Grand Theft Auto V becomes second Western game to grab 40/40 from Famitsu

Esteemed Japanese weekly games magazine Famitsu has awarded Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V an esteemed 40/40 review rating.

GTA V becomes the 22nd game to receive top marks from the mag, Polygon reports, and only the second one that was developed outside of Japan – the first being Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

"Despite the fact it’s popular worldwide, GTA5 never takes the easy way out and continually tries to challenge itself," one reviewer wrote.

"I’m amazed at how it succeeds at this, and the fixes for issues gamers bought up with the last game make this a seemingly flawless package. It’s really almost too fun."

Another added: "The overwhelming sense of reality in this city and the people living in it is more complete than the previous game. The graphics are beautiful, of course, but more than that, the setting and story makes you feel that the characters have real outlooks on their lives, which is amazing.

The fun of switching between three heroes as you play adds a sense of strategy that hasn’t been in the series before; each character brings a different atmosphere to the missions, making it almost feel like three experiences in one."