Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V
Developer(s)	Rockstar North Additional work by: Rockstar NYC Rockstar San Diego Rockstar Leeds Rockstar Toronto Rockstar New England Rockstar London Rockstar Lincoln
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Producer(s)	Leslie Benzies Imran Sarwar
Designer(s)	Leslie Benzies Imran Sarwar
Programmer(s)	Adam Fowler
Artist(s)	Aaron Garbut
Writer(s)	Dan Houser Rupert Humphries
Composer(s)	The Alchemist Woody Jackson Oh No Tangerine Dream
Series	Grand Theft Auto
Engine	RAGE, with Euphoria and Bullet Physics
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release	17 September 2013
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, online multiplayer

Grand Theft Auto V is an open world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 September 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the fifteenth title in the Grand Theft Auto series and the first main entry since Grand Theft Auto IV in 2008. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the game's single-player story follows three criminals and their efforts to execute a number of heists while under pressure from a government agency. The game's use of open world design allows the player to freely roam the state's countryside and the city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.

The game is played from a third-person perspective and allows the player to navigate the world on-foot or by utilising a number of vehicles. Off-mission, the player is free to interact with the game world at their leisure, however illegal actions may incite a response from the game's law enforcement agencies. Throughout the game, the player simultaneously controls the three lead protagonists, switching between them both during and outside of missions. The story is framed by the heist sequences, and many of the missions make use of shooting and driving gameplay. The game's online multiplayer mode allows up to 16 players to roam the open world, and engage in co-operative and competitive game matches.

Development began shortly following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. The development team envisioned Grand Theft Auto V as a spiritual successor to many of their previous projects, such as Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. To innovate on the core structure of its predecessors, the team designed Grand Theft Auto V's gameplay and story around three lead characters instead of one. Creating the game's open world required extensive research; the developers conducted field research around California throughout development, capturing footage to be sent to the design team. Development effort was shared between many of Rockstar's studios around the world and required five years' work.

As one of the last titles to be released for the seventh generation of video game consoles, Grand Theft Auto V was highly anticipated preceding its release. The game was acclaimed by many reviewers upon its release, with praise particularly directed at the multiple protagonist design and open-ended gameplay. A scene depicting protagonist Trevor Philips using torture, and the game's treatment of women, polarised critics. Some labelled the game as inherently violent and misogynistic. A commercial success, Grand Theft Auto V broke industry sales records by earning US$800 million in the first 24 hours of its release and US$1 billion within its first three days, making it the fastest selling entertainment product in history. Grand Theft Auto V has earned several year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications.

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective in an open world environment. The player uses melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies, and can run, jump, swim or use vehicles to navigate the game's world. In combat, auto aim and a cover system can be used as assistance against enemies. If the player's health is low, it will gradually regenerate to its half-way point. A perpetual objective for the player is to complete missions to progress through the story, but much like other open world games, these missions can be completed at the player's leisure. If the player commits illegal acts while playing, the game's law enforcement agencies may respond, which is represented by a "Wanted" meter in the head-up display (HUD). On the meter, stars are displayed to indicate the player's current "Wanted" level; for example, at the maximum five-star "Wanted" level the efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate the player become very aggressive. Should the player escape the immediate area in which they are wanted, law enforcement officers will search for the player. At this point, the line of sight of officers displays on the mini-map; when line of sight is broken and the player is hidden, the "Wanted" meter enters a cooldown mode and eventually recedes.

The single-player mode of Grand Theft Auto V is played through three player-controlled protagonists: Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton, criminals whose stories interconnect as they complete missions. While interacting with the game world, the player may switch between them at will, by means of a directional compass on the HUD. Franklin corresponds to the north point, Michael to the west, Trevor to the east and the player's multiplayer avatar to the south. During missions, the game may switch the player's character automatically as necessary in order to complete certain objectives. A character's avatar will flash red if they are in danger and need assistance either manually or through covering fire from another, and flash white if that character has a strategic advantage or position which may aid the player's success in the mission. Though the player completes missions as any of the three protagonists, the more difficult heist missions may require aid from AI-controlled accomplices who have unique skill sets such as computer hacking or driving, and they will take a cut from the mission's cash reward upon completion. If an accomplice survives a successful heist, they may be re-used in later missions with improvements to their unique skills. Employing different strategies toward the completion of a heist mission is also encouraged by the game; for example, in a holdup mission the player may subdue civilians with an agent if stealth is favoured, or storm the venue with guns drawn.

