GTA 5 Review: Los Santos Still Delivers, but the Enhanced Version Adds Nothing New

Grand Theft Auto V is an open-world action game from Rockstar North. In the fictional city of Los Santos you switch between three criminals planning heists together, and you also get the online world of GTA Online. The game came out in 2013, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on March 15, 2022, and on PC as GTA V Enhanced on March 4, 2025. That current version is what we’re reviewing. We’ll tell you what it does well, where it stumbles and whether it’s still worth jumping in.

What GTA 5 is about

The story follows three men: young street hustler Franklin, retired bank robber Michael and psychopath Trevor. All three get tangled up with the worst people in the criminal underworld, the government and the entertainment industry, and to survive they have to pull off a series of dangerous heists together. You switch between the characters even during missions, and each has a different life and different problems.

Outside the story, Los Santos and the surrounding Blaine County are a huge playground. You steal cars, run from the police, fly or just cruise through the countryside outside the city. Single player has cheats you can enter with a keyboard, a controller or the in-game phone. All the codes are in our PC cheats list and our PS5 cheats list.

GTA Online

GTA Online, an online world for up to 30 players, is part of the game. You start as a small-time crook and gradually build your own criminal empire: co-op heists, races, adversary modes and properties. A new character on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC Enhanced can go through the Career Builder intro, pick a career and get GTA$4,000,000 to start with. Rockstar still updates the game and changes bonuses every week. On PC, GTA Online has used the BattlEye anti-cheat since September 2024, which is why only the story works on Steam Deck.

What critics praise and what bothers players

The 2022 PS5 version has 81 on Metacritic from 25 reviews, and the Xbox Series X version 79. The original 2013 GTA 5 still holds 97 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PS4, and 96 on PC. The game is the same; critics are rating how much the new version adds. PC Games (100) writes that GTA 5 is still a masterpiece with a fantastic open world and plays even better at 60 fps. CGMagazine praises the 60 fps, ray-traced shadows and much faster loading.

The complaints are about age and content. The Games Machine (82) writes that the new visual modes can’t hide that some game systems are starting to feel antiquated, and Hardcore Gamer notes that the remaster can’t hide all the signs of aging of a game that launched two console generations ago. Game Rant (70) and ComicBook (70) point out that at its core it’s the same experience as before, just with better graphics, so veterans won’t get much out of it. Vandal (85) adds that Rockstar could and should have done more with its most successful game. Players on Steam give GTA V Enhanced 83.4% positive out of 233,461 reviews, rated Very Positive.

Enhanced and Legacy on PC

There are two versions on PC. GTA V Legacy is the original 2015 PC version, which Rockstar continues to support. GTA V Enhanced came out on March 4, 2025, and owners of the game on PC got it for free. It adds ray tracing (ambient occlusion, global illumination, shadows and reflections), DLSS and FSR support, DualSense adaptive triggers and faster loading via SSD and DirectStorage. Your story and GTA Online progress can be migrated from Legacy to Enhanced once.

Enhanced needs Windows 10, 8 GB of RAM, at least a GTX 1630 or Radeon RX 6400 with 4 GB and 105 GB on a mandatory SSD. An RTX 3060 or RX 6600 XT and 16 GB of RAM are recommended. Legacy remains for weaker PCs, needing just a quad-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM. We compare both versions in our system requirements guide.

Price and platforms

On Steam GTA V Enhanced costs €29.99 or $29.99, and the bundle with the Great White Shark Card €44.99 or $44.99 (regular prices as of October 21, 2026). Story Mode is also part of the GTA+ subscription, which costs €7.99 or $7.99 a month on Steam. The game is on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and Xbox One. Players on PS4 and Xbox One can transfer their progress to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

GTA 5 has full voice acting in English and subtitles in 12 other languages. The sequel, GTA VI, comes out on November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S; what we know about it is in our GTA 6 article.

Who GTA 5 is for (and who it isn’t)

It’s for you if you’ve never played GTA 5 or want to replay it with the best graphics. For €29.99 you get a long story with three protagonists, a huge world and GTA Online, which keeps expanding. On PC you also get ray tracing and fast loading.

Skip it if you’ve already finished it and want new content. The Enhanced version only adds technical improvements. And if you want to play online on Steam Deck, it won’t work.

Verdict: Is GTA 5 worth it?

Yes, if you don’t own it yet. GTA 5 is still one of the best open worlds, and the current version is the best-looking way to play it. We’re giving it 8/10.

Los Santos, the three protagonists and the heists still hold up, and GTA Online gives the game a second life. But we’re rating the current version for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC Enhanced, and apart from graphics, 60 fps and faster loading it brings nothing new. Points come off for aging game systems and the lack of new content for players who already know the game.

Playing GTA 5? All our guides are on the GTA hub. The difference between Enhanced and Legacy and the PC requirements are covered in our system requirements guide, and all codes are in our PC cheats list. You can find people for GTA Online on the GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

This review is based on player ratings on Steam and critic scores on Metacritic, on reviews from PC Games, CGMagazine, The Games Machine, Hardcore Gamer, Game Rant, ComicBook and Vandal, and on official information from Rockstar Games. Information verified on October 21, 2026. All our guides are on the GTA hub.