Rockstar Games offers a brief look at the impressive array of graphical options and settings included on Grand Theft Auto V‘s PC version.

Thanks to the platform’s raw power and functionality, GTA V on PC is largely seen as the definitive flavor, featuring a huge range of visual and performance upgrades that soar past consoles.

Today Rockstar delivered a brief Tweet that shows off some of the exclusive higher end options that PC users will get to play with to test the mettle of their rigs.

One of these settings lets you play a god of sorts, giving players direct control the visual fidelity of Los Santos’ environments and population. The graphics tab includes slider bars for population density in any given area–that is to say how many NPC’s are on-screen–as well population variety, ensuring seldom repeated characters.

Other visual options include your basic textures and shadow quality presets, along with tampering with the pristine sheen on reflective surfaces like water and glass, water quality (which is pretty important when you’re boating or jet-skiing across the waves on Vespucci Beach).

You’ll be able to adjust “high detail streaming” while doing barrel rolls and soaring the skies, which might have something to do with the streamers left by the planes in the air. Other advanced options include high-resolution shadows and extended shadow and distance scaling.

The advanced graphics tab even has a benchmark tester, just in case you need to gauge how good your hardware is while in-game.

Below is a full list of GTA V on PC’s graphical settings (thanks, PC Gamer):

Graphics Tab

• Video memory slider: shows you how much video memory is being used in MB
• DirectX Version Output monitor: 1-3
• Anti-aliasing: FXAA, MSAA and Nvidia TXAA supported
• Pause game on focus loss
• Texture quality: Normal – Very High
• Shader quality: Normal – Very High
• Shadow quality: Normal – Very High
• Reflection quality: Normal – Very High
• Reflection MSAA
• Water quality: Normal – Very High
• Particles quality: Normal – Very High
• Grass quality: Normal – Very High
• Soft shadows options: softer, softest, AMD CHS, Nvidia PCSS
• Post FX options: Normal – Ultra
• Motion blur strength
• In-game depth of field effects
• Anisotropic filtering: Up to x16
• Ambient occlusion Options
• Tesellation Options

Advanced Graphics Tab

• Long shadows: On/Off
• High resolution shadows: On/Off
• High detail streaming while flying: On/Off
• Extended distance scaling bar
• Extended shadow distance bar
• Benchmark testing

As far as controls, it looks like Rockstar might have ensured the game can be comfortably played with a keyboard and mouse as well as a gamepad.

Players can customize their keyboard and mouse combinations with specific key-bindings and map their own control schemes, and adjust various sensitivities and auto-centering features across vehicles and on-foot.

Basically Rockstar gives PC gamers expansive control over the entirety of their experience in Los Santos, letting them tweak a vast assortment of options to ensure optimum performance.

Grand Theft Auto V‘s highly anticipated PC version launches just next week on April 14, 2015.

The post GTA V on PC Advanced Graphics Settings Unveiled appeared first on VR World.

It looks like Rockstar’s highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V on PC will be a whopping seven discs, according to recent reports.

The news was originally found on a Reddit post that depicts what appears to be an early shipped physical copy of the game across seven DVD discs. For comparison’s sake the Xbox 360 flavor of the game weighs in at just two DVD discs, whereas the PS4 and Xbox One variants are a single Blu-ray disc.

But why go with DVD instead of Blu-Ray, when the latter can hold so much more space?

It looks like Rockstar went with the more accessible option. Not everyone has Blu-ray drives and the studio wanted to make GTA V as compatible as possible, even if if the game has high recommended specs.

Digital downloads of GTA V require at least 65 GB of free space, and doing a little bit of match, the physical version seems to be around ~63 GB (7 discs multiplied by the max 9GB capacity of dual-layer DVD’s).

Since GTA V on PC is markedly different than its console predecessors, it’s easy to see why the game needs so much space.

Harnessing the extensive power of the PC platform affords amenities like consistent 60fps frame-rates for fluid gameplay, not to mention dazzling 4K-ready resolution.

Adaptive Sync is yet another PC-only utility that improves performance. Using Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync PC gamers can ensure optimum graphical fidelity and refresh rates between monitors and GPUs.

It looks like GTA V might require a 58mb day one update, which is paltry compared to the mandatory 8-16GB day one updates required by some console games.

GTA V on PC also requires a 58mb day-one update, says Twitter user Funmw4, who actually was able to snag the update while pre-loading his copy.

Apart from the update, Funmw4 also confirmed that a Rockstar Club account is 100% required to play the game, which is a bit curious. In the console flavors signing up wasn’t mandatory, but offered extra features like sharing in-game pictures across social media streams and forums.

