grand theft auto v

My Backlog: The Top 10 out of the First 10 (Part Two)

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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This is the continuation of my top 10 list from last week, in which I reveal the top 5 games that I’ve finished from my backlog. Starting with…

5: L.A. Noire

The Good

I have some mixed opinions about this game, but the experience of getting to play a sandbox game set in the 1940s, is good enough to keep it in the top five of this list. Historic Los Angeles was recreated to near perfection (at least, they say it was) in L.A. Noire. The game combines noire elements from the movies of that decade with detective gameplay mechanics, and brilliant scenes that use the best motion capture technology I’ve ever saw in any video game, ever. The characters in this game are ACTORS in every regard. Their body movements, their facial movements, and their voices were all used to make this epic crime thriller (check out some YouTube videos, if you haven’t already seen them). The music, and radio banter stay true to that time period, as do the racial stereotypes, and realistic depictions of life in the 40s. The interiors of the houses, the crime scenes, and the clues look amazing. The developers paid a lot of attention to detail, and it paid off. By the way, the cars are AWESOME! Some people didn’t like them, because their handling sucked, but here’s the reason: It was the 40s, duh. The cares felt heavy and metallic, just like I thought they should. In my opinion, the cars were the most solid and realistic part of the game, even if they weren’t spot-on to the originals.

The Bad

I did mention having mixed opinions. The character control could have been a lot better. If Cole takes long strides during the cut scenes, why does he have to move like he’s on a Sunday stroll when I’m the one moving him? If he’s athletic enough to jump fences, climb ladders to the rooftops, and run faster than every single criminal he has to chase, why does it have to take several seconds for him to respond to the “run” command? If I’m going to be playing a character for the duration of the game, I’d like it to be fun. Onto the clues… Finding clues would have been more fun with a character that didn’t move like a pile of crap being pushed down a sidewalk with a feather duster. And who wants to lollygag around a crime scene, looking for all the clues with a sluggish main character, when the clues could be all over the place? Not to mention, I don’t want to spend all my time staring at the ground in a back alley when recreated L.A. is there to explore. Maybe a detective game isn’t for me, or maybe I have a point about staring at the ground. A big pet peeve of mine is the vagueness in video games about when simulation ends and game restrictions begins. When I first started to play, I didn’t realize I could cross the street to find a knife in the back alley. That begged the question, just how far am I supposed to Sunday-stroll down this street, anyway? I mile or two? Sometimes, I like some limitations in a game, just to keep me from wasting all damn night waiting for the controller to vibrate and let me know there’s something interactive nearby (just like a real detective!). The story wasn’t very interesting, the main character was boring, the ending was abrupt and anticlimactic, the sacrifice could have been done in a much more effective way.

4: Super Mario Galaxy

The Good

Oh hell yea, a Mario game! Do I really need to explain this? Mario is awesome, and he’s a really good jumper. He can do kicks off walls, long-jump, and he somehow manages to do a ground pound. Have you ever thought of that maneuver? It defies gravity, really. He does a little flip, pauses in midair for a millisecond, and shoots his self downward using some unknown propellant. Anyway, I digress, this specific Mario game is ALL ABOUT the gravity and outer space. I would have to guess that gravity and outer space belong on their own top ten list of my all-time favorite things, but they work wonderfully as major players in Super Mario Galaxy. Like other Mario games of the past, this one took everything conventional, and turned it upside-down. Yea, literally. With colorful new levels, interesting new game mechanics, a new addition to the Mario family named Rosalina, some new suits with unique abilities, there was almost no way this game could fail.

The Bad

I sure am fucking dizzy. The new 3D environments that twist and turn in circles around the small planets Mario has to explore can cause huge headaches if you’re not used to them. When I first started playing, I constantly found myself holding my head at an angle just to prevent disorientation. I didn’t mean to, and it didn’t work, but that’s what I did. From a top-of-Mario’s-head perspective, jumping on enemies can become frustrating. If it wasn’t for the new spin attack to keep baddies away from me, I probably would have rage quit several times. That’s hardly a gripe, though, because they did add a spin attack.

