To say this game is a marvel of gaming and a benchmark of this generation is rather like stating bears sh** in the woods, and the usual outline and impressions would be a waste of my breath under so many other reviews.
Instead, I'm going to give you another look on it.
For all it's innovations the game still consists of the same missions as all the GTAs, only in this game there is less ground to race over and less vehicles and ways to do so. But this is all for the sake of refinement; I hear you shout. Granted, crossing the deserts in San Andreas was a pain, but it was the sense of epic that made it fun. Spawning a jet and dogfighting your way to murder someone with a dildo was massive fun, what I wanted was more of the same, only bigger and better.
Oh and the multiplay is horrific. Clunky to operate, derivative gametypes, less freedom than I'd have expected and the worst community on anything I've ever played lead to a terrifying experience that shouldn't have been attempted.
Overall though, I will say the story and characters are fantastic, and I won't bash the driving, after completing all the races a dozen time I like the new system as much as the old. I loved GTA4 and so will you, I'm glad this game has been made, but now the dust has settled from the frenzy of hype on release, and I wish rockstar made the GTA I love and left realism to someone else. I simply don't think anyone can carry the baton like Rockstar could.