Digital pre-loading for GTA V has since gone live, allowing gamers to secure their copies before Rockstar officially launches it next Tuesday.

t’s also worth noting that the day-one update might be a an anti-piracy measure of some sort, perhaps even a safeguard against cracked versions.

It’ll be interesting to see if the game is in fact seven DVD discs or not, but judging how long the downloads are taking so far, this might be the best option.

The post Report: GTA V On PC Will Span Seven Discs appeared first on VR World.

As promised, Rockstar today released a trailer for the PC version of GTA V.

For those eagerly awaiting the game’s release — which will be in two weeks time on April 14 — this trailer is a real treat. It shows a world that’s alive at 60 fps and at 4K resolution.

GTA V PC trailer

GTA V was first released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013. In November 2014 it was released for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Across all systems the game has sold a total of 45 million copies.

GTA V was originally due out for PC in the fall of 2014 but was delayed to March and then April. Rockstar said that it needed extra time to further optimize the game for the PC. Given that the average high-end gaming PC is miles ahead of the Playstation 4 or Xbox One in processing power, GTA V should be a much more immersive experience on the PC than on consoles. The added processing power allows for things such as increased draw distances and more crowded environments.

Rockstar recommends that you have a 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 3470 / AMD X8 FX-8350 CPU and a Nvidia GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB to play the game in all its glory.

The post Check out GTA V in Glorious 4K at 60 FPS appeared first on VR World.

Rockstar Games has released a fresh batch of new GTA V PC screens to make up for the game being delayed (again), but these high-fidelity captures really do soothe our wounds.

GTA V was originally scheduled to launch in March on PC, but Rockstar delayed it to April to ensure enough time to unroll last-minute polishes and fixes across Los Santos. Plus they wanted make sure GTA Online‘s long-awaited Heists gametype was up and running before the PC port’s launch.

The new dazzling screenshots give players a closer look at the “detail and refinements that PC players can expect” in Grand Theft Auto V, and based on this gallery alone this port looks to be the definitive version.

Not to mention the PC flavor gets sweet, sweet mod support and more powerful hardware to boost overall performance. But there’s one thing that console gamers have that PC players don’t: the actual game.

Also Rockstar is giving out an extra R$300,000 in GTA Online to gamers who pre-order the PC version from now until March 31–that’s ontop of the R$1,200,000 you get by default for just pre-ordering. So if you pre-order by the end of March, you get a whopping R$1.5 million in GTA Online currency.

The studio says it’ll be unloading a bunch of new screenshots and a brand new trailer in the next coming weeks, so keep on the look out.

GTA V on PC is slated to release on April 14, 2015. Hopefully this date’s for keeps.

The post New GTA V PC Screens Take The Sting Off Of Recent Delay appeared first on VR World.

How long have we been waiting for heists again? Rockstar affirms that the wait will be over soon. But we’ve heard that before haven’t we? How soon is “soon”?

Well how does two weeks sound?

The studio has finally pinpointed an exact date for Grand Theft Auto Online’s heists, which will be released on March 10, 2015 across all consoles.

Additionally Rockstar announces that Grand Theft Auto V‘s PC version will be available on April 14, 2015 across major retailers and as a digital download.

The devs cited that the PC flavor was delayed because “a bit more time is needed to ensure that the game is as polished as possible,” and that they wanted to make sure that GTA Online‘s heist mode was ready before the PC release.

Meanwhile console gamers have been anxiously anticipating the mode for more than a year, and there’s been no official word on a release date–until now.

“Heists will bring a brand new 4-player cooperative gameplay experience to GTA Online, giving players the chance to team up to pull off a string of intense, multi-part raids and robberies across Los Santos and Blaine County.

“Over the next couple of weeks, we will have more information about the launch of Heists and about other new features that we will release with it.”

Heists will add in a major new framework to the definitive GTA Online experience specifically because they’re so dynamic. Basically the mode is a smattering of branching story-like missions where players have to work together to complete huge robberies and scores.

In our in-depth GTAO heists breakdown we take a look at all the moving parts that go into an everyday mission

“Some missions have all players working as one unit, some require players to take on specific tasks like hacking or crowd control, while others require players to split into smaller teams to complete separate high value objectives.

“For example, one team may be stealing a getaway car from some gangsters while another team is attempting to sneak into a police station, all within the same prep mission.”

The post GTA V Coming to PC in April, GTAO Heists in March appeared first on VR World.

