GTA V - General Thread

[Davidies]

Sounds like there would be a market for a "GTA Classic" game, i'd probably buy it too, (i still like playing 'Chinatown wars' on the DS ).

Yep, GTA has changed a lot since it's top down scrolling days, and GTA 3 to some extent, but i welcome the changes, and can't stop drooling in anticipation of GTAV.

Only thing that bothers me, is that a lot of games these days are really time consuming.

Time consuming? GTAV (For most) will be life consuming.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

No, not really. SA and 4 would still exist.

But still, Rockstar have taken the game completely away from anything auto - never mind theft - and turned it into a real-life simulator and parody and no-one seems to mind.

Perhaps it's just me and I'm a crazed sociopath who likes going round blowing crap up and stealing and racing cars in a game as a substitute for ability to do it in reality. Playing golf or tennis (with a DS3 and scripted characters) and stock market trading? Sounds about as much fun as playing computer games in the front room of a guy in a game you're playing. Oh wait, they did that in GTASA...

...really? I mean showing a highlight of a game that has portrayed it over and over doesn't show progress, we as fans want to know we can do more than that. Also you only named minimal features with the stock trading and what not. It just seem superfluous to show a car theft scene as if some high point, they haven't taken it away from theft at all. If anything they made it even more of a center piece. They even allow the player to plan and play out heist we've constructed sounds and looks like a ode to theft. Rockstar have done a grand job of progress and perhaps revolutionizing GTA and if it plays as good as it looks, I'll be glad they took this long from GTA4

 

[Famine]

...really? I mean showing a highlight of a game that has portrayed it over and over doesn't show progress, we as fans want to know we can do more than that. Also you only named minimal features with the stock trading and what not. It just seem superfluous to show a car theft scene as if some high point, they haven't taken it away from theft at all.

With each step from III, the part of the game that comprises Grand Theft Auto - the taking of cars and then racing them about - has diminshed. Even VC is on one of those steps, but it didn't replace it with meaningless "lifestyle" filler - it replaced it with more blowing things up.

Nicking cars, racing them about for some spurious plot reason and blowing stuff up. It's tremendous fun.

SA took us a step away from that again, replacing nicking cars, racing them and blowing stuff up with dress-up games, haircuts and tattoos. And who could forget having to feed CJ - directly impacting the flow or having fun - lest he dropped dead? They even increased the number of things you had to collect by 250% and spread them over a map 400% bigger. Collecting all the oysters, horseshoes, photo ops and tags was not fun.

4, luckily, ditched the hunger stuff which was patently crap. It was replaced with a mobile phone that your psychotic, hardcore, criminal friends could call you on at any point of the game - usually while you were doing some other banal task that wasn't nicking cars, racing them and blowing stuff up - so you could take them to a titty bar, or play darts. Find me one person who enjoyed getting the "Hey cousin. Do you wanna go bowling?" phone call in GTA4. And, for that matter, collecting the two hundred pigeons - which pretty much everyone on Earth did by finding a guide/map on the internet (even the in-game internet - do me a lemon) and checking them off as they did them. Well done for being able to read a map or follow someone else's guide. Real gameplay, that.


Each game has been a step away from nicking cars, a step away from racing cars, a step away from blowing things up, a step towards meaningless social filler that should be optional and a step towards absolutely ludicrous collection tasks.

What did the GTAV video show us? Three clips of car chases, two clips of shooting (showing off the bullet time mechanic and the fast switch function, not the shooting) and three minutes of how big the map was and all the activities you could do that weren't nicking cars, racing them and blowing things up. Playing the stock market and cycling with your kids? Really?


We know the trend. We've all played GTA3, GTAVC, GTASA and GTA4. We've watched it happening. The video shows nothing to suggest anything but this trend continuing. And in previous games, all activites have been compulsory for 100% or Platinum (or both) - many of them as part of an extended tutorial at the start of the game.

If anything they made it even more of a center piece. They even allow the player to plan and play out heist we've constructed sounds and looks like a ode to theft.

That looked interesting.

It doesn't look like enough to sustain a game over a 60 square mile map - ten times the size of GTA4 - but it looked interesting.

With regards to the map, what happens when you're in Lead Character #1 and he's in the bottom-left corner but he, specifically, needs to be in the top-right corner, eleven (or so) miles away? It happened a lot to CJ in San Andreas and that was only five miles...

 

[Samus]

I've never understood the point of collectibles in games that nobody is ever going to find unless they literally inspect every inch of the game or use a guide/map, rendering the 'hunt' pointless. A lot of those pigeons you would never find yourself unless you spent a week or two scouring every inch of the map.

 

[Dan]

I've never understood the point of collectibles in games that nobody is ever going to find unless they literally inspect every inch of the game or use a guide/map, rendering the 'hunt' pointless. A lot of those pigeons you would never find yourself unless you spent a week or two scouring every inch of the map.

This. I only found like one in the middle of a mission in IV. On top of a ledge, near Safehouse #2.

 

[Niyologist]

I understand your point Famine, but the reason why R* added those additional features for GTA V is because to prevent boredom and to boost sales. Also, R* is listening to their fans, so if your ticked off about those fillers, then don't blame R*. They just want to make money and put the fans first at the same time. If R* were more like EA, then I'm pretty sure every one would be complaining about the GTA series being a carbon copy every time.

