With the Xbox One soon to head off into the sunset thanks to the arrival of the Series X/S it’s worth stepping back to revisit some of the games that made an impact here during this generation. Not all of them are exclusive but each of them resulted in many hours spent glued to controllers and that’s all that really matters. 🙂

Why are we talking about a game on Xbox One that’s so old that it debuted on 360 first? Even now Grand Theft Auto V demands attention not just because of its massive success but because it still is a VERY good game to play. The trials and tribulations of a trio of criminals (Michael, Franklin and Trevor) as they take on the city might still be the best story the series ever come up with with a huge number of side characters all bringing their own twisted tales into the mix. Of the trio Trevor is the standout – Michael and Franklin are closer in fit to past game’s protagonists whereas Trevor brings the crazy side out regularly which allows for a a little more “creativity” in the narrative.

I’m still impressed driving around the clockwork city and seeing how everything meshes together to make it feel like a place where anything it possible. The constant banter of pedestrians as they walk around, the five star crime ratings that govern the level of response to your actions, the fully working transport system, including taxis… the amount of things you can find that have little bearing on the core game except to fill out the world is just incredible. You could almost play tourist and spend a couple of hours wandering around and checking out the sights… except for that desire to start stealing cars and creating chaos is never far behind!

The size and scope of the campaign is staggering it doesn’t touch on the long term impact of the online component. The GTA Online community has been fed a regular stream of updates ever since the mode first appeared after the 360/PS3 launch and has become a popular fixture for many players on the later generation platforms. It was only a little over a year ago a casino was added to the game with its own unique heist missions. It’s games like this and their continued popularity that help reinforce why inbound consoles are looking at backward compatibility so as to not alienate a player base still spending a lot of dollars on the game. There might be a Grand Theft Auto VI in the future but with the way this game continues to be supported that could be a long time to wait…