Grand Theft Auto V on PC has been delayed to March 24, 2015, Rockstar Games today announced.

Rockstar affirms that more time is needed to ensure that GTA V’s PC port is as optimized and ready for release as it can be, and the extra few weeks will afford a wider window for testing, tweaking, and making last-minute changes to Los Santos.

The developers assure that the delay “will be worth it” when the game finally releases in March:

“Our apologies for the slight shift in the date but the game requires a few extra weeks of testing and polish to make it as good as can be. Moving a release date is never a decision we take lightly and is a choice we make only when we know it is in the best interests of the game and our fans.

Thanks everyone for your understanding and we assure you these few extra weeks will be worth it when the game does arrive in March.”

While this is no-doubt disappointing news, it’s good to see Rockstar step up and openly admit they need more time instead of possibly shipping a broken game. If 2014 has taught us anything in the game industry, it’s that poorly-optimized and rushed games tend to crash badly and make a mockery out of the studios that create them.

We’ve seen this time and time again with past high-profile AAA bombs like Assassin’s Creed: Unity and the still-broken Halo: Master Chief Collection, both of which crashed quite badly upon launch.

Since the PC version of GTA V has been anticipated for the better part of two years, Rockstar is keen on getting it just right. A lot is riding on this one, as gamers are no-doubt seeing this port as the definitive version, and it’ll have much more scrutiny as millions of PC gamers avidly await jumping into the sunny streets of Los Santos.

Plus there’s the mods; the glorious bounty of user-created content that the community will no-doubt busily craft.

To make up for the delay Rockstar has released finalized PC specs for Grand Theft Auto V, as well as a few new screenshots that can be found below.

The install size is a whopping 65GB of data, so you’ll want to try for a disc copy of the game–depending on how much Rockstar opts to put on the discs  of course. The minimum 4GB of RAM isn’t so bad, and the recommended is just at 8GB, and really the CPU/GPU requirements aren’t too intensive, surprisingly.

Minimum specifications:
OS: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 64 Bit Service Pack 2* (*NVIDIA video card recommended if running Vista OS)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
Memory: 4GB
Video Card: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
HDD Space: 65GB
DVD Drive

Recommended specifications:
OS: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs)
Memory: 8GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
HDD Space: 65GB
DVD Drive

As the studio notes, the PC flavor “pushes Los Santos and Blaine County to even greater levels of detail, running at 1080p and 60 frames-per-second with up to 4K resolution and support for up to triple monitor and NVidia 3D Vision configurations.

Rockstar has previously said that Grand Theft Auto Online‘s heists will roll out “early 2015″, but we’re not sure if Rockstar will launch the heists alongside GTA V’s PC launch or if they’ll be released sooner.

In any case, it’s good to see Rockstar is playing it safe, and two more months won’t kill us, will it?

The post GTA V On PC Delayed To March, Specs Released appeared first on VR World.

Rockstar Games reveals that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto V heists will be arriving early next year.

Gamers have been patiently waiting for GTA V‘s online heists for over a year now. Well I say patiently, but that’s not exactly true: the GTA Online forums have seen innumerable posts demanding information on the mode’s launch, and players have passed the time as they always do: by wreaking total havoc across Los Santos.

Now Rockstar delivers the good news: the waiting will be over sooner rather than later.

While the studio hasn’t pinpointed an actual release date, they affirm eager criminal masterminds that GTA Online heists will be arriving “early 2015″ across PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

And as originally planned, heists will be completely free of charge. But what took Rockstar so long? Heists were supposed to be launched quite some time ago.

It turns out that the heists are a lot more dynamic and layered than we thought. The heists will comprise over 20 hours of play, with five unique “strands” and a total of 20 missions.

Instead of being your average run-of-the-mill online multiplayer playlist, heists involve weaving storylines wherein players must communicate and coordinate an effective gameplan at all times, playing to their strengths in various roles.

In a recent interview with IGN, GTA Online lead mission designer and producer Imran Sarwar explained that the heists are challenging, multi-tiered co-operative missions that culminate in an explosive end-level climax.

“So we started working on the concept (of heists): a series of multi-tiered missions featuring diverse prep work, a range of different types of gameplay and a big finale, where team coordination and playing your own distinct role could make the difference between success or failure.

“We also wanted each one to have a unique thread that brought you back in touch with some of the characters from the story.”

And since Rockstar wanted “every player to be central to the action at all times”, it took them a while to get things squared away.

Every crew member has their own specific roles in a heist, and communication is paramount at every turn.

Let’s Plan A Robbery

So what kinds of roles will players take on?