 

[McLaren]

With each step from III, the part of the game that comprises Grand Theft Auto - the taking of cars and then racing them about - has diminshed. Even VC is on one of those steps, but it didn't replace it with meaningless "lifestyle" filler - it replaced it with more blowing things up.

Honestly, I think your entire argument is just a pissed off rant at the inclusion of new features that are optional & rarely find themselves thrown into the story line.

You can still steal cars, you can still blow things up, you can still do whatever is you want that involves general mayhem & the missions will concede with your desires.

Everything else has been included as extra missions you don't actually have to do if you won't want to. What they do successfully is increase the replay value. If they didn't include so many activities, the game would be a snooze fest once you got done with the story because blowing up an intersection of cars & fighting off police only stays entertaining for so long. The whole beauty of GTA is that you can do whatever you want in a large world. If you don't like doing the extra activities, don't do them. Some people don't like blowing things up 24/7 in the game. Whatever both sides prefer should have no effect on whether Rockstar should include them or not, even though as Niyologist pointed out, the inclusion of so many things is directly due to the fans wanting them.

 

[dudeondacouch]

This argument is ridiculous.

It seems akin to complaining that you're only 6'1", but your bed is 7' long. "Why all this extra room?! It's stupid!"

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

With each step from III, the part of the game that comprises Grand Theft Auto - the taking of cars and then racing them about - has diminshed. Even VC is on one of those steps, but it didn't replace it with meaningless "lifestyle" filler - it replaced it with more blowing things up.

Nicking cars, racing them about for some spurious plot reason and blowing stuff up. It's tremendous fun.

SA took us a step away from that again, replacing nicking cars, racing them and blowing stuff up with dress-up games, haircuts and tattoos. And who could forget having to feed CJ - directly impacting the flow or having fun - lest he dropped dead? They even increased the number of things you had to collect by 250% and spread them over a map 400% bigger. Collecting all the oysters, horseshoes, photo ops and tags was not fun.

4, luckily, ditched the hunger stuff which was patently crap. It was replaced with a mobile phone that your psychotic, hardcore, criminal friends could call you on at any point of the game - usually while you were doing some other banal task that wasn't nicking cars, racing them and blowing stuff up - so you could take them to a titty bar, or play darts. Find me one person who enjoyed getting the "Hey cousin. Do you wanna go bowling?" phone call in GTA4. And, for that matter, collecting the two hundred pigeons - which pretty much everyone on Earth did by finding a guide/map on the internet (even the in-game internet - do me a lemon) and checking them off as they did them. Well done for being able to read a map or follow someone else's guide. Real gameplay, that.


Each game has been a step away from nicking cars, a step away from racing cars, a step away from blowing things up, a step towards meaningless social filler that should be optional and a step towards absolutely ludicrous collection tasks.

What did the GTAV video show us? Three clips of car chases, two clips of shooting (showing off the bullet time mechanic and the fast switch function, not the shooting) and three minutes of how big the map was and all the activities you could do that weren't nicking cars, racing them and blowing things up. Playing the stock market and cycling with your kids? Really?



We know the trend. We've all played GTA3, GTAVC, GTASA and GTA4. We've watched it happening. The video shows nothing to suggest anything but this trend continuing. And in previous games, all activites have been compulsory for 100% or Platinum (or both) - many of them as part of an extended tutorial at the start of the game.That looked interesting.

The video also show them racing, I'm just going to cut to the chase of what you basically are saying since you kept leaping back to it. The point is they showed racing, we will clearly having car theft has a tried and true function, it'd be mind-boggling to have armed robbery as a the cornucopia and not simple car jacking. So it's safe to say it is their but not needed or minimal to show with all the amount of new things today. Also a big point to the video was showing how the physics engine does all the stuff you want better, to make the long time fans like us happy. Also the stock market and cycling plays in with one of the characters in the way you described.

The point is they made a in depth story that fans have been wanting more of. Especially after the bland GTA IV that seemed like a Hodgepodge of previous GTA.

It doesn't look like enough to sustain a game over a 60 square mile map - ten times the size of GTA4 - but it looked interesting.

With regards to the map, what happens when you're in Lead Character #1 and he's in the bottom-left corner but he, specifically, needs to be in the top-right corner, eleven (or so) miles away? It happened a lot to CJ in San Andreas and that was only five miles...

We'll have to wait and see, but I'm sure they can make it work.

If you are in one corner and need to be clear over to the other side, I hope you can move fast

This argument is ridiculous.

It seems akin to complaining that you're only 6'1", but your bed is 7' long. "Why all this extra room?! It's stupid!"

I feel the same way

 

[Famine]

Honestly, I think your entire argument is just a pissed off rant at the inclusion of new features that are optional & rarely find themselves thrown into the story line.

And who could forget having to feed CJ - directly impacting the flow or having fun - lest he dropped dead?

And in previous games, all activites have been compulsory for 100% or Platinum (or both) - many of them as part of an extended tutorial at the start of the game.

Features that should be optional, but won't be.

You can still steal cars, you can still blow things up, you can still do whatever is you want that involves general mayhem & the missions will concede with your desires.

