Grand Theft Auto Five Review: The greatest Grand Theft Auto?

Oh where to begin? It's been five years since the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game of 2008. The phenomenal success of the story of Russian immigrant Niko Bellic trying to achieve the elusive American dream shoved the anticipation for it's successor up to breaking point, and by it's release date almost two weeks ago the gaming community's excitement was about to explode. Shops opened at midnight, selling out in a matter of hours. Critics went crazy and GTA V became the highest reviewed gaming release of all time. The game made a staggering eight hundred million dollars on it's first day on sale. But was it truly worth the arduously long wait? Is it really as good as the reviewers claimed? Is it genuinely developer Rockstar's finest game to date when they've produced such classics as Max Payne, Red Dead Redemption and of course the legendary previous GTA games? Of course it is.


GTA V, actually the fifteenth game in the long running series, is the first title in Rockstar's favourite franchise to feature not one, not two but three playable characters. Michael is a retired bank robber who faked his own death and now lives out an unhappy existence in  Los Santos, the largest city in the game's fictional state of San Andreas, with a huge house and a family that hates him. It's not long before he meets Franklin, a young thug in a Los Santos gang who inspires to be a big time criminal. Together they plan a major heist to pay off Michael's debts and create a little spending money, before making contact with the game's third protagonist Trevor, an psychopathic ex-associate of Michael's who runs a meth production business from his hillbilly home in Sandy Shores, a small town in the north of San Andreas. While each of these characters sound like predictable clichés in a crime movie, the player spends enough time with them to explore their dark personalities and develop their feelings for them. By the game's conclusion we care about Michael, Franklin and Trevor more than any characters in past GTA games, a quite staggering achievement. To deal with the use of three protagonists, Rockstar have employed a superb character switching system that allows the player to change character at will while free roaming or at certain points during missions. Like Max Payne's bullet time mechanic, what might have ended up as a useless gimmick is actually a great system that becomes vital to progressing in the story. Questions have been raised as to the lack of female protagonist and I'd like to see this happen in a future GTA game, but to be honest the three characters the developers have given life to are so interesting and well developed that this minor sexist flaw can be easily ignored.

It's not so easy to see past the blatant sexism  that riddles the entire campaign, from the ever present prostitutes to the violent mick taking on feminism. GTA games have flirted with controversy in the past, and sexism isn't the only thing that will cause anger against GTA V. A mission which forces the player to partake in torture is particular shocking and will doubtless cause anger in the wider community, and of course there's the usual suspects of drugs and violence at work too. Still, if you can ignore these issues you'll realise that GTA V is simply a deliriously fun game to play and it's really not worth reading too much into these problems.

Every aspect of gameplay has been redesigned since GTA IV, from the basic game mechanics up. Shooting and driving have been noticeably improved, with a superb cover system and more realistic guns combining with more fluid steering to make simply driving or walking around considerably more realistic and enjoyable. There's not a whiff of the "drive here, kill someone, drive back" mission structure that haunted previous GTA's; the missions of GTA V are cinematic, multi structured affairs which stand up to any Hollywood blockbuster set piece. One mission that really illustrates this from early on in the game's narrative involves the long running feud between Trevor and biker gang The Lost (previously featured in the GTA IV expansion The Lost and Damned). Playing as Trevor, I used a high powered sniper rifle to pick off bike guards while my friend Ron planted explosives in the gang's hideout. When Ron ran into trouble, I leaped onto a quad bike and raced into the fray. An exhilarating shoot out followed, culminating in the two of us escaping into the air in stunt planes as the base exploded below us, the mission finishing as I raced Ron back to our airstrip. And there are tens of missions like it over the course of the main story (not to mention the myriad of side quests available), perfectly conveying just how much the mission design of GTA has improved since the game's humble beginnings in 1997. The missions are based around six major heists, multi-storied jobs requiring thought, decision making and many preliminary tasks before they can be executed. These heists are brilliantly structured and really feel like they've been pulled out of action movies, expertly mixing planning and tension with stunning levels of violence culminating in a huge payoff if competed correctly. Heists also add a little player freedom to the mix by allowing you to choose between two methods of robbery for each job and also letting you pick your own crew. A massively improved stealth system also means that there are often two ways of tackling each mission.

And I've said all this practically without mentioning the beautiful world the game is set in. While GTA San Andreas was set in a similar location and featured locations found in GTA V including Los Santos, Blaine County and the towering Mount Chiliad, the latest instalment takes it to a new level. The map is not only huge but it's dense too, and full of things to do. The level of detail put in by the stellar team at Rockstar North is nothing short of incredible, and it's remarkable that every area of such a massive world feels different. From the posters on the walls of Franklin's house to the stunning view at the summit of Mount Chiliad to the many in-references to past GTA games, this is possibly the greatest game world ever created, reminding me more of the intricate detail of Arkham City (not in size) than the empty expanses of Just Cause 2's Panau. And the team have clearly spent a lot of time adding things to do, from side quests and collectables to surprisingly excellent tennis and golf games to base jumping, flying, racing and hunting, the wealth of mini-activities is simply awesome. And of course, just exploring the enormous open world taking in the scenery (and maybe causing a little mayhem in the process) is fantastic fun too. The game plays extremely well too; the frame rate is high and consistent; the draw distance is remarkable and bugs are practically non-existent, a remarkable feat considering it's running on eight year old hardware.  And as ever it's backed up by a brilliant soundtrack that, for the first time, not only features hours of real music but also a dynamic score that plays when the character is not in a car. There's a great range of songs from artists as varied as Britney Spears and Black Flag, and while it's not quite as inspired in it's look at contemporary music as Vice City was to the eighties, it's still full of spine-tingling moments. The game is also drenched with biting satire in it's story and on the radio, parodying topics including America's love affair with firearms, the financial crisis and even modern video games.

