What I want to see in Grand Theft Auto V

With the Grand Theft Auto V release date not far around the corner I have recently been replaying number four to get back into the swing of things.  Whilst playing I have noticed there are a few minor things that I'm hoping will be fixed/removed in GTA V.  There are probably a whole tonne of things that I could pick apart about the game because in all honesty it's pretty pants when you get down to it.  Obviously the game was never going to be perfect or match San Andreas because this it was very much a return to the days of GTA 3.  The game world is back in Liberty City, it's the first game on the then new console and Rockstar didn't quite know the full extent of the system and how to work with it.  GTA 3 was an awesome game but as the PS2's life cycle went on Rockstar figured out the full potential of the console and thus after Vice City, San Andreas was born and was subsequently huge in comparison.

I'm rambling now and should get back to point with the post, so without further ado here are 3 things that I would like to see fixed or removed in Grand Theft Auto V.


#1 - Jumping

Now I'm not saying jumping should be removed but the jumping in GTA IV was so slow,  vaulting an object seemed to take ages and hampered some chase sequences in my opinion.  I'm not saying that I want to see Trevor, Michael and Franklin free-running around the place because that would be ridiculous.  All I want to see is a more fluid jumping/vaulting animation to make chase sequences flow a bit more.


#2 - Taxi's

Next up is Taxi's.  When I first played GTA IV I thought the ability to hail a cab and take a ride anywhere was a good idea, I have however since changed my mind.  I understand why a fast travel option was put in the game and I'm not going to lie I use it alot, not just in GTA but in games like Skyrim.  My reason for not liking it is that it takes away from all the details and little bits that you miss when you fast travel.  It's a be lazy option and I'm just as guilty for using it but with the sheer size and scope of the detail in the GTA V world, we could do without it.  As an example in Vice City I knew all the roads, where they went and the quickest routes to almost anything whereas in number IV I know nothing due to being lazy and abusing the Taxi's.


#3 - Vehicle Spawning

This next one is the bane of my Grand Theft Auto life and has plagued me ever since the days of Grand Theft Auto 3 and even though I'd love to see it fixed I have a feeling that it will haunt me forever.  Basically it's when you are driving along and there is nothing in-front of you, you have a quick check behind and suddenly a huge dump-truck, a police car or even a massive queue of traffic has spawned in-front of you.  I don't think I can recall a single thing about a game that has irritated and enraged me more than this over the course of my gaming years.  I'm not even sure if this can be fixed in the confines of how the game engine/spawn system works but I surely hope it can be.  I know some people will be thinking; "don't look behind you and the problem is fixed".  This however is easier said than done because during a chase I will look behind me to see where people are and how close they are, and this is something I have done ever since I started playing racing games.  It serves me well in racing games but in Grand Theft Auto is screws me so badly that I need soothing ointment and a weeks bed-rest.

If Rockstar can change/fix one thing then I hope it's the vehicle spawns because as much as I'd like to see the others changed I could live with them if it meant that everytime I checked my rear-view mirror I wasn't greeted by a massive car pile-up or my head through the windscreen when I look back in-front.

PSN down on 1st March for Maintenance

The PlayStation Network will be down for maintenance on Thursday 1st March from 16:00 until 07:00.

Both the console and PC PlayStation Stores will be unavailable during the downtime, as well as Customer Account Management and Account Registration services.

"User who are already signed into their account on PlayStation Network before the start of the maintenance will not be able to stay signed in to their online session and will be signed out at the start of the downtime period" Sony says.

"Users who attempt to log into their account after the maintenance begin will be presented with the site maintenance notification page."

The maintenance might have something to do with it being a leap year. During the last leap year in 2010 a calender related bug caused older version PS3 clocks to reset, leading to problems with lost trophies.

GAME closing 35 stores and Gameplay.co.uk

GAME have announced plans to close 35 stores and it's gameplay.co.uk website.

All stores affected by closures have been notified and all Gameplay website customers will now be served via Gamestation.co.uk as of the 1st March. The closures are part of the firms plans to reduce GAME and Gamestation stores from 610 stores to 550 outlets by December 2013.

The company told MCV that it has a 'detailed plan to help customers move to another local store or online' and has said that it would do its best to redeploy its staff if possible.

The news comes after a few trouble months for GAME group, where it has suffered credit issues following a poor Christmas and troubles with stocking games in it's stores.

Borderlands 2 hits the US on September 18th

Gearbox Software has announced that Borderlands 2 will be released in the US on September 18th.

As well as releasing the date, Gearbox have also announced that if you pre-order the game from either GameStop or Amazon and you'll receive a ticket to the Borderlands 2 Premier Club enabling exclusive access to special pre-order content.  For full details of the content and how to pre-order visit http://www.borderlands2.com/preorder/.

Gearbox completed a trio of news by releasing a new "launch date trailer" for the game, showcasing the new characters, abilities and some in-game footage.