Well I would hope you can still steal cars and blow things up, otherwise the game is just a darker Playstation Home.

Everything else has been included as extra missions you don't actually have to do if you won't want to. What they do successfully is increase the replay value. If they didn't include so many activities, the game would be a snooze fest once you got done with the story because blowing up an intersection of cars & fighting off police only stays entertaining for so long.

If they spent the time they spent focussing on getting tennis to work on blowing things up and fighting off police, it wouldn't.

Instead they spent time focussing on getting tennis to work. Of course, I might be impressed if they get it to work as well as a dedicated tennis game - but aside from the compulsory tutorial mission on tennis playing that will inevitably be included, I doubt I'll be playing much tennis when I could be out blowing up cars and fighting off police...

This argument is ridiculous.

It seems akin to complaining that you're only 6'1", but your bed is 7' long. "Why all this extra room?! It's stupid!"

Then you haven't understood the point.

It's more akin to going to a shop and buying a product called "This Is A Bed" and when you get home you find that they've spent 2 minutes of the design time making a kind of platform to sleep on that's just about the right size for a human and the rest of the time making it into a trike, parasol, shuriken-holder, coffee machine, dance mat, lawnmower, tanning booth and Sudoku machine. Only it doesn't do any of those functions with the aplomb that a dedicated device for those things does. And you have to use every single function before you are allowed to complete the task of lying down for a kip.

But the bed's still in there, so stop complaining.

The video also show them racing, I'm just going to cut to the chase of what you basically are saying since you kept leaping back to it. The point is they showed racing, we will clearly having car theft has a tried and true function, it'd be mind-boggling to have armed robbery as a the cornucopia and not simple car jacking.

Wouldn't it just? And yet with each game we've seen that part of the game marginalised in favour of new activites that people seem keen to forget were terrible and distracting. And then we've had a big, promotional "gameplay video" that showed precisely no instances of nicking a car.

They showed three bits of driving - a red not-Corvette that looked like it was street-racing three other cars (four seconds), a white not-Audi R8 that looked like it was just driving fast (two seconds) and a beat-to-hell red pick-up on the run from the cops (six seconds) in the nearly 6 minute video. More screen time was dedicated to jumping off the mountain (presumably Chiliad again), parachuting down towards Los Santos than to driving anything.

They showed two bits of shooting - one showing a Dark Knight-esque kidnapping from a skyscraper and one showing one of the protagonists taking on a house full of... let's call them enemies. These sequences were there not for the shooting, but to show the instant-switch function between the three characters (the one in the building, the one in the chopper and the sniper cover) and the special bullet time ability of one character.

Once the back-history of the characters is removed from the gameplay video - on the basis that it's not gameplay, just information - the focus of the gameplay video was the filler activities, which gives the impression that the focus of the gameplay development has been the filler activities...

The point is they made a in depth story that fans have been wanting more of. Especially after the bland GTA IV that seemed like a Hodgepodge of previous GTA.

I suspect the truth of that statement is that they've made a film that they have been wanting to make and they've simply done it in a game world. Again, GTASA and GTA4 were steps towards that - GTAVC was just a severe... "homage to" Scarface.

We'll have to wait and see, but I'm sure they can make it work.

If you are in one corner and need to be clear over to the other side, I hope you can move fast

It was certainly a severe weakness in GTASA, where you'd complete a mission for CJ and end up a literal 2 miles from where you needed to be next. And in the sea.

And I remember all the enthusiasm for GTASA in the build up to it too, with the concept of building up CJ and feeding him being so real and awesome - until he snuffed it from burger withdrawal after a 4hr session. And all the excitement in the build up to GTA4 which was, let's be frank, an incredibly beautiful, awful game.


The trend since 2001 has been more filler, more hype, less grand theft auto, less fun. GTAV needs to buck the trend. The gameplay video doesn't give any evidence of that, hence my pessimism.

It's like a GT6 gameplay video spending 5% of the time on driving cars around and the rest of the time showing your B-Spec drivers participating in driver briefing sessions, track walks/recces and press-conferences, full HD video of your pit crew adjusting your throttle cable, marshalls brushing away debris and sponsorship/product endorsement meetings. Yes, there's loads more things to do now, but the game's literally called "long drive" and they're not showing much driving - wouldn't you wonder why they've not spent any time showing you the driving and what the bulk of development time actually went on?

 

[F1 fan]

Features that should be optional, but won't be.

No. They're still optional. No one is forcing you to finish the game. If all you want to do is steal cars, blow things up and drive about like a lunatic, you can still do that. You'll miss out on the platinum, but that's your problem. And again, it's still optional.

Besides, a lot of the additions to GTA V are things that have been requested by the fans. It seems that you're in the minority here. Still, you can still blow things up and steal cars to your heart's content. That's the beauty of a sandbox game.

 

[Famine]

No. They're still optional. No one is forcing you to finish the game.

Wait... are you seriously suggesting that it makes sense to spend £45 on a game and not bother with the game part of it?

You may as well argue that the entire concept of putting it into the console is optional and instead purchasers who don't like the previewed gameplay content should buy it and use it as a frisbee for their dog.

If all you want to do is steal cars, blow things up and drive about like a lunatic, you can still do that.

In Vice City, yes.