3: The Walking Dead, Season One

The Good

The characters in this game are so much more appealing than those in the sequel. The two best characters from season two are the two survivors from season one (Amid and Christa DO NOT count). Clementine is likable enough on her own in season two, but in season one, Lee is the main character. He’s one of the best characters in any game, but especially in The Walking Dead games. When we first meet him, he’s in the back of a cop car, but he turns out to be a swell guy who desperately wants to keep Clementine safe from the horrible zombie apocalypse. The other characters are cool, too, especially Lee’s friend, Kenny. The puzzles are challenging, without being too hard. I’m basing that opinion on my own level of puzzle solving proficiency, which is very limited. I found myself stuck at certain points in the game, but that made figuring out the missing piece of the puzzle that much more rewarding.

The Bad

When the puzzles weren’t going well, it was hard to stay motivated. Just like in point-and-click adventures from the past, if you’re stuck, you’re STUCK. Until you find the missing piece of the puzzle, you just have to keep walking around, trying to interact with stuff. It’s a minor gripe. Another, slightly larger gripe, has to do with the illusion of choice. I say “illusion,” because when all is said and done, the story is still written, and it’s going to be told the way the writers want it told. There are some changes in dialogue, depending on the choices you make, and maybe some people aren’t going to help you out when you want them too, but the story is still there. Within the minor elements of the game that you can actually change, sometimes the character’s act in ways that don’t seem consistent with what you would expect. That’s because they writer’s had to try to predict choices, and some choices were favored by the overall story more than others. It’s a complication that I’ve discussed in previous posts, and I understand how hard it must be to create branching story-lines, but it can be jarring when you expect something, but get something extremely different. Here’s an example: I was Kenny’s friend through MOST of the game, even going as far as being the one to put his son out of misery, when Kenny couldn’t do it, himself. When it came time to help Clementine, a little girl who was friends with Kenny’s own son, that sorry SOB wouldn’t help me! He said I had been selfish, and hadn’t helped him. WTF, KENNY?!

2: Red Dead Redemption

The Good

What a great game! This one blew me away. The main character is an outlaw living in the wild west at the turn of the century. He’s trying to redeem himself by hunting down his old gang, and former friends. As a reward, a politician has offered to forgive him of his own crimes, and let him return to his family. Times are changing. Phones, automobiles, and theaters are starting to show up in the small towns that dot the regions that represent Mexico, the mid-west, and the beginnings of big cities. The setting is a wonderful place to explore, full of great characters, and one of the best stories I’ve ever had the privileged to experience. Add a justified ending and room for a sequel, and you get one hell of a great game and the potential for a long-running franchise (hope, hope, hope, hope!)

The Bad

I would have enjoyed more options for horses, possibly being able to buy a donkey just for the laughs, or maybe a carriage for a different traveling experience from time to time. It would have been cool to operate the train on a regular basis, and control its speed. There were automobiles in the game, although limited to the more “civilized” areas, but it would have been interesting to actually be able to drive one. I know, Red Dead Redemption is not a GTA game, but I’ve grown accustomed to interacting with certain things. In a way, it makes John Marston a more interesting character, because he prefers horses over cars, but still… At the end of the game… you know, after… some years have passed, and it might have been cool to see a Wright Flyer in action. Notice how these are nit-picky? Yea, the game was awesome, so ignore THE BAD section, here.

1: Grand Theft Auto V

The Good

Where do I begin… The characters? There’s three of them, all with unique stories, objectives, and side-quests. The setting? Based on real-life Las Angeles, the fictional city of San Andreas is much more interactive than the historic L.A of L.A. Noire, and parodies the absurdities of real life at every turn. How about the cars? They’re fun to drive, each one feels unique, and there are a variety of radio stations with a wide range of genres to choose from. The cars are just the beginning, though, because you can use motorcycles, scooters (Scooter Brothers!), bicycles, boats, planes, helicopters, ATVs, tanks, and even a submarine. Customers who pre-ordered can take control of a blimp that floats above the city. The non-playable characters always seem to be involved with their own business, and many have humorous things to say. There are alternate dialogues for missions that aren’t even choice-based. You can watch TV, play golf, go to a strip club, get drunk, get high, play tennis, take a tour of the city, go swimming, skydive, etc. The main story-line is great, and there are smaller stories that are just as interesting as the one that ties the game together.

The Bad

The game was so amazing, that my old Xbox 360 couldn’t handle it. It kept crashing, only while I was playing GTA V. It worked with everything else, except GTA V! I had to buy an Xbox Slim just to play the damn game. Grand Theft Auto V, I must really love you if bought an new console just so I could play one game! But still… I had to buy an entirely new console to play this friggin game!

That concludes my top 10 out of the first 10! Let me know if you agree, and remember to follow my blog to hear more about my backlog goal progress!