In Grand Theft Auto V, the player may take cover behind objects in firefights to avoid taking damage from enemies.

Each character has a set of eight skills, which are numerical representations of their ability in certain areas, such as shooting and driving. While the player improves the skills of each character as they play, there is a skill assigned to each character that they have expertise in by default, such as Trevor's skill as a pilot. In addition, the eighth "special" skill determines the effectiveness in performing an ability that is unique to each respective character. Michael will enter bullet time in combat, Franklin will slow down time while driving, and Trevor will deal twice as much damage to enemies while taking half as much in combat. There is a meter on each character's HUD which depletes when an ability is being used and gradually regenerates over time when the ability is not being used.

The game is presented as an open world; it is a large, open map which can be freely roamed when the player is not partaking in missions. Composed of the open countryside area San Andreas and the fictional city of Los Santos, the world is comparatively larger in area than earlier entries in the series. The player can utilise a variety of vehicles to explore the game world and, to accommodate for the size of the map, the game introduces vehicle types that were absent in its predecessor Grand Theft Auto IV, such as fixed-wing aircraft. While free roaming the game world, the player can engage in context-specific activities; for example, the player is given a scuba set to explore the underwater sections of the world, or a parachute to partake in BASE jumping. Each character is equipped with a smartphone which can be used to contact friends, engage in activities and access an in-game Internet. The Internet can be used to purchase properties such as homes and businesses and access a stock market that allows the player to be a stakeholder in businesses; each character can earn income by purchasing businesses and selling shares. The player can purchase upgrades for the weapons and vehicles in each character's arsenal, and customise their appearance by purchasing outfits, haircuts, tattoos and jewellery.

Developed in tandem with the single-player mode, the online multiplayer mode Grand Theft Auto Online was conceived as a separate experience, which would be played in a continually evolving world. In it, up to 16 players are given free roam over a re-creation of the single-player setting; the plot is set two months prior to the events of single-player. Within the world, players enter lobbies to complete jobs, which are story-driven competitive and cooperative modes. The Content Creator toolset allows players to create their own parameters for custom jobs; examples include creating tracks for races and specifying spawn points for weapons in deathmatches. Players can band together in crews, which are organised teams of players who complete jobs together. Crews from the multiplayer mode of Max Payne 3 can carry over to Grand Theft Auto Online, since the Rockstar Games Social Club connects the multiplayer experiences together. A player can be a member of up to five crews or create their own, and success in multiplayer matches earns the player experience points for their crew, allowing them to progress in online leaderboards.

Plot

See also: List of Grand Theft Auto V characters

Nine years after a botched robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton that left two of his accomplices dead and forced a third into hiding, former bank robber Michael Townley is living under witness protection with his family in Los Santos, San Andreas, adopting the pseudonym Michael De Santa. Franklin Clinton, who works as a repo man for a car dealership alongside his best friend Lamar Davis, is asked to reclaim a car from Michael's twenty year old son, Jimmy, who is overdue on his loan payment. Correctly deducing that his son is about to become a victim of credit fraud, Michael confronts Franklin and orders him to crash the car through the dealership. Franklin is fired, but he and Michael become friends. When Michael discovers his wife Amanda in bed with her tennis coach, he and Franklin chase the man to a mansion, which Michael destroys out of anger. However, the mansion belongs to Mexican drug lord Martin Madrazo, who demands compensation. They acquiesce, paying their debt with Madrazo using money earned from a jewellery shop heist with assistance from Michael's friend, Lester Crest. Trevor Philips, the only other survivor of the Ludendorff robbery, hears about the heist and, realising that the perpetrator could be none other than Michael himself, reunites with his former partner after tracking him down to Los Santos.