Besides, a lot of the additions to GTA V are things that have been requested by the fans. It seems that you're in the minority here.

Whatever bearing that has on anything. I'm sure it'd be even more relevant if I hadn't already mentioned it myself...

Perhaps it's just me and I'm a crazed sociopath who likes going round blowing crap up and stealing and racing cars in a game as a substitute for ability to do it in reality. Playing golf or tennis (with a DS3 and scripted characters) and stock market trading? Sounds about as much fun as playing computer games in the front room of a guy in a game you're playing. Oh wait, they did that in GTASA...

Still, if the majority of fans want the majority of features seen in the majority of that gameplay video, I expect to hear a majority praising the game 12 months after release.

Just like San Andreas. No, wait. Just like GTA4... damn.

That's the beauty of a sandbox game.

It's not a sandbox game.

Minecraft is a sandbox game. LittleBigPlanet is, to an extent, a sandbox game. Sandbox games are exactly what they sound like - the equivalent of a box of sand that you can modify however you wish with whatever tools provided, often to perform functions that the developers themselves never envisioned.

GTA is merely an open-world type game, with a predefined territory (that rarely changes - I'm interested in the partially-destructible environment of V though), list of functions you can (and, crucially, cannot) perform, a script and a storyline that you're suggesting is optional - when we know the reality is you'll be severely restricted in your movements and abilities until you've completed a very much required tutorial, just like previous GTA games

Even Vice City - though you could cheat past that with a PCJ600 and some patience.

 

[Nessy]

Besides, a lot of the additions to GTA V are things that have been requested by the fans. It seems that you're in the minority here. Still, you can still blow things up and steal cars to your heart's content. That's the beauty of a sandbox game.

Pretty much this^

I'm really glad it's become the sandbox game it is. I'm also curious how they'd go about bucking the trend, Famine. The way i see it is, they're the pioneers, and their additions to the game, (be it created for the fans, or decided by themselves), is what keeps GTA fresh.

 

[F1 fan]

Wait... are you seriously suggesting that it makes sense to spend £45 on a game and not bother with the game part of it?

My brother in law played GTA3 for hours on end back in the day without even bothering with the story. He simply drove around and blew stuff up, which you seem to want to do. I'm not suggesting that you should do anything. Buy the game or don't. It's of no consequence to me.

In Vice City, yes.

And still possible in San Andreas... And GTA:IV, Liberty city stories, Vice city stories and Chinatown wars too. Oh, and how could I forget GTA1 (and the two expansions), 2 and 3? Driving around and blowing stuff up is not exclusive to Vice City. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.

Whatever bearing that has on anything. I'm sure it'd be even more relevant if I hadn't already mentioned it myself...

Well, 99% of the members posting in this thread are actually looking forward to GTA:V and the new features. Myself included. That's why it's relevant to the discussion. So you don't like it? Does that give you a free pass to complain about it then shoot it down as irrelevant when others actually like it?

Still, if the majority of fans want the majority of features seen in the majority of that gameplay video, I expect to hear a majority praising the game 12 months after release.

Just like San Andreas. No, wait. Just like GTA4... damn.

To this day, San Andreas remains my favourite of the series. It's very popular with other members here. I do seem to remember reading several complaints about the map size from yourself. I and many others have no such complaints.

and a storyline that you're suggesting is optional

Optional in the sense that it doesn't prohibit you from stealing cars and blowing stuff up. Of course, there will no doubt be a scripted first mission that you have to clear in order to be able to engage in said pursuits... Vice City had one of those too.

when we know the reality is you'll be severely restricted in your movements and abilities until you've completed a very much required tutorial, just like previous GTA games

Just like your precious Vice City. And I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the entire map will be open from the start in GTA:V, so there's a barrier removed instantly. There is also the online component of the game, which will no doubt include the ability to steal cars and blow things up from the off.

 

[Mark T]

Some of the points Famine mentioned are accurate. In GTA IV there were periods of inaction which became quite tedious. Rockstar have tried to push the realism by making you build relationships with characters, which is a good thing, however the way it was implemented was quite tedious.

Moving towards realism is good, better vehicle and human physics, bullet damage and scenery destruction all adds to the gameplay. They just need to get the balance right, which is impossible as everybody wants different things. Some people like to immerse themselves in the GTA world (even with role playing seen here at GTP) and others like to jump in and play through it like an action style shoot 'em up.

The other concern is the scale of the map. It's necessary for the introduction of planes but I really hope that the space is utilised for ground vehicles, not just in single player but also multiplayer.

I think GTA V will be awesome, but then again I'm a bit of a GTA fan boy. What I really, really want to see in GTA (and similar games) is for the city to be smaller (same size as GTA IV is fine) but with a much more dense population and the ability to enter all buildings.

 

[VEXD]

My brother in law played GTA3 for hours on end back in the day without even bothering with the story. He simply drove around and blew stuff up, which you seem to want to do. I'm not suggesting that you should do anything. Buy the game or don't. It's of no consequence to me.

He's trolling.


And still possible in San Andreas... And GTA:IV, Liberty city stories, Vice city stories and Chinatown wars too. Oh, and how could I forget GTA1 (and the two expansions), 2 and 3? Driving around and blowing stuff up is not exclusive to Vice City. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.