As a getaway driver, for example, you won’t be stuck waiting outside twiddling your thumbs in an idling car while your teammates have all the fun–you’ll get in on plenty of the action, and much of it will be tailored specifically for your role.

“A good example is the classic idea of your getaway driver, waiting outside of a bank for the big score. A movie might not spend too much time focusing on that person because while they are waiting, we are watching the action going down in the vault.

“In a similar situation in Story Mode, we could use a character switch to make sure the player was always in the center of the action and switch back to the driver later.

“But to make this work for multiple players, we needed to create situations where the driver has something interesting to do at exactly the same time the rest of their team are locking down the bank and making their way to the money.”

Just like in GTA V‘s story mode players can set up the heists on makeshift planning boards and set things up. Heists require a team of 4 players at least 12 rank or above, and the designated leader has to invite other members to form a crew.

The leader also assigns roles to each crew member, playing off his or her strengths

Players will have to work together throughout every aspect of the heist, and sometimes will need to break off into groups for certain missions.

The heists are broken up into stages: planning, prep missions (gathering specific items and completing tasks) and the heist proper. Sarwar says that the prep missions will be pretty substantial and varied, and will have players doing a number of things in order to set up the big score.

Co-operation is emphasized in every aspect of the heist, and Sarwar affirms that players will really need to work together to pull off the missions.

“Some missions have all players working as one unit, some require players to take on specific tasks like hacking or crowd control, while others require players to split into smaller teams to complete separate high value objectives.

“For example, one team may be stealing a getaway car from some gangsters while another team is attempting to sneak into a police station, all within the same prep mission.”

Players are given access to a range of weapons and vehicles that are tailored to the specific objective, and each stage features its own set of ready-made tools to aid crew members.

Every heist will have its own action-packed finisher, and will see all players taking on a host of different roles throughout the action. According to Sarwar, heist finales are “big set pieces” that often include characters from GTA V‘s story mode, and ultimately weave multiplayer with the singleplayer experience.

Heists will include getaway chase sequences across multiple vehicle types.

Now that we know all about the heists, the waiting will be even harder. But Rockstar is giving out a “small Christmas gift” to keep players busy while they wait (and to make up for the heists being so late).

We don’t know what the gift will be–it could be a holiday-themed update, or maybe some new weapons–and Rockstar is keeping it a surprise for now.

VG247 also caught word that GTA V‘s PC specs will be announced sometime next week. In a response to a comment regarding the PC version on a recent news story, Rockstar wrote the following:

“We’re presently in the final stages of development on the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V and hope to have confirmed official system requirements to share soon here at the Newswire.

“Please stay tuned for that to be announced in the coming week. Thank you and we’re very excited to bring GTAV to the PC gaming community!”

Grand Theft Auto V will release on Jan. 27 for PC, and the new heist mode will be available sometime after its release.

The post Grand Theft Auto V Heists Coming Early 2015 appeared first on VR World.

UPDATE: Amazon has adjusted the prices of certain games on the list, so we’ve modified the prices to reflect the new listings.

Big online retailers like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and eBay (NASDAQ: eBay) are slashing prices on some great games and hardware for the holidays, IGN reports.

Amazon has a huge offering of game sales that cut costs on some great games, including Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes for an absurdly low $10, Wolfenstein: The New Order for a steal at $15, Dragon Age: Inquisition at $40 and GTA V on Xbox One or PS4 for just $48.

Below we have a breakdown of the offers including Amazon’s big holiday game sale, listed from lowest to highest price:

Multiplatform

• Grand Theft Auto V (PlayStation 4 or Xbox One) – $48.99

• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PlayStation 4 or Xbox One) – $24.99

• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360) – $29.99

PlayStation 4

• Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes  – $9.99

• Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition - $12.99

• The LEGO Movie Videogame – $14.99

• Wolfenstein: The New Order  – $14.99  adjusted to $37.69

• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag  - $19.99  adjusted to $34.30

• Watch Dogs – $24.99

• The Evil Within – $24.99 Adjusted to $38.40

• The Last of Us: Remastered (PlayStation 4 digital download code) – $19.99, Amazon copy $29.99