The personal lives of the protagonists begin to spiral out of control. Trevor's unexpected reappearance triggers reckless and erratic behaviour from Michael, which prompts his family to leave. Michael's attempts to make something of himself bring him into conflict with Devin Weston, a self-made billionaire venture capitalist and corporate raider who develops a grudge against him and vows revenge. Franklin is disturbed by the way Lamar falls under the influence of Harold "Stretch" Joseph, a gangster who defected to a rival gang in prison and who repeatedly attempts to kill Lamar to prove himself to his new brethren. Trevor's efforts to consolidate his control over the methamphetamine market in Blaine County see him waging war against the San Andreas chapter of The Lost outlaw motorcycle club, a number of Latin American street gangs, rival meth dealers, government-sponsored mercenaries and a Triad led by Wei Chang, one of the most senior figures in the Chinese criminal underworld.

Michael is forced by FIB agents Dave Norton and Steve Haines to perform a series of operations with Franklin and Trevor with the objective of undermining a rival agency, the IAA. Under Haines' direction, they attack an armoured convoy carrying funds intended for the IAA and raid a bank containing the payroll for all of the corrupt police and public officials in Los Santos. Michael and Trevor perform a job for Madrazo, and Trevor demands compensation for their efforts. He kidnaps Madrazo's wife instead, temporarily forcing himself and Michael into hiding. As Haines comes under increasing scrutiny for his methods, he forces them to infiltrate the FIB headquarters and erase any evidence being used against him from their servers. Michael takes the opportunity to wipe any data on his own activities in the process, destroying Haines' leverage over him. After Trevor returns Madrazo's wife, the trio start making plans for their most daring feat ever: raiding the gold bullion reserve from the Union Depository.

After returning to Los Santos, Michael makes amends with his family and they start living together again. Trevor, however, discovers that a former accomplice of them was killed during the Ludendorff heist and is not in prison as he was led to believe, but was buried at the grave that was meant for Michael instead. Trevor feels betrayed by Michael, which causes friction within the group and threatens to undermine their plans for the Union Depository. When Michael and Norton are caught in a Mexican stand-off between the FIB, IAA and private security firm Merryweather, Trevor aids in their escape claiming that only he has the right of killing Michael. Despite not forgiving Michael, Trevor agrees to part ways with him after they perform the Union Depository heist as planned.

The trio carry out the Union Depository heist, which is a success, but Franklin ends up being pressured by Haines to kill Trevor and by Weston to kill Michael. Franklin has three options: to kill Trevor, kill Michael, or let them live and face their enemies. Should Franklin kill either Michael or Trevor, he ceases contact with the survivor and returns to his old life. Alternatively, if he kills neither, the trio joins forces to withstand an onslaught from the FIB and Merryweather before going on to kill Haines, Stretch, Wei and Weston. With all their enemies disposed, the three cease working together, but remain friends.

Development

Main article: Development of Grand Theft Auto V

Rockstar North began development of Grand Theft Auto V in 2008, following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. The game required five years' work by a team of over 1,000 people, including the core team at Rockstar North as well as a number of other studios around the world owned by parent company Rockstar Games. Grand Theft Auto V runs on the proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), which was overhauled for the game to improve the draw distances it could be capable of rendering. The game additionally makes use of the Euphoria and Bullet software to handle additional animation and rendering tasks. Developing on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 hardware, Rockstar found they were able to push the graphical capabilities of the consoles further than in previous games, because they had become familiar with the hardware over time. Analyst estimations place the game's combined development and marketing budget at over £170 million (US$265 million), which would make Grand Theft Auto V the most expensive game ever made.

Early work on Grand Theft Auto V involved designing the open world space, where preliminary models were rendered in the game engine. The game is set within the fictional state of San Andreas, which is based on Southern California. Players are also given free roam over the fictional city of Los Santos, which is based on Los Angeles. Production of the game world demanded field research trips throughout Southern California and L.A., taken by key members of the development team. On these trips, the team would document their research with photo and video footage that was then shared with the design team. Google Maps projections of L.A. were used by the team to help design the road networks of Los Santos. To reflect and reproduce the demographic spread of L.A., the developers also studied census data and watched documentaries about the city. Creating the game's open world was considered by the team to be the most technically demanding aspect of the game's production.