He's still trolling.

Well, 99% of the members posting in this thread are actually looking forward to GTA:V and the new features. Myself included. That's why it's relevant to the discussion. So you don't like it? Does that give you a free pass to complain about it then shoot it down as irrelevant when others actually like it?

He's trolling us all.

To this day, San Andreas remains my favourite of the series. It's very popular with other members here. I do seem to remember reading several complaints about the map size from yourself. I and many others have no such complaints.

Don't get upset, he's just trolling.

Optional in the sense that it doesn't prohibit you from stealing cars and blowing stuff up. Of course, there will no doubt be a scripted first mission that you have to clear in order to be able to engage in said pursuits... Vice City had one of those too.



Just like your precious Vice City. And I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the entire map will be open from the start in GTA:V, so there's a barrier removed instantly. There is also the online component of the game, which will no doubt include the ability to steal cars and blow things up from the off.

Don't feed the troll.
Especially when he types in PURPL.
Knowing him reasonably well, I do know he is passionate about making his point that the games have altered course somewhat in the last few iterations, and don't come with a pink 80's glow or chainsaw laden bathrooms so much these days, but I also know that he typed every post on the last few pages with a wide PURPL grin.

GTA is all things to all men, and nothing new to other species.

Now bugger off and stop making me feel guilty you troll.......

Oh, and PM me your address, I'm going to Pre-Order you a copy.....

👍

 

[Famine]

My brother in law played GTA3 for hours on end back in the day without even bothering with the story. He simply drove around and blew stuff up, which you seem to want to do. I'm not suggesting that you should do anything. Buy the game or don't. It's of no consequence to me.

Yes, I can tell.

And still possible in San Andreas... And GTA:IV, Liberty city stories, Vice city stories and Chinatown wars too. Oh, and how could I forget GTA1 (and the two expansions), 2 and 3? Driving around and blowing stuff up is not exclusive to Vice City. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.

Then refer to earlier posts where the point is clear.

Well, 99% of the members posting in this thread are actually looking forward to GTA:V and the new features. Myself included. That's why it's relevant to the discussion.

Uh, that's exactly why it isn't relevant (also I missed the post-video poll).

What you look forward to has no bearing on whatever discussion you imagine has arisen from what I'm not. It's not a discussion.

So you don't like it? Does that give you a free pass to complain about it then shoot it down as irrelevant when others actually like it?

Yes. Just as you liking it gives you a free pass to not complain about it.

To this day, San Andreas remains my favourite of the series. It's very popular with other members here. I do seem to remember reading several complaints about the map size from yourself. I and many others have no such complaints.

Smashing. I do. Maybe many others may do too - don't know, haven't asked and the answer would be irrelevant anyway.

Optional in the sense that it doesn't prohibit you from stealing cars and blowing stuff up. Of course, there will no doubt be a scripted first mission that you have to clear in order to be able to engage in said pursuits... Vice City had one of those too.

You're going to need to work on this whole "making a point that's already been made by the person you're inexplicably vehemently disagreeing with despite it being of no consequence to you":

we know the reality is you'll be severely restricted in your movements and abilities until you've completed a very much required tutorial, just like previous GTA games

Even Vice City - though you could cheat past that with a PCJ600 and some patience.

Just like your precious Vice City.

And I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the entire map will be open from the start in GTA:V, so there's a barrier removed instantly.

Neat. So the tutorials will just be there to hamper your abilities until you've learned them.

There is also the online component of the game, which will no doubt include the ability to steal cars and blow things up from the off.

Yeah... online's great and all but... it's not great at all. GTA4's online was... well it was cack but reasonably enjoyable if you could find a lobby not rammed with kids and griefers (or, for the co-ops, the inept). Plus it wasn't even day 1 before the race leaderboards were stuffed full of completely impossible and obviously cheated times.

But that's by no means a GTA4 issue. It's just public online games are rammed with kids, griefers, the inept and cheats.

Don't feed the troll.
Especially when he types in PURPL.
Knowing him reasonably well, I do know he is passionate about making his point that the games have altered course somewhat in the last few iterations, and don't come with a pink 80's glow or chainsaw laden bathrooms so much these days, but I also know that he typed every post on the last few pages with a wide PURPL grin.

Well, largely uproarious laughter.

I wrote a piece yesterday about exactly this and one of the very best comments was that GTAV is going to be awesome and I should shut up because I haven't even played it yet.

Oh, and PM me your address, I'm going to Pre-Order you a copy...

You drove to my house the other day - for, like, the sixth time!

Also, I've had worse birthday presents.

 

[Dan]

I was going to unsubscribe when Rockstar released multiplayer info, but due to the arguments that have sprung up, I guess I will now.

See ya guys online! I won't come back until I have completed the singleplayer campaign (Which might take a long time).

 

[F1 fan]

Then refer to earlier posts where the point is clear.

No. I was referring specifically to this.

In Vice City, yes.

I don't need to tell you that this quotation (and the quote from my post it was aimed at) implies that you can only do these things (or you only want to do those things) in Vice City. Don't expect me to dig through your post history to find an earlier post where you posted a different opinion. I don't read every single post you make and can pretty much guarantee that you don't read every single post I make.

