GTA V review round-up: Surprise, it’s almost perfect!

The next installment in Rockstar’s crime-em-up, Grand Theft Auto V, drops tomorrow. If you haven’t resorted to real crime yet in order to satiate your need to commit virtual crime, hopefully reading reviews about the game all day can keep your bloodlust at bay. If you’re into bloodlust — or just have stuff to do today — you can read all about the quality of GTA V right here in record time, and get on with your day.

The game hasn’t been announced for PC (yet), so all of the reviews are based on PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. At the time of this writing, both versions have garnered a 97 out of 100 on Metacritic, out of a total 45 reviews. The previous installment, GTA IV, garnered a 98 on Metacritic after all was said and done. IGN gave both versions a pristine score of 100, and both the Official Xbox Magazine and Official PlayStation Magazine gave the game perfect scores as well.

Everyone’s favorite gaming personalities, Giant Bomb, gave the game a score of 100, noting that the best part of the game is the writing associated with the stories of the main characters. However, Game Informer gave the game a rating of 98, stating that the narrative wasn’t as good as previous installments. Joystiq, which bestowed the game with a 90, agreed that the story is where the game stumbles.

On the lower end of the spectrum, The Escapist granted the game a middling rating of 70, stating that the characters are difficult to relate to, because this time around they’re not even anti-heroes, they’re just jerks. So far, the Escapist gave the game its lowest score at 70, while the next lowest is a very respectable 90. Expect more reviews to roll in over the course of the next few days, but if this initial mix of reviews are indicative of the next batch, then Grand Theft Auto V will be about as good as the last one.