My PERSONAL Top 10 GREATEST Things About Grand Theft Auto V

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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Finishing off my dedicated week to the game Grand Theft Auto V, I want to share the top 10 things I really love about the game. I invite you to share your personal top 10 in the comments below, or leave a link to one of your own posts! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy my list.

10. Movies

You want to go see a movie? Put Grand Theft Auto V into your console, and take a drive to the movie theater. You might get to watch that weird movie that doesn’t make any sense, Capolavoro. Maybe you like dystopian science fiction movies with a robot in the leading role, like The Loneliest Robot in Great Britain. And of course, you have to check out the film Michael helped produce, Meltdown. Each of these movies are about ten minutes long, and are entertaining in their own, unique ways.

9. Golf and tennis

I don’t want to hate on any other game, but Grand Theft Auto V would make buying a golf or tennis game seem pointless for me. I can play them on GTA V, and they’re actually good. The mechanics are easy to understand, there’s fun dialogue, and when I’m finished playing I can steal cars, rob stores, and get back to my general life of crime. I’ve played games that were supposed to be fully devoted to ONLY being a golf game or ONLY a tennis game that don’t live up to the standards set in GTA V.

8. The water

Maybe when I’m done playing sports with one of the other characters, I’ll go for a swim. It’s hard to believe that Rockstar put in the effort to create underwater environments, especially when you consider how big the world above sea level is. I’m glad they decided to do this, because watching the main characters drown because they couldn’t swim was always a disappointing way to die. This is a little off topic, but John Marston and his horses not being able to swim was one of my biggest complaints about Red Dead Redemption, as well as previous GTA games. I understood why it was complicated for developers to incorporate, but it was always disappointing. Now we know that underwater environments are not only possible, but that they can be done well.

7. Radio: Different genres, mock talk shows, adds to realism

The radio has always been a big part of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, at least sense GTA III. I think my favorite track-lists come from Vice City, but the radio in GTA V still has a lot of great music to listen to, as well as talk radio. There are different genres of music for people to listen to, so you should always be able to find something acceptable. Also, the stations change when the player drives in and out of Blaine County, adding another touch of realism. And when the news comes on, sometimes the reporters will be talking about events that have occurred in the game. It’s fun, and it lets players know how the rest of the world is responding to their actions.

6. Satire

This game pokes fun at EVERYTHING. Facebook isn’t safe. Yoga isn’t safe. Even gaming isn’t safe. I love that this game takes place in the modern decade, and from three different perspectives, because it’s great to see the world we live in through other peoples’ eyes. I wonder how our culture might look to someone who’s completely unfamiliar with it. Does it seem as ridiculous as the culture portrayed in GTA V? All the way from the middle-finger mouse pointer depicted in GTA V’s web pages, all the way up to the thrill seeker who rides ATVs out of airplanes just for the rush, Grand Theft Auto V is packed with satire for anyone who might be self-aware enough to realize it. Then again, maybe you’re a batshit crazy as the game says you are.

5. The races

I didn’t buy a racing game, and I wasn’t expecting a racing game. However, I can race cars, jet skis, bicycles, and I can even compete in triathlons. Okay, so maybe mashing the A button for some of these races don’t make the best possible gaming experience, but they’re there if I want them. I don’t usually buy racing games, but I have in the past, and I enjoy a good race every now and then. In GTA V, I can have them if I want them, and they’re based within the world my characters are living in, which adds new depth to the races.

4. The Cars, Trucks, and Bikes.

One thing I noticed when I first started playing Grand Theft Auto V, is that the cars seem to respond better to my controls than in previous Grand Theft Auto games. Each car feels unique, and I had a great time… acquiring vehicles that looked like they’d be fun to drive. Due to my curiosity, I ditched a fast car to try out a pickup truck right before a chase mission. It took several retries, but I eventually caught up with my target. My favorite car is the Dominator, which seems to be influence by the real-world Ford Mustang. I like to ride motorcycles when I want to get somewhere in a hurry and Franklin’s green Bagger is my favorite 2-wheeled ride.

3. All the Other Vehicles

I thought about including Vehicles under one category, but they deserve more than one. Cars, trucks, and bikes only scratch the surface when it comes to the vehicles of Grand Theft Auto V. Players can fly planes, ride boats, helicopters, ATVs, buses, bicycles, a blimp, etc. If you see it moving, you can probably steal it, and tour the city on it! And there are multiple versions of many of these. For example, you aren’t able to just fly a plane; you can fly small bi-planes, private jets, jumbo jets, or fighter jets. There are PLENTY of vehicle options in this game, and I still haven’t tried them all.