We'd waited so long for GTA V that anything other than a near perfect game was going to be a disappointment, but fortunately for us the team from Rockstar North have truly delivered this time around. GTA V feels like a culmination of all Rockstar's previous work, and while a game like The Last of Us says more about humanity in a few minutes than this £175 million blockbuster manages in it's entire 70+ missions, there's no denying that GTA V is, quite simply, brilliant fun to play. And after all, that's what games are for in the first place. It's one of the greatest video games of all time.

10/10
Reviewed for Xbox 360

List time! The 10 greatest Grand Theft Auto characters.

Bloggers love lists. In fact, we all like a good list every one in a while (that or it's just me)! So with the GTA V hype barely unabated more than a week since the game's release and my review of the game landing very soon (tomorrow hopefully) I took the opportunity to list my ten favourite GTA characters of all time. As an affectionate of the classic PS2 era of GTA games there's plenty of characters from the classic trilogy, but I've included a few of my favourites from the time I've spent with Rockstar's latest instalment too.

Number 10: Maurice Chavez
Not a character in the conventional sense of the word, Maurice is the self-obsessed presented of political talk show Pressing Issues on Vice City Public Radio in GTA Vice City. Despite making no in-game appearance, Chavez makes the list for his frequently hilarious banter with goths, priests and politicians on what is surely the greatest talk station of any GTA game. In a single episode of Pressing Issues, he offends countless guests and listeners, violently grapples with a naturist and is held at gunpoint by an insane televangelist named Pastor Richards. Chavez embodies the stunning sense of humour with dominates modern GTA games, and I was glad to see him honoured in a GTA V Easter egg.


Number 9: Frank Tenpenny
GTA has seen many villains, some ridiculous, some hilarious and some downright terrifying. But the series has never created an antagonist quite as chilling as corrupt police officer Frank Tenpenny. As the main villain in GTA San Andreas, Tenpenny harbours a barely controlled hatred for the game's hero CJ, which comes to a dramatic climax during the game's final mission. Voiced by legendary actor Samuel L Jackson, Tenpenny's careful stalking makes him one of GTA's most memorable characters.

Number 8: Lance Vance
The two-faced Lance Vance first appears in GTA Vice City as a helpful yet troubled criminal eager to prove himself to the game's protagonist Tommy Vercetti. As the game progresses however the player witnesses a bizarre and gradual change in Lance's persona until he eventually comes to despise Vercetti and attempts to put him out of action for good. Lance was one of the first truly three-dimensional characters in video game history, the hatred that overcomes the goodness in his heart making him a brilliantly believable character.
























Number 7: Trevor Philips
Easily the most psychotic protagonist in GTA history, Trevor is the wild card of GTA V. The third playable character the player comes across, Trevor is a former bank robber who now spends his time cooking meth and battling with biker gang The Lost from his home in Blaine County. As we learn more about his dark, troubled character, we see past Trevor's manic levels of violence and he becomes a deeper, more interesting person. One of the true greats.


Number 6: Big Smoke
A member of the Grove Street Boys gang in GTA San Andreas, Big Smoke becomes the game's second major villain when he betrays CJ for his own gain. Full of fantastically written dialogue, Big Smoke is featured as major player in the game's early stages before becoming elusive for the middle segment and reappearing towards the game's climax. Despite this, Big Smoke is the character GTA San Andreas players remember, as much for his appearance as his humorous speeches.


Number 5. Maccer
As lead singer of the English band The Gurning Chimps, Maccer was perhaps San Andreas's most humorous character.  Voiced by Shaun Ryder of The Happy Mondays, Maccer provided a strange mixture of references to British music and bizarre, drug addled comments such as "Pabsy! I'm a Raspberry!" And Maccer was to The Gurning Chimps what Kurt Cobain was to Nirvana, with Kent Paul commenting "drummers and keyboardists are ten-a-penny anyway" when referring to the rest of the band.


Number 4: Ken Rosenberg
Drug addicted layer and champion of awful suits Ken Rosenberg made two appearances in GTA games, one in Vice City when he became Tommy Vercetti's right-hand man in his efforts to take over the town, and again in San Andreas as a washed out friend of Kent Paul and Maccer. Rosenberg's scheming nature and bizarre tendencies made him a cult favourite in Vice City, and fans were gratified for his return in CJ's story. Clearly based in both personality and appearance on David Kleinfeld's  character in Carlito's Way, Rosenberg remains a personal favourite.


