8.8/ 10

Verdict

Buy it

Thirteen years on, Grand Theft Auto V's story mode remains one of the best-constructed open-world campaigns ever made, and GTA Online is still a content-rich playground — just one increasingly cluttered by over a decade of additions.

With Grand Theft Auto VI's November launch now just weeks away, we went back to where it all started for this console generation's expectations: Grand Theft Auto V. Thirteen years after its original release, it's worth asking plainly whether Rockstar's last mainline entry still earns a recommendation in 2026 — and, mostly, it does.

The essentials

GTA V's pitch hasn't aged a day: three playable protagonists — Michael, a retired bank robber; Franklin, an ambitious street hustler; and Trevor, a volatile loose cannon — whose interconnected heist storyline lets Rockstar switch perspectives mid-mission for some of the most memorable set pieces the genre has produced. That structural trick, letting you swap characters to pull off different roles in the same heist in real time, still hasn't really been matched by anything else in the open-world space.

Official cover artwork for Grand Theft Auto VI showing the two protagonists Image credit: Rockstar Games (official artwork, via Wikipedia infobox) - verify rights before publication

Los Santos itself, modeled loosely on Los Angeles, remains one of the most densely detailed open worlds ever built, and years of hardware improvements mean the game now runs at higher resolutions and frame rates than it ever did at launch, including a dedicated current-gen version with faster load times and visual upgrades.

The experience: story mode holds up, Online is a different beast

Story Mode is still the strongest reason to play GTA V today. The writing, mission pacing, and heist structure hold up remarkably well against newer open-world releases, and it remains the best entry point into the game — introducing driving, shooting, the map, and Rockstar's mission philosophy at a controlled pace before anything more chaotic happens.

GTA Online is the more complicated half of the package, and also the reason the game has stayed commercially relevant for over a decade. It's still one of the biggest multiplayer experiences in gaming, offering long-term progression, businesses, heists, and an enormous vehicle and property catalog for players who enjoy that kind of open-ended grind. For a certain kind of player, it remains close to bottomless.

Where it stumbles

The catch with GTA Online in 2026 is that thirteen years of additions have piled up into a genuinely overwhelming new-player experience. Businesses, currencies, properties, notifications, phone calls, and progression systems all compete for attention the moment you load in, and the monetization built around shark-card currency purchases has grown more aggressive over the years rather than less. It's polished and content-rich, but it shows real strain from being stretched so far past its original design intentions, and most new players benefit from following a guide just to get oriented.

Story Mode has aged more gracefully, but not perfectly. Some mission design and tonal choices reflect early-2010s open-world sensibilities that feel less current next to what the genre has produced since, even if the writing and heist sequences themselves remain sharp.

Who it's for

If you've never played GTA V, Story Mode alone is still an easy recommendation and arguably essential context before GTA VI arrives. If multiplayer is the draw, GTA Online remains deep and rewarding for players willing to push through an unfriendly onboarding process, but newcomers should go in with realistic expectations about the climb ahead and the monetization built into that climb.

The verdict

Grand Theft Auto V's staying power isn't an accident: Story Mode is still one of the best-constructed campaigns the genre has produced, and GTA Online continues to justify its own existence more than a decade on. What's changed is the entry cost — Online in particular now asks a lot of new players before it starts paying that investment back. As a piece of the genre's history and a genuinely playable game in its own right, it remains an easy recommendation. We're giving Grand Theft Auto V an 8.8/10.

Grand Theft Auto VI official logo with gradient background Image credit: Rockstar Games (logo, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons) - verify rights before publication

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Pros

  • Three-protagonist structure still delivers the best mission variety in the genre
  • Los Santos remains a remarkably dense, replayable open world
  • GTA Online offers an enormous amount of content and near-limitless money-making routes
  • Runs and looks better than ever thanks to years of ports and remasters

Cons

  • GTA Online's monetization and progression systems feel increasingly aggressive and bloated for newcomers
  • Onboarding into Online in 2026 is overwhelming without external guides
  • Story mode's tone and some mission design show their age next to newer open-world games
Elena Vasquez
Elena Vasquez
Reviews Editor at Rigzeno

Elena has reviewed AAA releases for close to a decade, with a rule she never breaks: no score until the credits roll. She has covered everything from sprawling open-world epics to tight roguelike runs, and she is known for pros/cons lists that actually help you decide whether to buy. Off the clock she is replaying old JRPGs on hard mode and arguing about ending twists.

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