So glad I'm the first person that gets to review this.

Look this might be nostalgia goggles, but back in the day this game kicked ass. Some of my most fond memories of an arcade game as a kid. The weapons. The jumping. It was really fresh. The only time I got my grandma to play an arcade game and she said "Matthew! This feels like you're really driving a car."

I've tried to get this working on an emulator to no avail. If anyone has any tips let me know.

This is the only GTA game I've ever really vibed with. I'm biased toward the 90's setting and music. CJ is in my opinion by far and away the best protagonist of any GTA game I've played. It introduced a wide range of gameplay elements and immersion to the series. Aligning with gangs. Getting fat or jacked. I've always found the home robberies really fun.

The variety of the map is really impressive. Games today could really learn here from its focus on quality over quantity giving you its own take on everything from Hollywood, to the NorCal woods, to Las Vegas.

It still has a good bit of the things I'm not a fan of. The tedious missions. The annoying sense of humor. And the RC level where David Cross is whining in your ear is a personal hell that haunts me to this day.

Still, this was a game I have a very fond memory of finishing the full story. I took my time and played over the course of six months or so. After beating the last climactic mission I hopped in my car while Ice Cube's "It Was A Good Day" played and it really felt like the end of an action-packed odyssey.

Grand Theft Auto 5. The game that boldly answers the question "What if you built the perfect cyborg and installed Eric Cartman's brain?"

Probably going to ruffle some feathers but I find these games to be the most overrated series of all time.

Don't get me wrong. The tech is incredible. Almost 10 years laters, the level of immersion is head and shoulders above most open world games. The sheer amount of things you can do is very impressive. And I've always loved the second life quality of these games to buy property. The performances and animation are stellar. And I think Trevor is one of the few protagonists that makes the most sense to play as in this chaotic world.

But first of all, I've never found the gameplay fun. It's typically frustrating and clumsy in a tedious way not a challenging way. Almost always centered around some time sensitive thing you can't skip. Checkpoints are too few and far between. You constantly go back to the beginning where you pick some annoying character and have to listen to their chatter after every time you die. The aggressive wanted system is very annoying. And just so many annoying missions concepts I can't believe anyone would find fun like perfectly lining up a tow truck to repossess a car.

My main gripe though has always been the writing. The juvenile satire trapped in 2003. The characters that constantly bicker and hate each other for long drawn out conversations. Storylines are just watered down greatest hits of movies and tv shows you've already seen 100 times. Nearly every character is grating. The fact that there's no "dialogue off" audio function is a crime against humanity.

And this is not to say I'm "triggered" or offended by the writing. I can handle a raw storyline and characters. It's just bad, loud, dated writing that tries too hard to be edgy.

I have not played the story of Grand Theft Auto IV which many say is a much better departure from the rest of the series. I also did really enjoy San Andreas.

I think this is the first time I ever played an expansion pack aka DLC. "

It doesn't have the full blown magic of the first full game but if you wanted more Half-Life it gave you more Half-Life. Having the story running parallel with Half-Life makes for some fun as you get brief glimpses of Gordon Freeman running away from baddies or jumping over a platform.

I'm blown away by how fast this came out after the first game.

This has to be one of the most fascinating gaming artifacts of the 1990's and the ultimate example of a developer's reach exceeding its grasp. It was ambitious. Some of the earliest attempts at advanced physics and physics puzzles. Spacious open level design. Sense of scale and wonder from the film, plus the design of the dinos is spot-on for its time. 100% linear story. You can see a lot of elements that were eventually perfected by Halflife. It also more of the feel of a survival action game than a full-on shooter. No armor. Ammo is scarce. You can die off a short jump very easily.

The problem is that it was very clearly unfinished. Broken AI. Like dinosaurs were supposed to be dumb but you watch them trip and fall down like they're drunk. Horrible clumsy control that feels like playing virtual reality with your mouse. The physics puzzles are a disaster and lead to borderline unfinishable levels.

If there ever was a game that I wish someone would do an oral history on, it's this one. And I would still love to see something like this in its ideal form. A game like The Long Dark with dinosaurs is the kind of thing I would imagine.

I think i reeeeaally benefitted from this being my first Fallout game. I've seen its many criticisms and they definitely seem relevant. But coming in fresh after not even having any game system in a long time this was a real treat. An open world that really does feel like it has a lot of variety. I appreciated the choices you get to make about which faction. And while the main conceit of the story is pretty lame, the latter twists are pretty good.

One very sad thing is I never could get laid in this game.