Number 3: Michael De Santa
Possibly the most important of GTA V's three protagonists, Michael's story is the classic tale of the rich and retired band robber who returns to a life a crime. But what might have been a clichéd character takes on more depth as his history and relationships with his family and the other main characters are fully explored over the game's long campaign. While many players leaned towards Trevor, Michael was the character I truly connected with in GTA V. A brilliantly likeable protagonist.


Number 2: Tommy Vercetti
As the protagonist of GTA Vice City, Tommy was a convicted criminal sent to Vice City by his mafia bosses to complete a major drug deal. When the deal went wrong and Tommy lost the cash, he began an epic quest to regain the money and to take revenge on the boss who had set him his arrest ten years ago. Tommy was the first GTA protagonist who felt like a real person, rather than the unspeaking pawn you played as in GTA III this character had a personality; he was violent, cruel and frequently very funny. Tommy was a revolutionary milestone in GTA games, the man who laid the foundation for all the sarcastic,psychotic characters of the future games.


Number 1: Kent Paul
No, he's not a protagonist, or even a real main character. But for me, cockney band manage Kent Paul, who made appearances in Vice City and San Andreas, is the single most humorous, interesting and brilliant character the GTA universe has ever seen. Voiced by Danny Dyer, Kent managed legendary metal band Love Fist in Vice City and steered the Gurning Chimps through their disastrous American tour in San Andreas. With superb dialogue poking light fun at the British music scene and packed chock full of references to real bands, Kent Paul is one of my favourite characters across the whole of entertainment.



Disagree? Think I missed someone out? Feel free to leave a comment informing me of the error of my ways!

OK Computer: The finest hour of rock's most depressed?

Ok Computer is not an easy album to review. After the successes of their first two albums, Pablo Honey and The Bends, Radiohead set out to do something totally different with this iconic third album. Steering away from the polished rock songs such as Creep, Just and Planet Telex that dominated their previous efforts, the Oxfordshire group created a polylayered collection of songs about as far from a radio friendly record as it's possible to be. Of course, it still sold millions of copies. And of course, it's still stunning.

OK Computer is the moment that Radiohead took on their status as rock's most depressed band, and you can see why from a quick glance at the cover. An abstract mix of roads, stick figures and numbers held together by freezing colours doesn't give the image of a cheerful album, and barely hidden messages such as "we hope you choke" only reinforce this feeling. Simply looking down the track list continues the impression the band hoped to give, with song titles including Paranoid Android and Climbing up the Walls staying in keeping with the album's dismal-yet-brilliant artwork. And when you stick the disc in the CD player, your nagging suspicion that this might just be the darkest piece of music you've ever come across is dramatically confirmed.

This is not an album that you listen to once before throwing in a box or on a shelf; OK Computer demands to be heard again and again and again before one can truly understand it's majesty. It wasn't until I'd listened to the whole thing six or seven times before I felt in a position to give it a fair review, it's just too confusing on first hearing. On their own, songs like the manically multi-structured Paranoid Android or the fantastic Karma Police sound great, but when they're inserted into the finished product they take on a whole new meaning, it's one of those rare records that has to be listened to all the way through to be properly enjoyed.

So let's talk a bit about the music itself. As I've said before, Radiohead went out of their way to challenge the impression that fans of the first two albums had of the band. It's fair to say that not one of the songs on OK Computer would fit into The Bends without sounding totally out of place. But what does it actually sound like? The album commands a phenomenal wealth of different musical techniques; songs like Paranoid Android regularly change, key, tempo and lyrical subject matter without skipping a beat, while synthesisers and sampling plays a massively important role in some of the album's later tracks. Electronic and more traditional styles merge brilliantly on almost all the songs, and lyrically this is Radiohead at their most bleak and surreal, with such gems as "unborn chicken voices in my head" providing an image of a band at their most bizarre. One aspect unites OK Computer: it is all phenomenally depressing. Powerfully, remarkably depressing. Not one upbeat or uplifting melody is to be found in any song here, it's an incredibly dark album. Just listen to Exit Music (for a Film) and you'll get the picture. However, rather than making the record impossible to listen to, this theme instead unites the music, sublimely tying OK Computer's tracklist together. 

So OK Computer is Radiohead's darkest, and possibly strongest album to date, but as I write this review I'm not listening to it. After several days of playing the record on repeat, I'm taking a break and listening to The Stranglers, a band so grotesquely mindless that even The Sex Pistols would have scoffed. Yes, OK Computer is brilliant, one of the greatest albums ever made, a legendary musical achievement. But you can have too much of a good thing.

10/10

Grand Theft Auto Five: First Impressions

Just to make this clear straight away, this is NOT my review of GTA V, it's simply a few thoughts on my first impressions of the game. Expect an extended review later in the week! There are a few small spoilers in this article, please don't read on if this threatens you!

