Eric and I discuss GTA V online, the infamous GTA V torture scene, the stimulus package, and Watch Dogs getting delayed. Sponsor for this episode: Stamps.com makes it easy to buy and print postage right from your office or home. Ship any package, using any class of mail, to anywhere in the world. You can even call the USPS to come pick up your packages — never go to the post office ever again! Go to killthemusic.net/stamps to start a no-risk trial with a $80 bonus offer! Past episodes can be found here. If you like the podcast, write a 5-star review for it and subscribe on iTunes

Grand Theft Auto V is the fastest selling video game of all time. It’s also going to give The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, and Tomb Raider a run for their money for Game of the Year 2013. Not only has GTA V succeeded financially, but the gameplay has proven equally as good as it’s sales.

This is the first game in the Grand Theft Auto series to climb it’s way into my personal list of favorite games of all time. In single player mode, you play as three protagonists, all with their own unique personalities. The storyline is based around these three characters living in Los Santos, and you have to option to switch between them at almost any time during the game. Almost every aspect of GTA V is improved from GTA IV, and it’s a lot bigger as well. The online mode is like an entirely different game,as you can customize your character, and do different jobs around Los Santos to work your way up the ranks to become a master criminal. You can play with your friends, or strangers, having them help you out with different jobs.

The single player mode for GTA V is beyond entertaining. The story itself is very engaging, and the missions are very unique. A problem with GTA IV was repetitive missions, and I can say I did not have that problem playing GTA V, and every part of it is fine-tuned from the last GTA title. The phone feature is re-introduced, and it works surprisingly well. You can download apps from the fictional app store, and you can surf the web as you would a computer. A cool new feature is the Stock Market. You can buy and sell stocks in different fictional companies in order to make a little extra cash on the side from the story missions. Also new is the improved mini-map.

When you get into a vehicle, your map turns into a GPS, and can even lose reception inside of tunnels as a real GPS does. These little details aren’t annoying, nor do they interfere with the gameplay I promise, but I appreciate the little things along with the big things. Probably the biggest thing added to the game was the character switching. Most times when video games try something totally new, it needs some work.

GTA V’s character switching works unbelievable well, and is very smooth and ironed-out. During non-mission time, you can switch to whichever character you like, and it will start up with whatever that character was doing, regardless of how you previously left them. They could be walking out of a store, finishing a cigarette, waking up from a nap, or even waking up pants less in the middle of nowhere with a hangover! During missions, you can also switch in between characters for a different experience. For example, your three characters could be in a huge firefight with a gang. You can switch to one character to be the sniper support, then switch to another character in the middle of the action with an assault rifle, and finish it off as your third character with an RPG launcher from behind. The character switching is original, unique and it works well.

The graphics and feel of the game is great as well. Unfortunately, as of now GTA V is only for consoles, so you can’t get the full potential and beauty of GTA V’s massive landscape, but it still looks awesome on consoles. As with any previous GTA game, there is a lot of dark humor spread around the game, a lot of it making fun of modern pop culture. Heck, you can take a selfie on your phone! On top of that, there are many references to the previous GTA games, which is always fun for the hardcore Rockstar fans.

Online mode is great, but the gameplay is definitely not up to the level that the single player mode is. The loading screens are the longest I’ve experienced for years in gaming, and the unstable Rockstar servers can be very frustrating. But other than that, the online mode is very fun. There’s plethora of different jobs, ranging from races, to deathmatches, and to wave survival (a favorite of mine). Pulling these jobs alongside your friends is always a good time, and leveling up to unlock more keeps you dragged in. But at the same time, the match hosting for different jobs is sloppy and doesn’t work properly a lot of the time. Other than the long wait times, and the somewhat unreliable servers, GTA Online is a great time.

If I was to give a score on the Single player alone, I would have no problem slapping a hard 10 as it’s score. But this is a cruel world, and online mode is a huge part of the game. GTA Online is awesome, no doubt, but it just does not compete with the single player experience regarding smooth gameplay. The game is a must-buy, and I cannot wait for the inevitable PC release so I can mod it with no mercy. Grand Theft Auto V scores a well-deserved

9/10.

- Chris Grieco  

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AuthorJordan Mohler
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Eric, Nic, and I discuss our first impressions of GTA V. Past episodes can be found here. If you like the podcast, write a 5-star review for it and subscribe on iTunes. This episode is sponsored by Audible, the best place to find audio books online. Audible titles play on iPhone, Kindle, Android and more than 500 devices for listening anytime, anywhere. Go to audiblepodcast.com/killthemusic to learn more.

