I enjoyed the driving in IV, to be honest. It did take some time getting used to it, but once I got good at the driving it actually felt like I had gotten skillful in something. The driving in Saints Row is fine, but for me I feel like the handling is almost too easy. As far as the seriousness, I think they should keep it serious. Saints Row is there to fulfill needs for batshit crazy games, Grand Theft Auto should continue to try to tell more serious stories.

@Cloudenvy said:

I think the "bring back the crazy" is in general kind of a bad point now that we have Saint's Row for that.

I'd personally rather have GTA stay serious now so we can have both types of games. : )

Also, claiming people that do not agree with your opinion are drunk or flat out stupid is a sure way to make people disregard your entire opinion.

I couldn't agree more with this.

I have my crazy humorous open world crime game. I don't need gta to do that. GTAIV was fantastic and a total triumph. It would be stupid to turn around now and revert to old ways. If you really feel the need to blow up police cars with a bazooka or dildo fight in the streets or spawn helicopters out of no where to crash into buildings, that game already exsists. You have to extremes already, and you want to put them both on the same extreme. Don't be stupid

And in case you didn't notice, the GTA titles on PS2 had a serious story line with humor in it, JUST like GTAIV.

@Master_Prophet: No offense bro, but everything you listed is simply what Saints Row has become and I like the differentiation between the two franchises now. I personally loved the realism that GTA 4 boasted and I seriously hope it sticks to it in the upcoming game.

I feel you on this one:

1. Improve the driving

But my next one would be

2. Excise the hanging-on useless arcade/funhouse elements and make the serious narrative game they've tried to make since GTA3.

@Master_Prophet said:

3. Don't focus so much on a multiplayer aspect. I'd rather see the development team spend more time on making a great single-player campaign then dump there time into a throw away mutliplayer component. Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer was a joke. Let's be honest. And in a world where only games like Halo and Call of Duty are really played competitively online, lets stop while we are ahead. I'm all ok with a freemode, but that's about it. Unless Rockstar can blow my mind and make a decent multiplayer like Red Dead Redemption, but I doubt that's the case here.

I have a lot to say on the subject of GTA so I think I'll write a larger piece about it later but I wanted to focus on this point for a second. The complaint here is that they focussed too much on multiplayer, yet the multiplayer was a joke. The multiplayer is likely a joke because they didn't think about it at all. They basically said, "Can players connect to each other? Yes? Then make sure there are a handfull of game modes and put a bullet point on the back of the box that says 16 players online."

I'd like to see them double down and actually think about how to make multiplayer good. Imagine if it was like Dark Souls. When you phone for back up in your single player game instead of AI guys showing up other players join your game. Or someone joins your game with the objective of following you while you are on a mission and jumping you. That would be way more interesting than deathmatch or street racing.

The terrible driving made me quit GTA IV after the first mission. For a game that has you driving so much, if you can't get that right, I'm not interested in playing.

5. Bring back some hilarity to balance out the serious tone. One of the biggest things that bothered me about Grand Theft Auto IV was the insanely serious tone 90% of the time. The tone was so serious in IV that anytime a joke was cracked or something was played off as being funny it came out of no where and misfired. The DLC tried to add humor and at times it was funny, but at times it was just completely distasteful (digital penis anyone?). But bring back the crazy things, like jetpacks and bizarre weapons.

4. Bring back some of the fun arcade elements like Rampages. There were always some pretty cool side-mission things in the earlier GTA's, that fell off on the wayside with IV. I'd love to see Rampages and some of the other cool side-missions you can discover to bring a nice distraction to the series, not to mention something more fun to do then simply run around and shoot pigeons as a collectible. Those "hidden package" pigeons really sucked.

3. Don't focus so much on a multiplayer aspect. I'd rather see the development team spend more time on making a great single-player campaign then dump there time into a throw away mutliplayer component. Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer was a joke. Let's be honest. And in a world where only games like Halo and Call of Duty are really played competitively online, lets stop while we are ahead. I'm all ok with a freemode, but that's about it. Unless Rockstar can blow my mind and make a decent multiplayer like Red Dead Redemption, but I doubt that's the case here.

