Rank the GTA Games

1. San Andreas (IV is a better game, but there's just sooo much to see and do in this one, I have to rank it higher. I've probably played this 200 hours)
2. IV
3. Vice City
4. III
5. II (the one that got me hooked, I never imagined it would work in 3D, go figure)

I've never played the first one or any of the "expansions".

Same. I wouldn't even say that IV is a better game. It's more detailed, for sure, and darker in tone, but I can't think of many gameplay elements that IV does better than SA.

1. San Andreas
2. Vice City
3. IV
4. III

IV sucks.

IV
Vice City
San Andreas
Vice City Stories
III

I appreciate how ambitious and open San Andreas is, but it's too sprawling for me to really enjoy for an extended amount of time. Also, I think it has the highest rate of "fuck this stupid game!" missions. While the mission variety isn't so great on IV, I absolutely love the story, characters, and detail of the city.

I was thisclose to putting VCS above San Andreas solely because of the empire building aspect of VCS.

1.San Andreas
2.GTA II
3.GTA IV
4.GTA
(large gap in quality)
5.GTA III

I don't think the story and characters in IV are that good after the first few hours. Nico's supposedly trying to get away from all the violence in his past, yet he does just about anything for anyone if the price is right. The uninteresting mafia stuff in the last third was a major disappointment after the strong start and there's nothing to do after the story is finished. The detail in the city is amazing, though (I'd be willing to cut back on the graphics for a good framerate and less pop-in, but I guess the PC version will take care of that).

I haven't played Vice City, since III was such a disappointment. I tried San Andreas, since it looked like it had something new to offer, and I loved almost everything about it (the multiplayer mod was pretty fun, as well). Now that I've already taken a step back from SA with GTA IV, I might go back and play Vice City.

1. IV
2. Saints Row

Large Gap

3. Vice City
4. San Andreas
5. GTA III

Have not played (yet) Liberty City stories or Vice City stories

IV
San Andreas
Vice City
Liberty City Stories
III
II
I

Never played Vice City Stories.

GTA III is aging like shit.

It's a close call between SA and IV, actually. The big issue is that while IV's missions always bring you to a new place under new circumstances, San Andreas' storyline is moving ever forward, while Niko is often left spinning his wheels, doing it for the paycheck. And that's the very thing that's making GTAIII such a chore to revisit.

Still, IV does so many other things right that it still earns a place at the top of the heap.

Am I the only one that found San Andreas entirely and completely unmanageable? As much fun as it could be, it had no mercy towards the user, whether it be trying to navigate the gigantic world, the poorly implemented RPG-esque features, horrible auto-aiming, the broken save feature (with some truly brutal missions it was horrible!), etc.

**I'm actually going to change my list. San Andreas was better than GTA III.

For me personally:

GTA San Andreas.
GTA Vice City
GTA 4
GTA Liberty City Stories
GTA Vice City Stories
GTA 3

I agree with finncognito about Part 4. San Andreas has so many fun options and additional gameplay modes that I loved playing through it twice at about 80 plus hours each time. I actually had no problems getting the layout of the cities and countryside and hardly had to look at the map at all the second time through so I don't know where Overlord is coming from there. Plus I thought it had the best radio stations, as well as the funniest "talk radio" shows and the best jabs at American culture. Quite possibly my favorite game of all time in fact. Though Goldeneye and God of War come close in obviously different ways.

For my money I liked Vice City over 4 as well due to the storyline, voice acting, interesting characters and setting. And frankly Tommy Vercetti is easily my favorite protagonist in the entire series. While the storytelling is great in GTA 4 Niko's a fucking bore of a character.

IV
san andreas
vice city
gta iii
others


i think vice city has a one up in story on all of them, but when you weigh everything like graphics, gameplay, size of the game itself, ill take iv anyday.

I haven't played San Andreas but I suspect I may enjoy it more than IV. Well maybe.

For all it's sandboxy goodness, there doesn't seem all that much to actually do in IV. You can drive cars and crash them and shoot civilians and then the cops chase after you. Whee. That was fun for maybe an hour. By far the best time I have had in the game was getting into a chopper.

From what I've heard SA gives you jet fighters and more silly things.

My problem with the games was I'm comparing them to Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. That game gave you a city but you could run around throwing cars, climbing up sky scrapers and making a big old mess. That was much more fun for me.

GTA III
Vice City
GTA IV
San Andreas

I haven't played the first two games in the series, but I've liked all of the 3D ones except for San Andreas - I just couldn't get into the story or really invest in any of the characters at all.

Also, strangely enough, as Rockstar has gotten savvier with the music in their games, the inevitable "quantity over quality" problem is rearing its ugly head as the series progresses. I'd rather listen to GTA III's relatively slim selection of fun tunes over SA and IV's onslaught of mediocrity any day.

