In the relatively short history of video games, we guarantee that at no point has anyone said, "You know what was the best thing about that game? It shipped on time." Still, if you delay something three times - and that something happens to be the first Grand Theft Auto on PC since 2008 - expect a fiery backlash.
But at several months overdue, GTA 5 will launch on April 14. For real this time. And we don't know what else to tell you - it was worth the wait.
This is the no-holds-barred, maxxed-out, stop-and-stare-at-the-puddles-because-you-can't-believe-how-good-they-look edition. This is the definitive version of the biggest game Rockstar has ever made. It's playable in 4K. It supports a buttery smooth 60fps. It's customisable up to the eyeballs. Did we mention how good the puddles look?
If that praise sounds like shameless gushing, that's because it is - but why are you surprised? Rockstar has defined itself on building worlds that not only push hardware, but feel so conscious that they might exist in spite of you. Los Santos on the Xbox 360 and PS3 impressed us at the time, but arriving late in the console's lifespan was a double-edged sword; GTA V unfurled even further on the PS4 and Xbox One, making us wonder how we ever submitted our poor eyes to the "inferior" last-gen version.
On the PC, GTA 5's technological ambitions have fully flowered: draw distances now give you clarity for miles; just about everything is scalable; grass and other granular details like waves look more distinguishable than ever. This is a world unto itself.