The 'Grand Theft Auto' problem

In my last post I began talking about ‘transmedia’, but I’m going to pause on that topic for a bit to talk about Grand Theft Auto 5… mostly because I have just finished it and the story really bothered me!

Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5) has made shockwaves in the video game industry; not only did it make a record-breaking $800 million on its first day but within three days it had surpassed $1 billion in sales worldwide – a feat that most major box office blockbusters would find an impossible task.

'Grand Theft Auto 5' by Rockstar Games

By looking at the reviews these figures seem deserved, GTA 5 received top ratings across the board and was universally praised by critics and players alike. But, having played the game myself, I can’t help but think that Rockstar (the games developer) has gotten off a little easy in some respects.

Sure, GTA 5 is a truly impressive game; the game world is massive, the gameplay mechanics are smooth and the satire for which the series is known for plays out on top form. Where I feel it falls down though, is within Dan Houser’s (Rockstar co-founder and writer for the GTA series) ability to tell a satisfying, character driven narrative within the madness of GTA’s Hollywood blockbuster inspired world.

'GTA 5': Mixing scenic beauty with Hollywood style action

GTA has always been about larger-than-life action, but for the first time in the series Rockstar gave us three playable protagonists to inhabit and run amok with. Houser promised that with this new gameplay mechanic there would come a bigger, more mature and complex narrative that would entwine the separate lives of these characters – Rockstar were clearly aiming to create a deeper experience for the player, and with previous GTA titles falling back on stereotypical action clichés, I was looking forward to this new direction for the series.

The three playable protagonists: Michael, Franklin and Trevor

 But alas, it was an unfounded claim (for the most part).

Houser instead gave us a story that, although able to shine at points with complex character moments, mostly falls back on those clichès that lead nicely onto the next insane mission, rather than give us proper character development.

To illustrate my point I’ll take an example from the last act of the game (spoilers ahead):

Trevor, the maniac of the trio and ex-best friend to Michael (the retired bank robber who faked his own death) has allowed the latter to be kidnapped by Chinese mobsters and slung up on a meat hook for ‘processing’. Luckily, Franklin, the youthful ‘gangbanger’ of our story rescues Michael and soon all returns to normal. For a while Trevor and Michael simply ignore each other; but, play on for a mere 20 minutes more and suddenly the pair are thrust together again with nothing more than a few shouting matches to show their hatred and aggression – I can’t speak for everyone, but if my ex-best friend whom I had faked my own death to escape from had me abducted and nearly killed I would be significantly more angry than that, and I imagine he’d be pretty pissed off too!

Within the world of GTA 5 though, this is the norm! Every cutscene within the game seems to run the same way: characters meet, they argue, someone says “shut up” louder than the other two, and then the mission starts with pally dialogue and not a mention of the characters bigger, more significant emotions or issues. It’s frustrating, increasingly so as the narrative hurtles towards it’s finale in which characters are forced to confront their own demons and choose between life and death (though in all honesty it’s not that dramatic!).

A not so successful mix of character drama and outlandish action?

You may be thinking, “come on, it’s a game, who really cares?” Seeing as this is GTA, a franchise constantly shrouded in controversy and known for lampooning modern culture, you may be right to shrug this off, but I think there’s a key issue with GTA 5 that makes this matter. Houser and the team at Rockstar put a fairly large focus on these characters, their differing backgrounds and their intricate, personal lives – lives that we, the player, watch unfold through our actions.

Essentially, Houser promised us all the sparkly action of a blockbuster movie combined with the more mature character development of a drama. As storytelling becomes a bigger part of video games, and as they try increasingly to learn from and reproduce elements of films, character seems to play a key role.

The problem with GTA 5 is that whilst they tried and whilst they can be applauded for that, they failed to really move away from the explosions and outlandish action of previous entries and so their increased focus on character merely gets lost in the mix, shoved aside to make room for the next gunfight, rather than coming to the fore and giving those gunfights meaning and attachment.