6. Lack of Offline Multiplayer
While Rockstar, like any big developer these days, is looking at ways to capitalise on the online boom that followed the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, it is important to remember that some people actually do play video games with their friends...in person. An unlikely scenario perhaps, but surely most of us can remember Friday nights round a buddy's place, with a few beers, playing Goldeneye on the N64, or if you're a bit younger, some split-screen CoD. The experience of sitting in a room with your mates and playing the game together can never be truly replicated through online, not even if you've got a headset and a video link; it's not the same, and nowhere near as fun. It might be appealing to a minority now, but the inclusion of offline multiplayer would be a major coup, and probably not that difficult to include if the online infrastructure is already there; Activision do it with the CoD games, so why not Rockstar (though this might distract them even further from the single player game)? The idea of having free roam, co-operative carnage, and all-out deathmatches using split-screen is an exciting prospect, though it is one that, I expect, we're not going to hear announced as being part of GTAV any time soon. Shame.