Grand Theft Auto V

5.0/5 (898k Reviews)

TIPS & Game Link

Editor: 9/10 Graphics: 9 Sound: 9 Gameplay: 9

I reinstalled GTA V this year to see if it still earns a spot on my drive in 2025—and the answer surprised me. The story still hits, but the reason I keep booting it up isn’t nostalgia; it’s because GTA Online feels alive again, with smart new systems and real tech upgrades on PS5/Series X|S and the updated PC “Enhanced” build. If you’re brand-new or returning after a few years, here’s what it actually feels like to play right now.

When I drop into the single-player, I’m reminded why Michael, Franklin, and Trevor became gaming shorthand. The heists still snap together like movie set pieces, the writing still swings between dark and absurd, and Los Santos still dares you to get distracted on the way to every waypoint. It never feels like busywork; even a detour to steal a car spirals into a mini-story. And on modern hardware, the basics—loading, frame rate, texture detail—finally match the ambition. If you’ve never finished the campaign, it’s the best warm-up for Online because it teaches the physics, gunplay, and driving without the chaos of public lobbies.

On consoles, I bounce between the visual modes depending on mood. Fidelity looks lush at 4K, but Performance and Performance RT are where I spend most of my time. Sixty frames with ray-traced effects simply feels right for high-speed chases and gunfights. The PS5 haptics and 3D audio aren’t gimmicks either; when a chopper banks overhead, you feel it in the controller and the mix. On PC, the “Enhanced” features finally pull their weight: better ray-traced reflections, improved global illumination, and the upscale/frame-gen options to keep frames silky at high resolutions. If you’ve got a recent GPU, Los Santos genuinely looks—and runs—like a current-gen world.

But the heartbeat of the game in 2025 is GTA Online. I went in expecting more of the same grind and got a new loop that actually reshapes how I play. The Money Fronts expansion turns “dirty money in, clean money out” into a proper gameplay arc. I started by buying Hands On Car Wash (yes, it’s exactly the cover you think it is), set up a steady laundering trickle, and then branched into Smoke on the Water and Higgins Helitours. Suddenly, I wasn’t just hoarding cash; I was balancing a Heat system that punishes noisy, high-profile moves and rewards you for keeping a legit face. The missions tie into characters like Mr. Faber and Raf De Angelis, and they’re built to scale whether I’m solo or with friends.

It’s not just marquee content either. Around this update window, Rockstar slipped in those little tweaks that make a week with the game smoother: skippable cutscenes on a bunch of repeatable missions, payout nudges where they matter, creator-tool touches, and fresh or relisted vehicles (with broader access to Imani Tech’s lock-on jammer, which is a quiet lifesaver for free roam). The effect isn’t “one giant leap” so much as the city feeling tended—like someone’s pruning the hedges while you’re busy making trouble.

If you’ve been away, there’s a backlog worth exploring even before Money Fronts. Bottom Dollar Bounties scratched my itch for shorter, punchier jobs, and The Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid gave me that heist-night thrill without requiring a whole guild calendar. The best part: I don’t have to live in public chaos to progress. The ladder of businesses, robberies, and specialties finally feels dense enough that I can choose the flavor of grind I’m in the mood for.

About the business model: GTA Online still ships “free” with GTA V, and there’s a standalone path on modern consoles if you only want Online. Shark Cards are still around, and GTA+ adds a rotating layer—monthly GTA$, discounts, early car access, a Vinewood Club stash, that sort of thing. Do you need it? No. If you log in a few nights a week, the new money loop plus weekly bonuses will carry you. GTA+ just shortens the runway if your time is tight or you like collecting everything fast.

Performance-wise, the day-to-day friction is way lower than it used to be. Matchmaking pops faster, mission-breaking bugs have been trimmed, and most sessions feel stable. On PC, the lighting improvements plus frame-gen make 4K viable without turning Los Santos into a slideshow; on console, I don’t stare at loading screens long enough to pick up my phone, which wasn’t true years ago.

Now the obvious question: should you wait for GTA VI? It’s slated for 2026, and sure, some players will bank time and money for that. I get it. But GTA V isn’t limping to the finish line. The player base is still massive. The 2025 cadence shows Rockstar is investing, not just maintaining. If you’re here for single-player only and you’ve already rolled credits twice, then yeah, you’re buying a cleaner, faster version of what you know. For everyone else, Online has enough new oxygen that it doesn’t feel like killing time before the next thing—it feels like its own moment.

For me, the magic of GTA V in 2025 is the range of ways people make Los Santos their home. One night I’m in a cruiser meet geeking out over liveries; the next I’m speedrunning a heist path; on weekends it might be RP with friends who treat the map like a TV set. Rockstar’s formal embrace of the role-play ecosystem (alongside the studio’s ongoing collabs) hints that these communities aren’t just tolerated—they’re part of the long tail. That matters, because culture is what keeps a city alive after the tourists leave.

If you want numbers to back up the vibes: GTA V has sold well north of 200 million copies and the GTA series sits around the mid-400s in total. That scale translates directly into full lobbies, steady updates, and a very practical reason for Rockstar to keep pushing fixes and features. It’s why the game never feels like a ghost town—the lights are on because millions of people are still inside.

So here’s my honest recommendation after a month of bouncing between story missions and Money Fronts:

• New players: Start with the campaign. It’s still one of the cleanest on-ramps in open-world design, and it teaches you the physics playground you’ll exploit online. Then jump into Online, buy your first front, and learn to juggle heat while you stack cash.
  
• Returning players (2023–24 break): Skip the FOMO. Do a quick tour of Bottom Dollar Bounties and the Cluckin’ Bell raid to shake the rust off, then commit to Money Fronts. The progression loop feels fresh without demanding spreadsheets.
  
• Tech-heads: PS5/Series X|S in Performance RT hits the sweet spot; on PC, crank the Enhanced features and use your frame-gen of choice. You finally don’t have to choose between “pretty” and “playable.”
  

Bottom line? In 2025, GTA V isn’t just “good for its age.” It’s a complete package: a timeless, sharply directed story; an Online mode that evolves in meaningful ways; and technical upgrades that make the whole thing feel modern. If you’re curious, jump in. If you’re lapsed, Money Fronts is the best excuse in years to come back. I thought I’d pop in for a weekend—then I bought a car wash, balanced my heat, and suddenly Los Santos had me planning “one more run” at 2 a.m. again.