It was after waterboarding a man with a canister of gasoline that I realized Grand Theft Auto 5 operates on its own set of rules. While other games have shied away from societal hot-buttons like torture in the past few years, developer Rockstar North runs toward these problems with a loaded weapon, an angry mob of cops in tow as businesses are being robbed and cars explode.

As a series, Grand Theft Auto has proudly poked the Western world about its obsessions and the things it finds offensive, offering its own slanted view of that world - a view that refuses to be dishonest. Politicians promise to nuke adversarial countries, a crowdfunding website equates its business model to panhandling, social media moguls brag about selling their users' private information, and the list goes on. Despite Grand Theft Auto's glamorization of virtual violence, which has never irked me, Rockstar's franchise has been able to maintain its likability with expansive, believable worlds and a band of interesting and redeemable characters.

Grand Theft Auto 5 has difficulty with its cast, however, as the latest in the notorious series features some of the most unbearable people I've ever had the misfortune of interacting with. Thankfully, interacting with Grand Theft Auto's world is better than it's ever been.