2. Three Main Characters

In previous GTA games, we were given a single character to control. One game, one personality. In GTA V, we get THREE main characters, each with their own style and personality. They like different music, prefer different kinds of vehicles, and each of them have their own special talents. Because the story is constantly switching focus from one character to another, players never get stuck playing as the same person.

1. The World

It would almost be impossible not to notice the terrific world that Rockstar developers created. The city of San Andreas is buzzing with activity, and the attention to detail is astounding. If you have any doubts, walk down the sidewalk, instead of driving. You will notice things that are easy to miss when driving. You can leave the city, and travel north to Blaine County, and it actually feels like a different place. The world is huge, but it’s full of landmarks and places that look like they really exist and fit into the context of the world that’s been created. If there’s a single reason to keep playing after finishing the game, it’s to continue exploring the massive world.

Grand Theft Auto V, Character Analysis: Trevor

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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My third and final character analysis for Grand Theft Auto V belongs to Trevor. There could be serious psychological consequences for anyone who tries to explain Trevor’s thought processes, but I’m willing to give it a shot. I think it’s safe to say that Trevor represents the player’s need to cause chaos. The Grand Theft Auto series is best known for the mayhem the main characters inflict. With every new installment, people are ready to point out how out of control the video game industry has become.

*A game that glorifies theft, violence against police, and mass violence.

*It depicts a sex scene when using the “hot coffee” mod.

*The new first-person view in GTA V shows acts of prostitution, up close and personal.

Grand Theft Auto found its success by giving players the opportunity to create havoc in real-world settings. None of the non-playable characters are safe; not women; not grandpa; and especially not cops. You can steal a car, run over every pedestrian on the way to the police department, and partake in mass murder for no other reason that your own, sadistic gratification. Just make sure to hide until the blinking stars go away, and all is well.

Trevor is the GTA V character that harnesses that basic, animalistic urge to lose control. Like Michael, Trevor primary motivation IS NOT money. Both characters recognize a part of themselves that wants back in “the game,” but their desires seem to be based on completely different reasons. Michael sees “the game” as a challenge. Trevor sees “the game” as an outlet to cause chaos.

My favorite part about Trevor’s character, and there are many, is his loyalty. Any good traits that Trevor displays stand in stark contrast against all the other crazy shit he does, making them shine brighter than they would have otherwise. Trevor kills because of headaches, so it’s nice to know he has a group of friends who he respects and responds to in less-than-lethal ways, even when being criticized by them. If Michael had been any other man, and not one of Trevor’s long-time friends, Trevor would have killed him several times over throughout the course of the game. Trevor’s loyalty to Michael is what saves Michael from Trevor. However, it was Trevor’s loyalty to their mutual friend that almost caused him to kill Michael when Trevor found out that Michael had used the man’s dead body to fake his own death.

One of my favorite scenes in the game involves Trevor displaying his loyalty to Franklin when he helps him and Lamar during their drug deal on Grave Street. As I mentioned in my first character analysis about Franklin, Franklin learns to trust Trevor, someone who he thought was completely insane. That mission was a highlight for me, and the relationship between Trevor and Franklin, as well as Lamar, is the reason why. It resulted in character development for all characters involved, and it didn’t even require a lot of talking.

To wrap up my character analyses of the three main characters from Grand Theft Auto V, I want to reiterate that each one of them plays an important role in the player’s experience.

Franklin depicts the player’s desire to progress.

Michael depicts the player’s desire for continued challenge.

Trevor represents the player’s desire to cause chaos.

See something I missed, or have something to add to the analysis of a specific Grand Theft Auto V character? Maybe you want to share your favorite moments or character traits, or tell me why you disagree with me. Leave a comment below, and remember to visit my blog again, tomorrow, for the Top 10 Things I Love About GTA V!

Grand Theft Auto V, Character Analysis: Michael

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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The second Grand Theft Auto V main character I’m analyzing (have to be careful with the spelling of THAT word) is Michael. In my opinion, Michael represents the characters who’ve finished their journeys in previous GTA games. He’s rich, lives in a big house, has an attractive wife… he’s achieved the dream. However, we quickly realize that Michael isn’t happy with his success. He’s missing something in his life. Could it be the thrill of… the game?