2. Fix the driving! Anyone who claimed that GTA IV's driving mechanic was the best, they were simply drunk or just flat out stupid. I shouldn't hop in a car and feel like I'm driving on a thin sheet of ice at all times. That would make sense with it raining or snowing in the game, but not when it's Sunny outside. Seriously, the driving in IV was abysmal to say the least. It was so awful I never finished the races for Brucie. Saint's Row has a nice driving mechanic, I hope that Rockstar has been paying attention to them.

And the number one thing?

1. DON'T BE LIKE GRAND THEFT AUTO IV! Honestly, it's time to move on Rockstar. You had your fun making a serious entry into a series that has never been serious or never was meant to be, but it's time to move on. Grand Theft Auto IV was never a perfect game, it always felt like an 8/10 in my opinion, but Rockstar has had a nice break between games and really came into their own with Red Dead Redemption, a game that I still think is that studio's masterpiece. I'd love to see them climb back to the top with Grand Theft Auto V. I really hope they do a new location too. Revisiting Liberty City was a nice change of pace, but it's time to do something unique and cool. And bring back the MASSIVE world style that was in San Andreas, because that was awesome. Overall though Rockstar, just don't be anything like GTA IV.

The terrible driving made me quit GTA IV after the first mission. For a game that has you driving so much, if you can't get that right, I'm not interested in playing.

The - fucking - framerate.

@mcderby4: No offense bro, but San Andreas, Vice City, and 3 offered the same sense of realism at times, while also having a crazy side. I see no reason that GTA V should exclude this.

@ThePhantomnaut: Using the brake isn't a good enough excuse to shadow up the absolutely poor driving mechanics offered in GTA IV.

Screw that noise. The driving is GTA4's final saving throw for me. I loved it and hope it continues to be like that. Hell, I preferred San Andreas when your driving skill was at zero, and I used trainers to lock it that way. I wonder if some people just don't know how to brake properly and use the thumbstick to look where they're turning. The main problem with driving in GTA4 was that the massive number of right angled intersections are hard to take at speed, but that's because it's set in a New York analog. Even LA Noire's driving was too arcadey; unlike Mafia2's alternate more realistic driving mode which made everything too slick. GTA4's model still has inertia but doesn't make you spin out all over the place if you accelerate too hard while going too slowly.
 
I also hope they're smart enough to make the game hardcore as hell, but allow the Joe Codplayers to play in a casual mode where cars turn on a dime and you never have to eat or exercise and have all the open world mayhem options available through cheats so they don't have to play through the game since they usually don't have any interest in the stories anyway. Sam Houser fucking wanted the cars to have to refuel in GTA4, but knew the kiddies would hate it. That's the type of GTA I want. Sim the hell out of it for those who want to role-play.

@Master_Prophet said:

@mcderby4: No offense bro, but San Andreas, Vice City, and 3 offered the same sense of realism at times, while also having a crazy side. I see no reason that GTA V should exclude this.

And yet 4 was the most critically acclaimed and easily the best one besides Vice City.

other then fixing driving controls and staying away from multiplayer you are making that franchise do the exact opposite of what I want it to do GTA4 is the best GTA out there lets keep going down that path we have Saints Row for crazy

@MrKlorox said:

Screw that noise. The driving is GTA4's final saving throw for me. I loved it and hope it continues to be like that. Hell, I preferred San Andreas when your driving skill was at zero, and I used trainers to lock it that way. I wonder if some people just don't know how to brake properly and use the thumbstick to look where they're turning. The main problem with driving in GTA4 was that the massive number of right angled intersections are hard to take at speed, but that's because it's set in a New York analog. Even LA Noire's driving was too arcadey; unlike Mafia2's alternate more realistic driving mode which made everything too slick. GTA4's model still has inertia but doesn't make you spin out all over the place if you accelerate too hard while going too slowly. I also hope they're smart enough to make the game hardcore as hell, but allow the Joe Codplayers to play in a casual mode where cars turn on a dime and you never have to eat or exercise and have all the open world mayhem options available through cheats so they don't have to play through the game since they usually don't have any interest in the stories anyway. Sam Houser fucking wanted the cars to have to refuel in GTA4, but knew the kiddies would hate it. That's the type of GTA I want. Sim the hell out of it for those who want to role-play.being dragged on the ground