• NBA 2K15 - $29.99

• DriveClub  – $34.99 adjusted to $38.90

• Rocksmith 2014 - $39.99

• Dragon Age: Inquisition - $39.99

Xbox One

• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - $27.99

• NBA 2K15 - $29.99

• Forza Horizon 2  – $35.99

• Halo: The Master Chief Collection – $44.99

Wii U

• Hyrule Warriors (Nintendo Wii U) – $47.99

• Just Dance 2015 – $19.99

PlayStation 3

• Lego: Marvel Super Heroes – $9.99

• Just Dance 2015 – $19.99 adjusted to $36.33

• Need for Speed Rivals Complete Edition – $19.99 adjusted to $34.98

• FIFA 15 - $24.99 adjusted to $39.96

• Persona 4 Arena Ultimax - $24.99 adjusted to $39.99

• Rocksmith 2014 Edition - $34.99 adjusted to $59.99

Xbox 360

• Need for Speed Rivals Complete Edition – $19.99 adjusted to $39.48

Nintendo 3DS

• Pokémon White Version 2 – $17.99 adjusted to $26.99

• The LEGO Movie Videogame Standard Edition – $12.99 adjusted to $14.99

On the hardware front, Amazon is offering a free game with every PlayStation 4 purchase, although the games are from a limited pre-selected group and are downloadable codes. The promo reads as follows: “buy a PlayStation 4, and receive a code redeemable for a free digital game download”. The deal expires on Jan. 3, 2015

The promotion honors your choice out of LittleBigPlanet 3, Destiny, NBA 2K15 and Far Cry 4, and Amazon affirms that the code will be sent by e-mail “upon completion of your shipment”.

You can also get $30 off on a Borderlands 2 PlayStation Vita bundle ($169.99) over at the ‘Zon, and 44% off on a PS Vita 16GB memory card ($33.33) to ensure your new Vita handheld has enough memory. 32GB and 64GB variants are also discounted by over 30%.

BestBuy has a sale on a Nintendo 3DS XL for just $149.99, available in blue, red and black flavors. This is only for the handheld itself and includes no games; the bundle isn’t discounted, sadly.

With this year’s Black Friday sales over and gone, we should see some more mark downs but it’s fair to say that most consumers have their Christmas and holiday shopping almost finished. You can never tell when sales will pop up, and it’s great to see that Dragon Age: Inquisition, one of the best games of the year, available for so cheap. Most of us who picked it up for $64 are “aww’ing”, but we’ve had our own headstart in the game.

Thanks, Gamespot.

The post GTA V On Sale For $48, Dragon Age: Inquisition Is $40 appeared first on VR World.

This year’s holiday season is huge for gaming, with a swath of AAA blockbuster titles hitting the market within the same two-month launch window. Now the PS4 and Xbox One have an expansive selection of multi-genre titles–from fantasy RPG’s to intergalactic shooters and story-driven parodies–ensuring there’s something for everyone.

With our buying guide we’ll help you navigate the labyrinth of games and select the best games to put under the tree this year, all while balancing your pocketbook–because let’s face it, who has the cash to pick up every game?

Our selection of the top 5 games ranges from a plethora of tastes, making for a positively satisfying brew of varying gameplay dynamics and memorable experiences.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: Nov. 18, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC
Genre: Fantasy RPG
MSRP: $59.99

Dragon Age: Inqusition is BioWare’s triumphant return to the mystical fantasy realm of Thedas, and takes players on a dynamic journey to the heart of adventure itself. The game goes lengths to reinvent the franchise with a host of new features, keeping the same party system along with enthralling combat and a winding, branching storyline.

Players can choose the heroic path they take in the game, and their decisions will resonate throughout the world itself, helping shape the ultimate outcome of their experience.

Inqusition is for the avid and novice RPG fan alike, featuring an expansive webwork of deep roleplaying mechanics that build off of the series’ distinct action-RPG formula. Featuring a plethora of classes, players can build their ultimate team of heroes and deck them out with armor and specifically-tailored skill trees befit any grand role-playing adventure.

With a positively huge singleplayer mode, gamers have their work cut out for them, but the online co-op mode lets players go dungeon crawling with a team of their friends.

The stories are always eye-opening and cinematic in detail and presentation, with a myriad of NPC’s–take Varric, for example–that actually have substance and personality; you actually care if they live or die, and want to know more about them.

All in all Dragon Age: Inquisition is a solid bet for any gamer, as it has such prestigious scope that spans and marries medieval fantasy with tactical RPG action.

It’s the quintessential hero’s journey that’s filled with strategic action and breathtaking vistas befit any otherworldly game of myth and legend, and it looks to be one of the year’s best games.

2. Destiny

Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: Sept. 9, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Shooter, Sci-Fi
MSRP: $59.99

Destiny is a prime example of an over-hyped shooter that faltered under its own weight. The game was supposed to be Bungie’s magnum opus, a game that transcends the realms of online FPS and MMO-style RPG elements. While it’s failed to live up to its dynamic potential, the game is masterfully addictive in all the right ways–but sometimes for the wrong reasons.

