9. Being A Believable Jerk
Rockstar have certainly cast us in the role of some morally ambiguous people in the past, and whether or not they were "likeable" is one thing, whether or not they were actually believable is quite another. Niko Bellic is a prime example. He was kind of funny, kind of sympathetic, but not for one second convincing. Unless he was meant to be a delusional sociopath, in which case his endless mumbled soliloquies about the awful things he's trying to put behind him from his army days whilst simultaneously throwing grenades at policemen are spot on. Jason Brody on the other hand, is a much more rounded affair. There's a kind of growth there, and a reason for him to turn into a monster. He also has a self awareness that many Rockstar characters sorely lack, and at the point in the game when he first starts using guns he wonders aloud why he's so good at it. It's because you're controlling him really, and you've played an FPS before, I bet.