In my 35 hours with “Grand Theft Auto V,” I have done things I did not think I would be able to on this console generation. I have seen things that I can not explain and laughed at things that would merit horror in real life. Every time I play GTA V, I feel like I’m part of the world. And let me tell you, it is a world I have waited years to revisit.

San Andreas, a huge map that is bigger than anything Rockstar has done in the past, offers what the same-titled GTA game did way back in the glory days of the PlayStation 2: an overwhelmingly well-blended mix of country and city chaos. Two-thirds of the map is a vast desert, but most of the land is anything but barren.

The game is one massive rip on pop culture. Parodies are everywhere, as we come to expect from Rockstar games. Our main characters, Michael, Franklin and Trevor, each have different cellphones that mock Apple, BlackBerry and Windows phones. The radio plays frighteningly satirical product commercials, and with such a large part of the game focused on Hollywood (or, in GTA V’s case, “Vinewood”), the amount of parody fodder you get to experience will have you simultaneously laughing and realizing that it is actually not that far-fetched from the world we live in today.

The game does something that very few others have attempted to, in that you can play three very different people any time you want. The system is called SWITCH, and it is groundbreaking. Not only did Rockstar deliver a visceral experience in which I cared about my character, they did it three times.

Michael is the rich, retired bank robber who dislikes his family and just wants to find meaning in his settled life. Franklin is a rookie criminal; young compared to the other two, he is just getting in to making large amounts of money for less-than-ethical tasks. On the topic of ethics, there’s Trevor. Now, I have heard claims that Trevor is too violent for video games. If the Internet didn’t jade me years ago like it has, I’d maybe support that claim. But as someone who appreciates just how wacko the human race is capable of being, I found Trevor to be just as sobering as he was hilarious. The guy is a psycho, and it is made very clear the first time you meet him. This is not a game for kids, and quite frankly I’m very surprised Rockstar got away with an “M” rating instead of “AO: Adults Only.”

The way Los Santos (the city portion of the map) and the rest of San Andreas operates makes every play session feel like I’m heading out for a productive day with my character of choice. I found myself roleplaying the different characters when I played them. When I felt like being a jerk, I would always equip Michael with a black suit and classy shades and then creep around the rich neighborhoods just looking for someone to rob. Franklin would always be my car guy, having his garage stocked full of the best tuners I could customize. Trevor was my stress-reliever; his quotes alone make him the best choice for going on rampages.  

Graphics? All you need to know is that they rock. Pop-in are inevitable with this console generation, but this is not going to get better until the game is ported to new hardware. But, who cares when your jaw is constantly on the floor from the stunning attention to detail?

There is just one complaint I have. I feel it is way too easy to die in GTA V. Even with armor, you cannot take more than around 20 to 30 shots anywhere in the body before you are dead. That might sound generous, but it is really not compared to other games. I refrained from revisiting the glory days of 5-star shootouts just because I could not stay alive more than 20 seconds to enjoy them. It really hurts the experience of causing mayhem, which is something I have always enjoyed the series for. Yeah, there will be a health cheat code. But it is not out yet, and as of now, being wanted is more of a pain than a thrill. And, even when it is out, you cannot access the cheats via cellphone any more. You have to go back to the slow button-press combinations of the past, a step backwards in my opinion. Maybe they will patch it later.

My time in San Andreas has only just begun. I have rarely visited the same place twice, always enjoyed the missions and have had so much nostalgia that I sometimes forgot to breathe while playing. Rockstar has delivered one hell of a way to close this console generation, and with it they have also delivered what I think deserves to be Game of the Year.

5/5