Gamers who purchased the newly-released Grand Theft Auto V, the latest in Rockstar’s critically acclaimed series of open-world video games, have been disappointed to learn that the product’s packaging does not contain a game disc, but rather nothing but a large blunt object and a screwdriver.
In a manual that accompanies the objects, players are told they can use these instruments to smash open car windows and hotwire vehicles, which will give way to “a gaming experience unparalleled in its depth and realism.”
User and critical reaction to the game has been mixed, with some reporting that it offers “virtually endless” options to players, while others have complained that those options are significantly cheapened by “harsh consequences,” such as real world injury – mental or physical – and a high likelihood of arrest and imprisonment.
Commercial game reviewer IGN gave the game an 8.5 – a score revised downward from 10 after a payment dispute with Rockstar – saying that it offered players a game-world “disturbingly and depressingly like the real world that we inhabit.”
While the game’s environments were neither consistent nor as advertised, IGN maintained that the experience would still be rewarding for some players, while it would be “monotonous and frustrating” for others. Some players would find the game “very tangibly destroyed their lives irreparably and forever.”
In GTA V, players are encouraged to roam freely throughout the world they inhabit, earn money by working day jobs they hate – a process that some have complained takes an “unreasonable” 80% of game time – so that they might pave out an uncertain future in a mortgaged property with a loved one who statistically wasn’t their first choice.
But as with all GTA titles, the main thrust of the game remains stealing vehicles and driving them recklessly around urban environments. While this feature is still largely intact, critics unanimously agree that the mechanics involved have become “significantly more difficult” than they were in 2008’s Grand Theft Auto IV.
“Players in [GTA IV’s] Liberty City could expect to freely jump from car to car without much trouble,” wrote gaming magazine Game Informer. “While this would often attract the attention of police, they could plausibly be outrun through complex maneuvers such as driving away really fast or turning several corners.
“But this is not so in GTA V. Police now pursue you indefinitely and through multiple avenues, and painting your car appears to have no tangible effect on your criminal record.”
The magazine added that running down pedestrians in a vehicle was “somehow less fun” in the series’ latest installment.
Despite mixed reactions to the game’s unique engine, Rockstar has already managed to inspire other companies to follow its example, with the upcoming game Outdoors Unlimited promising to offer the “ultimate outdoor experience” by permanently damaging the player’s console hardware.