GTA V GROOVE STREET ALL DAY BABY!!!! UGH!!!!

GTA 5 and it's not even close. Theres a lot more variety in the missions and a lot of things to do. I also love switching between the 3 characters. GTA 4 got boring pretty quickly to me, but I am loving everything in GTA 5 so far.

GTA V. Niko was a great character but the slow pacing of missions really got to me. in V they put you right into the action. I haven't completed the story yet. I like how Rockstar got with the times with better gameplay , checkpoints and seamless interactions. It was really hard for me to go back to past GTA games but with V it seems they have solved that issue. I am really excited for the Online component aswell. Such a great package.

Red Dead Redemption.

I feel like GTAV vs RDR would have been a more suitable head-to-head, considering GTAIV is significantly more divisive. Anywhoo I'm still relatively early in GTAV--just started planning my second heist--but overall I definitely prefer GTAV.

It's not a complete wash, though, as I think GTAIV has a better selection of music, and there appears to be a significantly fewer amount of activities to do when you hang out with your friends; I especially miss pool, and getting drunk is really dull compared to how it was in GTAIV. I miss being able to enter burgershots and diners, too. In fact GTAV overall is a bit disappointing with regards to how little there is that you can interact with in the world, though it's still a marked improvement than how it was in GTAIV all the same. In any case, stuff like not being able to enter properties I own is pretty damn weak. However, it's all significantly better than GTAIV. Naturally can't speak to the story, though.

We still haven't quite reached that San Andreas level of giving you a world with a list of seemingly endless stuff to do, but here's hoping they'll add more stuff via DLC. And of course if they build upon this for the inevitable next-gen GTA, then that'll hopefully be able to emulate what I loved so much about San Andreas.

I preferred the driving model in GTA IV. The boats as well. I also prefer how the Taxi interiors were handled, if I remember correctly, there was kind of a backseat cam. Jeez - imagine if you'd sit on the backseat of a taxi, but it's as interactive as in the opening of The Last of Us? That'd have been awesome. I'm also disappointed in the lack of eateries open for business. I found it extremely immersive to go for a burger and fries every now and then.

All the rest of it though? GTA V. There's so much more of it too. It is not that far behind in terms of driving and boating. I love it lots, though I'd prefer as weighty and inertia heavy physics as in GTA IV. So GTA V it is for me. Love it!

@seppli: Oh yeah, I really miss the taxi backseat cam, too. One of my favourite moments in GTAIV was sitting in the back of a taxi in first-person at night, watching the city go by while Goodbye Horses plays during the ride.

Well to make it short, i think everything gameplay related is vastly superior in GTA V and considering it took me 5 days to beat the story compared to 3 years for GTA IV the choice isn't hard to make.

And i liked IV overall and played probably in the hundreds of hours just messing around. The story and characters never grabbed me however. GTA V's story isn't the greatest ever but i generally found the characters a lot more engaging and entertaining.

And when it comes down to just booting up the game to mess around every couple days for the next couple years until Rockstar make another one then the difference is even bigger. GTA V simply dwarfs GTA IV in terms of size and variety of environments/activities.

GTA V just feels instantly more fun. I can't remember what podcast this was said on but I agree with them, I think we were all wowed by all the things you could do in GTA IV, bowling, contacts, the phone etc that at first blush it just seemed so amazing and deep. Then when it came to actually playing the game for numerous hours the story, gameplay and mission variety just fell flat and got boring, the bells and whistles had lost their sparkle.

I like GTAV a LOT more. I still haven't finished it yet (little over halfway into the story), but I am absolutely loving just about everything in it, whereas GTA IV was a game that I enjoyed for the story/characters, and kinda not really anything else.

I enjoyed GTA 4 a lot more then than I enjoy GTA 5 now, but GTA 5 is a better game I think.

I havent beaten GTA V yet, but it definately seems like the more fleshed out game with superior gameplay. GTA IV had a great story but lacked fun things to do other than shoot people, I love playing tennis or golf in between missions to help break it up in V, the side activities in five were pretty bad. GTA 5 also has a huge world to explore unlike IV. GTA V is no doubt the superior game, but that is to be expected.

V

If there were ever proper application of the term Ludonarrative Dissonance its for GTA 4. I can not give ANY shits about Niko when he kills tons of people after lamenting his horrible past. He never tried to change. And his actions in the missions dont reflect his regretful attitude in story scenes.

I've definitely defended GTA IV against the backlash it's received since release. I think it's a great game that holds up far better than it's given credit for, and I overall really liked the shift in tone and gameplay that the series took with that entry.