A fundamental design goal from the outset was to innovate on the core structure of Grand Theft Auto games by giving players control of three lead protagonists instead of one. The idea first came about during development of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, however hardware restrictions at the time made the idea infeasible. Having developed two episodic expansion packs featuring new protagonists for Grand Theft Auto IV in 2009, the team were motivated to base Grand Theft Auto V around three protagonists that players simultaneously control. The team viewed Grand Theft Auto V a spiritual successor to many of their previous games, and considered how they could innovate upon the mechanics of games such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. They sought to improve the action gameplay by refining the shooting mechanics and cover system, and reworked the driving mechanics based on the notion that vehicles in Grand Theft Auto IV were too difficult to control.

After an audition process, Ned Luke, Shawn "Solo" Fonteno and Steven Ogg were selected to portray Michael, Franklin and Trevor, respectively. Their performances were mostly recorded using motion capture technology, but dialogue for scenes with characters seated in vehicles was recorded in studios instead. Grand Theft Auto V is the first entry in the series to feature an original score, which was composed by a team of producers collaborating with each-other over a number of years. The game also makes use of licensed music provided by an in-game radio. The team licensed over 241 tracks shared between fifteen radio stations, with an additional two stations providing talk radio. Some of the tracks were written specifically for the game; for example, rapper and producer Flying Lotus hosts the station FlyLo FM which includes original work that he composed for the soundtrack.

Grand Theft Auto V was first announced by Rockstar Games on 25 October 2011. They released the game's debut trailer one week later, with an official press release acknowledging the game's setting. Grand Theft Auto V missed its original projected Q2 2013 release date, pushed back to 17 September 2013 to allow for further time polishing the title. To encourage pre-order sales for the game, Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets to provide special edition versions of the game. A viral marketing strategy was also employed, with a website for a fictional religious cult, "The Epsilon Program", offering users the chance to feature in the game as members of the cult. Rockstar have announced that they plan to release downloadable content for the game in 2014, expanding the single-player mode and creating new story for the lead characters.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	(PS3) 97.01% (X360) 96.20%
Metacritic	(PS3) 97/100 (X360) 97/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Computer and Video Games	10/10
Edge	10/10
Eurogamer	9/10
Game Informer	9.75/10
GameSpot	9/10
GamesRadar+
IGN	10/10
Joystiq
Play	97/100
The Escapist

Grand Theft Auto V was released to critical acclaim; reviewers cited the game's multiple lead character formula, presentation and open world gameplay as its strengths. According to review aggregating website Metacritic, the game received an average review score of 97/100 for both consoles, and according to GameRankings, the game received an average review score of 97.01% and 96.20% for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively. GameRankings rates its as the second-best reviewed PlayStation 3 game, behind Grand Theft Auto IV, and third-best reviewed Xbox 360 game, behind its predecessor and The Orange Box. It is the fifth-highest rated game on Metacritic, tying with multiple other games, and behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, SoulCalibur and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Consensus among many critics was that Grand Theft Auto V was one of the best games of the seventh generation era of video game consoles, and a great closing title before the emergence of the eighth generation era. Chris Plante of Polygon observed that the game would be "a bridge between games' present and the future", and declared it "the closure of this generation, and the benchmark for the next". Kyle Prahl of PlayStation Universe felt that the game "gives this console generation the send-off it deserves". Simon Miller of VideoGamer.com considered Grand Theft Auto V "the ultimate swansong for this console cycle", and that it would "cast a long shadow over the next [console cycle] too".

Acclaim was directed towards the character switching mechanic for broadening the scope of the game, with Jeff Bakalar of CNET noting the game encouraged players to engage with all three characters throughout play. The staff at Edge found that players can explore the open world with one character and then switch to another to begin a mission, avoiding long travel times to mission start points. Character switching was considered to improve the pace of action sequences as well, with Matt Bertz of Game Informer noting that players are kept "in the thick of the action" during shootouts. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer noted that it added a tactical element to shootouts because players can have characters set up in strategic outposts, resulting in "far fewer standard shooting galleries" than previous Grand Theft Auto games. Keza MacDonald of IGN felt that having multiple characters prevented missions from being "formulaic" by granting players choice in their approach.

