Welcome to our CHEATfactor Game Review of Grand Theft Auto V. We review the game and then factor in how the available cheats affect the overall game experience. For better or worse, our reviews will help you decide whether or not to use cheats when playing the game.

If you're reading this review to find out if you should buy Grand Theft Auto V on PC and if it's worth the investment, let me save you time; you definitely should and it definitely is. When I reviewed the original version of the game on PS3 and Xbox 360, "It's mesmerizing in size and filled with things to do, both illegal and not. It's filled with new mechanics that not only propel the series forward but pay clever tribute to its past as well. Grand Theft Auto V is a truly superb experience and testament to what talented game developers can do if they're not focused on delivering a new installment every year. Go play it, now." Somehow, the PC version takes all of that and delivers a much tighter package, filled with things that fans of the series have been asking for and a few things that you didn't even know you needed. As someone who's poured countless hours into GTA V when both the previous and current generation platforms, I can confidently tell you that the PC version is the definitive version of Rockstar's open-world masterpiece.

If you've played GTA V before, not much here has changed in terms of content and even if you've never played GTA V, or the Grand Theft Auto series in general, you know at least the basic outline of what you're getting here. Drive around a large, or in this case extremely large open-world map and wreck havoc (or you know, do totally legally stuff like bowling, golf or watch movies). The map here is unquestionably larger than in any game the series has previously seen even though the PC version doesn't technically add any content to it. Don't get me wrong, it's still remarkably impressive, especially when you really get a sense of the scale on missions where you're driving the entire length of it. My favorite way to appreciate the scale and depth that Rockstar put into this game is still to take a plane and just fly over the map for a bit. Don't believe me about the impressive size? Do that and look down and remember that every square inch of the map, everything you see, you can go to. Yep, even the ocean, which comes complete with a remarkably explorable (with the right equipment) ocean floor.

The biggest difference between the console versions of GTA V and their PC counterpart is the ramped up visuals. I don't have the greatest PC setup but I could immediately still see the difference. It's in the smoothness of the character's animations, and the remarkable effects of the draw distance. It's those with really high end machines thought that are really going to appreciate what Rockstar was able to do here. The game can run at a buttery 60 FPS (or more) and 4K if you've got the means to do so, and it's a remarkable experience no doubt. Still though, you'll occasionally see a few hiccups in the visuals like screen tears and slow downs. They don't happen often but they're just reminders that this wasn't originally a PC game, it was a game built for last generation technology.

Like the PC version of GTA IV before it, GTA V allows you to seamlessly switch between using a gamepad and mouse/keyboard in real time, and it'll change how you play some games. I enjoyed the shooting mechanics of GTA V when I first played them (in Max Payne 3 puh-zing!) but they're made remarkably better when using a mouse and keyboard. My accuracy is noticeably better and you'll have a better appreciation for different guns, especially in the first-person mode. That being said though, the mouse and keyboard can't handle the great feeling of GTA V's tight driving mechanics and that's when I found it better to switch to the gamepad (for reference, I'm using an Xbox 360 controller). It was great that the game didn't make me have to switch which one I was using in a menu and I'm able to just keep both plugged in and just switch as I want to.

The PC build of GTA V is also filled with little touches that make it the definitive version of the game. You can use your own music tracks to populate radio stations, which is awesome because even though Rockstar kept adding new songs to the rotation, they quickly got old when playing longer sessions. The PC version also does away with the annoying need to hammer on a button just to sprint; here you just hold down the shift button. It seems like every single time I play the game I find something else that the developers have done to make the game a smoother experience on PC, and they were successful.

The only truly new content that comes with the PC version of GTA V is the Rockstar Editor and it's associated director mode. To put it simply, it's a means to take your gameplay footage and edit it - but it's also much more than that. Unlike the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, which allowed you to share your gameplay clips, you'll have some pretty hefty editing tools here. You control the camera, the lighting, even the characters and props in the scene. I'm not very good at it but I still find myself spending tons of time in the mode just tinkering with it. It may not be enough to encourage a double (or even triple) dip for those who already own the game but it is an added nice extra touch.

This is the second time I've reviewed Grand Theft Auto V and the second time I'm giving it a perfect score, only this one is a bit more perfect. It's incredibly grand in scale and depth and just a ton of fun to play. Unless you really like editing game footage or are a graphics snob, there may not be a reason to double-dip if you already own the game, but those who don't are encouraged to jump in head first. This is, and still remains, one of the greatest games I've ever seen, only now it's somehow that much better.