While we toil away on our own Grand Theft Auto V review, a number of publications have gone live with their glowing appraisals earlier this afternoon. As expected, the title appears to be a rip-roaring success, currently carrying a Metacritic rating of 99 based on nine reviews – though we expect that to slip a little as more evaluations get published.
The general consensus is that this is not only the best sandbox that renowned developer Rockstar Games has ever constructed, but also the most mechanically sound instalment in the wildly popular brand. We’ve included some of the best reviews below – feel free to have a browse, and don’t forget to check back for our coverage over the coming days.
IGN - 10/10
Grand Theft Auto V is not only a preposterously enjoyable video game, but also an intelligent and sharp-tongued satire of contemporary America. It represents a refinement of everything that GTA IV brought to the table five years ago.
EDGE - 10/10
No one makes worlds like Rockstar, but at last it has produced one without compromise. Everything works. It has mechanics good enough to anchor games of their own, and a story that is not only what GTA has always wanted to tell but also fits the way people have always played it. It’s a remarkable achievement, a peerless marriage of world design, storytelling and mechanics that pushes these ageing consoles to the limit and makes it all look easy.
Giant Bomb - 5/5
Grand Theft Auto V's unique storytelling meshes well with standard GTA-style action, giving you multiple perspectives on some fantastic criminal activities.
Eurogamer.net - 9/10
Grand Theft Auto V may not be the Hollywood-beating crime story it wants to be, then, but it's the best video game it's ever been, and I'll take that.
Destructoid - 9/10
All three characters, in their respective ways, feel representative of the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole, and contribute to making GTA V what it is – the ultimate culmination of Rockstar's beloved and despised series.
When will you be picking up your copy of Grand Theft Auto V? How high are your hype levels for the release? Let us know in the comments section below.
Comments 30
I am ALWAYS skeptical of GTA reviews since GTA IV ended up being great but not 96% great. GTA IV had weak and slapped together multiplayer that really hampered my experience. Hopefully GTA V improves upon this.
Gotta love the pandering reviewers these days.
@baconcow Well, remember that none of these reviews include multiplayer as it's not ready yet. I get what you're saying, though - I personally think GTA4 was deserving of all the praise, but I'm always surprised by the fact that I find it virtually unplayable now.
I cant wait to pick this up tonight at my local GAME store, exciting times!
@get2sammyb yes exactly. The problem most people have is that the boundaries IV pushed were embraced by newer, more advanced, games and as the years passed the innovative qualities the game had which redeemed the technical flaws(which were far less unforgiveable at the time as well) now seem stale. Innovative games often have this problem, in that they seem, and indeed are, weaker than their copycats.
Also, open world always ages worse, at least for now as there is so much more to account for in streamlining those experiences. The very nature of openworld today is overlooking limitations, so as each game comes out and conquers a limitation it seems to render it's predecessors primative.
Linear games tend to have less demons, therefore tend to get judged on their successes rather than failures.
i really didnt get the ign review they pointed out plenty of issues and then give it a 10/10
@TOMBOY25 Thats cuz its IGN. They are the worst reviewers for pandering to the publishers on the net. Rockstar could've given them a turd wrapped in tin foil with GTAV scrawled on it n it would still get a 10/10
@MadchesterManc True it seems that even if there's issues if a game has enough hype reviewers just ignore them and slap a big 10/10 on it.
@TOMBOY25 To be fair, I'm not familiar with IGN's scale, but a 10/10 on this site doesn't mean that it's "perfect" as nothing ever is. A 10/10 for us means that it's "genre defining" — which GTA5 may well be.
I think GTA5 is as boring as San Andreas and RDR. Never played GTA4, though. Because San Andreas was so boring and stupid and never used it's sanbox natare in ways it deserves to be used. Same can be told about RDR. My problem with rockstars games is that GTA grows to become sims and they forget about gameplay. I still think that Infamous 2 and Dragon's Dogma are best sanboxes so far. Even almost empty world of Gravity Rush was much enjoyable than RDR. When rockstars will forget about Sims side of the game, maybe they can make realy cool game, don't know.
@TOMBOY25 if a game had to be perfect to get a 10, then you might as well strike 10 off the scale, since it's literally impossible. So let's say, on the scale of 1-10, only 9.75 would be technically possible. Then, 9.75 would become the highest score and therefore as close to perfect as possible. In time, it would come to define "perfect" and then be, yet again, unattainable.
In order to satisfy the reality that nothing is without merit and nothing is perfect the scale would have to be .25 - 9.75 or whatever. It's pointless, as definitions would realign with every scale change.
It's all subjective and time makes fools of us all but a review score is, at it's best, a "degree of recommendation" not an "objective evaluation of quality."
@Gemuarto San Andreas and Red Dead boring?! BLASPHEMY!
@Gemuarto...RDR is bad? Hmm wow.
I LOVED Gravity Rush. Amazing game. Yet comparing RDR unfavourably to it is blasphemy, in my view.
@Bliquid HYPE! Were you one of those lucky Amazon folks?
@Get2sammyb LMAO! We both chose the word "blasphemy." Sanity tests? Aced by us.
@get2sammyb Yeah, I was bored to death playing them. And Vice City was one of my favourite games. Don't no what happened to Rockstars, but something happened. Maybe it's me, just tired of same formula again and again and again and again..And I really don't like protagonists in their games, starting from San Andreas. Wonder why there is no option to create your own character. Really don't like those 3... Want to shoot them in the face =). So unispiribg characters.
I think GTA5 is as predictable and boring as those scores that it gets =). Everything about GTA is predictable. Zero creativity, even in scores =). Somebody had doubts about scores?
@TOMBOY25 IGN has been very inaccurate this generation. They speak high heavens of some games and mention only minor issues and then give it an 8.0 or 8.5, and then they have GTA 4/5 in which they speak of it in a similar fashion, only to write down similar issues and give it a 9.5 or 10.0. The only difference is that they use important-sounding phrases likely hoping to land in a post-release trailer or advertisement.
@Gemuarto can't really create your own characters in the narrative style. The games are open world but the stories are basically linear.
To me, this works amazingly well. People think 100% control will lead to 100% entertainment. To me it's about balance. Playing someone's vision is half the point.
Now scenes like this have become main thing in GTA. I really miss Vice City purity =)))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdgJNYhduVc
@Visiblemode Mass Effect proved that you can =)
Can't wait! I will be playing it this all weekend.
@Savino lmao that was a good episode.
Excited for tomorrow but irritated that there was yet another delay on the download in the US.
Surprised to see a 10 from EDGE.
@Gemuarto I knew Mass Effect would come up. I adore the game, but there are tradeoffs for the character system. The story is more 'videogame' and less 'Hollywood.' I love both styles but it's unfair to judge a game outside it's genre. It would be like saying that Gran Turismo is lacking Power ups on the tracks.
It is subjective though, admittedly.
shut up Gemuarto
Going to my first midnight release for this.
Gutted that my copy of GTA didn't arrive today, guess its just one of those times that Amazon Prime works against you.
After all the praise GTA IV got and how disappointed I was with the overall product (certainly a great game but not up to par with III, Vice City and San Andreas) I'm not going to listen to reviews. Still really excited to play this game though. Will be heading over to Gamestop for the midnight launch party.
I gotta wait till Wednesday to play..
I love how reviewers give the perfect mark to a game THEY HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED... as always.
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