Within the world of GTA V, Michael wants to feel the glory of his criminal past, despite being much older and out of shape. As a character, I think he represents the desire of players to KEEP PLAYING. You might think that’s a bit of a stretch, but I don’t think so. As I pointed out in Franklin’s analysis, Franklin represents our desire to start from scratch, get better, and acquire success. Likewise, Michael represents our desire to play, long after the credits have rolled on our story. Trevor, undoubtedly, represents our desire to cause chaos within the games (spoiler alert for tomorrow??). Put the three characters together, and you get the ultimate Grand Theft Auto Fan.

What I like most about Michael, is how soft his character is, compared to how the story claims he once was. This is really just a concept that’s enforced throughout gameplay. Micheal will say things like, “I’m not as young as I used to be,” or someone else calling him “out of shape.” I wish I could pinpoint some actual quotes, but the game has so much dialogue that it would take forever to find exactly what I’m looking for. The point is, Michael isn’t the man he used to be. Compared to the antiheroes of previous GTA games, we can assume that Micheal isn’t as menacing as he could be. He likes sitting next to the pool, playing tennis, doing yoga… I bet the younger Michael would have beat the crap out of older Michael on principal alone.

I guess the more important question is “WHY is this something I, or anyone else, should like about this character?” It’s different, and it’s interesting. Instead of being an underdog starting from the bottom, like Franklin, Michael is an underdog who’s starting over from the top. His youth is gone, and he’s been spoiled by his own success. Even though he found success in a previous story, he longs for another adventure, “The Big One!” Meanwhile, we get a unique story from the point-of-view of a GTA personality who has to deal with a lazy son, a promiscuous daughter, and a complicated marriage, all while handling issues from his past, and securing his future.

My favorite scenes involving Michael are the ones he shares with his son. It’s hilarious to think that Michael’s hardcore criminal past eventually led to him having a son who wants to lay around his bedroom, get high, and play “those damn games.” Michael and his son seem to have an underlying affection for each other, but they just can’t get on the same page long enough to develop a more meaningful relationship. Michael has memories of the life he USED to lead, but his son thinks he’s just as lazy as he is. Michael’s son, as well as his daughter, seem caught up in whatever is trendy, giving the game developers plenty of opportunities to satirize American culture, and we get to view it from the eyes of someone who just doesn’t understand America’s youth.

Grand Theft Auto V, Character Analysis: Franklin

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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I’m going to start my Grand Theft Auto V character analysis with Franklin. He’s the youngest, least experienced (and least damaged) character in the GTA V entourage. Franklin gives players that up-and-comer experience that tends to be pretty standard in games like these. Characters usually start out with very little, and progress throughout the game. Since Michael’s already rich, and the concept of money seems secondary to chaos when it comes to Trevor, Franklin is the character in which players are going to relate to the most (to a limit, of course… and hopefully none of them relate to Trevor the most).

In Franklin’s story, we witness the struggles of a former gang banger/dope dealer as he tries to make an honest living. Thankfully, none of that works out for him, and he soon becomes part of the GTA V story. He tries to repossess a car from Michael, and after some obvious tension in which Franklin explains his situation and Michael believes him, the two become friends. Michael brings Franklin into the world of serious criminal activity, and sets our story into motion.

What I enjoy most about Franklin is his sincere desire to make a living. He was willing to take a real job to get away from the gangs of Grove Street, but it didn’t work out for him. Faced with bad luck and the possibility of being stuck living with his aunt, Franklin goes to work with Micheal. Franklin shows true dedication and a hard work ethic when he tries to help Michael reclaim his boat and rescue Michael’s son. We get to see him hopping around from car to boat on the interstate, trying to help this guy he barely knows. Franklin is the hardest worker out of the three main characters, probably because he’s got the most to prove, and his work ethic made me want him to succeed.

My favorite scene with Franklin includes Trevor (of course it does), during the Grove Street shootout. I don’t want to spotlight Trevor in this post, but what I enjoyed about the scene was the implication that Franklin learned he could trust Trevor. It gave player’s a deeper understanding of Trevor’s psyche (if that’s even possible) through Franklin’s eyes. That’s important, because Franklin was still basically an outsider at that point in the game. Trevor’s help and approval gave Franklin an entirely new bad ass persona. It stripped away Franklin’s gang-banger personal, and made him seem more legitimate as an organized criminal. In other words, crime stopped being about colors and ethnicity, and it started becoming more about hard work, experience, and teaming up with the right people. Trevor doesn’t give a shit about Franklin’s skin color, or the color of the gang he used to affiliate with; if Franklin can get the job done, he’s worth teaming up with.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Franklin represents players who are just starting the game. The more Franklin is legitimized within the game, the more players should feel the game picking up pace. Before long, Franklin stops being the new guy, and he’s expected to pull his own weight and get the job done.

