First Impressions: Grand Theft Auto Online... Or Is It?

Grand Theft Auto Online "launched" Tuesday, and it was about as successful as the Challenger.

For one of the most highly anticipated features of the fastest selling video game of all time to fail so spectacularly might be seen as a minor setback, but for each day it's not working properly more and more people who have already completed the single player content are trading the title in at retailers.

GTAV Review, Pt. 2 - The Characters

This one's going to be a good deal shorter than the last, but I wanted it to be more focused. We're doing a timeshifted week because I got frustrated with what I had pre-written, and the piss-poor GTA Online launch, and had to take a break. We were going to do two posts tonight, but there's been a similar situation with Latency's inFamous review, so we resorted to this.

Now back to the review...(Some spoilers ahead...)

Grand Theft Auto V Review, Part 1

Grand Theft Auto V was one of the most anticipated titles of this console generation, and near universally praised by "professional" critics. Often waving away its flaws(and there are many), and instead valuing the game on the amount of content, opposed to the quality thereof, many of the currently available reviews are a testament as to why the business of game journalism is often considered a mere shadow of the more traditional type(which over the past two decades has become even more soulless and manipulatory itself).

There will be none of that here. Grand Theft Auto V does have some high points(which won't be overlooked either), but they're often dragged down by the thoughtless content crammed in to fill the otherwise empty space around them. I've got an axe to grind, and Rockstar gave me a stone on which to do it. It's time to have a go at one of the most successful titles this year, both critically and commercially, with a jackhammer. I'm going to sort out which of the individual components aren't so shiny when looked at with an eye to detail, rather than being blinded by the total package.

Grand Theft Auto V, controversy, and rage... Let's fucking do this.