The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V offers many advantages over the console release. Better graphics, improved multiplayer, and support for higher resolutions are among them. Yet all of these pale in comparison to the most important advantage of all: Modifications.
An open-world game like GTA V begs to be modded, and on PC, that’s possible. Naturally, it has led to plenty of insanity that can multiply the game’s fun factor or increase its longevity. Here are the 20 must-have mods every player needs to install.
Script Hook V and Native Trainer
If you’re going to download any mods, download this first. Script Hook V makes the game’s scripts available to others, and so is a requirement for some GTA V mods (often, they’ll bundle the scripthook .dll just to be sure). This mod also gives you access to a feature-rich trainer that can turn you into a virtual god.
Complex Control
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y5iti98PFc?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Grand Theft Auto V might be the most successful video game of all time, but Epic Games’ Fortnite is the biggest game in the world at the moment, so it only makes sense to combine the two! The “Complex Control” mod is a single-player “royale-lite” that spawns your character in a random location on the game’s enormous map, and you win if you’re able to stay in the last designated zone for four seconds. Though you won’t be able to play an actual battle royale match against other people, the proof-of-concept offered in Complex Control has us hoping for a full-on battle royale mode in the next Grand Theft Auto game.
HD Universe Carl Johnson
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52UM53Gj_U?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is one of the best games available on the PlayStation 2, and protagonist Carl Johnson, or “C.J.,” is a large part of its appeal. Since Grand Theft Auto V takes place in the same general area, the “HD Universe Carl Johnson” mod essentially allows you to take the open-world experience from San Andreas and bring it into the current generation. You’re free to customize his hairdo just like you could in the original game, and meticulous work has been done to the tattoos on his arms and chest.
Super Mario Plumbers
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlVxD7s5wD0?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
“It’s a-me, get out of the car before I shoot you!” No one should be surprised that Mario and his pals made their way into Grand Theft Auto V, but we’re still impressed by what “Super Mario Plumbers” offers. Complete with classic Super Mario Bros. sound effects, you’re free to explore Los Santos as the classic mustachioed plumber, beat up random pedestrians, speed along the streets, and get into far more trouble than the Mushroom Kingdom would ever allow. If you get sick of Mario, the mod also includes other favorites like Luigi, Wario, and — of course — Waluigi.
Iron Man Mark 50
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAqcKrJIUkQ?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
If the rocket launchers, planes, and explosives already available in Grand Theft Auto V aren’t enough for you, consider installing “Iron Man Mark 50.” Based on the suit Tony Stark wears in Avengers: Infinity War, it includes enormous wings on the back and transforms you into a walking weapon, capable of hovering in the air while you blast away at oncoming traffic with missiles. We’re not sure if you’ll survive the wrath of Thanos if you happen to run into him on the streets of Los Santos, but you’ll be able to cause quite a bit of chaos beforehand.
Psychokinetic
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSGWlj669sg?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Ever since the film Chronicle released, we’ve wanted to control objects with our minds, and the “Psychokinectic” mod turns you into a terrifying being with telekinetic abilities. With the mod installed, you’re free to float throughout the city, pick up dozens of cars or people, and send them flying without worrying about whether or not anyone survives or explodes. Dropping trucks into crowded parking lots can result in some huge explosions, and if you run out of vehicles to throw, you can just send fireballs hurling down at your “enemies” instead.
Marlowe Valley Safehouse
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_y9wskV-rY?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
This mod turns Marlowe Valley into a luxurious safehouse that also happens to have an airport and adjacent runway. With garages — including a tuning garage — and parking spaces to store more than 50 cars, Marlowe Valley becomes a hideout fit for a high roller. There’s even a military bunker, apartment, and a garden area designed for festivities. You’ll need the Menyoo mod to make it work.
Liberty City
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIm_r0SA-Ok?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
The Liberty City mod turns the world of GTA V into GTA IV, resetting the game map as Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City. The mod is currently in Alpha, and thus has some kinks that need to be worked out. It’s an interesting experiment that is certainly worth checking out for those interested in returning to the iconic Liberty City. There’s also a different Liberty City mod on the horizon to look out for.
World Improvement
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbknDT8dRU?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
GTA V already looks phenomenal, and even functions as somewhat of a moving portrait when you aren’t around, but this mod boosts the realism. It focuses on small details, like additional trees in places like Rockford Hills. It also adds new characters, and AI routines, such as police searches through Paleto Forest and car crashes around Los Santos. The best part about this mod? It receives new updates to introduce tiny — but profound — details regularly, so Los Santos will evolve, just like a real city would.