I'm plunged head first into a bank robbery in a secluded American town. Before I have a moment to readjust myself to this unexpected scene, a blast door explodes in a hail of shrapnel and fire. Customers shriek and run as myself and my three fellow thieves rush into the vault, quickly filling bags full of cash. Our pockets weighed down with the money, we charge outside and straight into the guns of a police convoy. Instantly weapons are revealed as we open fire on the amassed cops. I see one of our party fall out of the corner of my eye and quickly switch to a different robber, unloading a full magazine of bullets into a nearby car. It explodes, flames billowing up into the sky as police officers scatter and another car ignites. Then we're running, guns blazing as we sprint towards the safety of the getaway car. To our horror, the driver receives a bullet to the head and I take the wheel, steering the massive Land Rover into a nearby village before spectacularly crashing it into a snow drift, the windows imploding in a flash of deadly broken glass. Another of our party takes a bullet from a sniper as we exit the wrecked vehicle, leaving just two of us. It isn't long before the other is hit too, and, wounded, he urges me to escape. I attempt to protect him for as long as possible, my clearly psychotic character mixing spent bullets with violent expletives as he defends his friend. Eventually the police are too much for me however, and as I desperately lurch into a snowy field thick with fog, the camera pans up and the screen fades into darkness. This is Grand Theft Auto.

As the intro credits roll, I'm struck with just how much the opening scene felt like the beginning of a big budget action movie, and this theme continues as I'm introduced to a new character, young gang member Franklin, and his friend Lamar. Our first job is to take two flashy sports cars back to our dealer boss; I select a red model and we're soon on our way. As the automobiles screech onto the highway, it's clear just how much the driving mechanics have been improved since GTA IV. The cars have a certain weight about them, but they feel far more flexible and nimble than the ultra-realistic IV. More than the cars, the city around me just looks incredible. Los Santos is a huge, sprawling district, but the level of detail put into every street is simply stunning, with unique graffiti, adverts and buildings making every corner feel like a totally different place. I'd had my doubts on how well the game would run of 8 year old hardware, but I notice no texture problems or frame rate issues as I cruise through the city streets, and the visuals are just superb. Jamming my foot on the pedal, I shoot past skyscrapers and pedestrians, narrowly avoiding a surely lethal crash by using Franklin's ability to slow down time while driving. With the cars returned, it's time for a little exploration.

As I walk towards what the game has designated "my car", I let out a whoop of delight. It is a sports car of a deep purple hue, with the custom license plate "HIT-GIRL" reflecting my favourite character in, well, anything. It's a car I'd designed a few days earlier on Rockstar's own iFruit app, and while the app promised to allow me to drive the car in-game, I'm still amazed by this remarkable integration. Stepping out of the car, I'm once again shocked by the level of detail the game has to offer; I can get my hair cut; play tennis in a local court or check my bank balance in an ATM. Little touches, but they really help to dramatically improve the quality of the game. Remembering something I've wanted to do since I saw the first trailers for the game, I jack a car and drive for the nearest mountain, it's high enough, although nowhere near the size of Mount Chiliad. As I drive up the slope, deer scatter and hikers dive for cover, cursing. Again, details. Reaching the summit, I cast my eye over the whole of Los Santos, and it looks phenomenal. The draw distance is truly impressive, and I can see everything from crowded slums to skyscrapers penetrating the cloud line. Just phenomenal.

On first impressions, I'd say it has all the makings to be the best GTA game ever (even topping my personal favourite Vice City), and surely one of the greatest games of all time. Hats off to Rockstar North, this looks to be an incredible gaming achievement!

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas review: The most ambitious game of the era, but is it the best?

With Rockstar Games' sprawling entertainment monolith Grand Theft Auto V having just hit the shelves, what better time to revisit the company's seminal games trilogy Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas? With a new generation of consoles about to arrive, these modern classics may be showing their age, but little of the black humour, legendary style or downright ridiculousness has been lost with time.
GTA III created a formula and Vice City provided a sense of style, but it was San Andreas that changed everything, as the team from Rockstar North built one of the largest game worlds of all time in just two years. San Andreas is the GTA most gamers remember, and playing it today you can see why.

Set four years after the events of Vice City, GTA San Andreas puts you in the shoes of Carl "CJ" Johnson, one of the best characters in GTA history, an ex-gang member who returns to his home town of Los Santos after the death of his mother. He soon bumps into his old enemy, corrupt cop Officer Tenpenny, before falling back in with his old gang. It's a monolithic story, one of the longest in game history, and it's supported by plenty of bizarre side quests ranging from casino heists to steering a young rapper to stardom. As always there's a great group of characters here, with Grove Street gang members Big Smoke, Sweet and CJ himself proving particular fan favourites. There's also several cases of returning characters from previous instalments in the GTA franchise, including the brilliant Kent Paul and the unnamed protagonist from GTA III, psychotic girlfriend Catalina in tow.

San Andreas sticks to the formula created by GTA III in missions and gameplay, but adds many previously unseen features such as flying planes, burglaries and dating (the game was particularly controversial for a hidden sex mini-game discovered by a hacker)! The game also added loads of player freedom, allowing you to customise CJ's appearance and modify his vehicles. For the first time, San Andreas featured not one, not two but three huge cities, as well as huge expanses of countryside, rivers and mountains between them. Other than GTA V, it's the biggest game Rockstar have ever put their name to, and it's truly massive. However, it inevitably feels less densely packed with details and things to do than the previous games, although there's still plenty to occupy your time. Despite the countryside often being a little sparse, the cities once again feel like living, breathing worlds of their own, each having their own distinct atmosphere. It's thrillingly entertaining.