That being said, I love GTA V, and I think it's a vastly superior game in nearly every way. The gameplay and pacing is incredible, and the writing is as good if not better than IV while also managing to bring slightly more levity to things (a bit more Lethal Weapon, a bit less Scorsese).

I loved IV but, for me, it's no contest. GTA V feels better in every way.

GTA V easily. I loved IV (mostly for the online Free Mode) but V is better in almost every way. (Except the tracklist. IV had way better songs.)

GTAV by a mile. I played tons of GTAIV. I beat it 4-5 times. I would happily defend it as a good game. But it isn't close. GTAV does everything better. I can't think of one superior thing that GTAIV does better than V.

It annoys me that you write GTA 4 and then GTA V... Either 4 and 5, or IV og V

Im getting near the end, but Im not overly impressed with GTA 5. Liked 4 a lot more. Overall the chars in the game feel a lot less fleshed out and uninteresting besides Trevor.

GTA V. I thought GTA IV was a step back for the series. Basically, it felt like they removed all the fun stuff and interesting characters and replaced it with bowling with Roman. It was all super forgettable.

At first I thought the driving in GTA V was way too squirrely and tail heavy, similar to GTA IV, and that made me upset. But the cars eventually grew on me and I like them for the most part. It saddens me a bit that the handbrake is going into retirement, as it was largely useless in GTA IV's liquid-cement physics model and continues to be a bit too harsh in GTA V - but I still bust it out here and there when I'm going much slower just for old times sake.

Other than that, everything in GTA V has higher polish, not to mention the story. Our very own @patrickklepek thought the story in GTA IV was a masterpiece, but we all know he gets a little confused at times.

I'm surprised more reviewers aren't mentioning a certain mission involving torture a lot more than the lack of strong female characters. I'm not one to get offended easily or shocked by gore, but that one mission had me feeling really uncomfortable throughout. I kept waiting for the punchline, where it would all be justified or a joke of some kind, but no.. Really, I have no idea where Rockstar was going with that.

Easily V. Better written in both comedy and drama, better shooting, better driving, better city.

No. Damn. Contest.

GTAV is an exhausting experience. I have yet to encounter a single decent human being in the story, and there is no subtlety in its satire. Everyone is either dumb or angry. GTAIV had pacing issues, but at least it found a way to make you feel like there was some humanity in the world.

Serious answer:

Something about GTA IV's oppressive atmosphere really resonated with me. They nailed the claustrophobia of a large city. And I think I prefer the story approach of starting from nothing and working your way up. That being said, GTA V is the better game. It controls a whole lot better, the three character dynamic is incredibly interesting, the comedy-angle is better and there's far more variety in the world and how you can explore it.

To me, it feels like they took most of what was good out of GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption and made GTA V. I do have my gripes. On a tone/mood and character basis, I (so far) like Red Dead Redemption more, but GTA V is still a great game that I look forward to finishing.

I gotta say Im really dissapointed with the radio in GTA 5. Songs all pretty much suck. Talk radio has been boring as hell. More I think about it GTA 5 is just kinda flat. Its the most polished the series has been by far, but feels a little lifeless. Doesnt help that the support cast besides Lamar and Lester are just awful. This game has kinda made me miss Vice City. Still my fav GTA.

GTA 5 is easily the best gta game IMO and might be the best game this year(TLOU is right there with it). So yeah 4 wasn't better than SA when it came out and 5 easily tops the entire series so that's my answer.

Lamar > Brucie.

That's all.

vice city wil always be the superior GTA, but V beats the crap out of IV in my opinion, it's just better in every way possible.

I really liked GTA IV, but even at the time I thought the controls were janky as fuck. Just the controls are a massive massive step up for my enjoyment of the game but the mission variety is an even bigger step up.

In terms of story, I'm not quite finished yet but the scenes with Michael and Trevor have all been absolutely fantastic and I really like a lot of the supporting characters.

For me it's GTA V over GTA IV.

... but Red Dead over them both.

5 is a better game by a wide margin in every single aspect. It's not even close. Not that 4 is bad but...well, its gameplay wasn't very good when it came out, and it certainly doesn't hold up that well today. The story and characters are still great but it starts out way too slow and there are multiple parts across the story that I thought were either slow or not fun.

I'm not even close to finishing 5 yet, but I'm having a hell of a time.

Niko is a fantastic character, indeed, you're probably right that he's a better character than all three of GTAV's protagonists. I loved GTA IV, but I definitely prefer GTA V, it's like GTA IV but with all of the lessons Rockstar have learnt in the five years since IV's release. The world is amazing (though I'm not sure I'm getting as much of a feel for Los Santos as I did Liberty City, but I spent over 100 hours in the latter) and filled with much more to do and the story missions themselves seem largely better than most of GTA IV's story missions, even if the story isn't as good (I can't quite call it yet). I think I prefer the way GTA IV's cars handled, though. Overall GTA V's gameplay elements are far superior to GTA IV's, and that is absolutely more important to me than story/characters.

