Game of the Generation Preliminaries: Grand Theft Auto IV vs. V

V No Doubt

IV doesn't even come close to V. I actually had fun playing through V.

There's really nothing to say. Grand Theft Auto V is massively better than IV. IV was just completely terrible.

Gee Tee A Five

I'm a big defender of IV, but I don't know if I can ever go back to it now. V is just that good.

I didn't hate GTA 4, but it has its fair share of problems, and while I thought GTA 5 could have been better on the story front, with more implementation of Red Dead and Max Payne 3 shooting mechanics, GTA 5 is a much better, more accessible game than four.

I don't think this one needed a vote like AC2 vs Brotherhood or ME1 vs ME2.

Because really the only aspect where GTA V doesn't necessarily trounce GTA IV is the story.

IV is probably more important to the generation as a whole, but F IV. V is a better game is EVERY way.

There were so many moments in IV that provoked an emotional response, be it making me want to shout "Holy Shit" at the TV, or gut wrenching moral choices. The only moment that gave me any kind of emotional response in V was the torture scene. V is a better game than in so many ways, but IV has to win.

Hmm, this is more one sided than I anticipated. I'll check back in an hour or two and if GTA V still has a commanding lead then I might call it early.

4 is one of the best games this generation, to hell with the rearview haters on this game.

but if we're choosing a game to represent the series, its easily 5, 5 is the better game in every way,

Another I prefer one but the other is probably the better more deserving game. I prefer 5 but 4 is the winner.

honestly, neither.

V

I feel like this should be Red Dead Redemption vs GTA V. IV is just way too clunky to consider being a Game of the Generation.

IV was more impressive in 2008 than V was in 2013

For the time 4 was better than 5. That's probably because I actually liked the driving in 4 so half of the game felt fun instead of a slog, but gta 5 never had the same spark for me that i got from 4.

I thought GTA IV was middling in 2008 and I think GTA V really took GTA in the right direction. There might have been problems with specific beats in V's story but overall I think it was a much more coherent and well told story that I believed. I just never bought Niko as a character at all.

Everything I've seen of V makes it seem like the game GTA IV should've been. An expansive and detailed city, multiple protagonists, a better balance between serious and funny, more developed multiplayer.

In a couple of important ways, GTA IV felt like a step backwards from San Andreas.

Eh. The deal is I'm a sucker for story. The mechanics around it I can tolerate if they're bad, but if the story is bad and the mechanics aren't the best ever, odds are I might quit in the middle of it. With GTA V I did play through to the bitter end but only because I wanted to finish a game for the first time in ages. I think IV has, with ease, the superior story. Ergo I played it with much more enthusiasm than I did V after say the first few hours.

I am on the losing end of almost all these votes.

It's interesting that instead of the "most important" route that's the norm for these conversations, we've gone the other way. I like it, although it means that this list will be dominated by sequels rather than the more seminal titles of greater historic value.

I'd agree with this.

V is obviously the better playing game by today's standards but it doesn't even close to sticking with me the same way that GTA IV did.

GTA IV had a much better radio soundtrack. Not in terms of personal taste, but in terms of it being more varied. There was even a jazz station!

My favorite stations had to be Jazz Nation Radio, ElectroChoc (barring Gay Tony's additions; horrendous), and The Journey.

While those are my favorites offhand, I liked most of what the radio had to offer anyways.

V but I do like Niko

No doubt I think GTA V will win this if only because now we're in that swing of being critical of IV and hot and heavy about V but looking back I think IV did way more for games and the franchise than V ever will. V has polish/refinement and a new batch of characters that are probably as well acted but that's it whereas IV was monumental in pushing Rockstar forward as a developer and being another tip of the spear example of storytelling in games at the time.

Does the gameplay hold up for IV? Eh, not really overall. I think it holds up personally but it's undeniable that people are responding strongly to the polish of V and some people had hang-ups with the story in IV (those people are crazy but whatever) so I don't presume that about IV; however even if we assume the efforts are more or less analogous, then IV is still more of banger compared to V.

I'll throw my hat into this camp as well. I'm okay with V winning but I feel like I've said my part and that's that.

I liked 4 a whole hell of a lot, and the multiplayer was better. It had a better story and a more interesting city. The gameplay and missions weren't as good, but it was a better experience.

Five was just another GTA game; four was a huge leap for the genre. Five is better in technical merit; four is better in artistic merit. It's a toss up for me but I think four is more important so my vote goes to four.

I love Trevor and Michael and Jimmy aka Jizzle but Niko and cousin Roman are better. And the ending music was way better in 4. Yuck it sucked in 5, feh.

Both are great, but I had so much more fun playing V than I did IV. So V gets my vote.

I dont even wanna vote, because I know what's going to happen and it's going to make me feel sad (gta4 losing by a lot)...

Sigh... Okay, here I go.

Replaying both games side by side in the past couple of weeks it's easy to give V the nod here.

I still really like GTA IV for what they tried to do, but GTA V is better in almost every way.

Neither one

V is more fun to play, plain and simple. IV stopped being fun the minute the story ended.

V wins in all accounts, granted 4 has a better story but only because 5 didn't really had one and it didn't need one. Great dialogue, gameplay, characters,visuals,etc. IV is a big fish in a little pond but V is a whale in a tear drop.

Super Mario Galaxy. Or Rayman Legends.

Haha I'm adding nothing to this discussion but I honestly don't think GTA ever belongs in a "best of" anything. Except maybe fleshed out worlds to do dumb things in, I guess.

IV was much, much more important as an example of building a believable open-world on a scale that had never been done before. V refined everything that IV put in motion, had a much cooler hook to the gameplay and story, and a TON of memorable characters. IV had some great characters, don't get me wrong, but it seems like everybody in V was very well-written, barring some minor characters. Not to mention the fact that all three of GTAV's protagonists were incredibly engaging on a personal and motivational level, whereas it seemed like Niko, Luis, and to a lesser extent Johnny, did not always line up in terms of motivations versus the things they're actually doing. Nothing that the boys in V were doing seemed out of character, whereas after a while, Niko was dealing with people he didn't even need to be (Italian Mafia), and Luis just doing random dumb stuff like parachuting and drug dealing with his friends, the former which is never really explained why, and the latter isn't either, but worse than that, he explicitly states to them how he doesn't want to get involved in drug running for fear of going back to jail.

Sorry for the text wall, folks.

V is better than IV in every way. So I vote for that.

But neither is as good as Red Dead Redemption.

I'm just gonna call it now. Red Dead Redemption for Game of the Generation.

Red Dead Redemption is so goddamn good, you guys.

I like red dead but I didn't like the ending and the Mexico part was just boring imo.

I actually managed to finish GTAV without completely losing interest, so there's that.

I thought GTA V was better than IV in just about every way and I really enjoyed IV.

IV had the better story/main character but V beats it in every other conceivable way.

Listen to this man!

My thoughts too duder. I preferred the tone of GTA IV's story, but the mechanics in GTA V are so, so much better.

The battle of GTAs comes to an end with Grand Theft Auto V coming out victorious with 77% of the vote and 334 votes cast.