The heist missions were well-received by reviewers, with Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb considering them a welcome deviation from the typical missions structure of Grand Theft Auto games. Bramwell felt that "each heist has a blockbuster set-piece feel to it", and Carolyn Petit of GameSpot cited the 1995 film Heat as a stylistic influence on their design. Xav de Matos of Joystiq found players must be methodical in their approach to the mission, praising the game for encouraging creativity. Plante likened rapid character switching during the heist missions to "film editing, with the player serving as editor, switching rapidly to the most interesting perspective for any moment".

Los Santos, a city featured in Grand Theft Auto V. Reviewers directed praise at the game world, complimenting its draw distances.

Reviewers praised the open world design, some further complimenting the game for streamlining the geography of Los Angeles into a well-designed city space. Brandon Jones of GameTrailers considered the game's emulation of Los Angeles authentic, and felt the open world is "full of voice and personality". Edge directed praise at the game's graphical fidelity and absence of load screens. Luke Albiges of Play further complimented the draw distances, as well as the weather and lighting systems. Favourable comparisons were made between Los Santos and Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City. Mikel Reparez of Official Xbox Magazine felt Los Santos exceeded Grand Theft Auto IV's "grey and gritty" open world. Many praised the game and its world as a satire of contemporary American culture. The design of the game and its damage modeling prompted insurance company Allianz to try simulating how much damage players can wreak over a certain period of time and what it can cost in reality. Allianz officials Robert Übler and Alexander Drumm said a playing spree logged over an hour and 39 minutes saw the damage tallied at nearly $13 million, with $10.15 million credited to the headon collisions of two locomotives and the destruction of 300 feet of track.

Many reviewers favoured the responsiveness of land-based vehicles over previous entries, noting that they were easier to control. "Cars have a proper sense of weight, while retaining the agility necessary for navigating through traffic at high speeds", Bertz explained. Most noted the shooting mechanics were tighter than they had been in previous games, but Jim Sterling of Destructoid felt that in spite of the improvements "the auto-targeting system is twitchy and unreliable, while cover mechanics still come off as dated and unwieldy". Some reviewers felt the game solved a problem from previous entries by adding checkpoints to the game's missions.

The story and characters, particularly Trevor, polarised reviewers. Some felt that having multiple lead protagonists with contrasting personalities gave the narrative of the game tighter pacing. Hollander Cooper of GamesRadar felt that Grand Theft Auto V negated inconsistencies in the story of previous entries, which he felt had a single lead protagonist whose moral complex was muddled. Petit considered Trevor in particular a "truly horrible, terrifying, psychotic human being—and a terrific character". Bramwell found Trevor "shallow and unconvincing", and felt that "his antics derail[ed] the narrative" and overshadowed the character development of Michael and Franklin. de Matos faulted the lack of likability of the protagonists, and found the ambivalence between Michael and Trevor became a tired plot device as it digressed into a "seemingly endless cycle" of conflict between them. Greg Tito of The Escapist found the characters were difficult to emotionally connect with because they acted out of greed, with no sense of morality to "pull [the player] along in supporting them".

Sales

Grand Theft Auto V met with high commercial success. Within twenty-four hours of its release, the game generated more than $800 million in worldwide revenue, equating to approximately 11.21 million copies sold for Take Two, exceeding the previous first-day sales record of $500 million set by Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The numbers nearly doubled analysts' expectations for the title. Three days after release, the game had surpassed one billion dollars in sales, making it the fastest selling entertainment product in history. This broke the previous record set by Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which took 15 days to surpass $1 billion in sales. Six weeks after the release, Rockstar had shipped nearly 29 million copies of the game to retailers, exceeding Grand Theft Auto IV's lifetime figures. On 7 October 2013, Grand Theft Auto V become the largest digital release on PlayStation Store for PlayStation 3, breaking the previous record set by The Last of Us, though numerical sales figures were not disclosed. On 18 October 2013, Rockstar released a digital version of the game for Xbox 360, and went on to become the highest grossing day-one and week-one release on Xbox Live. As of February 2014, the game has sold over 32.5 million units worldwide.

