher your skill the better and more precise you shoot and so on. The eight skills are:

Shooting - This you level up doing shooting range challenges at Ammunation, the local gun store.

Stamina - This determines how far you can run, cycle or swim at full speed without running out of stamina before it depletes your health. This you can level up by either running or swimming. Simple enough

Strength - This is your power and resistance with and to damage respectfully. This mostly is for melee damage although it will improve agility as well. Level this up by doing A LOT of fist fighting.

Driving - Obviously this determines how you’re handling is in your car. Cars also having their own way they handle. Again I will state the obvious that you level this up by driving which is easy to come by in this game. Doing stunt jumps successfully will help boost the skill as well. Keep that in mind when doing your stunt jumps to use a character who has a lower driving skill.

Stealth - This helps with your sneak, which can be very helpful in this game. Every stealth take down you do will help boost this skill.

Flying - This will determine how easy it is to take off, land and fly. Again each plane and helicopter is different. This has always been a pain for me in GTA games. I hate flying. This one happened to do a pretty good job and made it very realistic with weather conditions. To level this up you can do flight school which boosts it good or the long way which is just normal flying around the map. Which is also a must, you will discover a lot of neat stuff!
lung capacity - This determines how long you can hold your breath while diving. This can be levelled up by swimming (underwater of course) and practicing yoga.

The higher your skill the better you perform doing each. To max out a stat you have to get it to 100. Each one is easy enough to level up and doesn’t take much time to level up. Progression through the game will get you max on most of them. In addition to that each character you play has one special skill as well. That will be explained below.

Franklin - This is the first character you get to play. Franklin aspires to become a big time criminal in the big city of Los Santos. When we start our story he is working as a repo man at a car dealership. This is ultimately how he meets Michael, when he takes back Michaels son’s SUV and Michael is sleeping in the back seat. Franklin idolizes Michael for a while until he realizes that he’s not everything he seemed to be. Ultimately the end of the game comes down to 3 decisions that Franklin can make. Franklin’s special ability is the ability to slow down time while driving. Making it easier for him to evade whatever is chasing him.

Michael - Was a bank robber who made a deal with the FIB to go into whiteness protection and now with a new last name and his family by his side, resides in Los Santos. This guy has many problems to over come as we play his story. His family life is far from perfect. So he eventually returns to his criminal ways. Michael’s special ability is “Bullet Time’ This slows down time making his shots precise and for good bonus damage.

Trevor - Trevor was Michaels bank robbing partner. Until they all got busted and he assumed Michael was dead. He then gets wind of Michael still being alive and travels from his trailer park home to Los Santos to find his back from the dead ex-partner. Trevor’s special ability is almost the same as Michaels, but Trevor goes into “Frenzy” mode. Remember rampages missions? He takes half damage and deals double damage.


Overall - 9.7
I gave this game a 9.7 because it is truly an amazing game. Most games that have a huge hype do not live up anywhere close to that hype. Rockstar has definitely outdone themselves this time. They do not dissapoint with their games but they went above and beyond what anyone could have anticipated or expected with this game. There is only one thing I didn’t like about the game is the lack of boosting cars. But you can do it. Just in the online part of the game. I just wish the element would have been brought more into the offline play though like in previous games. That really is the only thing I don’t like. Which you still do here and there throughout the game. So really my complaint isn’t even justified. This game is a must have for anyone over the age of 18. This is no way is ok for anyone younger to play. They wouldn’t even understand have the stuff in the game but they don’t need to see the violence and nudity. The story is pretty explicit at times as well. So if you are of age and you are still wondering if you should buy this game, YES go out and get it now! It is very much worth the full price.

Graphics - 9
If this were the Playstation 3 version of this game I would have probably given this a 10. But since it is Xbox and graphics just aren’t as great I couldn’t. There are some problems with loading the environment as quick as you discover it but not to often. The picture is very crisp and realistic graphics. They really did put a lot of effort into the graphics in this game and they did great. Being a different platform of course it wont work the same. Still amazing though. As I said I have the game for both systems and half the time the only way I could tell which one I was playing it on was looking down at my hands to see which controller I was holding.

Sound - 10
Again this franchise did not disappoint with its music. Tons of choices to choose from with 17 different radio stations. Not to mention the music that plays during a few of the games many cut-scenes. There is a little bit of everything for everyone taste of music. 80’s/90’s, rap, classic rock, pop, soul, country, various kinds of techno, funk, alternative rock, punk, reggae, indie, jazz and talk radio. You name it they have it. The song choices are pretty good to. It would be a whole post in itself to list all the songs and the stations so I will just leave it at that this game has an amazing sound track with many different verities of music and I would be surprised if you didn’t find something you liked. The radio commercials are very funny and as you progress though the story you get to hear news reports about some of the crime you are committing. Whether they be main story missions or side missions. It’s absolutely awesome. Makes you feel like you are in the game.

Addictiveness - 10
With unlimited hours of game play and a changing environment, this game is highly addictive. This is not a game you can play just for a few minutes. Most people can’t even play it for just a few hours. This game draws you in that you actually feel like you are watching a movie and you need to know what happens next. When you are collecting collectables you want to do all of that class in one shot. It can take forever but will take even longer if you cant remember which ones you have gotten already. Some collectables have help for finding them right off the start of the mission to find them, Some you have to level up Franklin’s dog Chop to get him to sniff them out. So many things to do which makes this game so addictive.

Story - 10
I personally thought this was an amazing story about how three very different people become very involved in each other lives. Some times it’s all three of them together doing missions, Some times just two of them and sometimes only one of them. Depending on who you enter a mission with will determine what story line you will see at the start of the mission. Some of the starts of missions are really good but very easy to miss.

Depth - 10
As I have explained above there are lots of things to worry about levelling up, but what I didn’t mention was how many side quest there are to do. Some of the side quests aren’t even in the game guide. There are also many different sets of collectable you must retrieve in order to gain 100% completion. Even so after you obtain 100% completion there is even more stuff that unlocks to explore. And if you want a whole new experience play the multi player part of this game. It has its own story and you can play with people from around the world. Every patch they have released so far for this game has added new things or changed new things in the environment as well. This map will be ever changing. And who knows what is to come when the DLC’s are released.

Difficulty - 7
Though this game does have some missions that can be difficult at times, I feel that it really depends on how many hours at a time you are playing it. If you have been playing for 5 hours straight and havent taken a break you are done. Go eat some food and take a break. You are likely to beat that mission that you failed 10 times you will beat first time after your break. A new thing they have implemented in this installation of GTA is that if you fail the part of the mission you are on a few times you get the choice to skip it. You will not miss any story and if there is more mission left you will still get a chance to play that but if you want your gold medals then you don’t want to skip anything. This game really isn’t that hard if you have patients and take lots breaks. As you should with any game. If you get frustrated with a mission just go play another part of the story for a while. Some of the stuff you have to do is time consuming which makes it frustrating and can feel difficult at times but all and all this game is one of the easier GTA’s I have played.

Great review! I don't have the game, but I played it a few times at friends house and I can totally see what you are talking about, the game is just great.