The content may be limited in terms of end-game, but Destiny is an action-packed sci-fi romp that’ll take you across the stars and back. The story is weak, but the FPS mechanics are incredibly refined–it’s here that Bungie’s Halo prowess shines forth with light almost brighter than the sun.

Essentially Destiny is an online-only shooter wherein players can team up with random Guardians–that is supersoldiers powered by the Light, a mysterious energy not unlike the Force in Star Wars–to tackle a swath of missions and co-operative content.

There’s also a distinct RPG element in the game that affords for a unique spin on Borderlands-style shoot-and-loot action, complete with a sophisticated style and grace that almost matches Halo in its fluid grace. There are three main classes–Hunter, Warlock and Titan–each with their own varying skill trees that can be tactically used in conjunction with specific gear.

PVP is stellar and proves to be a delightful mix of sentiments old and new, with competitive content rolling out as the weeks go by.

Bungie is committed to making Destiny an expansive playground for would-be Guardians, but don’t expect anything free: the biggest updates will be hidden behind paywalls via Season Passes. Even still, the game offers a smorgasboard of content that’s rich with shooter elements that empower gamers, giving them the tools and arsenal they need to take on dreadful foes like the Hive and the cruel machines of the Vex.

Destiny has proven to be a must-have yearly release despite its shortcomings, and has proven to rank up there with the highest and most popular of games due to its immensely addictive nature. Be sure to check out our official Destiny review for more info on the game.

3. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Developer: Monolith Productions
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Release Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: RPG, Fantasy
MSRP: $59.99

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor may look like you’r average hack-and-slash action-adventure game, but Monolith has created a fluid dynamism that marries the worlds of stealthy assassinations with all-out sword-slashing bravado.

Set in Tolkien’s landmark eponymous Middle-Earth, this game carries players across a journey through the shadowy realms of Mordor and explores the expansive mythos of the landmark fantasy series.

The game’s combat system perfectly matches skill with suave tactical strategy, making for enthralling and empowering fights. Talion, the game’s protagonist, is infused with the power of the dreaded Wraiths, giving him a substantial edge against the hordes of Uruks spread throughout Mordor.

Talion has a huge armament of abilities and skills at his disposal, encompassing a webwork of talent trees that players can customize to tailor their own otherworldly hero.

Using a combination of weapons like bow and arrow, daggers and swords, Talion channels his inner Wraith–an Elven lord by the name of Celebrimbor–to dispatch evil and use a range of useful abilities.

Shadow of Mordor essentially feels like a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Dynasty Warriors, with a hefty does of RPG aspects like skills and upgradable weapons. But the game it sets itself apart from these games with a truly intuitive and unique mechanic called the Nemesis System.

The Nemesis System allows Talion to mark targets among the massive ranks of Sauron’s army. These marks are bosses of sorts that get harder and rank up if they defeat you in battle, becoming stronger along the way. It’s a sort of predator-vs-prey hunting scheme wherein players can find helpful intel to identify weak points of a boss, which is essential for those higher-tiered baddies.

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor combines a huge offering of fantastic elements together to make a satisfying brew of fantasy fun, complimented with a perfect blend of RPG and action mechanics to keep things fresh and exciting.

4. Far Cry 4

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: Nov. 18, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Action, Shooter
MSRP: $59.99

Far Cry 4 expands on series’ already-tremendous formula of action-packed chaos. Set in the frosty Himalayan peaks of Kyrat, players are treated to one of the most exotic, sprawling gameworlds of the series to date.

Kyrat is a truly massive open-world achievement in terms of scale and variety, with highlands, lowlands and everything in between, featuring engaging wildlife like snow leopards, stampeding elephants, crashing rhinos, and snarling tigers.

As per tradition, the game’s story pits Ajay Ghale (the specialist badass protagonist) in a region gripped in turmoil and revolution. A terrifyingly cruel–and rather humorously psychotic–dictator named Pagan Min is at the center of the havoc, erupting the region in a brutal and bloody civil war.

The game’s FPS combat is as dynamic as ever, with a smattering of new features like being able to hire mercenaries to fight alongside you. Vehicles have always been an important part of Far Cry, and in the fourth chapter we have the brilliant mini-skycopter to soar the peaks of Kyrat and blast baddies to smithereens.

