....And loved it

I had just spent the past couple of months playing Gary Grigsby's War in the East religiously. If you know that game you'll know it's a massive, complex grand operational war game. After playing two German and one Russian grand campaign I was in need of a momentous gaming shift. I needed to buy a new game that was like as far removed from operational wargaming as I could find. Spent a few days on Steam, and GOG and Googling 'best PC games' looking for inspiration.

One recurring thought was 'something like GTA'. Despite enjoying games like the Witcher and Dragon Age, third person games aren't my thing. I will play them if the game is great, but I much prefer first person. I might rate Witcher 3 as the best game of all time, so I'm glad I play them. But first person allows me to become far more immersed in the character I am playing. Just a preference sorta thing.

I hadn't played any GTA game since San Andreas, and that was back in 2004, and even then I probably didn't play more than a few hours before moving on. I didn't grab me.

So back to two weeks ago... Unable to find a game that really lit my fire I had a look at GTA 5. Oh that's right...they added first person. I wonder....

Oh hell with it, it's only $30 and if I hate it no big deal.

But I really enjoyed it. The gunplay, the car chases, running from the cops. The radio, the funny ads, all of the satire. The heists.

And the city of Los Santos. Seriously, a wonderful game world.

I can't remember a game I've played that made me laugh so much.

That was thirty bucks well spent. Not everything was great. I was no fan of Trevor. Despite it being a GTA game and knowing what that means, I still managed to find him repulsive and repugnant, and maybe too far over the top, but he's just one of the characters. Actually, none of the characters really clicked for me, but what did click was me becoming these characters (first person yay!).

So what's the deal with GTA online? Sh!t show? I can't imagine it's anything but. Still, I liked the story mode so much I kinda want to give it a go. But I suspect my enthusiasm would be dashed within minutes of venturing online. Yeah, the game is 5 years old, and didn't even run all that well for me. 170 fps, but with micro stutters that I never did completely eradicate. But it's a wild ride with an amazing gameworld, and really funny.