Grand Theft Auto V has finally, at long last, been released for the PC. The PC master race is rejoicing – but was Rockstar’s latest game worth the wait?
Here are 5 reasons why GTA V for PC was most definitely worth the wait:
5) 4K at 60fps
Okay, you’re probably not going to play GTA V at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second. But you know, you can if you try hard enough (and have a really expensive PC).
At the very least, you should be able to play GTA V at smooth framerates at 1080p – even if you don’t have the greatest rig. As you’ll learn below, Rockstar spent a lot of time making sure the game was entirely scalable and catered to all levels of PC users – not just the ones with really expensive rigs.
Console peasants, by the way, are stuck playing the game at 1080p and 30 frames per second. What is this, 2007?
4) You Don’t Need an Amazing Rig
One of the reasons people were hesitant about GTA V for PC was Rockstar’s shady past with PC ports. GTA IV was released for PC as an afterthought. Rockstar released it less than a year after GTA IV hit consoles.
With GTA IV, Rockstar barely bothered to optimize the game and even the world’s beefiest rigs had trouble running the game at medium or high graphics settings. The game was glitchy and, worst of all, you had to log into Games for Windows Live and the Rockstar Social Club in order for it to work. It was a long, drawn out, annoying process.
GTA V throws all that out the window. With GTA V, the minimum system requirements are just a GeForce 9800 GT and an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz processor. Even the recommended system requirements are reasonable: Rockstar recommends a GTX 660 and a Core i5 3470 at 3.2GHz.
These specs are easily within reach even for gamers on modest budgets. Plus, the game features an astonishing range of graphics options that help you fine-tune it to run as smoothly as possible.
Oh, and it runs entirely through Steam (although you’ll still need to sign into the Rockstar Social Club).
3) Longer Draw Distances Reveal Los Santos in All Its Glory
The console version of GTA V only hinted at the grand size of Los Santos. The PC version reveals it in its full glory. The draw distance (the distance at which distant textures and objects appear in the game) has been pushed much further back. You can see for literal in-game miles and make out details like waves and grass from surprisingly far away.
Rockstar had to scale back the GTA V graphics engine during its initial release for Xbox 360 and PS3. With the PC version, that’s not an issue, and Rockstar has fully unlocked the game the way it’s meant to be played.
2) All of the Features and DLC Are Included in the PC Version
Yes, PC gamers had to wait 18 months for the release of Grand Theft Auto V. But as compensation for that wait, Rockstar decided to give PC gamers all sorts of goodies.
PC gamers receive access to all the DLC from the last 18 months, as well as GTA Online. Heists were also available from the very first day of launch.
There are also new features, including new radio stations, a Rockstar Video Editor, and the ability to play with up to 30 of your friends at the same time in GTA Online. The story mode has been preserved, so you can re-play it again or connect your original console account to unlock all your progress.
1) More Cats, Dogs, and People in All Cities
Personally, I thought the cities in GTA V were already pretty heavily-populated. But if you’ve ever been to LA, then you know that the city of Los Santos had nowhere near the population or traffic of the real city off which it’s based.
Rockstar limited the number of characters on-screen in the console version to make sure the game ran smoothly. In the balls-to-the-wall PC version, there’s more people and traffic in all the cities.
Oh, and there are also cats and dogs running around. So your buddy Chop will have someone to play with. For all of these reasons, the PC version of GTA V is definitely worth a look.
