GTA V Next Gen does just Enough

With yesterday being probably the biggest release date of the year, including such releases as Dragon Age, Little Big Planet, Far Cry, and GTA V remastered; GTA was my only purchase for now.  I loved getting to play on my 360 last year and looked forward to getting to sink even more time into Los Santos.  I traded in the 360 copy rather quickly once I finished the story mode because of the release of the PS4 and the rumor that eventually it would be ported to next gen.  I can say after putting in roughly 7 hours already I am happy to say that it is the same game with even more features and a gorgeous landscape to play in.  The first person mode is probably the biggest edition and it makes for a whole new game completely.  Having played the 7 hours almost exclusively in first person I can highly recommend the game on that alone.  The population has been given a huge boost seeing more cars and people every step of the way.  Finally the amazing draw distance allows for you to see for miles and not see all of the same texture popping that previous open world games bring with them.

Then there is the online aspect, which sadly I only played for about 3 hours at launch of the original due to issues and trading in the game so fast.  I look forward to getting more time with it and it looks like plenty has been added as well.  Far more options for customization have been added to give characters a more life like look.  While the number of players have been increased to 30 giving it a more chaotic feel to the terror players bring to the city.  I want to shoot for as many trophies as I can and may even go for the level 100 trophy that could lead to the plat.

Back to the first person mode though, I am enjoying playing like this thoroughly.  There were several times I was taken through regular animations but due to the perspective I found myself laughing out loud at what ensued.    Accidentally falling off a building resulted in flipping through the air till I hit the ground.  Getting hit by a car a flying over the hood brought some laughs as again I was sent flipping through the air.  Doing things like parkour running over roof tops is a fun perspective on the regular roll that characters did often but really didn't bring a cool feeling like it does now.

Overall it is the same amazing GTA with even better graphics, fun new first person mode, and some extras for online.  If you never played GTA last gen this is a must have, but if you did enjoy playing GTA V I would highly recommend returning to the game to experience the new items.  Rockstar was smart on this, and if this is what they get from a remaster on next gen, i can't imagine what GTA VI will bring!