In the United Kingdom, it became the fastest-selling game of all time, selling over 2.25 million copies in five days. This broke the previous record, set by Call of Duty: Black Ops at two million copies over the same period. Grand Theft Auto V also broke the day one record by selling 1.57 million copies, generating £65 million. In two weeks, Grand Theft Auto V sold over 2.6 million copies, generating £90 million, which accounted for 52% of games sold September 2013. After three weeks on sale, Grand Theft Auto V beat the lifetime sales of Grand Theft Auto IV. In its fourth week, it became the fastest-selling title to break the three million barrier in the UK, thus overtaking lifetime sales of Black Ops II. The game was similarly successful in North America: Grand Theft Auto V was the best selling game in September 2013, representing over 50% of software sales and boosting overall software sales by 52% compared to September 2012. Among the Famitsu 2013 Top 100, a listing of the top 100 Japanese retail software sales for the year of 2013 from data collected by Famitsu's parent company Enterbrain, the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto V ranked number 8, with 605,882 physical retail sales within Japan.

Awards

Pre-release, Grand Theft Auto V was awarded for Most Anticipated Game by the Spike Video Game Awards in 2012. Three days after its release, Grand Theft Auto V was ranked second on IGN's list of "The Top 25 Xbox 360 Games". Hardcore Gamer placed the game at number three on their "Top 100 Games of the Generation" list on 8 November 2013. Time named it the best game of 2013. The game received the Game of the Year award at the 2013 Golden Joystick Awards. In the series finale of Good Game, Grand Theft Auto V was nominated for Best Game and Most Memorable Moment. At the 2013 PlayStation Awards, the game received the Platinum Award and User Choice Award. It received five nominations from the Inside Gaming Awards, winning for Game of the Year and Most Immersive. The game received five nominations at Cheat Code Central's 7th Annual Cody Awards, with Rockstar North also receiving a nomination for Studio of the Year.

For the 2013 Spike VGX awards, the game was nominated for ten awards, winning two: Game of the Year and Best Soundtrack. At GameSpot's Game of the Year 2013 Awards, the game was nominated for three Game of the Year awards: overall, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, winning the latter. There were three nominations for the game at Game Revolution's Best of 2013 Awards, and seven nominations at Hardcore Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2013, both of which nominated Grand Theft Auto Online for Biggest Disappointment. Grand Theft Auto V won Best Game, and was awarded runner-up for Best Audio Design, at the Edge Awards 2013, with Rockstar North also winning Studio of the Year. It later received seven nominations from Destructoid's Best of 2013, winning Best Multiplatform Game. The game received two nominations at Giant Bomb's 2013 Game of the Year Awards, winning one, and later received eight nominations at the Telegraph Video Game Awards 2013, winning two.

In 2014, GameTrailers nominated the game for five awards, of which it won two. It later received a nomination from The Escapist for Best Action-Adventure Game. At IGN's Best of 2013 awards, Grand Theft Auto V was nominated for a total of fifteen awards, winning seven of them. At the 18th Satellite Awards, the game has been nominated for Best Action/Adventure Game. Grand Theft Auto V has also been nominated for nine awards at the 10th British Academy Video Games Awards. and for four awards at the 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards,