In this Reddit thread, a list of the songs in Grand Theft Auto are listed along with an accompanying YouTube link. Here is a link for the entire GTA V radio. It’s a three hour download though. You can also view the tracklist below.

West Coast Classics

N.W.A. - Appetite For Destruction

N.W.A. - Gangsta Gangsta

2pac - ambitionz az a ridah

DJ Quik - Dollars and Sense

C Walk - Kurupt

Snoop Dogg - Gin N Juice

Snoop Dogg Dr. Dre - Still D.R.E

Snoop Dogg Dr. Dre - The Next Episode

King T - Played Like A Piano

Geto Boys - Mind Playin’ Tricks

Tha Dogg Pound Ft. Mack 10 - Nothin’ But The Cavi Hit

Too $hort - So You Want To Be A Gangster

Kausion - What You Wanna Do (Ft. Ice Cube)

Ice Cube - You Know How We Do It

Classic Rock Stations

Foreigner - Dirty White Boy

The Cult - Rain

Steve Miller Band - Rock ‘N Me

Elton John - Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Julian Lennon - Too Late for Goodbyes

Greg Kihn Band - The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)

The Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes

Kano - Can’t Hold Back (Your Loving)

Rick James - Give It to Me Baby

Queen - Radio Ga Ga

One Way - Cutie Pie

Evelyn “Champagne” King - I’m in Love

Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time

Stevie Wonder - Skeletons

Kleer - Tonight

D Train - You’re the One for Me

Punk Station

The Weirdos - Life of Crime

The Germs - Lexicon Devil

Youth Brigade - Blown Away

Black Flag - My War

Descendents - Pervert

Circle Jerks - Rock House

T.S.O.L. - Abolish Government/Silent Majority

Suicidal Tendencies - Subliminal

Fear - The Mouth Don’t Stop (The Trouble with Women IS)

Radio Los Santos

Gucci Mane Ft. Ciara - Too Hood

Freddie Gibbs - Still Livin

[The Alchemist + Oh No (Gangrene)](?????)

Clyde Carson, The Team - Slow Down

PROBLEM ft. Glasses Malone - Say That Then

Ab-Soul – Illuminate

Mc Enit - straight up menace

Kendrick Lamar - A.D.H.D

YG - I’m A Real 1

Kelly Rowland - Work (Freemasons Remix)

Game - Ali Bomaye (Explicit) ft. 2 Chainz, Rick Ross

Soulwax FM

Mim Suleiman - Mingi

FKCLUB - The Strange Art (ID Remix)

Matias Aguayo - El Sucu Tucu

Joe Goddard feat. Valentina - Gabriel (Soulwax Remix)

Daniel Maloso - Body Music

Green Velvet & Harvard Bass - Lazer Beams

Zombie Nation - Tryouts Goose - Synrise (Soulwax Remix)

Tiga - Plush (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)

Pulp - After You (Soulwax Remix)

The Hacker - Shockwave (Gesaffelstein Remix)

Non-stop Pop FM

Corona - The Rhythm of the Night.

Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight)

Britney Spears - Gimme More

Rihanna - Only Girl Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You

Aphex Twins - Windowlicker Robyn - Every Heartbeat

The Blackout ALlstars - I Like It

Kelly Rowland - Work

Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

All Saints - Pure Shores

Mystique - Scandalous

Moloko - Time Is Now

Amerie - 1 Thing

Fergie - Glamorous ft. Ludacris

Hall And Oates - Adult Education

Unknown (Suggestions?)

Waylon Jennings - Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

Jay Rock Feat. Kendrick Lamar - Hood Gone Love It

Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake - Small Faces

Hackman - Forgotten Notes

The Dogg Pound - What Would You Do

The Game - Ali Bomaye ft. 2 Chainz, Rick Ross

Bernard Wright - Haboglabotribin’

Taana Gardner - Heartbeat (Club Version)

Zapp - Heartbreaker. Pt. 1, Pt. 2

Chief Keef - Love Sosa (Not 100% on this song.)

Aaron Neville - Hercules

Muse - Madness

Mis-Teeq - Scandalous

Inner Circle - Bad Boys

Marlena Shaw - California Soul

Outkast - Elevators (Me & You)

Regulate - Warren G and Nate Dogg

Jane Child - Don’t Wanna Fall In Love

Def Leppard - Photograph