The best GTA 5 mods: better graphics, iron mad, zombie hordes and so much more

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By Alex Avard, GamesRadar

The best GTA 5 mods can do anything from adding a graphical overhaul, to creating a whole new game by adding superheroes, zombies and loads more. There's a community of GTA 5 mod makers out there creating everything from subtle shifts and tweaks to core gameplay and looks, through to complete and radical overhauls.

Obviously there's a lot of options for GTA 5 if you're thinking about modding it which can make it hard to know where to start. To help you pick a GTA 5 mod we've gathered together this list of some of the best - highlighting some of the greatest creations out there. These mods will make your experience of Grand Theft Auto 5's open world richer, prettier, crazier, and so much more interesting.

1. Turn Los Santos into a photorealistic gangster’s paradise

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You can’t talk about GTA 5 mods without paying respects to all the coders out there tirelessly attempting to make Los Santos look as breathtakingly beautiful as possible. There’s literally hundreds of graphics enhancement mods available for GTA 5, but NaturalVision Remastered is the current champion when it comes to raw “phwoar” power.

Offering 4K resolutions and a complete overhaul of Rockstar’s original aesthetic, the mod was designed “to make GTA 5 look visually similar to Southern California in real life.” To be honest, the results look better than real life SoCal ever could. NaturalVision pushes Los Santos out of the realm of uncanny valley and into a level of graphical fidelity that redefines the very definition of what it means to be photorealistic.

2. Become Iron Man

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“I am Iron Man” said Iron Man in Iron Man, and you can say it too if you install this forever popular mod on to your GTA 5 save. True to its word, the mod hooks you up with a fully operational Iron Man suit, complete with boost thrusters, repulsor beams, and that oh so satisfying “eeeeeyooooop” blaster sound that any Marvel fan will be familiar with.

You can even customise it with different versions of the suit, including the beefy Hulkbuster armour that swaps agility for raw strength. Tony Stark would be proud.

3. Return to Vice City

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GTA: Vice City holds a fond place in many players' hearts, but even with the updated versions released by Rockstar it's still looking rather dated in 2020. Not so in Vice Cry: Remastered, a port of the popular Vice Cry mod for Vice City, which gives the fictional Miami a beautiful makeover complete with rippling waters and shimmering sunsets.

As well as proper mapped roads, car generators, and working traffic lights, there are new missions dropping which make this so much more than just a cosmetic makeover. It's definitely worth popping on a Hawaiian shirt and heading back to the '80s to check this one out.

4. Pretend you’re playing Blade Runner in a neon-soaked Los Santos

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Blade Runner 2049 has been and gone, and we’re still a ways off from CD Projekt Red’s open world Cyberpunk 2077, but you can at least enjoy Grand Theft Auto 2013 by dressing it up in a neon aesthetic with this visual mod.

Intensity ENB dials up the contrast between colours to 11, lending this ethereal, miasmic quality to Los Santos that’s drenched in atmosphere, especially when it also happens to be drenched in rainfall. The game’s lighting effects have been intensified too, meaning you’ll often feel like you’re in a J.J. Abrams movie just as much as a cyberpunk flick.

5. Create an underwater megalopolis by triggering a tsunami

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All the best cities are underwater. Think about it; Atlantis, Rapture, that one from The Phantom Menace… okay, maybe not all the best cities, but a fair few of them at least. So what’s stopping you from seeing whether Los Santos fares any better once submerged beneath ten thousands tonnes of H2O?

Seriously, you can try it now with this mod, which brings in a Tsunami to unleash waves of salty sea water upon the town, where only the highest skyscrapers can be seen above the surface. It’s an in-game natural disaster that has to be seen to be believed. 

6. Take realism to a whole new level

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If you’re someone who likes to obey every traffic light and speed limit sign as you drive across SoCal, this hyper realism mod will be right up your alley. It adds a host of small but clever details to GTA 5 that are designed to make everything feel that little bit more tactile and naturalistic.

Pedestrians drop wallets, weapons have to be physically picked up, there’s bleeding effects when you’re shot, cops act more strategically, you can replaced flat tires with spare ones in the trunk, bullets have projectile drops, and tons more. It turns the Grand Theft Auto experience into a full on crime simulation, and it’s rather brilliant.

7. Turn airplane pilots into psychopathic killers

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This mod has rightly had a stigma attached to it since 2015, in which it was discovered that the coding contained dangerous malware hidden within. Since then, though, it’s been cleaned up by some decidedly less malicious modders and is available as a clean, malware free update online.

But what does it do? Well, every airplane pilot in the sky is now out to hunt and crash into you at whatever cost to themselves. Naturally, pandemonium ensues, so make sure your gaming rig is powerful enough to withstand a decent framerate with all those explosions.

8. Become a knock-off Rico Rodriguez with Just Cause 2 gadgets

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While GTA has always been great for causing all sorts of mayhem, it never quite comes close to the sort of sandbox madness you can generate in equally outrageous open world series Just Cause.

But thanks to this unofficial crossover, you can now enjoy Rico Rodriguez’s grappling hook, parachute thrusters, and more in GTA 5, using these bespoke Just Cause flavoured mods. It even makes cars explode whenever you jump out of them, which is great for dealing with all those pesky roadblocks.

9. Cross the fence and play GTA from the cops’ perspective

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They say the best way to defeat the enemy is to know the enemy, so why not sign up with the Los Santos Police Department and walk a mile in the shoes of a local cop for the day?