List of awards and nominations for Grand Theft Auto V

Year Award Category Result Ref. 2012 2012 Spike Video Game Awards Most Anticipated Game Won 2013 31st Golden Joystick Awards Game of the Year Won Good Game Awards 2013 Best Game Nominated Most Memorable Moment ("Friends Reunited" mission) Nominated PlayStation Awards 2013 Platinum Award Won User Choice Award Won 5th Annual Inside Gaming Awards Game of the Year Won Most Immersive Won Best Voice Acting Nominated Best Trailer (Franklin Trailer) Nominated Gamers' Choice Nominated Cheat Code Central's 7th Annual Cody Awards Studio of the Year (Rockstar North) Runner-Up Game of the Year Nominated Best Sound Nominated Best Male Character (Trevor Philips) Nominated Best Xbox Game Nominated Best Action/Adventure Game Nominated Spike VGX 2013 Game of the Year Won Best Soundtrack Won Studio of the Year (Rockstar North) Nominated Best Action Adventure Game Nominated Best Xbox Game Nominated Best PlayStation Game Nominated Best Voice Actor (Steven Ogg as Trevor Philips) Nominated Best Song in a Game ("ADHD" performed by Kendrick Lamar) Nominated Best Song in a Game ("Sleepwalking" performed by The Chain Gang of 1974) Nominated Character of the Year (Trevor Philips) Nominated GameSpot's Game of the Year 2013 Awards Game of the Year Nominated Xbox 360 Game of the Year Won PS3 Game of the Year Nominated Game Revolution's Best of 2013 Awards Game of the Year Nominated Best Developer (Rockstar North) Nominated Biggest Disappointment (Grand Theft Auto Online) Nominated Hardcore Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2013 Game of the Year Runner-Up Best Developer (Rockstar North) Nominated Best New Character (Trevor Philips) Nominated Best Writing Nominated Best Original Soundtrack Won The Sequel of Sequels Nominated Most Disappointing (Grand Theft Auto Online) Nominated Edge Awards 2013 Best Game Won Studio of the Year (Rockstar North) Won Best Audio Design Runner-Up Destructoid's Best of 2013 Best Multiplatform Game Won Community Choice Runner-Up Game of the Year Nominated Best Story Nominated Best Action Game Nominated Best Character (Trevor Philips) Nominated Best Soundtrack Nominated Giant Bomb's 2013 Game of the Year Awards Best New Character (Lamar Davis) Won Best Music Nominated Telegraph Video Game Awards 2013 Best Art Direction (Aaron Garbut) Won Best Technical Achievement Won Game of the Year Nominated Best Director (Leslie Benzies) Nominated Best Script (Dan Houser) Nominated Best Performer (Steven Ogg as Trevor Philips) Nominated Best Original Score (Woody Jackson, Tangerine Dream, Oh No, The Alchemist) Nominated Best Developer (Rockstar) Nominated 2014 GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards 2013 Best Multiplayer (Grand Theft Auto Online) Won Best Multiplatform Won Game of the Year Nominated Best Soundtrack Nominated Best Third Person Shooter Nominated The Escapist Awards 2013 Best Action-Adventure Game Nominated IGN's Best of 2013 Best Xbox 360 Action Game Won Best Xbox 360 Multiplayer Game Won Best Xbox 360 Graphics Won Best Xbox 360 Sound Won Best Xbox 360 Game Won Best PS3 Action Game Won Best Overall Action Game Won Game of the Year Nominated Best Overall Multiplayer Game Nominated Best Overall Graphics - Technology Nominated Best Xbox 360 Story Nominated Best PS3 Multiplayer Game Nominated Best PS3 Sound Nominated Best PS3 Story Nominated Best PS3 Game Nominated 18th Satellite Awards Outstanding Action / Adventure Video Game Nominated 10th British Academy Video Games Awards Action & Adventure Nominated Audio Achievement Nominated Best Game Nominated British Game Won Game Design Won Game Innovation Nominated Multiplayer (Grand Theft Auto Online) Won Performer (Steven Ogg as Trevor Philips) Nominated Story Nominated 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Game of the Year Pending Best Audio Pending Best Design Pending Best Technology Pending

Controversy

The mission "By the Book" involves a sequence wherein the player selects torture equipment to use in the interrogation of a man. The sequence ignited criticism from many reviewers for its depiction of torture.

The mission "By the Book" generated controversy from reviewers and commentators for its depiction of torture. In the mission, Trevor interrogates a man, Mr K, in order to extract information about an Azerbaijani fugitive who poses a threat to the FIB. Trevor uses torture equipment on the restrained man, which the player selects from a table. Once Mr K provides the FIB with the information, Trevor is asked to kill him, but instead drives him to the airport lending him an opportunity for escape. While driving Mr K, Trevor monologues about the ineffectiveness of torture, pointing out Mr K's readiness to supply the FIB with the information without being tortured, and expressing that torture is used as a power play "to assert ourselves". A sentiment echoed among reviewers that while the mission served as political commentary on the use of torture by the United States government, the use of torture was in poor taste. Petit felt that placing the torture scene in context with the monologue created a hypocrisy in the mission's function as a commentary device; MacDonald felt it "pushed the boundaries of taste". In an editorial, Bramwell discussed whether the political commentary was overshadowed the violent content, comparing the mission to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" controversy. He considered that the sequence lacked enough context to justify its violence, summarising its function as "flawed". Dan Silver of the Daily Mirror considered that the sequence transgressed beyond commentary and detracted from "the subtlety of Rockstar's message". Keith Best of Freedom from Torture said the mission "crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts". Labour MP Keith Vaz expressed concern that underage players could be exposed to the mission, stating that "it is important that the video game industry takes steps to fully inform the public about the level of extreme content".