Where the game does fail is in creating an immersive setting. Because the game is set in the 1990's, it doesn't quite have the wealth of iconic music, clothing and vehicles that Vice City had to choose from, and the game ends up feeling a little generic, as though it might have been set in any time over the last fifty years. It doesn't have the meticulous detail that made Vice City feel so alive, and you get the feeling that Rockstar's team spent too much time maximising the world's size than giving it the style that oozed from Vice City. The soundtrack also falls a little short, with only the brilliant country station KRose reigniting the inspiration of Vice City's music. Understandably considering it ran on ancient hardware, the game also has the most technical issues of any GTA game to date with frequent frame rate problems, blurred textures and regular pop-ins.

San Andreas is the biggest of the 3D GTA series, and it's easily the most popular and famous. It's world is huge, it's story stellar and, once again, it's great fun to play. But it's not the best. For me that honour goes to Vice City, a game so committed to style and storytelling that it puts almost every game of the time, including San Andreas, to shame.

9/10

Grand Theft Auto Vice City: Is the forgotten GTA the most stylish game ever made?

With Rockstar Games' sprawling entertainment monolith Grand Theft Auto V having just hit the shelves, what better time to revisit the company's seminal games trilogy Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas? With a new generation of consoles about to arrive, these modern classics may be showing their age, but little of the black humour, legendary style or downright ridiculousness has been lost with time.

You're drugs operation has been busted, and you're driving into the sunset in the ice cream van you use as a front while two detectives who look like they've just stepped out of Miami Vice and a whole fleet of police cars pursue you down the highway and Quiet Riot's Come on Feel the Noise plays in the background. This is Vice City.

Released just one year after the runaway success of GTA III, you might have been excused for thinking that GTA Vice City would be a disappointingly rushed sequel. Certainly the map's a little smaller than the previous instalment, and the game mechanics barely changed, but Vice City doesn't feel like a rushed job. It feels brilliant.

You're Tommy Vercetti, a convicted killer whose sent to Vice City, Rockstar's distorted vision of Miami, by his Mafia bosses to complete a drugs deal. Of course the deal goes wrong and Tommy ends up loosing the money and being forced to complete a variety of criminal activities (the missions are more interesting and varied than those of GTA III, although they're still not brilliant) to make the cash back and set up his own business empire. Unlike the unnamed, unspeaking character in GTA III, Tommy is a brilliantly likeable character who, remarkably, feels like a real man with real feelings. He's supported by easily the best supporting cast of characters of any GTA game, notably the drug addled layer Ken Rosenberg, cockney band manager Kent Paul and the two faced (and brilliantly named) Lance Vance. These frequently hilarious people really add depth and feeling to the game's superb story.

While GTA III was set in the present day, Vice City takes place in the 1980's, and it truly knows it. More than any other GTA game, Vice City creates an atmosphere that truly reflects and compliments the game's setting. The cars; the colour; the horrendous suits; all of it built to feel like an 80's gangster movie, and it really, truly works. And that's not to mention the soundtrack, which is surly the greatest collection of music of any video game to date. While GTA III introduced radio stations and licensed music, Vice City really brought the idea to life with 10 stations bursting with over 100 classic songs of the time and hilarious satirical adverts. And when the game has tracks ranging from Iron Maiden to Kim Wylde you know it's going to be fantastic. And it is.

Vice City also added the sublime level of detail GTA games are famed for today, with a large collection of side quests, ranging from street races to planning a bank robbery. It's also full of references to films, Easter eggs and secrets.


So while gameplay didn't change much during the transition between GTA III and GTA Vice City, it was Vice City that created that sense of style through music, characters and a beautiful open city that GTA games are world renowned for today. And while I can see why Vice City, as the game between the revolutionary GTA III and the massive GTA San Andreas has been forgotten by many of today's gamers, it's still inexcusable. For me, GTA Vice City is the greatest GTA game to date (although I have not yet been able to lay my hands on GTA V), and one of the greatest video games of all time.

10/10

Grand Theft Auto III review: The most influential game of all time?

With Rockstar Games' sprawling entertainment monolith Grand Theft Auto V having just hit the shelves, what better time to revisit the company's seminal games trilogy Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas? With a new generation of consoles about to arrive, these modern classics may be showing their age, but little of the black humour, legendary style or downright ridiculousness has been lost with time.

It's 2001. Four years ago, a small games company called DMC Design created an obscure little video game called Grand Theft Auto, in which you played the role of a young criminal on the road to notoriety. While the technology was rudimentary and the style crude, the game fundamentally challenged the way video games were thought of at the time. You could explore a large open world, stealing cars, running people over and even killing police officers. Games weren't just for kids anymore. This was something else.

The game sold well enough to merit a sequel, but it wasn't until GTA III that things really changed. In 2001 DMC, now known as Rockstar North, reimagined GTA as something more than the 2D shooter they had released four years ago. Setting the game in modern Liberty City, a mock up of New York, the developers utilised the processing power of the PlayStation 2 to create a living, breathing 3D world full of violence, criminals and dark satire. Playing as an unnamed protagonist, players were tasked with moving up the criminal ladder by completing jobs for a variety of colourful characters, all the while following an ultimately overarching storyline to take revenge on his girlfriend, who had shot him and left him for dead.

