Almost a decade since Rockstar released their revolutionary Grand Theft Auto V, it has since then changed the landscape of open-world games for the past years. With their current-generation release of their award winning game, how does it fare with today’s standard of open world video games?
It is no surprise that Grand Theft Auto V carried the torch for being one of the most awarded game in the past decade. With their latest remaster and controversial release for the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy which placed Rockstar in a tight spot, it seemed like they polished the next-gen release of GTA 5 so that it will meet the expectation of people. And they delivered, well with some reservations.
This current generation upgrade of the game is easily the best version of this game. Although it may seem that Rockstar just updated the game with the highest setting on PC, it is noticeable that they upgraded most of the aspect of the game. With higher resolution models and a more stable framerate, I would prefer this version of the game than the high-setting PC one.
There are three modes that is offered on the PS5 update of the game: Fidelity mode at Native 4K (30 FPS with Ray Tracing enabled), Performance mode at stable 60 FPS /1440p (upscaled 4K resolution without Ray Tracing), and the Performance RT with a stable 60 FPS/1440p (upscaled 4K resolution with Ray Tracing enabled. With those three modes in mind, Performance RT is the best option if you want to get the feeling of next-gen as it gets both upscaled 4K and Ray-Tracing. HDR is also a default now with the game taking advantage of the most TVs and monitors available in the market. It is also note-worthy that colors are more vibrant thanks to HDR. With the naked eye and a good viewing distance, the difference between upscaled and native 4K versions of the game is barely noticeable. Ray tracing and in-game lighting on this game is something that needs to not be missed out as the implementation was great. Rainy weather looks more realistic, reflections are well polished, and other ray traced objects looks vibrant. I have found myself looking forward for the rainy in-game weather as it looks as realistic as the ones in the newer open world games.
As the game is almost 10 years old, it is noticeable though that it already looks dated. In fact, the facial animations which used to be futuristic before looks robotic now. Some graphical aspects such as the draw distance remained unchanged from the PS4 version of the game. Loading screens however is a different story. The game is really fast as compared to its previous versions. Thanks to the PS5’s SSD, I was able to load the game from the start within about 20 seconds as opposed to the excruciatingly long minutes worth of waiting with its previous iterations. It may not be on par with today’s standard when it comes to speed but it’s a huge improvement with the previous PS4 and PS3 versions of the game.
It is also nice that Rockstar has taken advantage of the PS5’s features. You will get better perception of the game thanks to the 3D Audio of the PS5. The adaptive triggers and haptic feedback in the game offers more immersion as you can feel the roughness of the road, and the resistance of your trigger.
Multiplayer gamers will not be left out as well in this update of the game. A new tutorial mode for the online multiplayer gives the player a more organized approach in their game, and old players can also migrate their progress from the previous gen versions easily. Four career paths and a bonus of $4 million worth of in-game currency are waiting for the new joiners of the online multiplayer. Both old and new online players will be able to take advantage of the update.
Considering the amount of changes whether it’s for the story mode or multiplayer, there is no new additional content that will add value to the game. Comparing this update with some other games’ like Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding, the level of change is unnoticeable as there is already a PS4 upgrade of the game. Visuals and framerate might be improved but it does not hide the fact that the game is already showing its age in this new update. While still waiting for the next installment of the series, the update of the game will make new and old players pre-occupied for the mean time.