Grand Theft Auto V PS4 Xbox One Review Roundup: Old Is New Again

"Stepping out of that alleyway... I drank in San Andreas afresh, and found it just that little bit sweeter. I saw birds in the sky, more stray cats in the alleys; a group of cyclists trundled by at a sedate pace and I caught myself idly wondering if they were friends, before I reminded myself that what I was looking at wasn’t real. Don’t get me wrong, next gen GTA V is not photoreal, or even any more truly alive than the next game, but the illusion is a powerful and enduring o


With E3 2013 week out of the way, it's time to play catch-up on a few key news items that dropped before and during the big event. This week's wrap up covers the return of Baldur's Gate and FreeSpace ; cinematic trailers for Total War: ROME II and World of Warplanes ; The Witcher 3 and Killer Instinct DLC plans; two new Trials games; and another high profile MMO going fully free-to-p


You'll get a call on your phone, demanding you to explain your actions. While Franklin and Trevor react pretty normally (especially when you consider the fact that you just bombarded their houses with explosives), Michael probably has the most furious and amusing reaction to your acti


Sleeping Dogs is a spiritual sequel to the True Crime series, that was originally released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (and released as a part of a definitive edition on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 with updated visuals and improved frame ra


"While the first-person mode is definitely the big selling pitch for this edition, Rockstar has made loads of other little improvements – many of which were probably necessary once they decided to add the first-person perspective. Every single texture has been replaced. Get up close to a road or sidewalk and you’ll see plenty of gritty detail not seen in the original version. I booted up my old Xbox 360 edition to make some comparisons and the difference is immediately evid


Nier's world is small in comparison to other games, but there's a lot to explore and discover. The game adopts multiple styles of gameplay —that could at times feel a bit disjointed or incoherent— but ultimately they mesh together well helping provide a unique experie

One game I had imagined more than any other had to be the open world of grand theft auto sequels Theft Auto. Touring the vastness of Liberty City, meeting colorful characters and going into storefronts all excited me. Not to mention the exhilarating idea of fighting my way through the endless sea of enemies brought on by committing a some petty crimes, like hitting a pedestrian with a car. Virtuix, the folks behind the Omni, have released a video of Grand Theft Auto V being played using the Oculus Rift and their motion tracking peripheral, and I didn’t have quite the reaction I thought I would have.

The arguments are there that VR is a powerful piece of narrative device. The people you play as in the Grand Theft Auto series are largely awful people, and seeing the world through their eyes is a breakneck way to deliver that message to players. I could even see it causing emotional scenes, like pulling the trigger on Duck in Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 1, that much more powerful, but in the case of Grand Theft Auto V, its meaning may take a backseat to just how terrifying the act of killing is.


State of Decay is an open-world zombie survival horror game that's exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. You're in charge of a small group of survivors, building outposts, and bases to ensure your group's survival in a commun

My initial response was what I had expected. Seeing the player’s movements translate directly to the screen had me clamoring to see when and how I could get my hands on the Virtuix Omni , but when the player entered a convenience store, things turned much, much darker. The player then goes on to threatening and killing the clerk as well as many passersby outside of the store.


The sequel definitely takes some inspiration from the GTA series. The game gives the players the tools to have fun, allowing gamers to enjoy the world, and taking satirical shots at Western society. However, there's definitely a more cerebral way the game tackles very serious top


"I'm not unaware of who I am as I play—Trevor's hands are covered in scrapes and tattoos, etc.—but I feel disconnected from the characters in a way that I actually like. That disconnection makes me play the game differently—I used to take the time to customize my character's clothes and look, but now, I don't even c

There’s something eerie about literally walking into a store, looking down the sights of a gun and into the eyes of a store clerk, even if it is all virtual. It immediately creates a narrative between assailant and victim that wasn’t there when viewing the game through the window of a TV screen. He's no longer an Apu-esque caricature, and it’s my personal choice whether to kill him or not. The screams of nearby civilians immediately following the gunshots solidified the terror perpetrated by player actions in my mind. I was, and even thinking about it days after initially seeing it still am, deeply disturbed.