It was easily the strongest and most stylish story of any GTA game at the time, and on its own it would have made a decent video game. But Rockstar wanted to give GTA III something few other developers had even considered possible: a fully open 3D world. Players could totally ignore the story and simply explore the vast City of Liberty, pausing as they wished to complete side quests, steal fast cars or open fire on a street of crowded civilians with one of thee variety of firearms the game provided.

This was something never done before, but endlessly emulated afterwards. Unsurprisingly, this freedom caused controversy; killing a cop or hiring a prostitute were not exactly common features of the video game landscape at the time. Even so, the game sold millions and, as the first ever open 3D world, was phenomenally influential. Without GTA III, there would be no Saint's Row, Assassin's Creed or Crackdown. More importantly, there would be no more GTA games.

But how does this fondly remembered classic stand up to today's games? Surprisingly well. While the graphics have been bettered hundreds of times over since the game's release and the driving and shooting mechanics now seems slow and clunky, the game is still brilliant fun to play and retains the comic touches given by it's fabulous cast of characters. Even so, every GTA game that came after has improved upon GTA III, and if you're new to the series you'd do better starting with GTA IV or the just released GTA V. But if you're a fan of the series and haven't yet played GTA III, what are you waiting for? A true classic.

8/10

1000 pageviews, thanks very much!

Hello chaps,
It seems this blog has reached 1000 page views, so first and foremost thanks very much to everyone who has read and enjoyed reviews! Very nice of you. In other news, my extended Grand Theft Auto V review should be up fairly soon, very exciting stuff! Just 10 more days to vote on the monthly question before I have to think up a new one too, Hit Girl has a pretty clear lead in "who is the best Kick Ass character!"
Ben

V for Vendetta book review: Moore's Anarchic Masterpiece

Watchmen. From Hell. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Alan Moore has been in the business of comic books for over 35 years, and over the sprawling course of his legendary career he's created some of the greatest and most popular works the medium has ever seen. And then there's V for Vendetta, a terrifying tale of a fascist future England controlled by an Orwellian Totalitarian Government, considered by many to be among the greatest comics, even among the greatest books ever written. And time has taken no shine from this nightmarish story, or the ideas behind its greatness.

Originally published in magazine form between 1982 and 1989, V for Vendetta follows the exploits of the masked revolutionary codenamed V in his efforts to bring down the police state in control of Britain and create and anarchist system in its place. Wearing the now iconic Guy Fawkes mask designed by artist David Lloyd , V's story is told through the eyes of the people he encounters on his quest, each of their lives being irreversibly changed in the process.

Moore and Lloyd spawned a brilliantly compelling and violently psychotic character in V, whose disguise and habit of speaking in quotes and riddles only adds to his eerie mystery (a titanic online debate on who V actually is continues to this day on the internet). Moore's superb writing gives the character his voice, while David Lloyd's shady art style giving V the intense, unforgettable look he commands throughout the book's three parts.

Of course, there's more to V for Vendetta than a character born from genius and stunning art. Like George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four, the book aims high in it's efforts to warn against the dangers of an all controlling government and the power an individual has to make a difference. More than Nineteen Eighty Four however, V spreads the idea of his own political system: anarchy. A system with no leaders certainly taps into Moore's own political psyche, but whether you agree with the idea or not it's hard not to be impressed by the case V makes for it, especially when the alternative is considered.

V for Vendetta is a story about evil and good. About censorship and freedom. About violence and peace, oppression and rebellion and freedom and love. Above all, it's a book with ideas, and as V will tell you: "ideas are bulletproof".

10/10

Misery book review: In attempting to escape writing horror stories Stephen King created one of the most powerful novels the genre has ever seen

He may be the most successful horror author of the last century, but in 1987 Stephen King was desperately trying to escape the genre which had made him famous. His latest novel The Eyes of the Dragon had been shunned by fans due to its lack of the macabre nature that had practically oozed from his earlier books, and his attempts to delve into fantasy in The Dark Tower series had also been heavily criticised. In his frustration, King wrote a short novel called Misery, in which he created an analogy for this situation and also took the opportunity to address the nature of his most hard-core fans, and to examine his mounting addictions to drink and drugs. Remarkably, this dark and angry tale became one of his greatest books to date, and even more surprisingly a classic of the horror genre.

In Misery, Paul Sheldon is the author of the immensely popular Misery romantic novels, but he has grown tired and bored with the series and has killed of the main character, Misery Chastain, in the latest novel. Having just completed a quite different story called Fast Cars, Paul gets drunk and crashes his car, breaking both his legs. Instead of waking up in a hospital, Paul finds himself in the isolated Colorado home of Annie Wilkles, his "number-one fan." But when Annie learns that Paul has murdered Misery she becomes furious, and forces Paul to bring Misery back to life by any means necessary. While it's a classic, dark premise for a King book, it also works perfectly as an analogy for the author's feelings on writing, as Sheldon is unable to escape from the Misery books and King was unable to escape from horror. The story also looks at the idea of fans, with Annie Wilkes providing the ideal model for the near-psychotic obsession that some have with their deepest interests.