Having to refuel sounds instense I can't say I'd have like it but man the posiblities of actually having to take care of your car instead of it being just one random object in the world specially a game that's so focused on driving, the handling GTA IV was awesome hell I'd say even better than some racing games where it fells you're just draggin a big box on the ground instead of an actual mass with responsive weight I hope they keep that for GTA V one of the most fun moments I had with IV was just crusing through the city and driving like the friggin Transporter on missions.

I didnt mind driving in GTA IV and I beat the game just last summer...  

@Djratchet said:

The terrible driving made me quit GTA IV after the first mission. For a game that has you driving so much, if you can't get that right, I'm not interested in playing.

But driving is one of the best parts about GTA IV =[

Anyone who said the driving in GTA IV was bad just sucked at it. It felt really weird at first, but half way through that game I was swerving in and out of traffic like Ryan Gosling in a scorpion jacket. The driving was great.

If I screw up a mission, don't you DARE make me drive all the way back to where the mission starts to try again.  And on the same note, if I finish a part of a mission, and the next part involves more driving, don't you DARE make me start the entire mission all over again.

@Landon said:

Anyone who said the driving in GTA IV was bad just sucked at it. It felt really weird at first, but half way through that game I was swerving in and out of traffic like Ryan Gosling in a scorpion jacket. The driving was great.

Exactly. The driving obviously isn't of the quality of a "racing sim," but it's such a vast improvement over the GTA3 games, that it's utterly ridiculous that some people would think otherwise. Oh right, I forgot. Thanks to the power of nostalgia, GTA3--and especially San Andreas--have become near flawless entities.

I truly believe that the GTA franchise finally came unto its own with IV, moving away from the "shocking murder simulator" label the franchise was original known for, and provided an engaging narrative that practically served as a subversion of the GTA games. The Saints Row games are fun (and I really did like that last one), but I never left any of them the same way I left GTAIV when it ended. The fact that there are people who wish Rockstar would go backwards to the GTA games of old is absolutely ludicrous.

@cexantus: EXACTLY. They stepped up the writing and the internet screamed for jetpacks. Way to go, video games' lowest common denominators.

They could make the shooting not shitty

THE DRIVING WAS AWESOME!!!

This just seems like you are venting your hatred for the changes made in GTAIV. Personally, I couldn't get into any of the earlier GTA's and I fell in love with IV so I hope it's like that with less phone calls and better on foot shooting controls

I disagree with every single points the OP mentions.

Sounds like you want Saints Row, which is cool because Saints Row exist. Crazy stuff i know.

I disagree with pretty much every point. Actually, make that I disagree with all your points. I loved the balance they struck between the serious and the humor in IV, and the single player didn't suffer at all because of the multiplayer. Likewise, the driving was far from abysmal. It wasn't perfect, but it was miles better than the previous GTA games; it just took some getting used to.

Personally I hope to see more like GTA IV, with the lessons applied from RDR, in V.

For my ideas Go to GTA wiki Brooklynguido42 blog and yes i would like the sidemission from the GTA III era back

I also disagree with your whole list. I just hope V is better than IV was and I'm sure Rockstar will improve. Red Dead Redemption was incredible writing wise and I hope they carry that on.

Also, people who hate the driving in IV are just like the who say the horses in Red Dead don't control well: I couldn't disagree with them more.

the multiplayer is an absolute blast if you play with the right people. i also thought that the driving was wonderful in GTA IV. you know you've succeeded in making good driving in a game when even the sedans / minivans / regular civilian vehicles a ton of fun to drive.

as for the serious tone, it fit well and while i never finished GTA IV when i tried across two platforms, i had no problems with the seriousness. the only issue was that most of the mission structure and general lack of checkpoints made it a chore to do missions. it's also weird how people act like GTA IV had no humor. i mean, the game was filled with great, funny writing across billboards, pedestrian dialogue, radio ads, radio personalities, television shows, websites and, well, the list goes on.

