Pablo Vargas is a member of the Scumm Bar community in Costa Rica, which is a corner of the Web for serious fans of video games. Mr. Vargas is also a fine writer and contributor to the influential 89 Decibeles musical and cultural online community. What follows is a summary of his review of Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), a long-awaited and controversial video game that has managed to generate $1 billion in sales in just 72 hours.

If you read Spanish, please click here to visit Mr. Vargas’ masterful review and screenshots of the game. This is easily the finest GTA V review you are bound to find in Costa Rica. This game was created for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles.

Grand Theft Auto V – Review and Analysis

To the point, I will say this: Everything you have heard about GTA V, from its history to the amazing graphics and from its soundtrack to the plot and characters, is true. All the hype and accolades are true. GTA V is a masterpiece of our generation.

Now that I got that out of the way, I can tell you that GTA V is one of those games that fall under the category of “do not trade, do not sell, do not give away.” The new production by Rockstar Games is meant to be enjoyed time and again. Each detail, each scene, each character, each element that lives in the plot and moves the game forward is unique. What Dan Houser and company have accomplished is simply marvelous. From the trademark parodies of the video game series to the most respectful homage to gangster cinema, nothing compares to the experience of grabbing the controller and letting yourself be carried off into the world that Rockstar has created for us.

Nine years have passed since the last time we set foot in San Andreas, which was an amalgam of fun, adventure and storytelling that made every corner of Los Santos unforgettable (author’s note: San Andreas is an allusion to Southern California, Northern California and Las Vegas). For this reason, we thought GTA IV was a bit dark with its take on the cruelty of achieving the American Dream.

From the moment you set foot in Los Santos and take control of Franklin, you know you have arrived. You are back home, and it feels good. This is how Rockstar Games makes you feel. You notice it in each street corner, and you can see that time has not passed in vain. You can spend hours exploring the city and partaking in all the activities that the open-world game offers. And then it comes time to showcase how much gamers have matured and acquiesce with masterpieces of crime cinema such as Michael Mann’s Heat, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Brian De Palma’s Carlito’s Way.

Each facet of the game features struggles, hopes, crises, that we feel through their characters who are looking for that elusive American Dream. These are not criminals acting for the sake of crime, they are simply reacting to the zeitgeist of our generation. All the trademarks of modern life, many of which are invading Costa Rica, are there: Smartphone dependence, day-trading, consumerism, reality television, video on demand, are ever present in GTA V.

The game experience moves to the beat of an eclectic soundtrack that ranges from NWA to the Doobie Brothers and from Fergie to Black Flag. Do you want to listen to Elton John while you do yoga? Fine. Queen while planning a bank heist? Check. Rihanna and Britney Spears to sing along? You got it. There is even classical music to play in the midst of a deadly shootout with the San Andreas ever-present law enforcement.

What can you do in GTA V? You can illegally hunt in National Parks, smuggle illegals across the border and fight the Border Patrol, solve conspiracy theories, plan daring heists, look for evidence of UFOs, go SCUBA diving, and more. I know because I have dedicated half of my life to this game in the last few days. In the end, you know that Rockstar Games is having fun with you, and that they want you to play to the end, roll the credits, and make you get off the couch and applause. They promised everything and they delivered it. GTA V score: 10 out of 10.