The most anticipated game of the year has finally dropped: Grand Theft Auto V.

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the last decade, Grand Theft Auto five (GTAV) is the 15^th game in the award winning GTA series and the most anticipated so far. It’s been under development since mid-2008 by Rockstar Games, the same company that brought you Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne. After 5 years of careful improvements and innovation, the game was released this fall. Rockstar’s work paid off because in the first 24 hours of GTAV being on the shelves, it made $800 million in profits, after three days, one billion dollars.

As for the details of the gameplay itself, it is completely open-world. The main plot line follows three characters that are planning a series of heists in the fictional world of San Andreas and Los Santos which are based on Southern California and the city of Los Angeles respectively. The player has the freedom to do almost anything within a map the size of San Francisco, almost three times the size of GTA IV. Nothing is off-limits. The missions are more of a suggestion than an objective. There is complete freedom. The way you play is completely up to you.

“It’s an open area so you can do whatever you want,” said senior Edward Jung.

Some players choose to power through the story; others haven’t touched the story line and simply roam around San Andreas with one of the three playable characters doing whatever they want. Despite this difference in play style, everyone has expressed an absolute love of the game. It is not uncommon to start playing GTAV on a Saturday morning, lose track of time and suddenly its Sunday night going on Monday. The game is that good and that addicting.

“There is somewhere around 500 missions [outside of the story],” said Jung

What’s even more impressive about the game is the multiplayer. Rockstar waited about a month to release the GTAV multiplayer and the second it did, the servers crashed because of the sheer number of people trying to play. When players were able to connect, they were impressed by a host of options including the ability to plan heists and street race with friends and an integrated stock market that fluctuates based on how all 20+ million players spend their money on.

“So many people are trying to play, the servers are lagging,” said Jung, “The concept of it is cool being a huge sandbox game online. It’s very ambitious.”

GTAV is hands down the most popular game of the fall, if not the year, and if you’re not too shy of video game violence it’s worth giving the game a chance.

“You can do whatever you want, almost like real life,” said senior Robert Gordon.