Finally Bringing Back Excitement
When Rockstar released the first trailer that showed off airplanes, convertibles and animals (which the second trailer seemed to confirm), fans were satisfied. The variety that had once existed in the series disappeared with GTA IV, so fans were more than delighted when they saw that most of these features would be returning in the newest installment.
However, there was a reason that Rockstar removed so many features with IV. It was not an attempt to play it safe, or because they were “lazy.” Fans and critics argue that other developers like Volition (Saints Row) were including features previously seen in the GTA series despite their graphical advances, and that Rockstar should have been able to include all of those features in their new game as well.
Unfortunately for the fans, there was only so much that Rockstar actually could do with their game engine. Grand Theft Auto IV was the first game the company had developed that was using the Euphoria Engine – they did not have an incredible amount of experience with it. Because of this, they were limited in the diversity of the gaming experience. This is one reason the game was so limited in size – essentially the size of the Vice City map, which paled in comparison to San Andreas.
On top of this, Rockstar wanted to stick true to Liberty City. In Grand Theft Auto III, Liberty City was a small, crowded city filled with civilians and cars. When the city returned in the High Definition universe (as Rockstar calls it), the feeling of claustrophobic and bustling streets returned. GTA IV‘s Liberty City also had strict gun laws, which prevented ridiculous weaponry that existed in previous games (such as chainsaws, katanas, and miniguns).
After six games with the Euphoria engine, Rockstar has enough practice that they feel comfortable enough to make a game as enormously vast, tediously designed, and ridiculously populous as Grand Theft Auto V.
Continue reading on the next page…