Review: New version of Grand Theft Auto V for new PS4 and Xbox One consoles - is it the best ever GTA?

The comment was based on how GTAV’s launch sparked mass hysteria and long queues of people desperate to get their hands on it, showing video gaming had come of age and established itself as a powerful force in entertainment.

GTAV was a proper old-school blockbuster in the digital age. It went on to live up to the hype, selling by the tens of millions and becoming one of the most critically acclaimed titles of all time.

Fifteen months on and an enhanced version has been released for the new(ish) generation of consoles, the PS4 and Xbox One. There hasn’t been the same fanfare around this launch, but it’s equally significant.

The improvements made by Rockstar during the intervening period mean GTAV now stakes an even stronger claim than the earlier version to being the finest video game ever made.

What’s it all about?

Numerous upgrades have been made but the core game has mostly been left alone. Therefore, most of what you may have read and heard about GTAV last year still applies, including my full review here.

The game takes place in and around the sprawling, seedy city of Los Santos, modelled on Los Angeles. It features three playable characters – street gangster Franklin, ex bank robber Michael and the psychotic Trevor - a trio of criminals leading separate lives until their stories become interconnected when they team up for a series of daring raids.

As before, it stays true to the series’ open-world crime-fantasy roots, being a mix of action, third-person (also now first-person) shooter, fighting and driving.

A series of set missions must be completed to push the story towards its alternate endings which determine the fate of the three protagonists. Outside of these players are free to roam at their leisure enjoying the eclectic selection of activities (such as golf and riding a Ferris wheel), doing the bizarre bunch of side quests (including driving a tow truck and becoming a paparazzi photographer) or creating carnage (through stealing cars, beating up strangers on the street and other criminal acts that will get you the attention of cops or a trip to the hospital).

What’s to like?

Rockstar has taken all the things that made GTAV good in the first place and enhanced them.

The first visible advancement, and one of the most noticeable throughout, is how the game looks. It was already a sight to behold and it’s even more so now. The size of Los Santos and its surrounding countryside hasn’t increased but the locations’ beauty has through better resolution (1080p at 30 frames per second), lighting, textures and draw distances.

Attention to detail has been increased from its already impressive level, so it’s now possible to see cats prowling the streets, foliage swaying in the wind and even more litter on the ground. Weather effects, especially rainstorms, are remarkable.

Especially at night, the city looks absolutely stunning.

Assassin’s Creed Unity recently raised the bar for open-world settings with its huge crowds and array of people and buildings the main character can interact with. GTAV doesn’t quite match Unity’s population density and amount of things to do but it does still contain more people and heavier traffic than before, making it the most alive setting in the GTA series yet.

It’s hard to say which world is larger or most interesting overall out of Ubisoft’s French Revolution-era Paris and Rockstar’s contemporary Los Santos. Certainly in terms of modern-day settings for games, GTAV’s is the best and biggest there’s ever been, offering a vast and constantly compelling environment to explore.

I’ve only seen a small number of visual glitches, a couple of things suddenly popping up in front of me, but nothing that really breaks the concentration. It’s a great technical accomplishment that such a big game with such a detailed world performs as smoothly as it does.

A major new feature of GTVA is being able to press the touchpad on the PS4 controller to switch from the traditional third-person perspective to a first-person view, which brings with it fresh cover and targeting systems along with a load of new animations.

Playing the game through the characters’ eyes rather than remotely directing their animated figure on the screen adds an extra dimension to the experience. It takes some getting used to but the when the initial disorientation wears off it provides a whole new style of playing GTA, being more virtual reality than just game. The more graphic moments become a lot more hard-hitting when viewed in first-person. It’s makes things even more immersive and intense.

You won’t want to stay in first-person permanently as there are occasional times when it’s not the best view to have, such as when driving or having a punch-up. It’s easy to toggle back and forth to the normal third-person camera position, though.

Beyond the visual upgrade and new first-person view the main things to look and listen out for are some new activities, weapons, vehicles, wildlife and songs on the radio.

It may seem like proper additional content is thin on the ground in the new version of GTAV, and that is true, but Rockstar cannot be accused of simply doing a half-hearted port of the game on to new-gen consoles. The number and quality of the changes made ensure it goes way beyond being just an exercise in going through the motions, ending up as a fully developed, definitive edition of an already amazing game.

The earlier version already delivered on some lofty ambitions, taking sandbox gaming to another level by providing a virtual world and the freedom to have fun in it on a scale never seen before. The updated version utilises the extra power of the new consoles to become deluxe in every way.

One final thing to note is that new GTAV comes with the multiplayer component GTA Online included. This allows up to 30 players to take part in competitive and co-operative missions such as racing and deathmatches. I’ve barely touched this myself as single-player is more than enough for me but the online world is clearly another impressive facet of the game.

What’s not to like?

GTAV is such an epic, high quality game that complaining about aspects of it feels like getting everything you want for Christmas and then moaning about the wrapping paper the presents came in. It’s other words, it’s pure nitpickery.

However, I still think the melee combat leaves a lot to be desired. It’s just not very refined, and still amounts to nothing more than pressing the attack buttons until a few random blows have knocked your opponent to the ground. It remains a clunky, awkward part of the game, with a limited range of moves and no options for creativity such as being able to grab nearby objects to use.

Shooting and driving suffer a similar lack of sophistication which stands out more this time due to the upgrades elsewhere in the game.

Of course being Grand Theft Auto, there are as many controversies in the game as there are bullets and bodies. Some people say, with some legitimacy, the game is misogynistic by sidelining women to the background and portraying those it does feature as sex objects. Others say the game goes too far with the violence in places, such as one infamous torture scene.

It’s unclear sometimes whether Rockstar is genuinely trying to provide scathing social commentary or is guilty of being deliberately tasteless to create maximum shock value and exposure. But when taken as a whole the game can be seen as a sharp satire on society which uses ugly themes and exaggerated stereotypes to mock modern culture and make players squirm.

There’s the uncomfortable truth that players are rewarded within the game for performing some very objectionable actions but GTA is still a piece of art that presents a fictional version of reality in the same way films, TV and books do. Much of the content is contextual – this is after all a story about three seriously messed-up violent criminals living in a twisted, corrupt world and they wouldn’t work as law-abiding, morally upstanding citizens with enlightened views.

All this said, there is a lot in GTAV that will annoy some people and downrightly offend others. It’s a grown-ups’ game but obviously still won’t appeal to everyone’s tastes and sensibilities. It’s definitely not a kids’ game and would be a completely unsuitable Christmas gift for a young gamer.

Should I buy it?

In a word, yes.

Whether you’ve played the earlier version of not, GTAV is still an essential purchase for gamers.

It is a strong contender for the title of best game ever made, so you really should check it out if you’ve missed out before. The new updated version is absolutely the best one to go for.

GTAV sits really well on the new consoles and is a step up from the previous version, so is definitely worth another look from previous players, especially as there are treats included for returners.

I packed my PS3 away a year ago when I upgraded to PS4. It was a wrench to stop playing GTAV as a result, so I’ve really enjoyed getting stuck into it all over again. There have been several old-gen games transferred to the new-gen machines, and GTAV is by far the top conversion. In fact, if the old edition hadn’t existed it would feel as though GTAV had been built for the new consoles.

This is the best Grand Theft Auto there’s been. If that means something to you, you have to play it.

9.5 out of 10

Out now for PS4 and Xbox One. PS4 version played for review