It's clear what Rockstar wants GTA V to be: an elaborate playground that spoofs real life, a place where you live vicariously through three career criminals playing their parts in a moody, satirical story of crime in contemporary America.
It's a proven formula for Grand Theft Auto games, and in the five years since GTA IV, Rockstar has again succeeded in building a virtual world that's an absolute joy to explore. If this game was nothing but a giant sandbox to build your own adventures, I'd love it unequivocally. But the second part of that GTA formula, the bit about the satirical story, well….I'm not such a big fan of that part this time around.
Anger issues
The tale of Michael, Trevor, and Franklin's partnership is an adolescent boy's power fantasy, a ridiculous litany of rash decisions punctuated by screaming matches and fueled by rage.
Trevor, Michael and Franklin find themselves embroiled in an incredibly unlikely partnership.
GTA V introduces these men one by one, giving you a few hours to walk in each of their shoes and understand their motives. These opening acts are engaging and well-told: I sympathize with Franklin's ambition to make a name for himself. Michael's family, though stereotypically shallow and infantilized, are lovable monsters. Even Trevor, a sociopathic trash-talking misanthropy machine seemingly designed to inspire loathing, is sort of nice to have around as a cathartic tool—like a cheap pillow you can scream into after a shitty day.
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