After its initial release on consoles a year ago, “Grand Theft Auto V” received raving reviews from critics and obliterated sales records. Now, with the release of the PC version, an entirely new player-base jumps onto the grimy, sun-lit streets of Los Santos, and it’s never been better.

The gameplay from the original game remains mostly unchanged, although with fewer bugs. But the real overhaul comes in the graphical performance of the game. A truly powerful PC is capable of running the game at a much higher resolution and frame rate than our console-gaming brethren. It’s tough to run the game at maximum settings and maintain a frame rate above 40 frames per second at times, but this is more a hardware issue of my own than of the game itself.

The higher graphical settings really bring out the creativity and depth of artistic direction Rockstar took with the game. The details are astounding for the most part; although, since the overall image of the city is gorgeous and well thought out, the occasionally low-polygon environment art sneaks in and it ruins the visual cohesion for a moment.

Another problem with the computer platform is the controls. It’s an issue that’s plagued PC games since the dawn of time. The intuitive stick controls of a console controller makes driving sections feel natural and responsive, but the keyboard and mouse control system takes all feeling out of the experience. There is no feedback, so I highly recommend playing with a plugged-in console controller to avoid the issue. There is no denying the value of a keyboard and mouse in the shooting sections of the game, however, and juggling the two systems was a much harder transition compared to last year’s release.

A surprise addition comes in the form of the in-game movie editor. It’s remarkably in-depth considering we had no idea it was even being worked on prior to the release of the game. The editor gives players the opportunity to create their own cut scenes and action set-piece moments, allowing the player to control the camera and every character in the frame, including animals. It’s an unexpected but welcomed feature that will no doubt yield some really interesting YouTube videos in the future.

Overall the re-release of the game is a worthy buy for anyone not able to play the original last year. It’s just as enthralling and interesting as ever, but not necessarily a good buy for those who already gave it a shot.