Thanks for reading this brief character analysis of Franklin from Grand Theft Auto V. Check back tomorrow as I continue my week-long dedication with my character analysis of Michael.

Grand Theft Auto V: Still Playing

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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It’s been a while since I beat Grand Theft Auto V (months!), but every now and then I still like to load my saved file, and ride around the city of San Andreas.

I know that most people who still play this game are probably looking for collectibles, or causing tons of chaos, but I just like to see the sites. The game world is beautiful, with realistic day/night cycles, weather, and I still seem to find places I’ve never been before – or didn’t notice while I was speeding along during my play-through.

I finished a mission involving Trevor’s mom, and I completed a mission given to me by one of the businesses I bought with Michael, but now the world seems uneventful. PLEASE DON’T KILL ME for saying that. The world is still ACTIVE, but the events that kept pushing the game forward are gone, now. That’s just the natural progression of the game, I know, but I miss it. I hope they come out with some great DLC for single players.

I’m dedicating this entire week to Grand Theft Auto V posts. For this post, I thought I’d talk about a couple of the things I’ve done post-game. For Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I’m doing character analyses of the three main protagonists, and will talk about how each one of them represent common traits found in fans of the franchise. On Friday, I’m posting my top 10 favorite things about the game.

One interesting thing (at least, I think it’s interesting), is I jumped on a jet ski, and tried to leave the city. I’m sure many of you have tried this in other games, as well. It’s just a curious attempt to find the boundaries of the game. I guess some people would call it game-breaking, because it ruins the illusion that the world is open and expansive. Long story short, it doesn’t work with Grand Theft Auto V. In the most realistic FAIL a game has ever dished out to me, my jet ski ran out of gas, sank, and a shark ate me. TAKE THAT, ME!

I chose Michael as a character, and went drinking with Trevor. I watched a really strange foreign film in the movie theater. I played tennis with Amanda. I honked my horn a few too many times at a parked police car sitting on the side of the road, and it ended with my death. I followed some pedestrians around until they started getting freaked out. I took a long, boring tour of the city.

You know, I’m starting to feel a bit like Michael at the beginning of this game; as beautiful as the world is, the thrill of the game is gone. I need a new adventure. Lucky for me, I recently picked up a copy of GTA IV (as mentioned in my last post).

Remember to follow my blog for more details about the games I play on the road to completing my goal of beating 50 games before getting a current gen console. Check back tomorrow as I start my week-long dedication to the great game, Grand Theft Auto V, staring with my character analysis of Franklin!

Grand Theft Auto V Ending(s) Discussion (Spoilers)

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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I’ve already posted a spoiler-free blog about beating Grand Theft Auto V, but this one is going to be spoiler heavy. You’ve been warned.

I want to talk about the three different endings that are possible. Near the end of the game, Franklin is confronted my one of the biggest assholes of the game, and is faced with a tough decision: should he kill Micheal, Trevor, or does Franklin have a death-wish? I chose death-wish, because I wasn’t about to turn my back on either of my allies.

Micheal had used the death of one of his partners to stage his own death, leading to a life of wealth, relaxation, and freedom (and also a stressful family situation, and boredom, but that’s a different issue). My point is, if you take a cynical point-of-view, maybe Micheal does deserve to die. He was willing to disappear, allowing his partners to believe he’d been killed and buried. It took half of the game for Trevor to realize his old partner (I forget the guys name) wasn’t really in prison, and he was pissed when he found out Micheal had used the guy’s death to earn his own freedom. Meanwhile, Trevor lived in a trailer in Blaine Country… Micheal was kind of a dick.