Uh, that's exactly why it isn't relevant (also I missed the post-video poll).

So let me get this straight... You whine about the new features, but when someone points out that other people are looking forward to said features, they aren't relevant? As for the "post-video poll", there wasn't one, but you only need to look at the enthusiasm the trailer garnered on these boards.

What you look forward to has no bearing on whatever discussion you imagine has arisen from what I'm not. It's not a discussion.

We're discussing it now, aren't we? On a discussion forum too. Fancy that.

You're going to need to work on this whole "making a point that's already been made by the person you're inexplicably vehemently disagreeing with despite it being of no consequence to you":

Inexplicably? No. The GTA series has evolved with every incarnation. That's what keeps things fresh and exciting. If it was just the same thing with every release, it would resemble the likes of FIFA and Call of Duty. Sure, some of the additions were less than stellar, but some were great. Like the base jumping for instance. That was my favourite activity in San Andreas. It seems that you just want Vice City HD. With trophy support because you obviously like those. That's fine I guess, but you want the series to stay the same or go backwards. I'm happy that it's moving forward. Hence why I'm disagreeing with you. It's not inexplicable at all. Or are you just used to people agreeing with you all the time that you can't understand when someone doesn't?

Neat. So the tutorials will just be there to hamper your abilities until you've learned them.

Do you even like games? This complaint of yours could be said about every single game. Why does it bother you so much in GTA? I couldn't help but notice that you completed a lot of things that "should be optional, but aren't" in GTA:IV. This is you, right? Quite a few trophies there for completing optional tasks that in no way resemble stealing cars or blowing things up. Well, you did "blow up" all those pigeons. And you managed to keep all your friends happy. So you object to them, but you still do them anyway. Neither of those tasks in any way inhibit your ability to steal cars and blow things up. I'll check back in a few months and see how many optional tasks you complete in GTA:V

 

[VEXD]

I was going to unsubscribe when Rockstar released multiplayer info, but due to the arguments that have sprung up, I guess I will now.

See ya guys online! I won't come back until I have completed the singleplayer campaign (Which might take a long time).

See, you're scaring the kids now.
Get back under your bridge.....

👍

 

[Famine]

No. I was referring specifically to this.

I don't need to tell you that this quotation (and the quote from my post it was aimed at) implies that you can only do these things (or you only want to do those things) in Vice City.

It didn't imply anything of the sort. You merely inferred it. Since you're aggressively defending a point that doesn't need to even be made in a discussion that doesn't exist, what you infer is entirely your problem.

Don't expect me to dig through your post history to find an earlier post where you posted a different opinion. I don't read every single post you make and can pretty much guarantee that you don't read every single post I make.

I'd expect that if you were making a point, you'd want to make it with sound foundations - and if you wished to participate in a discussion you'd wish to avail yourself of all the information. Perhaps then you wouldn't be going off the deep end at me for a point you're imagining.

So let's dig back through my post history, of posts made in this thread in the last two days and which are all still present in the topic review below the advanced reply box to find this one.

If of course you just wish to wade into something that isn't a discussion for the sole purpose of disagreeing, fill your boots. But then I thought it was of no consequence to you.

So let me get this straight... You whine about the new features, but when someone points out that other people are looking forward to said features, they aren't relevant?

More or less.

Why is what someone else thinks about the filler relevant to what I think about it?

As for the "post-video poll", there wasn't one, but you only need to look at the enthusiasm the trailer garnered on these boards.

I did. I can't even find 100 respondents for me and me alone to be the 1% dissenting voice. But I'm sure the stat is accurate.

We're discussing it now, aren't we? On a discussion forum too. Fancy that.

Not really. I merely remarked that I don't like the filler and I don't like the focus more and more on filler that has been creeping into recent games. You're telling me that I'm wrong.

That's not a discussion, but you're apparently seeing fit to have one.

Inexplicably? No. The GTA series has evolved with every incarnation.

Back to this post we go.

That's what keeps things fresh and exciting.

But it's also what ruins it. The feeding-CJ and Niko's-friends mechanisms absolutely stomped on the immersion of the thing - it's like if we had to watch Captain America nipping off to pinch out a loaf in the middle of a big fight with Nazis, because people poo.

They were utterly half-baked ideas that everyone (oooh, call it 99% then. I'm sure that'll be accurate enough) before the game was released was absolutely sold on and absolutely hated after a week or so of actually playing it. Whatever else Rockstar added that you liked (I liked the new ways of blowing things up and the new cars to nick, race and drive away from police), these immersion-destroying 'features' undid.

Unless you had the PC version and modded them away of course.

If it was just the same thing with every release, it would resemble the likes of FIFA and Call of Duty. Sure, some of the additions were less than stellar, but some were great. Like the base jumping for instance. That was my favourite activity in San Andreas.

Really? I found that got quite old, quite quickly - but I guess it was more the boredom of getting up the buildings in the first place. And those occasions where you inexplicably found you had no remaining parachutes right at the point you were smashing the parachute button. Actually no, that bit was quite good fun

Still, I didn't like it so you must be totally wrong and we must now spend two days "discussing" it. Wait, no, the other thing. You liked it because you liked it and I didn't because I didn't.

It seems that you just want Vice City HD.

