It has been about 18 months since I first got my hands on Grand Theft Auto V, a game that may or may not have been the most enjoyable and detailed experience I have ever viewed. That was on my Playstation 3, a console that is slowly being phased out due to age. Eventually, I got tired of that game, playing it sparingly in more recent times. Then the game got re-released on PS4 and Xbox One, two consoles I do not own because I am a broke college student who is forced to spend that kind of money on textbooks instead of video games.
After nearly two years of waiting since its original release and nearly six months since its re-release, PC gamers finally got their hands on one of the most popular and highest reviewed video games of all-time. In taking so much time to perfect the game, Rockstar Games ensured that this version would be the most complete, with exclusive new features and mods that blow all other options out of the water. But is it worth buying a game that you might have already played through twice?
Let’s be honest. If you’re reading this, you likely already know what Grand Theft Auto is as a game series and you’ve probably even played GTA V at some point. I don’t need to take hundreds of words to summarize what you already know, which is that Grand Theft Auto consists of driving, shooting, and missions as you explore a vast open world modeled on present-day California.
Trevor is not amused. (All of these screenshots have been taken using in-game features and are unedited)
GTA V introduced a multi-character system complete with switching and numerous storylines that overlap and branch out between characters. There is also an online portion of the game, which consists of similar objectives, but uses other real people instead of AI-controlled NPCs. In 2013, I was amazed by the depth of the game, and Rockstar did the impossible with the re-releases by adding even more to an already jam-packed experience.
The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V includes all of the new features I just hinted at, including more animals, traffic density, character models, cleaner graphics, and better textures. I noticed these early on, especially when zooming in on other people and objects. Of course, these are all secondary and tertiary to the major addition of a first-person mode, which, if I am going to be clichéd here, is a real #gamechanger.
The entire perspective of the game changes, literally, as you can switch to a much more personal perspective while travelling through Los Santos. Cutscenes are still in third person, but weapons, walking, and driving have all been updated. Rockstar left no stone unturned as every vehicle interior looks different, the radio stations are listed in each car and change based on what you are listening to, and texting while driving is, for all intents and purposes, impossible.
I am horrible in first-person mode, but I have so much fun trying to drive and shoot from that perspective. Unfortunately, I usually end up switching back to third person by the end of every mission because it is easier.
Before I dive into the PC-specific additions, I should share my rig’s specs. First off, it is a laptop and not nearly as powerful or customizable compared to a true gaming desktop. Moreover, it isn’t even a gaming-specific laptop, with a mid-range graphics card not meant for high-end gaming. I have an ASUS N550JV series laptop with a 15.6” screen, an Intel i7 processor, and Nvidia GeForce 750M graphics. When I bought my machine two years ago, these were all great specs; it has since become mediocre through use and updates to newer machines.
For those of you with money to burn, the PC version of GTA V can run at up to 60 frames per second (all other versions hold steady at a non-negotiable 30) and even at 4K resolution, should you want to pony up enough money to do all of that. That said, I can run the game with average settings and it looks better than what I’ve seen on consoles. My big worry was the frame rate, but that hasn’t really posed an issue aside from some online lag. Even connecting my laptop to my television via HDMI caused no issues while playing. Rockstar took its time ensuring this game would work on a lot of setups and I’m grateful for that. Plenty of console games get half-baked and outsourced PC ports; this is not one of them.
Los Santos and Blaine County both look beautiful, especially at night.
My dark horse favorite of the PC-specific additions is Self Radio, which has been shipped or added to other PC ports of GTA games as Mix Tape, Independence FM, and MP3 Player. Self Radio allows me to create a playlist of songs that will play through that radio station. You can even have the game treat it like a real radio station, complete with ads and hosts. It makes me very happy to drive across Los Santos listening to some of my favorite music, especially with police sirens wailing in the background. There is also a new in-game station called The Lab that I’m not a big fan of, but it is one more option for players to listen to while driving.
The additions also include the Rockstar Editor, which is pretty much self-explanatory but has more depth than any other in-game video editor I have gotten my hands on. Aside from using captured in-game footage, there is also a Director Mode, which allows a player to control various characters and animals, including dialogue and actions. Rumor has it that The Lab will be coming to all versions of GTA V while the editor is coming to PS4 and Xbox One, but for now these are all PC-exclusives.
You can transfer your GTA Online character to the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V.
With all of these new features and my guffawing over all of the updates, I’ve probably buried the lede. It took me a thousand words to get to the real reason that PC is set apart from all other versions of Grand Theft Auto V: modding. The mod culture was so strong on a subpar port of Grand Theft Auto IV to the point that separate Back to the Future and Grand Theft Auto V mods were created atop an imperfect Rockstar experience. With the work that Rockstar put into GTA V on PC, the modding culture is going to get even stronger. Less than a month in, there are already some amazing mods available and gaming websites are devoting posts to these user-made creations as well as the regular game. Unfortunately, this is partially due to some keyloggers found in popular mods, so be careful.
In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge fan of Grand Theft Auto as a series and especially of Grand Theft Auto V. There is a great story, hundreds of hours to kill within the massive open world and now, better graphics than ever before. There has never been a video game released that looks this good, plays this well, and is as much fun as GTA V, with the definitive version being on PC.
For anyone on the fence about buying the game again, dropping the money on PC will leave you the least disappointed. Truly, I cannot recommend this game enough and would give it a higher score than 10/10 if possible. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to Los Santos to finish a heist.
