Imagine purchasing something from someone, let's say a trampoline. You buy this product, you take it home and drag it out to the backyard. Set it up, it's all ready to go when suddenly there's a group of agents that work for Rockstar block your way of enjoying the trampoline fun. They tell you you have to join their social club. You stand there annoyed, OK fine you know what I'll join your social club just let me jump on the tramp. Wait, you can't because there was an error connecting to their network. Sorry, you can't jump on this trampoline that you paid for and is now in your possession because there is a connection error. Did you try restarting your modem? Your computer? Did you try reinstalling your trampoline sir? You did and it still doesn't work? I'm sorry then you can't jump on the trampoline.

You get my point. Go absolutely throw yourselves off a cliff for implementing this stupid crap. EA,.. Rockstar... get your act together like what is this...

Retroactively adding a launcher to an old game.

This is a product of Rockstar's golden era - back when they made more than 1 game per decade. The story is quite mature, holding no punches in dialogue or graphic detail. It's realistic, yet there is still much Hollywoodized action and a protagonist we can root for. Looking for clues, interrogating people, and piecing together your own theories is a lot of fun.

Although Rockstar said they used some state-of-the-art face modeling at the time, to me, they look plastic-y and a little too low detail for the whole "read their body language" thing to work well. This could be a personal flaw on me as well - your mileage may vary.

Additionally, the dialogue choices are not fully written out or given descriptions, instead you're given a single word to describe what you want to do. This can lead to you choosing something that is far more aggressive than intended. Really, the choice simplification is almost as bad as Fallout 4, and it would have been more immersive to let us choose options with a greater descriptor instead of what that option will do.

Shooting and driving mechanics feel very much like GTA 4: clunky and grounded by design. They're not unsatisfying per se, but they're grounded in reality, and not the main focus of the game. Nor is the game really centered on the open world, unlike GTA or even Bully, resulting in much of it going unused. It's still enjoyable to drive around in but your psychotic driving creates a greater ludonarrative dissonance than most Rockstar games.

The game runs well, but the Rockstar account tie in is annoying. This shouldn't be necessary, especially with these types of games. Additionally, the game is locked to just 30fps and unlocking it will break the game. While not a deal breaker due to the slow pace nature of the game, it is another demerit for Rockstar.

My causal run was 19 hours which is a good value as nearly 100% of that time is spent on meat & potatoes game play. Vanishingly little of that time is spent on grindy or fluffy missions, instead, you're almost always investigating, fighting, or listening to dialogue. This game also predates Rockstar becoming the titan of mobile game practices in AAA titles. So, there are no egregious microtransactions or pressures to buy shark cards. Replay value is, however, low unless you want to experience the story again.

The Rockstar account is simply anti-consumer. There are few to no benefits for consumers while ceding power and data to Rockstar. GTA+ is ridiculous rent seeking behavior from Rockstar, desperately pining for your money like an addict while offering nothing of value in return. They simply do not make enough good content to justify the absurd price of $8/month. So, while the base game is worth its current base price, the tinge of GTA+ and other anti-consumer behavior from Rockstar lingers over it.

v patch is a must. then you become COLE PHELPS

well, the NPCs drive like ♥♥♥♥ in this game, too. so it's just like being in LA but with more racism and sexism

I don't have time to fight with rockstar launcher and terrible video settings...

ver ycool

great attention to detail

"You say one more positive word about the Rockstar Launcher and I will blow your ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ HEAD OFF!"

Really a must play from Rockstar. The graphics still stand today 15 years later and the open world of L.A. feels truly alive and thrilling. The only drawbacks are that you NEED a gamepad for the driving sequences ( No, Keyboard is no good, gamepad is a must ) and the loading world bug ( where the car runs faster than the world loads and you get stuck in nothingness ). The interrogation system is genius and allows you to solve the same crime in different ways, just pay attention to body language ( or get your ASD friend to help you ).