I'm not that bothered by HD, I'm afraid.

With trophy support because you obviously like those.

I'm not that bothered by trophies either, I'm afraid.

That's fine I guess, but you want the series to stay the same or go backwards.

Not really.

As I said earlier, my overriding memories of GTAVC don't include any filler. I literally don't remember having to do anything that wasn't blowing things up, stealing cars, driving cars (or ice cream trucks or fire engines) fast or shooting people. My overriding memories of GTASA are spraying tags, eating burgers, having to purchase cornrows and something about a freight train. My overriding memories of GTA4 are "Hey cousin, wanna go bowling?".

If I think hard I can name one good mission from GTA4 - Three Leaf Clover. If I think harder (happened longer ago and I'm old) I can name three good missions from GTASA - Stowaway (it involved parachuting so I imagine you're there with me), The Da Nang Thang and I think it was called Are You Going To San Fierro? Despite age and creeping befuddledness, the good missions from GTAVC fall out of my head without trying... Jury Fury, Riot, Mall Shootout, Guardian Angels, Sir Yes Sir, Phnom Penh ’86, Naval Engagement, Cap the Collector, Love Juice, Publicity Tour, Keep Your Friends Close and I don't think I need to continue.

What I want is a Grand Theft Auto game that retains this essence. They can set it where and when they like and with whatever lead character they like - it's not like an Italian-American ex-con and fall guy is any more easy to identify with than an Eastern European migrant, mute or a ghetto escapee - but it needs the core of having a fun storyline and fun missions; a mission you complete with a smile on your face or a frplrplrplr (you know... a long exhalation through your mouth over floppy lips) from a release of tension is a good start and lots and lots of explosions, shooting and racing.

In GTA3 the driving was pretty much integral to the plot - Claude was a racer (though apparently CJ was better in the early days ) as well as being a non-too ambitious bank robber. In GTAVC it was diminished, but still a fair amount took place in a car (obviously the finale didn't!) - though I recall the actual street races at Sunshine Autos were not required for the storyline completion. GTASA's first vehicular mission was on a pushbike... While the car modifying was a nice addition (and then, of course, required for a tutorial mission on how to modify cars), I felt it wasn't enough - and of course cars in GTA don't last that long, so there wasn't really a compulsion to modify the car because it wasn't going to be around. Also I seem to recall there wasn't much scope for garaging and keeping the modded cars (or did they disappear from the garages? I don't really remember) - if GTAV has no safehouses, I wonder how we're going to be keeping them?


With the focus on cars (Grand Theft Auto) again and a whole raft of missions that involve quasi-nihilistic destruction, you can tack on whatever fluff you wish. I doubt Vice City would have been ruined in any way by finding out you could actually play golf on the golf course, actually dive from the diving boards behind the hotels or go waterskiing or paragliding from the many piers and behind the many speedboats - but had you been required to get a hole-in-one or score a 10.0 for game progress, it would have been a bit broken. The additional activities should be just that - additional to the game, not required for progress.

Of course tennis, tattoos and BAWSAQ may well be in GTAV - perhaps they've learned and perhaps there won't be necessary missions the first time you meet a new character that serve no other purpose than teaching you how to toke.


Though what I'd really like is a fully destructible environment. Might have to shrink the map a bit and wait until the next gen consoles (it's always waiting for the next gen consoles ), but buildings you can raze with RPG shots or by stuffing a car through the supporting walls would be superb. You could even blow up sufficient ground around you to make yourself an island to protect yourself from police (though they might get bored and blow your island up with tanks). It has three problems I can think of though. It'd be dull after you've finished the game, the tactics for completing many missions would go out of the window and you could easily destroy locations and kill people necessary for the storyline. But hey, y'all reckon it's a sandbox game, so it should suit you down to the ground (no pun intended).

Hence why I'm disagreeing with you. It's not inexplicable at all. Or are you just used to people agreeing with you all the time that you can't understand when someone doesn't?

I'm married.

Do you even like games?

This complaint of yours could be said about every single game.

In parts it probably could be said about the majority of games. It's wholly true that a lot of games are moving away from fun, enjoyment, relaxation and recreation in favour of graphical fidelity and realism. Does that mean I detest games? No, I means I detest these parts of games.

I don't know if you've ever read a game review, but very few get 10/10 (or the equivalent). The marks they knock off don't mean the reviewers hate the entire game - they mean they dislike those parts of those games - and a reviewer who's never given 100% (or the equivalent) is not someone who doesn't like games. In fact any reviewer with a 100 point scale who's given a full 100 to any game (10/10, 5/5 or even 20/20 are excusable - the resolution is too small) is probably not a reviewer worth paying any attention to.

No game is immune from criticism.


For reference, I'd give GTAVC 80%, GTASA 45% and GTA4 20% (excluding online modes), on an unusual scale for games reviewers where 50% means completely average, 70% means very good and 30% means poor.

Why does it bother you so much in GTA?

Because the games were good and fun and they've got worse and more boring. It's frustrating when a game series from a developer that can make good things goes down the pan.

I couldn't help but notice that you completed a lot of things that "should be optional, but aren't" in GTA:IV. This is you, right? Quite a few trophies there for completing optional tasks that in no way resemble stealing cars or blowing things up. Well, you did "blow up" all those pigeons. And you managed to keep all your friends happy. So you object to them, but you still do them anyway.

