Difficulty modes have always been something from which Grand Theft Auto titles shyed away. In the past, this wasn't really a problem for the core gaming audience, because Grand Theft Auto games were always hard, sometimes due to contrivance more than anything else. Long time fans are no strangers to frustration, making it understandable that Rockstar might want to make the game a bit more easygoing for more mainstream appeal. There's nothing wrong with wanting to cast a wider net and hit a bigger audience, but there's no reason to alienate players looking for a challenge. With this updated version of Grand Theft Auto V, how about a hardcore mode? When you can buy every weapon in the game - all of which are fully loaded and on your person at any given time - the game loses that sense of excitement. Cheap thrills are meaningless if you're never in danger, and you're never going to be in danger with a minigun, rocket launcher, semi-auto shotgun, a fully automatic pistol, a machine gun, and an assault rifle all stuffed into your back pocket. If the economy for the main game can't be balanced, give players the added option of testing their skills with smaller payouts, weaker special abilities, less weapons and ammo, and no more regenerative health. In its current state, the enemy AI is too weak, and the player is too powerful, which causes the game's formula to get stale fast. When shooting scores of meth addicts gets boring, you know you're doing something wrong.
Ken was born in 1994, and before the turn of the century, he was already a gamer for life, starting with Pokémon Blue Version. He has a passion for storytelling, especially in the gaming medium. Growing up on a healthy diet of JRPGs and point and click adventure games, young Kenny grew up playing Nintendo and Sony consoles, before becoming a snobby member of the PC Master Race. Nowadays, he resides in a time warp, refusing to believe the nineties ended as he fills up his Steam library with old point and clicks and cRPGs.