There are detailed missions, police-themed weapons and vehicles, and customisation options for you to tuck into to get the full LSPD experience. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up preferring it your previous life of crime?

10. Pay for your crimes the hard way by going to prison

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Speaking of police, how come you never get to see what happens between the time you’re busted and the moment you walk out of the hospital or police station as a free man? I know Grand Theft Auto has a loose conception of the notion of justice, but surely some judicial system is in place in Los Santos?

This prison mod has the answer, incarcerating you whenever you’re caught by the police, whereby you’re able to walk around the jailhouse, interact with NPCs, and even try to break out. Or, you know, you could just serve your time and try to come out a changed man? Nah, that sounds boring; prison break it is!

11. Use vehicles as bullets for maximum carnage

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I don’t really need to explain this one, do I? It’s a vehicle cannon. A cannon that shoots vehicles. You can fire the cannon at things (other vehicles, if you want to be funny about it), and vehicles come out the other end.

It sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous. But it certainly gives you the upper hand in a firefight, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t huge amounts of fun.

12. Unleash carmageddon

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Everyone loves GTA 5’s perfectly portrayed explosions, quite possibly the best video game “booms” next to, well, GTA 4. But, frankly, they don’t come frequently enough when you’re driving down the highway, cruising along to your favourite radio station. This mod means that any car within a reasonable distance to you will explode on cue, hence the ‘carmageddon’ namesake. You’ll be at a five star wanted rating in no time, but that’s no bother; the police cars will explode as soon as they get near you.

13. Take a walk on the interior side

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Only a select few buildings in Los Santos are open to the public, apparently, as everything apart from the gun stores, strip clubs, and car dealerships are bolted shut with no conceivable entry points. I’ll give you three guesses to figure out what the “Open All Interiors” mod does...

While there’s no amazing secrets hidden within any of the newly available buildings, they do make Los Santos feel that little bit more immersive, and are perfect for hideouts when on the run from the cops.

14. Survive the Los Santos zombie apocalypse

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The last time Rockstar gave us a zombie game was all the way back in 2010 with Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, which has given us plenty of time to work up an appetite for more undead bedlam.

Simple Zombies turns GTA 5 into a mini survival sim, where players must survive an infested Los Santos by building shelters, managing their health and hunger, and recruiting fellow survivors littered throughout the zombie-filled landscape. It’s a fairly comprehensive game mode, and can be proper terrifying at times, but anyone who’s seen Fear The Walking Dead will have a decent grasp of how to thrive the SoCal apocalypse.

15. Amp up the ragdoll physics

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If one minor quibble is to be made about GTA 5, it’s that the ragdoll physics engine were never quite up to par next to other Rockstar titles like Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, and GTA 4.

The Euphoria Ragdoll Overhaul goes back to the drawing board and tries to bring the physics closer in line with those games, throwing more realistic animations, reactions, and visual touches into the mix. Firefights and car chases will unfold in new ways, while the slapstick comedy is never better here, so it’s definitely a must add mod for your collection.

16. Hulk smash

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Video games can be a great outlet for stress, and what better metaphor is there for unleashing anger than Bruce Banner turning into a giant green rage monster and wrecking havoc across the city?

This Hulk mod lets you leap miles into the sky as Hulk, picking up cars and throwing them at your leisure, and generally having a great time terrorising the people of Los Santos with reckless abandon. Make sure you wait till the military arrives, too, as that’s where things get really fun.

17. Live large in a luxury safehouse

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Materialism is the name of the game for Michael, Franklin, and… well, maybe not Trevor, but the more unnecessary ‘stuff’ you can have in Grand Theft Auto 5, the better. Sure, that luxury apartment of yours is nice, but what about a country safehouse, complete with car parks, helicopter pads, and airplane runways?

There’s even a working bar where you can host Great Gatsby-esque parties. Just make sure none of your guests have access to that military fighter jet tucked away in the garage.

18. Become SUPERHOT

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Superhot’s central concept - that time only moves when you do - is so clever and brilliant that someone simply had to see what happens when you translate that to GTA 5. Suffice to say, the results are pretty spectacular. It’s like the Matrix, except you’re not an enlightened revolutionary but an angry Trevor, and you’re not shooting Agent Smiths but innocent policemen. Ok, it’s not exactly The Matrix, but it still pretty fun to enjoy Mad Max style bullet time in the freed expanses of Rockstar’s urban jungle. 

19. Whistle while you wreak havoc with the mobile radio

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It’s a tiny, tiny change, but it really does make all the difference. Picture this; you’re in your car, driving along to a banging tune, but are forced to leave the vehicle because, oh I don’t know, said car is now hurtling down a cliff and seconds away from exploding.

The tune’s gone, and so is your groove. Mobile radio changes this by ensuring your songs stay with you at all times, whether you’re walking, swimming, or having a punch up. Most of us listen to music as we walk nowadays anyway, so why shouldn’t the same apply for GTA?

20. Turn your mobile into a grenade and enjoy the satirical explosions

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Ok, this one’s a bit silly, and very black humoured, but Grand Theft Auto has always excelled at satirising the real world, so this mod felt strangely appropriate for its time. Yes, all it does is turn your grenades into Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones, but that’s all it took to offer an amusing slice of meta-commentary on current affairs.

If you’re confused; Samsung had to recall its range of Galaxy Note 7’s in 2016, after customers filed reports of them spontaneously combusting as a result of faulty batteries. Stupid? Maybe, but whoever put the two and two together for this mod deserves just a little of bit of credit.

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