I bought a £45 game. Thus I played the £45 game. I gave it every chance - I experienced all of it - so that I got my money's worth and didn't miss any part of it.

I completed all of GTASA too. For the same reasons. I ate all the burgers and got all the horseshoes.

You can't accurately judge all of a game until you've experienced all of it.

Neither of those tasks in any way inhibit your ability to steal cars and blow things up.

I'm not wholly sure why they would.

I'll check back in a few months and see how many optional tasks you complete in GTA:V

On the strength of the gameplay video and GTA's declining trend I'm at zero intent to purchase*.

Unless VEXD actually does buy it me for my birthday (or my relative thinks it's a good idea), it'll be zero.

If month 1 passes and the real people around me who've bought it (actually, that's a poor plan as they're also at zero intent to purchase) are still playing it and giving good reports, I might borrow a copy from one (thank Xenu it's not on XBox One [/E3 joke, no longer relevant]).

Otherwise it'll probably still be zero when GTA6 comes out.

*That generally translates into me not buying it. My last Collardoody game was MW2 - coming up on four years since - and Ghosts is not in the plan, though this isn't for gameplay reasons but because Activision refuse to fix their online mode, knowing that it'll be absolutely torn apart by cheats in six months and that this will make people want to get the next game instead. I'm not buying into that.

I love Assassin's Creed, but my last one was AC3 and there will not be another. Again, not gameplay reasons (though AC3 was pretty weak) but due to Ubisoft's UPlay DRM which utterly ruined my experience. This also precludes any purchase of a Driver SF sequel (loved the game) or Watch_Dogs (which looked really interesting)

 

[Peasantslayer]

Famine played by David Walliams.

 

[Famine]

David Walliams

How rude!

Oddly, I caught some Twittering about GTAV earlier. These were my favourites:

Some missions request you to customise vehicles in a certain way, the rest is up for experimentation.

'Mini heists' are used to teach the player about preparation. Players must secure vehicles, outfits, masks, the getaway vehicle.

GTAV rewards exploration, there's no signposting underwater, so you'll have to find the treasure the hard way.

Looking forward to the last one most of all.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Looking forward to some new screenshots. Also some info about the co-op and mp.

 

[VEXD]

I'm not getting you it for your birthday, I'm getting you it because you want to hate it so much and we all know you'll love it.

Now.

PM ME YOUR ADDRESS.

and postcode.

ta.

👍

 

[Famine]

I'm not getting you it for your birthday, I'm getting you it because you want to hate it so much and we all know you'll love it.

I'd like to like it. I'd like to be wrong and for GTAV to be the most awesomenest GTA ever, but it just looks like it's going to be Playstation Home with a big map and guns. Perhaps jacoja was right - if they changed the name of the game to Really Big Place A Bit Like The Sims Smooshed With Facebook Only With Guns In It, I'd be less negative. But RBPABLTSSWFOWGII is a stupid abbreviation for a game.

I wanted to like SA and it was just so disappointing. I should have learned and not bought GTA4 but they said they'd ditched the feed-me-or-I-die crap. Fool me thrice...

Also, it's released the day after my birthday. It'd be a nice present if only I didn't think they'll have swollen the parts that need to be diminished to return to GTAness.

I could have phrased that last bit better.

And I can't let you buy me a £40 game!

 

[Tornado]

Love Juice was the riff on Speed, right? Where you had to drive the limo?

 

[Sureboss]

And I can't let you buy me a £40 game!

Because you know that he'll deliver it by hand and it will end up in a thousand pieces on your driveway when VEXD inevitably falls off his bike?

 

[homeforsummer]

Love Juice was the riff on Speed, right? Where you had to drive the limo?

To my knowledge, yes. Taking Love Fist from one place to another. That was a cracker of a mission.

While I disagree with Famine on GTA:SA (I liked the big map, I liked the extraneous crap, and last few times I've played it I seem to have spent remarkably little time having to eat burgers - I think it's more of an issue before you're fully built-up, able to swim etc), he's spot-on with GTA4.

My main issues with 4 were:

• Brown. BROWN = REALISM these days and it got boring very quickly in 4. It is, after all, a game that doesn't take itself too seriously. So over-use of BROWN = REALISM and ridiculously dark spaces seemed a bit much.
• Friends. I have real-life ones, I don't need to waste my actual real life making friends in a video game. This can also be applied to GTA:SA's girlfriends.
• Vast, lovely city... most of which was unexplorable. Rockstar made a huge deal about going into buildings in 4 but there weren't that many... and even when you did, there wasn't much you could do inside.
• Not enough crazy stuff to do. It's like they took all the fun stuff out of SA - no base jumping, no running over stuff in tanks, no stealing combine harvesters and mincing pedestrians...

Best thing about GTA4 was the swing glitch, and that wasn't even meant to be there.

I'd be happy with GTAV if Rockstar just got rid of the tedious stuff and kept it at that. It already looks like there's less BROWN involved, which is a good start. But please, PLEASE: No more making friends.

 

[Peasantslayer]

A few new bits of GTA info.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/419336/gta-5-much-faster-than-its-predecessors/