Which GTA game should I play first?

I just picked up all three off Steam. I've heard San Andreas is the best, but would I get a bigger appreciation for it if I play III and Vice first? Tell me!

GTA 3 was important but VIce City is so much better. I'd maybe play GTA3 for a little bit just to see it but play through Vice City. 

San andreas since that game is damn fun

None of those.  If you've never played a GTA game before start with 4 and work your way back.  4 may or may not be the best in the series but it plays the best especially from a modern gaming mindset.

GTA is a series where you can just play any, doesnt need to be in order

Although if your adamant in playing them all i recommened going in order

i.e. GTA 3, then VC, then SA, because graphically obviously it improves, it will be strange otherwise.

The correct answer to this question is...wait for the steam sale, then you won't have to worry about playing them as you'll have a million other games you're not playing.
 
However, I did vote for San Andreas, and it still stands.

Vice city because it is my favorite of the three.

Vice City is my personal favourite, just because it has the best setting and cars. San Andreas is a safe bet though, and most people's favourite GTA.

San Andreas is everything Vice City should have been. It's the same core game, only with everything better and bigger, much better and bigger. 
 
go for San Andreas and have a fucking blast! enjoy yourself

GTA III definitely....if you play Vice City or San Andreas first you will never finish III because it hasn't aged as well as the other 2.

San andreas, the rest are practically implayable without a gamepad. San andreas is playable and it's the best of the series. Vice city is the most liked version though, but san andreas technically is the superior game.

I would probably go chronologically just to see how the series progressed. My personal favorite was Vice City, but San Andreas was great as well. I liked GTA III for its innovation at the time, but I do remember getting frustrated to no end on some of the missions. Still worth a play if you can tolerate the lack of an auto-aim. Just stay clear of the water until San Andreas.

GTA III definitely....if you play Vice City or San Andreas first you will never finish III because it hasn't aged as well as the other 2.

Play GTAIII first. Playing it before VC and SA is the only way to enjoy it.

Vice is the only one out of those I'd bother with today tbh.

If you're going to play all three, it only makes sense to start at III and work your way through it chronologically. Playing SA and going back to III, you'll probably feel like you're wasting your time.

VICE CITY BAY BEE YEAH!!!!!

I am surprised Vice City is winning out because it seems most people seem to think San Adreas is the best. I personally love GTA Vice City. The whole buying property and doing missions to increase revenue from that property thing was really cool, and doing the side missions and collecting hidden packages actually benefited you in the game. I kind of hope they put some of this stuff in the next GTA. Just dont want them to go back to the RPG stuff from GTA: SA.

I remember trying to play GTA3 after playing Vice City and couldn't do it. I found it really boring and lifeless. I'm not saying it's a bad game, it was probably one of the greatest at the time, but after Vice City, it can't compare. Then there was San Andreas, which I consider even better than that.

So I don't think you should play GTA3. Vice City vs San Andreas is mostly a question of which setting interests you the most. But nothing stops you from getting both. If you do, you might as well start with the older one.

Edit: Oh sorry, should have taken the time to read the post haha. Since you bought all three, just play them chronologically.

I think you should start with 3 otherwise 3 may be a little unbearable.

Vice City, favorite of the 3. But I never put much time into San Andreas.

I think I would start with San Andreas. It was one of my favorites, a great world, and interesting story. I know you said you just bought it, but for anyone who hasn't, it is on sale on Steam TODAY for $3.75, which is insane.

Edit: yeah, if you are going to play through all of them anyway, just start with the first. It would be pretty jarring to go from San Andreas to GTA3.

I think Vice City is a good start. It's the game that really got me into the series.

I played in order and it gets better the more recent the game.

If you play San Andreas first, Vice City and III might seem lacking.

San Andreas is a lot of fun 

Play them in order.

Saints Row 2.

San Andreas is the funnest. But Vice was the first proper one. GTA3 is pretty skippable, but has some links with San Andreas's story.

Vice City is the best GTA so that.

Grand Theft Auto 2 is the correct answer.

Vice City is my favourite, I would go for San Andreas though, because the gameplay is much better in that one (Vice City is not a great console port in terms of shooting).

Start from III, then VC, then SA. You'll get a better feeling of improvement. Although I think San Andreas is the best game of the three, the setting and mood of Vice City is spectacular. I don't think many games can be as captivating as Vice City.

Go with vice city then move onto san andreas. You can skip 3.

@jadeskye said:

Go with vice city then move onto san andreas. You can skip 3.

Yeah, GTA III represents a major moment in video game history, imo. However, I think it might be a bit difficult to go back to. Vice City and San Andreas though are still pretty enjoyable.

Start with Vice City, GTA 3 is extremely hard to go back to, Vice City still holds up though.

Start with Vice City, GTA 3 is extremely hard to go back to, Vice City still holds up though.

GTA: Vice City, it's where I started the GTA franchise and as far as I'm concerned it's the best GTA starting point. I also think Vice City is the best GTA.

GTA 2 like I did! Or Vice City...

GTA 3 and Vice City were great at the time, but the controls, combat mechanics and AI are hopelessly outdated. They are damn nigh unplayable if you lack any sort of nostalgia for them. The humour is fantastic, the characters are very memorable and the radio stations are nothing short of amazing, but this is true for all GTA games. 
 
My vote goes to San Andreas. It has the most depth, the best humour, the largest world, the most ridiculous action and the most memorable cast. Also, you can fly choppers and jet fighters, which is quite incredible.
 
I played through GTA4 once and liked it well enough, but it has a very uneven tone. Going from extremely goofy cut scenes to very dark story moments. I'd recommend playing this as your second GTA game.

III was so great back in the day. It was everything I ever wanted from GTA games ever since the first one. But like other people have said it's virtually unplayable after Vice City. VC just improved everything about the series. San Andreas I never liked as much. The map just seemed way too big and there were too many things to keep track of. I stopped playing it after I got to the flight school stuff.

Funny thing about the first two games was that I never actually played any missions in those games. I would just run/drive around causing havoc and exploring the cities. And then later on I added a bunch of insane cars into the games (mostly the first one) and caused even more havoc. Good times were had.

Vice city. By the end of that game you was fucking king of the city. SA lacked that a bit..by the end of SA you was still some ghetto thug and nothing had changed. 3 is probably a bit unplayable very frustrating missions.

The only one worth playing. GTA IV. The rest are crap.

I'd say go in order, though personally I found Vice CIty to be my favorite of the older GTA games.

.....I...I...I can't... I just can't.... You win this round.

San Andreas or Vice City. GTA 3 is good too but a little outdated by today's standards. Anything older than that doesn't really hold up that well.

GTA IV is okay, especially if you like the more serious tone of it compared to the dumb "summer action movie" tone of the others I listed. I think the my biggest problem with GTA IV was that the driving just wasn't were it should have been, and you lost a lot of the stuff that made the older games so fun (not counting the story stuff)

Vice City. Also there has been so much necroing lately.

@daveyo520: Makes you wonder how people are going about it...Google?