10. Closed-Off Narrative
Rockstar showed encouraging growth in this area in GTAIV, as at the game's climax, we were given a choice - to accept a deal or to take bloody revenge - which defined how the game ended for us, and who survived the whole thing. The hope is that in GTAV, this will be expanded even more, creating an environment in which our choices throughout the game - who we align with, the women we hook up with - have a direct influence on how the story plays out. Games like Heavy Rain have made considerable footholds on this notion of choice in the intervening years between GTAIV and GTAV, so hopefully Rockstar have taken this on board, and will be incorporating it, because linearity is quite evidently on the way out. The branching storyline is hardly new to gaming, and though it is easy to screw up or underwhelm - who can't recall the recent controversy around Mass Effect 3's ultimately inconsequential series of choices? - Rockstar have a strong enough track record that this is something they would be able to implement well, as they demonstrated promise of at the end of GTAIV. With us still awaiting word on GTAV's release date, we can only hope this radio silence means that Rockstar are hard at work on avoiding just these pitfalls, and we can expect a lot more news in the coming months, for what will surely now be a spring release. Are there other foibles Rockstar needs to be careful to avoid? Let us know in the comments below.