@AngelN7 said:

@MrKlorox said:

Screw that noise. The driving is GTA4's final saving throw for me. I loved it and hope it continues to be like that. Hell, I preferred San Andreas when your driving skill was at zero, and I used trainers to lock it that way. I wonder if some people just don't know how to brake properly and use the thumbstick to look where they're turning. The main problem with driving in GTA4 was that the massive number of right angled intersections are hard to take at speed, but that's because it's set in a New York analog. Even LA Noire's driving was too arcadey; unlike Mafia2's alternate more realistic driving mode which made everything too slick. GTA4's model still has inertia but doesn't make you spin out all over the place if you accelerate too hard while going too slowly. I also hope they're smart enough to make the game hardcore as hell, but allow the Joe Codplayers to play in a casual mode where cars turn on a dime and you never have to eat or exercise and have all the open world mayhem options available through cheats so they don't have to play through the game since they usually don't have any interest in the stories anyway. Sam Houser fucking wanted the cars to have to refuel in GTA4, but knew the kiddies would hate it. That's the type of GTA I want. Sim the hell out of it for those who want to role-play.being dragged on the ground

Having to refuel sounds instense I can't say I'd have like it but man the posiblities of actually having to take care of your car instead of it being just one random object in the world specially a game that's so focused on driving, the handling GTA IV was awesome hell I'd say even better than some racing games where it fells you're just draggin a big box on the ground instead of an actual mass with responsive weight I hope they keep that for GTA V one of the most fun moments I had with IV was just crusing through the city and driving like the friggin Transporter on missions.

I could see it going both ways with refueling. While it might get annoying over the course of a whole game, chases would get crazy and possibly involve tense bailings and foot chases in effort to ditch the empty vehicle and grab another.

@SpaceInsomniac said:

If I screw up a mission, don't you DARE make me drive all the way back to where the mission starts to try again. And on the same note, if I finish a part of a mission, and the next part involves more driving, don't you DARE make me start the entire mission all over again.

Didn't IV do a lot of that? I seem to remember there being mission checkpoints or something, and if you failed, you could just restart instantly from your cellphone.

@CrossTheAtlantic: Yeah it could go either way more leaning towards being annoying but I'll like some sort mechanic that involves taking care of your car but even though it dosn't really matter in GTA since you're always stealing cars but they can expand on some ideas , I liked when your car broke in IV so it didn't start after taking some hard hits near the engine or if you were unlucky to get a broke car, I would also like if the AI becomes more active when responding to crime like when people tried to get their car back mostly car drivers I'll be totally into AI stelaing cars from you if you happen to be in a "bad neighborhood"

@AngelN7 said:

@CrossTheAtlantic: Yeah it could go either way more leaning towards being annoying but I'll like some sort mechanic that involves taking care of your car but even though it dosn't really matter in GTA since you're always stealing cars but they can expand on some ideas , I liked when your car broke in IV so it didn't start after taking some hard hits near the engine or if you were unlucky to get a broke car, I would also like if the AI becomes more active when responding to crime like when people tried to get their car back mostly car drivers I'll be totally into AI stelaing cars from you if you happen to be in a "bad neighborhood"

Yeah, that would be awesome. More active A.I. would be a huge plus. Just have more stuff they can potentially do. And have that vary depending on what type of area you're in like you said.

I think had a bit more of that in Red Dead, with the random roadside events and whatnot. Step that up a notch so they don't repeat quite as much and it could be really neat.

I just want cheats.....and a zombie mode.