Superhot
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO8Mm6cy4Os?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
The Superhot mod transplants Superhot’s innovative time-stopping mechanics into GTA V. When you stop moving, time stands still. While it seems like an odd choice for an open-world game like GTA V, the Superhot mod feels right at home when in close quarters combat. When back in the long game, you can toggle the mod off with the press of a button and resume normal play.
GTA RPG
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWu5-0Q_KTc?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
GTA V has a rich, open-world narrative, but it remains relatively linear throughout. The GTA V RPG mod adds a non-linear story and skill progression system that makes it feel closer to Fallout than Grand Theft Auto. For starters, you can choose between three character classes. As you progress through missions using the mod’s quest system, you use skill trees to upgrade your character and weapons. There’s even dialogue trees with NPCs, and randomly-generated loot and items.
The Red House
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhEhH-LET0Y?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
If you find that replaying single player missions is growing stale, The Red House mod features an abundance of new content to stave off boredom. The mod adds more than 20 missions to the game, including a new heist. Some missions even include NPC bodyguards that assist you in your endeavors. An update, called the “Blue House,” added a set of stealth-oriented missions to the mod. All in all, the mission variety is solid, and well worth your time.
Open All Interiors
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKJGxBseSMA?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Are you tired of not being able to enter the Sandy Shores sheriff department, or any other locked building? The Open All Interiors mod gives you full range of access to those previously off-limits places. What’s most remarkable part is that the mod repopulates all these spaces, even the ones which were removed before launch and never meant to be seen.
Map Editor
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJBaimDb4LE?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Your wish is your command with this GTA V map editor. With the use of a free-roaming cam, you can easily place cars, ramps, and even animals throughout Los Santos, then hop in and play with your experiments. It’s a robust tool with a myriad of options, but best of all, it’s intuitive and simple to use.
Endeavor Menu
The Endeavor mod gives you a well-designed debug menu, with the power to summon any asset from the game whenever you want, turning Los Santos into your personal playground. Toggle it on and you can easily make any vehicle, gun, or item materialize in front of your eyes. You can also elevate your character to max stats, and remove police officers from the game. There are some zany aspects of it, too, like granting you the ability to drive across water, or the power to shoot bags of cash from your gun.
Pedestrian Riot
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGCM1YsQ-i4?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
GTA: San Andreas had a cheat that made pedestrians go bonkers. It was hilarious to watch. Predictably, an intrepid modder has gone out of his way to re-create that experience. With the flip of a switch you can send everyone into insanity, creating chaos wherever you go. The mod gives them weapons, too, so be careful!
Field-of-view mod
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do4qgFXLOGk?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
For the first time ever in the series, GTA V offers a first-person mode. Far from a tack-on, Rockstar put a lot of effort into making it work just like a real first-person shooter. One thing they missed, though, is dynamic field-of-view adjustment. The default FOV is a bit narrow, which makes some players feel claustrophobic, and others motion sick. With this mod you can change the FOV to whatever setting is comfortable for you.
Bodyguard Menu
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq2c6XHTuCo?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Why go it alone, when you can have a team backing you up? This mod can spawn a variety of NPCs who will follow you around and assist you in whatever you’re doing. You can command them to do your bidding, or just stand around in formation looking tough. Up to seven bodyguards will follow you, but you can still spawn more after that. Creating an army just after you rouse up a 4-star police rating can be a literal riot.
Police Mod
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCaM7IJlSDI?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Why does Grand Theft Auto assume you want to be a criminal? With this mod you can act as the long arm of the law. It lets you skin yourself as a cop, spawn a partner, choose a police vehicle, and listen to a police scanner. You can’t pull over vehicles or go on missions just yet. Hopefully that will be possible in future versions.
Heist Vehicles Spawn Naturally
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u7A9IuRScM?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]
Heists are a popular feature in GTA V’s online mode. Many of them include unique vehicles. But what if you’re not interested in online play, and still want to use the vehicles? This mod lets you do just that. It doesn’t just give them to you off the bat, though; they spawn in certain areas for you to discover. Or if you just want to jump in, you can view the modder’s list of locations.
Updated on 7-10-2018 by Gabe Gurwin: Added five new mods
Editors’ Recommendations
- You’ll be able to run your own nightclub in ‘Grand Theft Auto Online’
- ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ preview
- Everything you need to know about ‘Fallout 76’
- EA shows more ‘Anthem’ and ‘Battlefield V’ at E3 2018, debuts all-access subscription
- The 20 best Nintendo Switch games you can buy today