14 DAY TRIAL // Next up in our Softpedia Game of the Year 2014 awards is the best gameplay winner – Grand Theft Auto 5 on new-generation consoles – made and published by Rockstar Games for PS4 and Xbox One.
Grand Theft Auto 5 impressed tens of millions of gamers, us included, last year when it appeared for the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms. The game represented, more or less, the swan song of the old generation of devices, proving that they were able to produce decent visuals even with their outdated hardware.
This year, Rockstar Games finally brought the experience to other platforms, more specifically to the PS4 and Xbox One new-generation consoles, while the PC version is still in the works and set to appear next month.
While the studio could have easily just ported the experience for the new devices, it did go the extra mile and added quite a few new features, not just better visuals but also enhanced mechanics and even a first-person view that drastically alters the traditional Grand Theft Auto gameplay experience.
There have certainly been plenty of great open world titles launched these years, and while some did things better than previous Grand Theft Auto games, GTA 5 proved once again that Rockstar's franchise is still the benchmark for the whole genre.
With the new versions of the game, the studio also proved that it could get off to a great start on the fresh home consoles, avoiding some of the controversial aspects seen in GTA 4 when it first appeared many years ago.
Varied gameplay and great additions make GTA 5 stand out
The actual gameplay is extremely varied, and while it still mostly boils down to driving cars, shooting guns, and getting in elaborate adventures filled with crime and misdeeds, it's still a joy to go through.
The first-person view in particular is quite impressive, and while it certainly takes some time to get used to, especially if you jump from GTA 5 on PS3 or Xbox 360, it can make the whole title feel refreshing and (almost) new.
Combine these new elements with the fantastic dedication Rockstar has to the GTA Online multiplayer mode, even if its strive for perfection has led to yet another delay of the online heists, and Grand Theft Auto 5 on new platforms deserves to be crowned with the best gameplay of the year award.
You can check out our review of Grand Theft Auto 5 on the Xbox One. Expect some even better impressions next month, when the title debuts on PC and might even get the aforementioned online heists.
