[Gonzo]

I'm a little conflicted here. Do I score this game on its own merits or do I score it in contrast to the original release? I guess I'll do both here.

Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most stunning, entertaining, intricate games I've ever played. It is a complete 180 from four, which I found good but boring at times. If you've been in a coma for the last year or so, here's the story...

For the first time in this series, you can play as three different characters, Michael, Franklin or Trevor. Michael is a middle-aged retired thief, currently living in witness protection in sunny souther California. He's nurotic, self loathing and violent. He's supposedly a 'Tony Soprano' clone. Franklin is a young black male trying to get out of the "hood" and away from the gang lifestyle by becoming a professional criminal. Then you have Trevor. An extremely violent, middle-aged man that pedals meth from his trailer park. All three of these characters work together for a common goal, money.
They get involved with several different people/agencies on their way to the heist of a lifetime.
The story is good, even great at times. The main storyline can take you up to 30 hours to complete. The map is massive and basically takes up the entire state of California. (Called San Andreas in the GTA world)
The gameplay is wonderful, the story is good and the detail they put into this game is very impressive. I can't say enough about the level of detail and the beautiful scenery in this game. If you've never played it, I recommend you remedy that ASAP either on next Gen or current.
My only real complaint here is a common one. You just don't get attached to the characters as much as I'd like. The only one I really liked was Trevor and he's a psychopath.
This game is just about perfect. A little mundane at times but compared to GTA 4, it's back to its roots and a great experience.
Now then, if you're one of the millions of people that want to trade in your current copy for next gen, don't bother. At least wait for a price drop. The graphics really aren't that much better.
Yaay, you get longer grass and a few more cars to **** up. Or maybe the really big selling point... First Person! Honestly? Who gives a shit?
Driving a car is much harder that way, melee combat is exceedingly difficult and you lose that sense of detachment that comes with Grand Theft Auto. You're no longer pushing a storyline and watching a character do something, you're living it and that's just kinda weird.
Yes, new storylines are coming out for next gen soon but it's not really worth the $$. The multiplayer works a little better I suppose but that's not why we play the game.

All in all this game scores a solid 9. Buy it if you haven't already; but don't waste your cash on an upgrade for a while. Go grab Farcry 4 instead. If you are getting a PS4 with the GTAV/TLOU bundle, that's awesome.

GTAV as a standalone - 9 (It's very entertaining)
The upgraded version trade in - MEH (wait a while)