Like the other 18 million people, I bought a copy Grand Theft Auto Five the day it was released. At first it was almost too much for me to take in. Grand Theft Auto Five immediately plunges you into an epic single-player story that took four years and 265 million dollars for the developer’s company, Rockstar, to make.  But after I got settled in Rockstar’s parodic animated version of Los Angeles, Los Santos, I found myself in a world that truly is limitless.

Grand Theft Auto Five has many features that you could only see in a Grand Theft Auto game. For example, if you listen to the in-game radio in your player’s car, you may hear ads clearly insulting other modern video games, like an advertisement for Righteous Slaughter 7: Pretty Much the Same as the Last One, clearly insulting the Call of Duty series. Other commercials heard in the cars range from advertisements for a spoof of Fifty Shades of Grey to an online baby-shopping service. It is this kind of humor that will make gamers fall in love with Grand Theft Auto Five and the game’s developers.

Although it might sound like the game is just a harsh piece of witty satire directed towards all aspects of contemporary America; the gameplay hits it out of the park as well. When I first learned of the three-character storyline, I was unsure what to think, but eventually Rockstar won me over with it. The stories of the three different protagonists manage to intertwine perfectly over time and will leave fans extremely satisfied. Gamers can choose to spend their time enjoying the fruits of being one of three notorious criminals in a city with limitless possibilities, or they can completely immerse themselves in the storyline and spend their time shaping their Grand Theft Auto Five experience with the important decisions they make.

Most of the improvements and new features added to the game were to the outdated combat system that sometimes left Grand Theft Auto IV players frustrated . The main improvement to Grand Theft Auto’s new combat mechanics is the weapon wheel. Gamers who played Red Dead Redemption will be familiar with the easy way to switch or pull out your weapons. In my opinion, the best part of the wheel is that when you’re scrolling through the weapon wheel selecting a weapon, the game enters slow motion to ensure you don’t get shot to pieces while trying to find your pistol.

The game also rolled out something completely new to the Grand Theft Auto series: weapon customization. The game has over 30 weapons; and even more options are available to fans who paid extra for the collector’s edition or special edition. You can enhance almost every one of the guns with custom paint jobs, silencers, extended clips, and even scopes.

Grand Theft Auto Five gave me a level of enjoyment and interaction that I have never felt before in a video game. The improved gameplay, along with the spectacular storyline, help Grand Theft Auto Five secure the Grand Theft Auto series’ reputation as the standard in free-rome and urban combat games.