Trevor… is special. He’s a sociopath. We see Trevor’s toxic personality rear its ugly head several times throughout the game, and his acts of violence are often depicted in the most casual of ways. Want to live in the strip club? Okay, just walk in to the owner’s office, and when you come out you’ve magically took the place over. Hmm, wonder what happened to the other guy? Or what about Floyd’s cousin, Wade, and Wade’s fiance, Debra? Don’t forget about what Trevor did to them. He didn’t like them, and he didn’t want to listen to their (perfectly reasonable) drama, so he massacred them in their own home. Nice, Trevor! Real nice! Hell, Wade had a good-paying job at a construction site, and Debra was a lawyer. Yea, they had their problems, but nothing worth a thoughtless butchering. Then there was the infamous torture scene where Trevor performs some of the most graphic acts of violence ever to be programmed into a GTA game, and he does it with a smile and an okie dokey attitude. Even Trevor doesn’t seem to like Trevor during many scenes of the game, so maybe he deserves to die!

Franklin doesn’t seem to have many character flaws, besides the fact he’s just as much a partner in crime as the other criminals in Grand Theft Auto V. He tries to be legit, but when that doesn’t work, he’ll do what he has to. He’s young, and hasn’t been around long enough to be as damaged as the other two antiheroes, and that’s probably why he gets to make the big decision about who lives and dies at the end.

As I said before, I chose death-wish for Franklin. It seemed to be the option that said “fuck you!” to the idea of killing Micheal or Trevor, and that’s what my state-of-mind was. Kill Micheal? Nope. Kill Trevor? Still no. I wanted to keep all of my characters. I think that by choosing this option, it made the end of the game slightly harder… I mean, not really… It just took a little bit longer. I’m not sure why anyone would want to kill any of the players, though. Keeping all three of them was easy enough to do, and tying up the loose ends to make sure the characters stayed alive provided some additional entertainment.

That being said, I was curious about what the other two options would look like, so I went to YouTube. One thing that struck me as odd was how the other endings didn’t seem to fit well within the context of the overarching story. Imagine for a moment, that Grand Theft Auto V was a movie, and not a video game. Wouldn’t it seem like the three main characters would be in it, together? Any ending to a movie like that, in which any of the protagonists die – three men who had just been through a shit-ton of heists, police chases, shootouts, saving each others asses over and over again – would definitely be a piss-poor ending, unless it was a tragedy handed down by the hands of their common enemies.

If I had to complain about anything in this game, it would be the endings where Micheal and Trevor die. They don’t seem like natural conclusions to the story as a whole. Instead, they seem like choices for less fleshed-out versions of the story. Choosing death-wish brings the three characters together, putting their differences aside in order to take care of business one, final time. Choosing “Kill Micheal” or “Kill Trevor” just makes it feel like you’re giving in to your enemies (because you are), and cutting the story short. It feels like Rocky Balboa throwing a fight… out of place, and wrong. The only ending that seemed to fit, was the one where all the characters came out alive. That’s how I feel about it, and I’m RIGHT!

Besides, players get to continue the game after the main story-line ends, so killing one of the main characters would take away from the gameplay; approximately one third of the remaining missions, if all characters were given equal face time.

Anybody else feel like the alternate endings were out of place? I enjoyed watching them on YouTube, but that was just because they exist and I was curious about them. I think the game would have been just as good without them, though. Not every game has to have choices that dramatically change the story. With Grand Theft Auto V’s massive landscapes, crammed full of things to see and do, it could have easily passed on the alternate endings. However, I’m sure some people enjoyed being able to choose who lives and dies, so that’s just one more way Rockstar went above and beyond all expectations. I don’t usually rate games, but this one is definitely a 10 out of 10.

I Beat Grand Theft Auto V (No Spoilers)

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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Some of you who follow my blog might be ready to scold me for not completing L.A. Noire before GTA V, like I said I was going to try to do, but Grand Theft Auto V was too entertaining and awesome to postpone.

It’s hard to express how great this game was, and I guess I don’t have to since it’s basically the biggest game on the planet right now. This is the first Grand Theft Auto game I’ve ever finished. I used to just jump in cars, race around the city, crash into stuff, and go on rampages. This entry into the GTA had me hooked into the story from the very beginning, and still hasn’t released its grasp on me. It had everything going for it: story, music, acting, characters, visuals, my God the visuals!!

I played this game on Xbox 360 (My goal prohibits the purchase of a new console until I beat 50 games on the previous generations of consoles), so I can only imagine that the visuals were even more impressive on Xbox One and PS4 (I’ve seen them on YouTube, shh).

