Of all the colorful and intricately programmed characters in Los Santos, there is one that rises above to establish himself as the most emotionally complete - a stunning feat for a snot-rocketing speed freak with “Cut Here” tattooed above a dotted line on his neck. Driving toward a sunsetty Redondo Beach last week my girlfriend cocked her head quizzically and asked, “Are we here, or are we in the game?” ![]() It’s a simulation as supple as a well-oiled baseball glove: rays of sun rake yawningly across the horizon of a Vinewood Hills infinity pool, glint blindingly off of reflective skyscrapers, and disappear flatly into the curves of matte-black muscle cars, doing more to transport you into the game’s atmosphere than any other piece of programming. The more time I spent driving through Los Santos, the more enamored I became of the light rendering in GTA V. We puffed together, we wondered about the strength of the herb together, we had the same slow realization that we were actually pretty stoned together, and later we both enjoyed a buttery sunset together - although I saw mine through a picture window behind an LED screen, and Franklin saw his in the full glory of his actual hometown. As someone whose medical marijuana is never very far away from his Xbox controller, I couldn’t resist the urge to spark up after pressing left on the D-pad, commanding Franklin through the same motions. He’s the most relatable character in Los Santos: a working-class hustler trying to get out of his aunt’s house in the ghetto with a simple set of morals, clear-headed except when he sits in front of the TV and smokes a blunt. I will never forget the first time I smoked weed with Franklin Clinton. That’s wild, but what’s truly bonkers is that around half of that went to marketing, leaving the programmers with a mere fraction of a typical Hollywood budget to build a high-functioning alternate reality: an abridged city that contains enough recognizable buildings, neighborhoods, and freeways to make it feel unmistakably Angeleno. ![]() We control caricatures in a universe limited only by a developer’s budget-Rockstar Games allocated around a quarter-billion dollars for GTA V, which makes it the most expensive game ever produced. It’s more of a Late Night Cheeseburger Dorito: satisfying because it’s delicious, but transcendentally entertaining because it tastes exactly like a cheeseburger you’d eat late at night.īut we don’t eat our games in 2013. The action unfolds in a fictional city called Los Santos, and it isn’t an exact replica of LA - that’s a simulation too banal to sell to 18–35-year-old men. That’s how I felt when I moved here three years ago, anyway, and it’s the near-exact emulation of this emotion that makes Grand Theft Auto V the greatest video game that has ever existed. It’s a sprawling network of neighborhoods and mountains and asphalt that inspires feelings of awe, and delightful regret that no one person can ever truly understand the depth of its character. The worst thing about driving in LA is trying to stay focused on the road amidst the most beautiful and complex scenery ever created by the dual forces of nature and technology. ![]() Here’s a little secret about Los Angeles, haters: the traffic isn’t that bad.
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