GTA III vs Vice City vs San Andreas vs GTA IV vs GTA V

[1987_Lakers]

My rankings...
1. GTA V
2. GTA San Andreas
3. GTA Vice City
4. GTA 3
5. GTA IV

After playing GTA 5 for over a week I've come to the conclusion that it is the best GTA game I have ever played. Amazing map, great story, endless things to do, multiple characters, great game play. GTA San Andreas is right behind it, when I first played San Andreas I was blown away by the map and the multiple things that you can do, but V is ahead for its better story mode. GTA 3 was revolutionary, but compared to the other GTA games it is limited. Vice City is the GTA game that got me hooked to the series, not as versatile as San Andreas & V, but it had a great story mode, great characters, and a very nice environment. GTA IV was probably the biggest disappointment for me, although it is still a very good game the story mode wasn't interesting and it felt very limited compared to San Andreas. Something about Liberty City just feels like I'm playing in a box while in free roam (III & IV).

How would you rank the 5 games?

[plowking]

GTA 4 was undoubtedly the worst. It actually wasn't a great game.

Just to get a little off topic, am I the only one who thought Red Dead Redemption is better than all of them?

[knickballer]

To me i'd rate them the same(all of them are great) mainly because I due the same thing in each of the games like smash skulls and drive like a lunatic.

I thought 4 was the best though because of the graphics. really eye opening at the time although it wasn't as deep as San Andreas.

[Suguru101]

GTA 4 was undoubtedly the worst. It actually wasn't a great game.

Just to get a little off topic, am I the only one who thought Red Dead Redemption is better than all of them?

Definitely not the only one.

The setting and story formulas of GTA have gotten less interesting for me, i just can't be bothered to play more than 10 minutes at a time of GTA V.

Red Dead just felt so fresh and intriguing..

[plowking]

Definitely not the only one.

The setting and story formulas of GTA have gotten less interesting for me, i just can't be bothered to play more than 10 minutes at a time of GTA V.

Red Dead just felt so fresh and intriguing..

Yeah.

The setting, environments, and the characters in particular made you care for them. Graphics were great, a bunch of cool features like dead eye, great online, etc.

Seriously one of the best games I've ever played.

[HarryCallahan]

In order of personal enjoyment:

1. Vice City
2. GTA V
3. GTA III
4. San Andreas
5. GTA IV

[Bucket_Nakedz]

for now...

1. san andreas
2. red dead
3. vice city

v i have yet to scratch the surface, but has potential. i don't care about the others

[goldcrow]

1. Gta 5
2. Gta vice city
3. Gta San Andreas
4. Gta 3
5. Gta 4

GTA Vice City had the best story abd sound track so far but GTA is just pretty damn cool.

[blablabla]

1. Vice City
2. GTA IV
3. San Andreas
4. V (this might change with the introduction of GTA Online)
5. GTA III

[CeltsGarlic]

Vice City and SA.

Havent tried V yet.. next month probably.

[Thorpesaurous]

GTA 4 was undoubtedly the worst. It actually wasn't a great game.

Just to get a little off topic, am I the only one who thought Red Dead Redemption is better than all of them?

Vice City
V
San Andreas
IV
III

And I too would put Red Dead ahead of all of them.

Vice City did was the most satirical of the bunch, and that's my favorite part about these games. And the satire was built into the story more, and relied less on me having to watch TV or something. And the celebrity voice acting in Vice City was a great touch at the time. I've said this many times, but I think tieing the game to a time and place, like 80s Miami, or 90s LA, helped the game.
I haven't finished this one yet, but it's much more clever than IV was, and the controls have improved notably, and I agree with what was said about Liberty City just not feeling like a great map to play a game on. My only gripe with these games as they went along is that while there's a ton of stuff to do, a lot of it just isn't particularly fun beyond that first time. It's like they got too big.


After a little time to sit with V, and having run my way through The Last of Us and now have a little perspective, I think I'm willing to say Red Dead is the best game of this console generation for me. I don't have an XBox, so I can't comment on Left 4 Dead, Halo, or really the Mass Effect Series (which not being able to play the first eliminated me from the multi platform sequels), but right now gun to my head I'd RDR, TLoU, Uncharted II, GTAV is my mount rushmore of the PS3. With some serious consideration for Dead Space, both Batman games, and a few other things.

[Scholar]

1. GTA V
2. GTA SA
3. GTA IV
4. GTA VC
5. GTA III

I still say GTA IV is my favorite because of the in-depth character build of Niko Bellic, but gameplay-wise, I can't deny that SA & V top it.

[DetroitPiston]

V
San Andreas
Vice City
III
IV

V's three characters at once made gameplay more interesting, and allowed you to focus on the respective characters lives. San Andreas was fun but there were points where it went over the top (Eating at intervals) and parts where the story felt rushed.

And Rockstar in general makes awesome games, let's just agree to that. Now if Agent can ever come out I'd be happy.

[LJJ]

No point really comparing across generations, but 5 is a pretty large step up from both 4 and Red Dead Redemption.

[Wally450]

Fun fact: there's a helicopter in the top left corner of each cover.