In addition to the controversy surrounding "By the Book", some commentators concluded the game's depiction of women is misogynistic. In her review, Petit observed misogynistic undertones in the game's treatment of women as "strippers, prostitutes, long-suffering wives, humourless girlfriends and goofy, new-age feminists", and felt that the game's satirical representation of misogyny legitimises it. Petit's comments were met with backlash from some gamers; user comments on her review amassed 20,000, many negative, and a Change.org petition was started calling for her firing. The community backlash against Petit was condemned by journalists, who considered her observations valid. In light of the backlash against Petit, Rob Fahey of GamesIndustry.biz (a subsidiary website of Eurogamer) observed a resistance within the gamer community against criticisms of Grand Theft Auto V; "This isn't just about women – it's robbing every single one of us of the opportunity to have intelligent, interesting discussions about how our medium deals with [...] complex topics. [...] It's frustrating, it's stupid, and it's downright boring – and it risks making our games stupid and boring too," he wrote. Subsequently, another article published in The Guardian condemned the potential for violence against prostitutes in the game. Plante noted that the female supporting characters in the game were constructed on stereotypes, concluding "its treatment of women is a relic from the current generation". Dave Cook of VG247 reinforced the sentiment that the female characters were constructed on stereotypes in an editorial; "They're either there to be rescued, shouted at, fucked, to be seen fucking, put up with, killed, heard prattling away like dullards on their mobile phones or shopping", he wrote. Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times criticised the game's satirical portrayal of women as a lack of creativity on the part of the developers, expressing that violence and sexism were factors detrimental to the experience.

Edge observed that while "every female in the game exists solely to be sneered, leered or laughed at", the game treated its all-male lead characters in a similar vein through their stereotyped tendencies towards violence. Sam Houser, brother of Dan and Rockstar Games co-founder, felt that the development team sometimes overlooked their portrayal of women in Grand Theft Auto games, but felt that the game's weight towards male characters "fit with the story we wanted to tell". Dan Houser responded to the criticisms of misogyny in an interview prior to the release of Grand Theft Auto V; "Is their (critics) argument that in a game about gangsters and thugs and street life, there are prostitutes and strippers — that that is inappropriate? I don't think we revel in the mistreatment of women at all. I just think in the world we're representing, in Grand Theft Auto, that it's appropriate".

On 11 October 2013, former Death Row Records artist and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz "Dat Nigga Daz" Dillinger issued a cease-and-desist letter to Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive for allegedly using two of his songs without authorisation. According to Dillinger, Rockstar offered him US$4,271 to allow the material to be used in the game; he declined, but the songs were used regardless. The songs are "C-Walk" by Kurupt and "Nothin' But the Cavi Hit" by Mack 10 and Tha Dogg Pound, which were both produced by Dillinger and included in the West Coast Classics station. In the order, Dillinger and his lawyers requested "a better offer", or recall and destroy unsold copies of the game. Dillinger has afforded the publisher fourteen days to comply with the suit. The result of the suit remains undisclosed.

On 24 February 2014, American television personality Karen Gravano filed a US$40 million suit at the Manhattan Supreme Court against Rockstar Games. Gravano is the daughter of former Gambino crime family underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, and she featured in the first three seasons of the reality television programme Mob Wives, which follows women whose husbands or fathers have been arrested and imprisoned for Mafia-related crimes. Gravano alleges that a character in Grand Theft Auto V, Antonia Bottino, is based off her likeness and story, and was depicted without her consent. She is seeking US$20 million in compensation and US$20 million in punitive damages. A spokesperson for Rockstar provided a "no comment".

External links

• Official website
• Official Grand Theft Auto Online website