14 DAY TRIAL // Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the greatest games of the year, managing to impress millions of fans from around the world and breaking sales records even if it was released on just two platforms – the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
While a PC edition is without a doubt in the works and should appear sometime next year, developer Rockstar Games has certainly made a lot of sacrifices by bringing the game only to PS3 and Xbox 360 at least at first, with biggest ones relating to the game's graphics.
Open world games usually mean sacrifices in terms of visuals, as the engine needs to maintain a huge virtual environment around the player, making it extremely tough to render high quality textures and visual effects alongside the world.
The fact that GTA 5 appeared for current-gen consoles, which are eight years old, in the case of the Xbox 360, and seven in the case of the PS3, meant that Rockstar had to significantly dial down its vision for the game.
This can be seen in the quality of the textures or the toned down visual effects. The game's performance is also affected, as there will be quite a few slowdowns during hectic firefights and during cinematic moments.
Even so, the game still looks good, as the huge open world of Los Santos and Blaine County manages to impress in quite a few moments, especially since there are no loading screens when traveling.
Special props should be given to the quality of the three main characters, Michael, Trevor, and Franklin, as their faces are quite impressive, even if the special MotionScan technology from L.A. Noire wasn't used by Rockstar this time around.
In the end, Grand Theft Auto 5 looks good, but we probably won't see its true potential until the PC edition arrives, eventually.