Grand Theft Auto 5 - Details Released

The web is a flutter tonight as Game Informer disclose what gamers everywhere were waiting for.. insider details on Rockstars latest instalment of the ever popular highly successful Grand Theft Auto Series ..GTAV.

The announcement of GTAV back in October of last year started the rumour mill off, but while loose details started to leak that same rumour mill went right into overdrive. Mostly the loose details could not be traced back to developers and instead were wishlists and wantings by GTA fans. Now with a number of high resolution images on the table, a sneaky trailer and Game Informers fantastic coverage its clear the GTAV will be one of the best selling games of all time. Game Informer went into great detail over its 18 page feature so I naturally devoured every page so I could cut down on the bulk of the article and instead post some of the top need to knows that will make GTAV one of the most memorable games you will ever play.

Who ya gonna be?

The early pictures of the game were dissected by gamers to try and find out who was the protagonist of GTAV. The answer is not as simple as you would think, you don’t just play as 1 main protagonist, you play as 3!. Trevor, Franklin and Michael. Trevor is a drug addict, Franklin is a hustler, and Michael is a bank robber who left the life but gets drawn back into the action.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Each of the three protagonists live miles apart from each other, come from different backgrounds but either of them can be accessed at anytime, some missions can incorporate all three. 

No place for old men

In the past GTA have employed the voice acting talents of many actors and celebrities including, Dennis Hopper, Ray Liotta and Sam the man Jackson. Rockstar have decided to ditch this approach and have instead have gone with regular no-name voice actors that won’t appear familiar to gamers.

It’s a Big Big World Out There

Word has it that GTAV will be far bigger than any other game Rockstar have made, they are saying it will be bigger than GTA4, Red Dead Redemption and San Andreas combined ..how is it even possible? well they promise there will be the usual urban setting but included will be the following: a lush and vast wilderness, vibrant beach fronts, military bases, the triumphant return of Mount Chiliad and deep a ocean floor that can also be explored..

The ocean floor will feature the following: coral beds, rocky canyons and caverns, and even deep ravines.

Only The Lonely 

Each of the three characters you control have their own mini games unique to only them, no real information has been given on what games will feature but word has it a fully functional golf course will feature and be available for actual golfing.

All three have their own personal assortment of friends and contacts, skill sets, and while you are playing with one the others will go off and busy themselves with other activities.

Unbreak My Heart

While previous games allowed you date, and wine and dine a number of ladies from all walks of life Rockstar have decided to shelve relationships insisting that it only slows the game down and can be too distracting from the main game, will gamers miss it? I know I won’t, it felt more Sims than GTA.

Dude You Just F#d Up Your Ferrari ..It Wasn’t Mine

One of the best features of GTA have always been the ability to jump into any car you see and take it for a ride, even if there may have been someone previously in the drivers seat who is now laying in a pile on the side of the road. Boosting cars has always been fun but in GTA4 no one will argue with me when I say the vehicle physics were appalling at best. Cars felt like they were unrealistically weighted and being behind the wheel just wasn’t a joy. Rockstar have rebuilt and enhanced the driving in the game making cars handle more realistically, even high speed racing has been given a serious overhaul and promises to be a blast.

And the Rest:  

Flying can be done early in the game if you are playing as Trevor, he is after all a veteran of Vietnam so its one of his skills.

Some of the many vehicles available include, cars, trucks, planes, helicopters, dirt bikes, bmx’s, atv’s and even jet skis.

Ammu-nation is making a welcome return, gun lovers everywhere won’t have to go far to beef up their cache.

Cellphones that were very popular in GTA4 are back.

Instead of splitting up the city into sections linked by tunnels and bridges it is now one major expansive area.

The inclusion of a TV to watch random shows and adverts on is back, they have even expanded on the running time and content.

Multiplayer is back though specific details on how they will evolve or effect the main game are murky at the moment.

You won’t be able to purchase property (damn!) but Rockstar promises that cash earned can be used on other pursuits, a huge problem with GTA4 was having so much cash but nothing to spend it on, I can only assume cars/clothes and jewellery?.

With GTAV officially announced for Spring 2013 there is still plenty of time for Rockstar to make improvements and put a final polish on their most wanted title yet. Perhaps one of the most exciting updates to soon follow is the addition of a new trailer which is to be released on the 14th of November.

Fallout 4: New Vegas [DLC] [PS3 & 360]

Dead Money

This was without a doubt my favourite of the Fallout New Vegas DLC releases. Unlock all the other releases and indeed the main game Dead Money really makes you fight to stay alive. The DLC is set with the Sierra Madre Casino being the main backdrop of the proceedings, however you have to make your way through the streets of a nearby town before you can gain entry. The town is unlock anything you have seen before in the Fallout universe. Bathed in a strange red glow the town is covered in all kinds of dangerous traps, hazardous gas and is populated by a very creepy new enemy known as “Ghost People”.

When you first encounter the area you can be forgiven to think it looks like something from a Lovecraft novel, I’d be surprised if that’s not what the developers were aiming for. The story is a lot more engaging than I expected and if I was to sum it up I’d call it a mix between SAW and Oceans 11. most of your time will be spent in the streets cautiously navigating your way through traps and past the Ghost People, but that’s not all. At the start of the game you are knocked unconscious and when you recover you find that an explosive bomb collar has been attached to your neck, (think The Running Man) the collar is triggered when you come within range of certain speakers, this too makes the difficulty increase and really keeps you on your toes. As I already stated this was by far the best DLC in the pack, it was extremely hard and tests you right to the brink of sanity.

