Best GTA game

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Giant_Gamer

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Poll Best GTA game (85 votes)

GTA 2%
GTA 2 4%
GTA 3 6%
GTA Vice City 19%
GTA San Andreas 32%
GTA 4 14%
GTA 5 24%

With the recent release of GTA classics definitive editions I found myself asking this question while GTA San Andreas DE.

Personally, I think that GTA San Andreas is still the best GTA game thanks to the amazing writing, va and gameplay variety.

I really would like to know what you guys think.

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FacelessVixen

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As much as I want to say San Andreas, V is easier for me to go back to from a technical and presentation standpoint, and having some ability to play as an OC with playing GTA Online with a solo lobby (though Saints Row is significantly more satisfying in that regard). That said, San Andreas is my favorite of the 3D/RenderWare era and is my second favorite overall, and it's the one that I picked up on Steam before the definitive fuck-up of the Definitive Edition.

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Corund

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For me, I didn't even have a choice, since GTA CA is probably my favorite game, as if in the top 5. I discovered for myself in the best perspective after SAMP and MTA. That variety and the ability to make content literally out of nothing won me over. Now the 5th part does not give such experience and such emotions as then.

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monkeyking1969

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I really only got into teh series with the GTA III, and I skipped Vice and San Andreas. So #3, #4, and #5 were the only ones I played. I completed fully 4 and 5, so really when ist come to favorist I haev to say 5 because while there were parts I did not like, it just seemd better than 4.

[An aside]
To be honest when 5 just turnd into mostly caring about online I just stopped caring. Open world online games played on shards just annoy me...I don't like the other players. Cheats and bullshitting just don't intrest me on seem liek good use of my time. If and when GTA6 come sout single player I'll take a look. But, honestly, I think Rockstar is starting to fall apart. I am 99% sure before the GTA 6 come sout there will be some huge scadnle at Rockstar North that will just sour eveyone because we will all seem teh gross underbelly there that we know is festering.

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Gordonzilla

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I had the most fun with the GTAIV DLC episodes. Honourable mentions to Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. Don't know why they're not on this poll, they were pretty cool.

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apewins

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Have to pick GTA 4 on the strength of its story, even if it loses steam towards the end. Niko is just one of the most likeable protagonists in gaming, aside of being a psychopath and all. And the open world in that game is better than in GTA 5 with much more interesting things to do and see, even if it is smaller in scope.

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ThePickle

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I went back and played IV recently to wet my appetite for the Remastered Trilogy and honestly, I kind of wish I hadn't. Sometimes nostalgia is best left alone because I remember this game being one of, possibly THE greatest when I first played it, but now, the controls feel sluggish, driving is insane/unwieldy, combat is made even more difficult by the wonky cover system, whole city just looks brown/gray, and the much-derided relationship system deserves every bit of criticism it's gotten over the years. Unless you look up stuff like what characters sleep schedules are or what dates like what clothes on Niko, you've got nothing to work off of. Worse, the systems are not well integrated to the rest of the game. Example: I was on my way to meet Packie for drinks one time when I got flagged down for a follow-up stranger mission. There was no way to avoid it, and when I failed, not only could I not re-do the mission, Packie was all pissed off I blew him off!! Literally had no choice though so I just rage-quit after that.

The story and writing is still good, maybe not as a sharp as I thought it was when I was 13 years old and playing it for the first time, but still good. Plenty of great characters, even if some are obvious stereotypes

It seems wrote to say V is the best because it looks/plays the best, personally I think the 3 character idea didn't really bring anything to it, and the writing was off. I will say VICE CITY is the best because it struck a perfect balance between III (not having much to do) and SA (having too much to do). Had the best setting + far and away the best OST as well (Greg Kasavin said you could buy the game just for the soundtrack and honestly, he's right).

Most impressive of all, the game came out only a year after GTA III, but had so many improvements it's tough to believe the turnaround was that quick

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deactivated-6321b685abb02

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Gotta say San Andreas, the sense of scope (even if it's not really that big) and variety was a highpoint of the series for me and CJ is probably my favourite GTA MC.

I really don't like the look of the DE but it did inspire me to play through the OG version from steam recently. I loaded with mods that were basically faithful to the look and atmosphere of the PS2 version but with good HD textures and modern touches like better water, shadows, reflections, weather etc. as well as some quality of life stuff like GPS and modern standard controls. It's also pretty easy to restore all the OG soundtrack on the steam/retail version.

The result has been great and exactly what I'd have hoped for out of a remaster, there's a wealth of great mods and information on SA out there and I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking to revisit SA. It's easy enough and it costs about £9 total.

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regularassmilk

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I think of III and VC as being complimentary and in some respects I think of those three mainline PS2 era games as all being part of a greater whole, but San Andreas is without a doubt the most polished GTA experience of that era. Chinatown Wars is also quite excellent.

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charlie_victor_bravo

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Saints Row 2.

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prolurker

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I think nostalgia dictates my choice here, and it is Vice City. Vice City with cheats (and ignoring the story) was a 10/10 experience when I was a kid.

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mach_go_go_go

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Sleeping Dogs.

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Ben_H

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Either Vice City or GTA IV for me. Vice City is Vice City. It's a bit clunky to play these days but it was incredible for its time. The DLC trilogy aspect of GTA IV ruled, and, having gone back to GTA IV earlier this year, I think it had the best story and writing in the entire series. The driving and shooting took a bit of getting used to again but was fine after I was adjusted to it. I do think in the last quarter of the main story they probably pushed the missions a bit too far compared to what the game was capable of doing. The DLC stories are very good and with those they introduced mid-mission checkpoints that made the longer missions much more manageable (they also patched checkpoints into the base game, which made that last quarter of it far better).

I generally like San Andreas a lot and it's probably the one I've played the most but there are bits of it that are very frustrating. It's less of an issue with the newer versions of it but in the original version, the mission length got to be a bit too long at times, making it so if you failed a mission due to random nonsense, you'd lose like 20-30 minutes of progress for nothing with no quick restarts or checkpoints. It's still a great game though.

GTA V was just middling and dull. I haven't done any of the online stuff but the single player bit of it was not good. The story was entirely forgettable. None of the main characters were any good and the only memorable side character in the game was Lamar. I tried going back to it this year after I finished off GTA IV but I bounced off it very quickly. Mechanically the game was fine but not any better than the Saints Row games that had also come out around then. I think it was telling that when GB did their game of the year section of their GOTY podcast, GTA V wasn't even in the running. I'm not kidding. It's not in their top 10 (the only staff top 10 it made it into was Vinny's). It wasn't even all that controversial at the time that it didn't make the top 10. The game kind of just came and went and it wasn't until the online became popular on Twitch that people started caring about it again.

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blackadder88

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the greatest GTA game ever is when i walk out the door in the greater Toronto area.

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Giant_Gamer

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@gordonzilla: games on the poll are the console releases which most people have played.

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Giant_Gamer

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Glad there are people who like GTAIV because I think that it's the most underappreciated GTA game and I agree that it has the best GTA storyline.

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BrittonPeele

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This poll is missing the actual best GTA game: Chinatown Wars.

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adamvinh

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i love the game GTA SA, but it seems that i have the same problem as others. I was playing since November and everything worked perfectly, but suddenly 2 days ago it stopped working.

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Onemanarmyy

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San Andreas is probably a 'better game' with more to it than Vice City, but the jump in quality between GTA 3 and Vice City felt so significant and the whole package just came together so nicely to really make me fall in love with that 80's vibe of it. I can't not choose for Vice City as the best entry in the franchise. I do have a lot of love for GTA 2 too though. And the other games are all pretty enjoyable too.