Rockstar’s open-world adventure Grand Theft Auto V is a massive game and there’s a mind-blowing amount of things to see and do.

In my early sessions with it, I’ve had a gunfight with some gangbangers, visited (and been thrown out of) a strip club, ridden a Ferris wheel, driven a car through a showroom window, had a drug-induced encounter with aliens, chased a stolen boat down a motorway and kidnapped some minor crook after tracking him down with my Rottweiler sniffer-dog .

I love playing games and reviewing new titles but being a mere enthusiast rather than a professional gamer means I have to use my spare time to get through them.

I’ve managed about six hours with GTAV so far (a bit longer if you include the large data install that was required) and I don’t think that’s enough time to be able to write a full review of it.

Your Local Guardian: Grand Theft Auto 5

Rather than put up something which is half-baked (and I’ve seen a few reviews this week that would fall into that category) I’d prefer to spend more time in GTAV world before coming to a fully considered verdict on the game.

My full-length write-up will come soon, but in the meantime here are the five things I most love about the game so far.

1. Game world. The urban sprawl of Los Santos and surrounding countryside of San Andreas created by the talented team at Rockstar North is arguably the biggest and most impressive setting for a console game ever seen. It’s certainly greatly expanded from anything seen before in the GTA series. It’s a truly vast sandbox to play in.

2. High-quality visuals: GTAV’s graphics are a major upgrade from earlier games in the franchise. I was blown away by what Rockstar squeezed out of current-gen consoles in previous games such as LA Noire, but this is on another level. I considered The Last of Us on PS3 to be the best looking game of the year until I saw this.

3. Better gameplay: As well as the visuals, there have been big improvements in the shooting and driving mechanics for GTAV. While hand-to-hand combat remains a little clunky, gunfighting is much tighter, especially with the cover system, and car handling is more satisfying so the driving elements feel more like a racing game.

4. Three-way: GTAV has not one, not two but three central characters you can play as. Once they’re all involved, switching between them and picking up the thread of each of their inter-connected stories is easy. The trio of main guys adds variety to the game and means, at times, it’s quicker to get from one part of the city to another.

5. Old-school: When all the hype surrounding the game is blown away, what you’re left is good old-fashioned GTA fun. If you like beating up strangers on the street, causing huge pile-ups on the roads, taking part in numerous bizarre activities and generally creating mayhem around you, you’ll find all things in abundance in GTAV. In such a violent and immoral world it’s guilty fun but fun all the same.

Your Local Guardian: Grand Theft Auto 5

My early impression of GTAV is it’s an excellent game. It’s got some flaws and isn’t the perfect experience some overly gushing reviewers would have you believe, but it still seems to be exceptional in many ways. If you’ve delayed your purchase either because of a lack of pocket money or you’re wondering whether to believe all the hype, I’d recommend picking it up as soon as you can and getting stuck in.

Stay tuned – full review to follow soon. In the meantime, feel free to add your comments on the game below.