Screw that noise. The driving is GTA4's final saving throw for me. I loved it and hope it continues to be like that. Hell, I preferred San Andreas when your driving skill was at zero, and I used trainers to lock it that way. I wonder if some people just don't know how to brake properly and use the thumbstick to look where they're turning. The main problem with driving in GTA4 was that the massive number of right angled intersections are hard to take at speed, but that's because it's set in a New York analog. Even LA Noire's driving was too arcadey; unlike Mafia2's alternate more realistic driving mode which made everything too slick. GTA4's model still has inertia but doesn't make you spin out all over the place if you accelerate too hard while going too slowly. I also hope they're smart enough to make the game hardcore as hell, but allow the Joe Codplayers to play in a casual mode where cars turn on a dime and you never have to eat or exercise and have all the open world mayhem options available through cheats so they don't have to play through the game since they usually don't have any interest in the stories anyway. Sam Houser fucking wanted the cars to have to refuel in GTA4, but knew the kiddies would hate it. That's the type of GTA I want. Sim the hell out of it for those who want to role-play.

I think I want the same game you do!

Refuelling cars would be the ultimate to add. Something Mafia II did that really impressed me was attach you to your cars. If the same could be done with Grand Theft Auto, we'd be on to a winner. Cars in the game, sure, they are just objects, but I want my object to be mine. Mafia II did a fantastic job of making that a reality, since stealing cars wasn't just a one click and you're done exercise. It took time, and often your car would be more than sufficient for what you wanted to do. Sure, people became reliant on cars like the Rocket since they were very fast when upgraded, but every car in that game could be used with some effectiveness. I loved that. 
 
Imagine fleeing from the police in your car, and seeing that fuel needle dipping further towards the Empty mark. You might outrun the police, and you might not. But this is your car and you'd like to hold onto it. That would be a delicious decision to make: do you abandon your car in a garden and do a runner, or do you keep on running and see if you have enough fuel in the tank to escape? I want this functionality. I want Joe Public to be able to fire up his murder simulator, but I want to be able to go beyond a murder simulator into a game which does much more than let you pimp slap hoes and shoot gangstas. Speaking of which, could we make the police sharper? While they were very aggressive in GTA IV, they often had no precision or tact to them. They'd run into walls and all sorts of other stuff, and it spoiled things a little in my book. Don't get me wrong; I want them to be escapable, but I want them to be a challenge, and to drive their cars as if they were trained for high speed chases.  Combining that with a fuel system, you'd be forced to make a rather difficult decision as to how much you want to keep your car or escape the police.
 
I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who enjoyed San Andreas driving at its lowest level. Because I played it on console I never got to enjoy it for too long, but when I had it, I preferred it to the fully upgraded driving. I don't understand the hate for the IV handling model either. It felt very realistic, as if you were manhandling a family sedan which was not designed to be treated how you were driving it. I want that feeling back. Rockstar, can we have some more realism again? And perhaps more humorous characters, without making them into caricatures? Thanks.

The game the OP wants is called Saints Row: The Third. I'll thank you to leave GTA alone.

to all thosse pretending there was no hilarity in gta 4 one simple word brucie also i dissagree with every point in this list specially on the mp front

Hey all you people that want a serious story why don't you just play Mass Effect?

GTA4 and RDR had great mechanics but the story (and pacing) was dull as fuck. I don't want to have to play 20h to unlock the whole area.

Rockstar should just buy Obsidian and have them do their writing.

The only place those games really shined was multiplayer.

@TheSquarePear said:

Hey all you people that want a serious story why don't you just play Mass Effect?

GTA4 and RDR had great mechanics but the story (and pacing) was dull as fuck. I don't want to have to play 20h to unlock the whole area.

Rockstar should just buy Obsidian and have them do their writing.

The only place those games really shined was multiplayer.

Mass Effect? BioWare's writing and storytelling capabilities are an absolute joke compared to Rockstar.

The gulf between the two companies in that regard has only been magnified by how incredible Red Dead's ending was and how colossally bad Mass Effect 3's was. Shit, any single one of GTA IV's talk radio stations are loaded with writing twice as good as anything BioWare's done.

Obsidian is one of the best in the biz, so I can't hate your comment too much there, but Rockstar is easily right there with them for me. I've thought that since GTA III, but Red Dead Redemption just cemented that fact.