You can also drive snowmobiles while shooting at rebels and dodging deadly rifts and flying over precipitous cliffs

Then there’s the skysuit. Few games have captured the heart-pounding excitement of gracefully piercing the heavens like a human bullet, but Far Cry 4 hits this mark perfectly.

Ajay also has two skill trees: the Tiger and the Elephant, both of which have a retinue of passive and active abilities to aid in battle. You get to customize Ajay as you see fit–want him to focus more on stealth and defensive measures? Go with the Elephant.

Want him to be a one-man army that shoots first and asks questions later? Then the Tiger tree is right for you.

All in all Far Cry 4 has something for everyone, and packs in pop culture themes from all over. Players feel like Lara Croft or Indiana Jones when they explore exotic ruins for treasures, and channel Rambo when gunning down hordes of baddies.

James Bond makes an appearance when Ajay does some fantastic death-defying stunt in his wingsuit, and Bear Grylls takes down a tiger in the jungle wilderness.

With a truly breathtaking and dynamic open-world environment like Kyrat, the game is a startling reminder of how far video games have come over the years.

You can get lost in the snow-capped mountains or the deep, dense canopies of the jungle, marveling at the cascading waterfalls and crashing elephants–and that’s exactly why this game is a must-buy.

5. Grand Theft Auto V

Developer: Rockstar Games
Publisher: Take-Two Interactive
Release Date: Nov. 18, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, PS4
Genre: Action, Shooter
MSRP: $59.99

The next-gen port of Grand Theft Auto V is Rockstar’s masterpiece. It’s something that gamers have been looking forward to for a while now, and is seen as the true definitive version of the game. If you’ve already played it on last-generation like most of the gaming world, then it might be wise to pass this up unless you want to give it another spin.

Essentially the new GTA V isn’t really new; it’s a re-mastered port. Even still the graphical differences between the old and new release are like night and day, with the next-gen flavor has Los Santos blazing with vivid life.

What makes GTA V so incredible is its cast of characters, the cops-and-robbers heists, and the game’s immersive environments. In terms of scale, accuracy, representation and graphical fidelity, Rockstar has captured lightning in a bottle. The in-game world is so resplendent with photo-realism that it’s uncanny, making it look almost better than real life.

GTA V features a three-man crew rather than the traditional silent one-man protagonist: Michael, the savvy, rich ex-bankrobber who’s having a mid-life crisis of boredom; Franklin, the young gang-banger looking for bigger and better things outside of the hood; and Trevor, a truly unique specimen of pure psychotic brilliance who easily steals the show from the very beginning.

Apart from the main characters and the namesakes of GTA, the game introduces a series of innovative full-scale heists that recreate some pretty impressive robberies. In this respect the game feels like a movie in terms of its scope, and players can choose how they want to pull off the score as well as which heists to take part in.

Then there’s the smattering of side-quests and extras that’ll pull you right in and never let go. While the heists are the main part of the game, each character has their own unique missions and questlines.

Franklin, for example, can invest in the stock market to earn big bucks, and Trevor, an entrepreneur in methamphetamine sales, wreaks havoc on the competition for his trade.

Being able to switch between Michael, Franklin and Trevor on the fly gives gamers the freedom to tackle whatever mission they want in the style they want. You can also beef up each character’s stats via a RPG-like progression system that’s somewhat like GTA: San Andreas.

The next-gen port also brings a first-person mode to combat, transforming Grand Theft Auto into a bona-fide action FPS game for the first time on consoles. This is a pretty heavy transition and affords a whole new style of play, especially for the game’s online component.

Grand Theft Auto Online deserves a nod as well. It’s essentially Rockstar’s open-world MMO-style online adventure where players can join a gang and combat rival gangs in a series of online playlists. These range from deathmatch-style combat to racing and heists, and characters earn points as well as stats to boost their reputation and abilities.

Grand Theft Auto V is a solid choice as capitalizes on fun.

It brings an amazingly entertaining campaign, a host of  side-missions, a trio of unforgettable characters and an engaging online component. The game’s environments are truly remarkable and bring a sense of realism unlike any other GTA game, and paves the way forward for the franchise itself.

Conclusion

These five games are sure-fire winners for the holiday season, and will bring festive delight for any gamer for weeks to come. With a slew of Black Friday deals you can snag any or all of these games at discounted rates, so be sure to check out the deals before you head to the stores.

As for platform choice, most of the games are the same across all consoles, with higher-end PC’s having considerable graphical and performance boosts. In the case of Far Cry 4, though, you should stick with the PS4 variant as it allows friends to try out the game for free.