For a man trying to avoid writing a horror stories, King crafts a brilliantly chilling one in Misery, with Annie Wilkles being a truly terrifying villain. While a book primarily set in a single setting might have evoked more yawns than cries of shock from readers, King expertly creates a painting of Sheldon's feelings through flashbacks and extended segments of his stream of consciousness. When this psychological melodrama is coupled with several truly terrifying set pieces, including the now notorious hobbling scene, an excruciating tale of hope and horror is born.

King also does a brilliant job of making us feel for Paul Sheldon and genuinely want him to escape his tiny prison by giving us plenty of time to learn about his character and become sympathetic. Added to our fear of the manic Wilkes, the book can truly be described as compelling. While initially one of King's less popular books, a 1990 Oscar winning film adaptation brought Misery the recognition it deserved. He might have been trying to criticise his fans and force them to allow him to move on to other things, but in Misery Stephen King gave them one of his greatest and darkest gifts.

9/10

Elysium: A film caught in two minds

Neill Blomkamp is a director on a mission. Fresh with working with Peter Jackson (of The Lord of the Rings fame) on the politically charged District 9, he's this time attempting to combine big ideas with a big budget in blockbuster science fiction romp Elysium. But has he succeeded in creating a film that spreads grand messages on hope, poverty and the widening difference between the extremities of wealth while at the same time keeping an audience entertained? Not quite. 

Elysium tells the story of earth more than a hundred years from now, where the population has grown and resources have dwindled to such an extent that society's most fortunate have abandoned the planet in favour of an artificial utopia aboard a self sufficient space station known as Elysium, which is dominated by iron-fisted defence secretary Delacourt (Jodi Foster) . Back on earth, Max (Matt Damon), is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and embarks on a quest to reach Elysium and it's advanced health technology in order to save his life. It's a grand premise with seemingly endless potential to explore a range of controversial social issues; dictatorship; bureaucracy and the use of military force to name but a few. And while the script does attempt to at least touch on these, during the second half of the film it becomes more concerned with another aspect: action. 

And it is here that Elysium's problems begin, because Blomkamp's film becomes caught in two minds. On the one hand, it wants a movie that explores a myriad of social and political problems, a film with a message. And on the other, it wants use the power of special effects granted by it's large budget to their full potential to entertain. While the film might have created a fine balance between these contrasting techniques, it instead opts to concentrate it's efforts on the exploding space ships, shoot outs and battles with robotic droids. All very well, you might think, but this leaves the film's attempts at creating an intelligent work as something as an afterthought, a shame considering that the picture was billed as a more clever piece of science fiction. 

At least the action makes Elysium tolerably entertaining, but this isn't what we'd hoped for from the director of the supremely intelligent District 9. To make matters worse, there are few stand-out performances from the all star cast, with only Wagner Moura's madcap character Spider being particularly impressive. And this all comes down to making Elysium an unmemorable and rather disappointing movie from an aspiring young director.  

5/10
   

Pablo Honey: Radiohead's superb statement of intent

Listening to Radiohead's debut album Pablo Honey today, it's easy to see how the Oxfordshire quintet evolved into one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time. The diverse trio of guitar sounds that helped define their classic second album The Bends are present, and some of the experimentation that became prominent on records such as Kid A and Hail to the Thief can also be heard on Pablo Honey. It's therefore remarkable that at it's time of release in 1993 the album was largely ignored, lost amongst the sea of grunge and Britpop that had come to dominate popular music. It wasn't until the hit single Creep began to receive major radio airplay several months later that the album was truly recognised, but is this early stage in Radiohead's career as powerful as it was more than twenty years ago?


Many of the dominant elements on Radiohead's later releases can be heard on Pablo Honey, but this first incarnation of a band that would go on to sell over thirty million albums took more inspiration from American grunge bands such as Nirvana than the myriad of groups that influenced their later, greater records. Indeed, Nirvana nurtured techniques including stark contrast between violent and soft guitar playing and dark, tortured lyrics can be heard most obviously on the album's lead single Creep. The influence of Nirvana is also plain to see on Thom Yorke's vocals, with the singer at least partially attempting to mirror the style of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Even so, on Pablo Honey Radiohead were already beginning to develop distinctive musical styles and traits,  the system of three guitarists playing drastically different parts simultaneously proving key on the record. It's particularly noticeable on songs like Anyone Can Play Guitar, where easy comparisons can be drawn to their 1995 anthem The Bends.

As a record, it's easy to say that Pablo Honey packs less punch than it's phenomenal successors, but as a debut album by a young band it's a surprisingly accomplished and innovative release. Looking back on Radiohead's long career, Pablo Honey is an import milestone in the band's story.

6/10

Opposites: Biffy Clyro's career defining masterpiece or pompous double album drivel?

Double albums have something of a reputation for disaster. While well received at the time, Guns n' Rose's 1991 Use Your Illusion I and II are now regarded as bloated records with few redeeming features, and Green Day's recent triple Uno, Dos and Tre are considered among the worst releases of the band's long career. It takes a certain kind of group to create a great double album; The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Pink Floyd are among those who have truly, brilliantly succeeded. And now Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro can enter this exclusive club: Opposites is perhaps Biffy's best album to date.

