Ten Must-Have Mods for Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is the biggest and most ambitious installment in Rockstar Games’ flagship open-world action-franchise.  Critically acclaimed, the game features breathtakingly detailed environments, vehicles and unparalleled potential for mayhem - all of which take full advantage of your PC gaming hardware. (Check out our performance guide for tips on how to get the game running smoothly on your system.)

While GTA V is already a stunning feast for the senses on PC, there’s a whole exciting world of mods created for the game that enhance its visual splendor and add new gameplay elements and features to the experience.

Before we get into the mods a couple notes about using them. Generally speaking, you only want to use one mod that changes global lighting and/or shader values at a time as they will often conflict with each other. So do not use Intenstity ENB with Toddyhancer, for example, from our list below. Try each one individually and run with the one you like best. Also, the use of a mod manager tool, such as GTA V Mod Manager by bilago, can simplify the process of installing and removing mods.

And if you are interested in making GTA V look even better, or simply different, the following mods are a great place for you to start experimenting.

Intensity ENB

If you want to make the city of Los Santos more vibrant, Intensity ENB can sort that right out for you with a massive neon overdose. The mod ramps up GTA V's color and vibrancy, turns up the reflections on vehicles and wheels, makes the stars and the moon brighter at night and brings bigger and more intense “god rays” (sunbeams)  along for the ride as well.

Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets of Los Santos, and you can make it so with the No Water + Tsunami + Atlantis mod that plays around with GTA V's sea level. You can drown Los Santos entirely, creating a spooky undersea city to explore by submarine, create massive tsunami- style waves, or you can just drain the ocean and go for a drive on the sea bed.

Expand GTA V’s world with a whole new island. Raven Rock is a huge military compound set in the eastern ocean complete with a base to explore, two helipads, a runway, and an underwater tunnel that leads to a secret location at the bottom of the ocean.

Give GTA V a complete graphical overhaul with this hefty mod.VisualV brings with it improved time cycles, color correction and fixed rendering code, as well as volumetric fog, a heat haze effect in sunny weather, a subtle bloom effect, corrected 2D shadows under vehicles and a whole lot more.

This one's a monster. GTA Realism combines a load of visual overhauls and improved textures with plenty of gameplay enhancements, including a tow service for when your car's out of action, an adrenaline shot to give you one last chance when you're almost dead, more realistic falls, and melee attacks for cops. Check out the mod’s home page for full details of what's included.

Here's one to keep a lookoutfor. Toddyhancer is capable of giving GTA V a serious dose of eye-popping real-world visual clarity with plenty of rendering and lighting tweaks, as you can see from the short video above. The only problem is that it's not out yet. When it does appear, though, it’s looking like a must-have mod. We’ve been talking with the mod’s author and will have information to share with you soon about this amazing mod!

Requiem Visual Reshade

While you're waiting for Toddyhancer to show up, Requiem Visual Reshade can give GTA V an excellent real-world visual update right now. It combines multiple shader effect overhauls with a slew of visual tweaks, resulting in a more vibrant and immersive world that hasa bold, cinematic feel.

GTA V Redux

Pinnacle of V was an amazing GTA V mod that turned the realism up to the absolute maximum, with 4K textures and photorealistic water on the visual side, along with and a stack of gameplay tweaks. Sadly it was withdrawn in December. However, the good news is that he's working on a new mod: GTA V Redux, that looks just as impressive and is all his own work.

R☆hancer Photorealism Mod

Another photorealism mod, R☆hancer brings a full rework of GTA V's weather including enhanced rain with more particles and better puddles, plus a custom reshade preset for a more realistic look with natural lighting, bloom and fog, improved reflections and shadows, and much more.

Simple Ragdoll

Here's a fun little tweak to finish off with: Simple Ragdoll turns your character into a limp and floppy ragdoll at the touch of a button, which is just perfect for leaping into traffic or tumbling down a steep hillside and enjoying the mayhem that results. The mod might not serve a real practical purpose, but it provides hours of over-the-top entertainment.

Know of any other cool graphics mods for Grand Theft Auto V, or another game on PC? Tell us what your favorite mods are by sharing links or even screenshots of your modded game in the comments section below.