I think you would dig San Andreas if you can revert back to the ps2 or xbox.

Granted the new cover and combat system works great in 4 but for one thing the mission variety is somewhat better, you can embark on heated gang wars, bet on horse races, play blackjack or slots, customize the look of your character, etc and though graphically it is a bit weak for its time you feel like you are in California in the 90's. There is just so much to do over such a large area that I think it still beats 4. Plus in my mind the idea of essentially being the underworld "king" of a given location, be it San Andreas or Vice City was welcome aspect that was totally lacking in GTA 4.

Also ala Overlord if you include other "sandbox" game to the genre I would say The Godfather and Scarface rank above Liberty and Vice City stories as a game worth your time if you ejnoy that sort of thing.

No love for Just Cause?

You're not alone. That game was the one where the developers completely gave in to the evil, evil urge to cater to their hardcore fanbase, rather than think about bringing in new players. I'm sure the cries of "More, more more!" become deafening after a time, but Jesus. As a casual GTA player, I thought it was a big, bloated mess designed exclusively for the diehards.

In terms of navigation it is no harder or easier to naviagte then any of the other games. The only difference is the the size of the map. Know it, love it.

The rest of the gameplay additions put about all others in the series, GTA 4's detail be damned.

Though in hindsight for some the Garmin should have been used in GTA SA first.

GTA IV's GPS system is great. I love the shiteating voice they use. "Please make a U-Turn when it is safe!"

Anyway:

1. GTA IV. Top of the food chain. Genetically different.

2. San Andreas, for that West Coast verisimilitude. Whole bunch of other reasons. Best initial loading screens/music of all the games, too.

3. Vice City

4. GTA III

And respect to Bully mentions.

I'm not getting the hate for SA's giant-ness...It's like a scaled down version of the actual layout of those particular three cities...at least that's how I looked at it.

Just spawn a jetpack and memorize the the map. Took me a couple hours.

I'm not judging them as games now - i'm judging them as how I remember feeling whilst playing them, since GTA3 is now incredibly, incredibly poor.

1. GTA3
2. GTA2
3. VCity
4. SAndreas
5. GTA4
6. VCStories
7. LCStories
8. GTA1

At the time, GTA3 was nothing short of incredible. You can't go back now, because it's been bettered. But there's still not quite that sense of "wow" that there was then.

GTA2 was the last to have multiplayer for a while. It was incredible. Introduced us properly to the humour of the series and looked so much better than 1.

Vice City's story was fantastic and ripped off so many great films. The setting was great and had some inspired missions. Some truly terrible ones too.

San Andreas was massive, but to go from Vegas to the middle of the desert, back to civilisation is just too good to miss. Claiming back Turf was a pain, as was eating and keeping in shape. But minor faults to a brilliant sandbox game.

The rest were just competant, the Stories episodes working technically well, but not quite doing it for me. GTA1, whilst funny, wasn't ever really much of an experience for me, even then.

GTA IV is my top pick, hands down. Just because it offers both a great and intricate story and actually improves a lot of mechanics which had been holding back the series. There's certainly a derth of things to do in comparison to San Andreas, but the sheer viscera of the combat and driving and way the world holds together means I've had way more fun with Niko than CJ. It's just little things like the cover system and effect of gunfire on pedestrians and vehicles that makes even the dull missions kind of fun.

I also absolutely adore the music in GTA IV and it's the one complaint I can't get my head around. Every song ing GTA 4 fits Liberty City perfectly in my mind and I can literally cruise around with any radio station on and still find something I like.

As for the others

2) San Andreas
3) Vice City
4) GTA III
5) VC Stories
6) GTA II
7) LC Stories

1. San Andreas - CJ is by far the best protagoinist and had the biggest variation of missions. Plus beating someone to death dressed in a gimp suit with a dildo - gold!. The only thing i hated was the "learn to fly" missions.

2. GTA 4 am loving it - but the tone is a lot darker than the "fun" SA

3. Vice City - The radio stations made this one. But in comparison SA and GTA 4 its showings it age.

4. Vice City stories - still playing through it on the psp - much love for this.

5. Liberty city stories - prefered it to GTA 3 for some reason.

6. GTA 1 - still dust it off from time to time when i'm doing stuff on the pc.

7. GTA III - not all that keen on this one - didnt even finish it.

8. GTA II hated it.

Well, I'm behind the times. In fact, I'm just working my way through San Andreas now. And, man, it's an unwieldy game for the casual gamer. There's just so much to be aware of at any given moment. Don't get me wrong: I'm doing all right with it, but it drives me bonkers when I'm heading somewhere and I suddenly receive notice that Ballas are invading my turf. But my biggest beef is the auto-targeting. Is it just me or is it awful under tight situations? On numerous occasions, I've gone to shoot a rival gang member and CJ has shot straight up into the air instead! I'm guessing that it's some glitch having to do with CJ and the gang member standing to close to each other. It's been the death of me ("wasted") on more than one play.