There are a number of characters in Dead Money that play key roles in you completely the game, the dialogue is rich and really well drawn out. What Dead Money does differently is an overhaul of pace and tension, it makes you carefully watch each step and think about your next move rather than carelessly wander through the game. I’d recommend the DLC for players who are at least at level 30, it will try and test you to the very end and once you start Dead Money you cannot go back to the Mojave until you completed your business in the Sierra Madre Casino. [9 out of 10] By far the best DLC going, a solid storyline with interesting characters and a whole new approach and pace to the game.

Honest Hearts

Before you set out to play Honest Hearts you need to remember to carry only what you need because the game caps our weight allowance at about 70 or 80, why? well because to get to the area where the game takes place you have to squeeze through narrow corridors and caverns. When you arrive you find yourself in the middle of Zion National Park, Utah of all places. This is where you quickly learn that Honest Hearts plays out a lot like a western complete with tribes and the kind of landscape you see in a typical Cowboys and Indians movie.

At first missions are kind of interesting and hold your attention for a while, but after that its easy to just forget about what you are doing and who sent you, you still get the job done but caring about why you were doing it really goes out the window. So the storyline is nothing special but the map and lush terrain makes up for it. Zion is a very beautiful place, helped of course by the fact that its waters and rivers have not been polluted by radiation and chemicals.

Another thing that instantly became apparent was the addition of changing weather patterns, Zion not only gets showered in rain storms it also has a star filled sky at night that will make you stop and stare the first time the sun goes down. Included with the natural beauty is all manner of tribal art and murals, you see them scrawled and painted onto walls and cliff faces and while its only a small item of detail its the kind of thing that makes the game all the more special. It’s not all wine and roses though, what Zion has that I don’t like is roaming swarms of Cazadors that seem to spawn in the most random locations, and except for a few other varieties of beasts that’s really all you will find. It’s a shame they didn’t put in some new animals or mutants because if anywhere on the map would benefit from such things it would be Zion. All in all its an okay DLC pack, it has its faults but you do receive an even higher level cap and Zion is the perfect place to visit when you just want to get away from the dry dustiness of Mojave. [6 out of 10]

Old World Blues

This was one of the oddest DLC’s Fallout has ever received, even in terms of the alien encounters in Mothership Zeta this still wins in terms of weirdness. Old World Blues plays a lot like an old cheesy science fiction movie that probably cost the price of the game to make. It’s all very strange yet kind of exciting at the same time. You wake up after what seems like a serious operation to find your brain along with other body parts have been removed, but by who or what? Well as crazy as it sounds by a bunch of robots. These plucky piles of scrap metal are inform you that you can get your organs back by doing specific tasks for them, there are all kinds of mini missions that thankfully take up a lot of time so you do actually feel like you get your moneys worth from the missions and story alone. The game is set in huge crater that’s been sealed off from the outside world, its called Big Mountain and as you explore it you start to see that it’s where much of the technology featured in the game was developed.

It’s full of secret test labs and facilities to pillage and plunder, once you can get past their occupants of course. Old World Blues features a great mix of enemies that challenge even the most accomplished players. Robot scorpions and robot dogs are some of the foes you will find roaming through Big Mountain, along with yourself there are also test subjects armed with guns and melee weapons and as you may have guessed they are bent on annihilating you. The DLC’s strong points are its heavy on new items and weapons, the humour and wackiness is seriously off the scale, Big Mountain is fantastic to explore. All that aside there is always one DLC pack that seems to suffer the most from bugs and freezes and this time around it’s Old World Blues. I lost count how many times the game slowed down to a snails pace, most of the time it was a specific area of the map and reloading a previous save fixed it right up. Even with the dire freezes which drove me crazy countless times Old World Blues is fantastic, the dialogue is beyond hilarious and its all very challenging. [8 out of 10]

Lonesome Road

This DLC ties in a lot more than the others in terms of the games main story. In a nutshell you are offered a quest by one of the original couriers who didn’t take the job that you did, this courier calls for you to traverse the dangerous terrain of an area known as The Divide in order to learn secrets about your past. And so coaxed with such an offer you set out into The Divide and as usual cannot bring a companion with you. The story is not that great and you can tell that they tried to do something gigantic but it really didn’t pan out, I found myself losing interest and my concentration diminishing as the game went on. It’s in no way a safe location, The Divide is home to many death claws who's razor sharp claws will tear even the highest level characters into shreds in a matter of seconds. Along with “the wildlife” there is a new enemy that resembles the ghouls and carries serious heavy firepower.

They aren’t too hard to defeat and raiding their remains nets some nice hardware and items which can be sold once you leave the area, thankfully unlike all the other DLC packs you can leave The Divide whenever you chose. This works great because you can sell off all the spoils you find and top up on health or ammo whenever you are lacking in it. Just like Honest Hearts I wouldn’t buy it for the story, I’d only buy it for the extra level cap and the challenge of making it through this new volatile area of the Mojave. [5 out of 10] Uninspiring landscape, flat story and dialogue, only worth it for the extra level cap small change of scenery.

Gun Runners Arsenal

When you first see this DLC it’s easy to get excited for the wrong reasons, it promises a lot of extra weapons and never before seen items. However many of the weapons ion the pack are already in the game, the difference is they are tagged with GRA and come with mods that their counterparts don’t have. The problem here is you can only use GRA mods on GRA guns, while one gun might be the exact type unless it’s from the DLC pack you can’t use the mod on it. Luckily not every single weapon falls into this category and some are new previously unseen weapons. While most come premade a few come in the form as weapons you craft at workbenches and the like. While it’s a decent enough pack if it hadn’t have come with the Ultimate Edition I wouldn’t go of my way to buy it separately because the game already has so many items and weapons that these don’t make too much of a difference.