The Grand Theft Auto franchise
The action-adventure video game series Grand Theft Auto has become one of gaming’s top franchises. With five main installments across most platforms, the franchise is capable of reaching almost any gamer. Rockstar Games published the first Grand Theft Auto title in 1997. This 2D game was originally released as a computer game, and over the next two years two expansions and a sequel were released, all in the same 2D graphics style.
In 2001, Grand Theft Auto III was released with several follow ups that created new standards for voice acting and customizable characters. Expansions Vice City, San Andreas, and Liberty City Stories were based off Miami, California, and New York City, respectively. These games were largely successful and saw that much of their features would become staples in in later installments.
With the 2008 release of Grand Theft Auto IV on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the franchise retained much of its gameplay style but increased realism with the use of HD graphics. It also featured an online multiplayer mode, which would became a hit and stayed around for the next and (as of 2017) newest GTA title—Grand Theft Auto V.
Welcome to Los Santos: Grand Theft Auto V
Released in 2013 and rereleased with improvements for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (2014) and Windows (2015), Grand Theft Auto V is the latest installment in the franchise. The game takes players back to San Andreas in the city of Los Santos, modeled off the real city of Los Angeles. Gameplay and features are similar to Grand Theft Auto IV, but physics engines have been improved to create more realistic driving experiences and there are now three playable main characters instead of the usual one. Check out the official Grand Theft Auto V gameplay video for a brief introduction to gameplay graphics, styles, and lead characters. (For more expansive coverage of the city, you can find numerous GTA V videos that offer flyovers or drives of the map.)
You can also enjoy countless player-made GTA V gameplay videos to see all the awesome (or silly) ways in which others enjoy the game. The Grand Theft Auto player community has a thriving video culture for you to browse and enjoy. You can watch gameplay videos that provide a walkthrough for tips on that one mission you just cannot beat, or you can watch videos like this one from Prestige Clips that are all about silliness.
Once you explore the new city, get a few missions under your belt, and have had your fill of side games (hobbies), it is time to take Grand Theft Auto V online and try your hand against other players.
Connecting Online
Playing Grand Theft Auto V online provides a fresh take on the world of Los Santos, which is nice after you’ve logged a couple hundred hours of gameplay in single player. Not only are multiplayer modes available, but downloadable content is also available—mostly for GTA Online. DLC ranges from new weapons and vehicles to new clothes, from larger crew sizes to a Content Creator that allows you to tailor-make missions in GTA Online—albeit with some obvious limitations. (We aren’t developing the game ourselves, afterall.)
There are many Grand Theft Auto V videos covering the DLC packages. Check out this video about the popular DLC package for GTA Online: Smuggler’s Run. Many trailer videos show off the mission arcs or new materials available within the package, so you can easily find the DLC that is right for you.
Several of the updates available to GTA Online have been patches fixing bugs. Upon its release, the online features were a mess at times. Luckily, Rockstar Games realized this and owned up to their mistakes by giving funds back to the player community in autumn of 2013 in what was termed the “GTA Stimulus Package.”
Modding GTA V and GTA Online
Now, if Grand Theft Auto V single player is played out, and if you have (somehow) managed to grow bored of GTA Online and its many DLC packages, then you might be curious about mods (or hacks) for the game. Like any new video game, especially those for computers, hacks are readily available for Grand Theft Auto V.
Some players want to mod the single player mode and share silly GTA V videos or showcase crossover mods like this one that shows off an available Star Wars mod. Obviously, this is the most harmless way to enjoy hacks and mods in Grand Theft Auto V.
Some other players may want to hack Grand Theft Auto while playing multiplayer GTA Online. When players are in open servers and someone creates a behemoth monstrosity like the tank-jet-robot from this GTA video by YouTuber MrBossFTW, it ruins the atmosphere for others. Furthermore, when players use hacks that affect other players’ accounts (removing funds, materials, etc.) then hacking online truly becomes a problem. The Grand Theft Auto gaming community actively discusses the issue, often through GTA videos that try to expose hackers or weigh the pros and cons of mods and hacks. If you play the game, then watch a few GTA videos on the subject and decide for yourself where you stand in the pro- or anti-hack debate.
Record Setting
The fifth main game in the series has set several Grand Theft Auto records that have often carried on to become video game and entertainment records. One of the biggest Grand Theft Auto records set by this game is its mind-blowing sells record—one of which is having earned US $1 billion in its opening three days. Overall, it is has become one of the most best-selling video games ever. The opening sells and continued early sells numbers are even more amazing considering the bugs and issues that the game experienced with GTA Online. Fans knew that these issues would be fixed, and
Another remarkable record out of the many Grand Theft Auto V records is having the most viewed game trailer for an action-adventure video game. This record speaks to the anticipation and hype built around the game’s launch, which is also a clue as to how the game was able to earn so much money in its opening days. Here is an official trailer video published by Rockstar Games that has nearly 50 million YouTube views as of October 2017. The other trailers have millions and millions of views as well.
For a list of some of the other records set by Grand Theft Auto V, check out this article from UK publication Independent.