As for my list:
(1) Vice City - I'm a sucker for the whole 80s thing, so it had me right there.
(2) San Andreas - Crap targeting aside, the game's got me firmly in its clutches.
(3) GTA III - Hasn't held up over time, but a classic nonetheless.

I don't have a next gen console or the PSP, so I can't rank GTA IV or the "Stories" games.

Both Stories games have been ported over to the PS2 so if you are interested you can probably pick them up used for like 12 bucks.

San Andreas - Starting out, I spent a couple hours just criming about town trying to earn enough money for an afro. This was far more entertaining than it should be. The scope it epic, the story well played (damn you Smoke!), the environment sprawling. Is it just more, more, more? Well yes, but it's also way more fun. Get a couple homies to ride with, jack a lowrider, and do drive-by's. Really, the criminal aspect is played up to it's fullest, most entertaining quotient here. And it's the >crime< that people like about GTA, sandbox be damned.

GTA3 - Hasn't aged well, maybe, but damned if I'm not playing through it right now, and it still entertains mightily. I attribute this to two things: the environmental progression (opening up first the urban core and then the suburbs somehow feels more rewarding than any other GTA) and the fake pop music (which absolutely kills me, and I wish they still did). It's like the perfect balance between the original GTA's awesome arcade sensibility and the emergent sandbox, 'real-world' idea.

IV - By far the most impressive, and yet not as fun (save for the multiplayer, which >can< be transcendent with the right group of people, with the right settings). Jacking a helicopter and being amazed by the digital creation of Liberty City is obviously on another level, but when it comes down to the gameplay, it seems a bit too forced. I don't know, I must be getting old because this is a problem I have with a lot of 'next-gen' games: they just don't seem as much fun to me. I like arcade style mayhem, and this one gives you simulation-level stress. I'd rather cause chaos in a firetruck than pick my buddy up for dinner any day. A personal perspective, to be sure, and I both appreciate and enjoy the ambition behind the game. I just wish it was more fun (and I'm sure as the next-gen iteration advance, we'll see the chaos seep back into the series).

GTA - GOURANJAAAA! Straightforward, simple, entertaining as hell. I wish all the games offered a zoomed out overheard perspective.

Vice City - While it has some of the most entertaining scripted missions, I just didn't like fucking around in the flat, mostly linear city of Vice City, to the point that I never got to the second half of the game. This, evidently, is when it becomes entirely worthwhile, so I'm working on that at the moment. We shall see.

GTA 2 - not played. But the idea of a GTA set in the future is very appealing to me, and something I hope DMA/Rockstar considers in the future.

GTA IV's Free Mode and Online Play pretty much trump any other Grand Theft Auto game in terms of sheer fun in my view. Just dicking around with Helicopters near the Empire State Building with a couple of buddies and a six star wanted rating is fucking awesome.

1. IV
2. VC
3. III
4. II
5. SA
6. I
7. London
8. LC Stories

What???

Explain (the bold I mean).

I've honestly never considered any of the GTA's to have really good gameplay to be honest. Too buggy, interface is too sloppy, those horrible save spots take out the fun, and missions from III up until IV (admittedly, I've only played that one a couple of nights over at a friend's) never stray from 'go there, kill those guys, get out of there'. There've definitely been other games in its wake that have refined the formula, gameplay-wise (Scarface f.e.).

But the appeal to me lies in the sandbox environment, which is why San Andreas is my favourite up till now. I haven't even finished it yet, although I'm in the final stages for about 2 years now. But everytime I load it up, I end up cruising the map with some good music on, occasionally getting into mischief then fleeing to safer grounds-rinse-repeat. The sprawling map is perfect for that, since the chance of crashing yr car in the desert or countryside is so low. The story was entertaining enough for a while (gotta love The Truth!) but in the end I sorta not care that much anymore to see how it ends.

Vice City gets some points though for being the perfect '80s pulp homage/satire. Though the references in SA & IV are inspired at times, they never hit that perfect note again. Vice City just feels the most consistent in that respect.

Anyone still looking to have some fun in San Andreas, I would recommend doing a multiplayer mission and then spawning two jetpacks.

I gotta say, I don't think GTA is about the gameplay, it's about the experience. Which, in my estimation, makes it a really remarkable series of games.

If you mean why it's in a GTA ranking, it's tongue in cheek.

If you mean "why do I like it", it's because it and GTA IV fixed many of the gameplay problems that were crippling and awful: starting missions over not at the beginning, but before the beginning, lack of save points, free aiming option, etc.

ahahaha this guy




(For the record, I agree. And SR2 looks like it's going to be retarded awesome.)