I mean this is coming from someone that played all 5 of the big important games, no Spinoffs.
GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, 4+Liberty City Stories, and 5. And with each game it just gets better and better. Like let me lay it out in summation of how I view each game:
So there it is, and this is why I just think Grand Theft Auto is a franchise that just gets better with each installment.
GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, 4+Liberty City Stories, and 5. And with each game it just gets better and better. Like let me lay it out in summation of how I view each game:
GTA 3: Now look I understand the impact this game had, I really do, on the console scene there was nothing else like it, but in this day and age GTA 3 is just way too dated. When I played the game for the first time on PS2 a few years ago, I was shocked by alot of things, the controls were shit, the game had no map (aside from the mini map) the city was boring, even the story was utterly forgettable, the selection of Radio music was shit and it was HARD, I mean this game had no mercy because of the dated controls and gun mechanics, this wasn't a over the shoulder Gears of War like Control but auto target and it was terrible. But you can tell this was clearly the start of a big thing and it only went uphill from here.
GTA Vice City: Now Vice City is still dated because its essentially a better version of GTA 3, an expansion pack if you will, but this is the game the fully established the look and feel and tone of a Grand Theft Auto game. Humour was funny, voice actors were alot more movie calibur (I mean that had Ray Liotta) City was more vibrant and memorable, the Radio musics was a lot better covering all kinds of genre, V-Rock is still my favorite, chararcters and story were alot better even though the later games exceed it and even though the controls are still the same the gunplay is much improved with a much better lock on system, even though it rendered the gun user OP because you are essentially auto targeting everything with pinpoint accuracy. But this game arguably is even harder than 3, and the hardest and most frustrating missions are the Water Boat missions and Plane missions, because is there water vehicle missions in a game where your character cannot swim and thus if you swim you DROWN and DIE?! Gah it was brutal. But a much better experiance than GTA 3.
GTA San Andreas, the pinnicle of the PS2 era and imo the game that truly solidifyed the gameplay and story presentation of Grand Theft Auto in general. Controls are extremely better, especially if you play the Xbox version with a 360 controller and you can SWIM!!! The story and cutscenes are a lot more engaging than the last 2, I remember Carl "CJ" Johnson and his adventures. The World is fuckin HUGE, 3 Major Cities combined with a MASSIVE countryside, you feel like this is a real place. (Even though it feels weird that the northen part of San Andreas is a Desert) still the sheer amount of Detail and things they added to this world on the PS2 alone, the amount of Vehicles you can drive, the gunplay is better, the skills you can upgrade, the mini games avaliable, all in all you want to know why Open World games are popular, this game play this shit.
GTA 4: The only negative thing that I agree with this game is how much it regressed in terms of what was added in San Andreas, we are back in the "Island City" open world of GTA 3 and Vice City (I mean it feels so weird when you fly high with a Helicopter and all you see is a City surrounded by water) Less vehicle variety and no vehicle custimazation. But this game also gave massive improvements to its core gameplay and its all thanks to the new engine it has, I like the Physics engine of this game, I like how vehicles controls, you can finally call taxies to take you where ever you want as a fast travel system The Shooting mechanics have improved by being like Gears of War/Mass Effect, and while Liberty City mabye smaller and not the massive countryside that was San Andreas, it certainly is not empty, The mini games got better I was surprised at how much I played Bowling and Pool in this game, I like Cell Phone system and I actually like having interactions with charcaters inviting them to do activities, it really helped flesh out the chacraters you meet and humanizes them, I love spending time with Roman, Packie, Brucie, etc. and GTA 4 imo still has the best story of all the games to this date. I loved Niko Bellic and his adventures. Now the Liberty City Stories expansions were also good in thier own right and the improvements it added. Personally I like the Lost and Dammend one better than Ballad of Gay Tony because I loved the homebase you live in and all the activities and mini games you get to do. I think I am way more forgiving of GTA 4 is because it was my first GTA game I played.
GTA 5: What can be said that hasn't been said already? Its basically the game that combines the best of GTA San Andreas (The Massive countryside for one)and GTA 4 (the overall stuff you could do in the world like mini games and activities with Friends) into one glorious game, and to this day I think California is the best setting for Grand Theft Auto period. Its just a much more vibrant and interesting place. The only thing I can't comment on is GTA Online because frankly I haven't played it, but I feel I must have missed out on so much because that is whole half of a game I missed.
So there it is, and this is why I just think Grand Theft Auto is a franchise that just gets better with each installment.