For anyone new to my blog, let me summarize my experience when I first purchased Grand Theft Auto V (it wasn’t pleasant): I was watching all the YouTube videos, and everyone was going nuts over this super amazing game, and I said, “why the hell not? I’ve earned a new game!” I went out and bought a copy. I brought it home, popped it into my 360, played a few missions and then… CRASH!!! My Xbox 360 shut down. To be more accurate, it blinked off; there was no shutdown process involved. One second I was exploring the beach attractions with Franklin, and in the next my Xbox was just off, and I was staring at the blue screen of my TV with my controller in my hands… hmm.

I tried playing the game several more time with the same consequence. After a little online searching, I found out that my old, white, pre-2008 Xbox might not be able to run such a technologically advanced game such as GTA V… Shit! I went through a big headache of buying a refurbished Xbox Slim from Gamestop, returning it because it was crappy and broke, and then transferring all the data from my old console to the new refurbished console a second time. After that, everything was good.

Having a console that would actually play Grand Theft Auto V meant that I could could, well, actually play the damn game. It didn’t take me long to get involved in the story-line, and I soon had several hours invested in it. I even wrote a blog about how I abandoned L.A. Noire to play GTA V instead… I did it again, so sue me!

I don’t want to go into too much detail about GTA V in this blog, because I want to keep it spoiler-free, but I’ll make another blog very soon that contains spoilers… including some end-of-game stuff… different endings… so yea, if you don’t want to know about it, don’t read the blog. I really just wanted to make a quick entry into the Gaming Backlog Journal to announce the completion of another game, a BIG one.

Let me do a quick count: Super Mario Galaxy, Final Fantasy IV, Red Dead Redemption, Brothers, Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season One, and now, Grand Theft Auto V…

6 games, out of 50… Not too bad (for me), but I’ve still got a long way to go. I’m going to try to push out a few more blogs quicker than I have been, considering I haven’t been keeping to my at least one a week format. I’m thinking that I’ll try to post one a week in the future, but I don’t want to be too strict on myself about it.

Coming up soon… more stuff about GTA V. Now that I’ve beat the game, I want to talk about the ending(s), and go into more detail about the three main characters. Also, Episodes 2 and 3 of Life is Strange. That game is awesome, and I’m ready to talk about it some more.

P.S. I don’t think it was fair to have to buy another, newer console to play a game that I should have been able to play already. Think about it: I had an Xbox 360 (still have it), but I had to go get a slightly newer one (Xbox 360 Slim) to play GTA V. Not everyone had problems with their older consoles, but enough people had the same problem to where I would think we should have been able to get some kind of trade-in deal or something. Anyone want to buy a pre-2008 Xbox 360?

L.A. Noire: I’m Playing Again!

Posted on by Gaming Backlog

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The last couple of days I had off from work, I decided to ignore Grand Theft Auto V (pretty hard to do once you start playing), and I went strait for L.A. Noire instead.

I’m glad I did, because I forgot how great that game was. I guess when I get away from something for a while, I just get accustomed to it not being a part of my routine. I’m a person who enjoys a good routine, but replacing one game for another is easy to do. Once the new game is part of my routine, only a newer, more appealing game can take over. The existence of my video game backlog is evidence of a well-equipped video game industry that just LOVES selling me great games, instead of waiting until I’m done with my other ones! Geez, c’mon and give it a rest, Industry! Psh!

Back to L.A. Noire. Once I started playing again, it was easy to get hooked. There are so many things that I enjoy about the game, that it’s surprising I was pulled away from it in the first place. Honestly, if there hadn’t been a GTA V, I would have already finished playing L.A. Noire (but then, there wouldn’t be a GTA V, and that would be disappointing).

I think I’ve already said a few things about L.A. Noire, including some negative comments, and I’ll go ahead an say that I stand behind those statements. In no way is L.A. Noire a bad game, but the city feels a lot more empty than the city of Grand Theft Auto V. Even when compared to a game like Red Dead Redemption, which has bragging rights when it comes to large, empty environments, L.A. Noire still seems to be lacking when it comes to the level of immersion, despite taking place in a city. The cars feel more solid than any other game that I’ve, played though. They’re probably the most realistic part of the game. They drive horribly, but I’m guessing that their real-life counterparts were just as bad.

I’ll have more topics about this game in upcoming posts, and I plan to finish this game before playing any more of Grand Theft Auto V. From what I understand, L.A. Noire is a very story-driven game, and there isn’t as much to do after beating the game as there would be in a game like Red Dead Redemption or a Grand Theft Auto Game, so that should leave plenty of time for me to take my time with GTA V.

Thanks for reading, and keep checking in for more topics about L.A. Noire and other games!