With Opposites, Biffy have opted to split the record into two separate mini albums: The Sand at the Core of our Bones and The Land at the End of our Toes, each comprised of ten songs and checking in at around forty minutes each. As the album's title suggests, each mini album contrasts with the other, The Sand giving a more reflective, dwelling feeling in it's music and lyrics, and The Land looking towards the future. It's worth noting that this two disc setup is vastly superior to alternative: a single album made up of fourteen selected tracks, as while this collects the greatest hits of the double, it lacks the moods and feelings created by listing to one of the mini albums.

Musically, Biffy Clyro are on top of their game, with each mini album featuring anthemic numbers including Black Chandelier, Sounds Like Balloons and Biblical on The Sand, and Stingin' Belle, Modern Magic Formula and Victory Over the Sun on The Land, all of which will surely become classics of Biffy Clyro's career and firm fan favourites. Each mini album features consistently superb songs, tearing through one hit after another. Frontman Simon Neil's vocals and guitar are at their best, with the bass and drums provided by brothers James and Ben Johnston creating the impressive sound of a band utterly united, a remarkable feat considering the group's struggle with alcoholism in recent years.

It's by no means a perfect pair, certain tracks inevitable fail to keep to the high standard of the albums' best and there's some lyrical questionably, but overall Opposites is both musically superb and a brilliantly functioning double album. In an age dominated by the shuffle, The Sand at the Core of our Bones and The Land at the End of our Toes are examples of those occasional sublime pieces of power that demand to be listened to from start to finish, an extremely rare accomplishment. Album of the year? Hell yes.

9/10

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: Bowie's greatest gift to humanity?

At 41 years old, you might be forgiven for assuming that David Bowie's seminal concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars today seems a bloated and irrelevant piece of pompous glam rock nonsense. Of course, you couldn't be more wrong, because Ziggy Stardust remains as majestically regal as the day it was released upon the world in 1972.

The album loosely follows the tale of Ziggy Stardust, a rockstar whose songs are used by aliens to spread their messages over humanity. As a concept, it's as delightfully absurd and ridiculous as you would expect looking back at Bowie's back catalogue. However, it's worth remembering that at the time of release the man voted the greatest solo artist of all time by NME readers was just a pale youth is one major hit (Space Oddity) to his name. The bizarre characters, manic costumes and legendary world tours were all ahead of him, and no-one had done anything quite like Ziggy Stardust before. This was new. Brand new.

But enough on ideas, how does Ziggy's music stand up today? From the crescendo of desperation and despair of opener Five Years to the oh-so-danceable riff of Suffragette City to the bittersweet, powerful melody of final track Rock n' Roll Suicide, it's clear that this is an album as musically rich and divers as Bowie's own legendary career. With Mick Ronson providing truly classic performances on guitar and piano and Trevor Bolder throwing in superb bass riffs, Bowie's wonderful vocals are perfectly complimented on this collection of songs. Ziggy's story is well told through music, with songs such as Star reflecting the heights of his game and Rock n' Roll Suicide documenting his tragic end.

It's not that The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars hasn't aged a day: in fact it's taken on a new maturity and depth as the years have gone by, and now represents a stunning early stage in Bowie's career. Stardust is perhaps Bowie's greatest character, and his album is perhaps his greatest gift to the world.

9/10

Hotline Miami: a phenomenal new approach to gaming storytelling

The delightful thing about Hotline Miami is that it's totally unspecific. You play as an unnamed protagonist tasked with various tasks of ultra violence, but who that character is is up to you. Perhaps you're a professional assassin, charging premium prices for your macabre services. Maybe you're an innocent man, forced into murder against your will. Or you might be a drug addled psychopath, simply killing as you please. The choice is yours, because this wonderful guilty pleasure of a game never explains it.
 

Your mission in Hotline Miami is simple: each mission sees you receive an anonymous phone call informing you of your destination, before you travel to the location and kill everyone inside. Like your character, who the enemies actually are is never revealed, leaving it up to you to create your own story. Of course, it's more difficult than it sounds; your opponents and intelligent and well armed, meaning that you must make use of a variety of weapons, strategies and power-ups to destroy the opposition. In addition, one hit from any weapon will end your quest, but respawn is instantaneous, making for an incredibly fast paced experience.
 

This pacing fits perfectly into the game's 1980's setting, and is powered along by a truly stunning soundtrack. The top-down view and pixelated graphics only add to this nostalgic feeling. Of course, this superb sense of style would be nothing if the game wasn't fun to play, but it is. Brilliantly. There is huge freedom of choice in how you take out your enemies, you can go in all guns blazing, or attempt to silently eliminate the antagonists. Inevitably, you're going to die, a lot. But the game actively encourages this, and as you are immediately returned to the game once you are killed there is plenty of room for experimentation. This all leads to supremely addictive and incredibly enjoyable gameplay.
 

What we have with Hotline Miami is a game that provides both flawless gameplay and a great new take on gaming storytelling, giving the player the power to use their imagination to create their own story. This stunning innovation and fabulous stylishness makes giving Hotline Miami a perfect score an absolute no-brainer (no pun intended).
 

10/10
Reviewed for PC.