Then there’s PS4’s exclusive Share Play feature which essentially lets your friends try out your games across the PlayStation Network. Something to keep in mind if you want to try out a game before you buy it, or let a friend do the same.

The post The Five Best Games of 2014 appeared first on VR World.

Lindsay Lohan has escalated her lawsuit with Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) parent company Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) on the alleged unauthorized use of her likeness.

Lohan and her lawyers have taken a new tact in the case by submitting a lengthy 67-page document that explains how Take-Two profited from the actress’ depiction.

In the document, Lohan maintains that the GTA V celebrity character “Lacey Jonas” was indeed modeled around her, and says that Take-Two used a number of real-life photographs of the Mean Girls star to serve as visual reference for the fictional NPC.

The file reads that the publisher of GTA V “used a look-alike model to evoke [Lohan’s] persona and image” for the character, citing that Take-Two used a 2007 photograph of Lohan as the source for the image.

Lacey Jonas (left) was used as a pivotal character in Grand Theft Auto V’s advertising campaign.

According to Lohan’s lawyers, Take-Two has gained tremendously from using the character to advertise the game.

The bikini-clad blonde known as Lacey Jonas is almost as iconic for GTA V as Trevor, Michael and Franklin, and is featured prevalently throughout the game’s advertisement campaign.

In accordance to the publisher’s massive multi-million dollar advertising campaign, Jonas’ svelte image can be found on the game’s discs, on buses, promotional posters, game expos and across a number of high-profile websites.

Lohan’s legal team further asserts that the company isn’t protected under “transformative fair use” due to the Take-Two’s financial stake in the game itself:

“The Defendants were in the business of selling games as opposed to artists displaying artwork in galleries for profit where unauthorized images or portraits of individuals were reproduced in limited editions as opposed to the mass production for commercial promotion and financial gain.”

Interestingly enough, Wikipedia says that “parody is transformative,” and that “repurposing a work to mock the work itself or the principles the work represents serves a very different purpose from that of the original work” is counted as transformative as well.

Considering GTA V is undoubtedly a parody on American culture–including Hollywood pop culture–this may hold ground, but in this context the “transformative” use is of a character or person, not a “work”.

In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how Take-Two responds this time around. They’ve previously said that Lohan’s lawsuit is a “bid for attention“, and they might have to take the case seriously based on this new argument.

The post Lindsay Lohan Retaliates In GTA V Lawsuit appeared first on VR World.

PS4 owners will need to make some space for Grand Theft Auto V, as reports indicate the install could take up to 50 GB of hard-drive space.

The report comes straight from the GTA Forums, which spotted a screencap of GTA V‘s European listing that mentions a “50GB minimum save size”.

That’s a tenth of the PlayStation 4’s 500GB hard drive for a single game.

If true, this clocks GTA V as the console’s biggest game install to date. According to the PlayStation Store, Wolfenstein: The New Order ranks second at a ~43.7 GB space requirement, with Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Remastered checking in at ~40 GB.

The European listing also has a curious mention of PlayStation Move support, which might meant that gamers could essentially play tennis using the interactive Wii-like peripheral.

Neither Rockstar Games or its parent company Take Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) have confirmed anything at this point, so these reports have to be chalked up to speculation and rumor. So far leaks regarding Grand Theft Auto V have been spot-on, but until Rockstar has final say the news can’t be validated.

Also with the high fidelity makeover Los Santos is getting in the next-gen ports, it wouldn’t be surprising if PS4 gamers did have to shell out a tenth of their HDD space just for the game.

GTA V is slated for a launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Nov. 18, and will come to PC on Jan. 27, 2015.

The post Report: GTA V Install Size Pinned at 50GB on PS4 appeared first on VR World.

Grand Theft Auto V, aka GTA V, will launch on Nov. 18 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with the PC version following up in Jan. 27 of next year, Rockstar Games today announced.

The next-gen releases will include the original version of the game along with “major visual and technical upgrades”. These new features include new weapons and activities along with environmental additions such as dynamic weather effects and more dense flora and fauna.

Rockstar also revealed that gamers who pre-order GTA V will receive $1,000,000 in-game bonus cash divided between GTA Online and the game’s story mode. Returning players will be able to migrate their saved data–along with their GTA Online characters–to the PS4 and Xbox One flavors.

GTA Online will receive some upgrades on next-gen platforms, Rockstar affirms. The player count will be boosted to include up to 30 players in the online mode for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and all previous and existing updates and content will be available for the new platforms upon launch.

To compliment the news Rockstar has released a new GTA V trailer called “A Picket Fence and a Dog Named Skip” which can be found below.

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