I was going to go on a long bit about what I enjoy from each game, but that I ultimately enjoy playing V more - then I realized this, so fuck it.

GTA 5 for sure, I enjoy the characters in 5 so much more than 4. Franklin and Lamar are too funny when together, some of the best writing is between these two.

I do think GTAIV was definitely a showcase of what the current-gen consoles could do technically. Its physics, the weight behind everything, the ragdoll model, the gun model -- all of it felt authentic and grounded, making various tasks and missions feel satisfying and raw. I just love how the RPGs function in 4.

But 5, so far, is definitely a vast improvement when it comes to mechanics and variety. I've yet to get through it entirely though, so my opinion is yet to be established.

I would pick GTA V just because of the car handling, but switching between characters and the heists missions (the set ups and payoffs are just perfect for an open world game) are so much fun that it's V, easy. I got very tired of Niko and his story.

Bit early to say, no? The online was a big part of GTA 4's appeal and GTA V's has yet to come out.

I haven't played GTA V yet so I'm willing to be proven wrong but something tells me I won't like it nearly as much as IV. As yet everything I've seen of GTA V doesn't interest me in the slightest as far as wanting to enjoy it like I did GTA IV (or really any open world game where I care about the world and the characters.) If anything it seems like I would subvert and play around with the open world in all attempts to enjoy it in spite of all the story stuff which is funny thinking about how that turned me off from the franchise before IV. Or at least the way fans of the franchise fixated on that anyway.

I'm curious to hear someone else who's played both and vastly prefers GTA IV to give more specific points because I'm just basing my impressions on the video content and discussion on the site. Granted, the comparison is difficult considering there's no guarantee they enjoyed IV for the same reasons but still.

GTA V by a long shot! GTA IV was a pretty big disappointment for me and just felt like a step back for the series. Everything kind of felt dull and lifeless for whatever reason, and Niko's story felt boring to me. Maybe it's because it started off slow and I just never got to the amazing part of IV, but the story missions weren't my only problem, I also didn't like the lack of craziness that the GTA series was known for.

I wasn't hyped for GTA V because of my disappointment with IV, but I decided to give it a chance and I'm so glad that I did. Rockstar improved on everything that was wrong with IV and then some, and they managed to make it crazy again while not ruining the story (Grass Roots, the Michael missions was awesome)

So it's V by a long shot, not to mention the combat feels more like RDR which is obviously a good thing.

As much as I adore IV for its setting and for what it did with the series, I love V even more.

I miss a lot of things from GTAIV from both a narrative perspective and mechanical. I found myself missing the more personal story of Niko and the fact that his story seemed fairly unique. Not many games (and other media) star an Eastern European retired soldier trying to make good the american dream whereas you can find quite a few examples of the characters in V (even in the same series). You spend so much time with Niko and his "friends" that you do gain a more personal attachment to him and them, in V you are flipping around the different characters so often it means their characters aren't built up in the same way and it doesn't help that they don't have as interesting a premise as Niko. I think the story ends up feeling a bit impersonal and detached.

I just don't like the radio stations as much as in 4, I feel they created a better atmosphere and tone with the ones in 4 and I just prefer the tunes in that one more.

I think the driving might suit what they are doing in V but I just really miss the old boat cars from IV. V has just a bit too much of the ground magnetism and the cars are just a little too tight for me, way less interesting to drive. In IV I got really good at being able to hit cars in just the right way to flip them and how to slam into the curb just the right way to send my car flying, in V everything feels a lot more sticky and "easy". I still go back to IV to mess around with the car physics but I'm already bored with the driving in V. And they have pretty much stripped out all the cool car deformation from IV! No longer can you land your car on your roof and have it flatten, no longer can you slam into a wall at 100mph and have the front of the car crumple up to the windshield! Shame

I don't know. V is definitely one of the best games of the year and it's too soon blurt out knee jerk reactions about which one is better but I definitely miss a lot of things from IV. I would hope that a new generation will make RockStar go back and consider the series a bit more and force them to make another smaller and more personal story.

GTAV of course. Nico was such an asshole and so unlikable. Also all the missions were the same while I had a lot of diversity in GTAV. Also the world is so much brighter and colorful. It really invites you to play.

Sleeping Dogs

I think Niko is better realized and complex character than all the GTA V protagonists but without question, GTA V is a much, much more fun game to play.

Really? For me Nico had no clear line at all. He was more constructed what the mission did in GTAV it feels like these missions are constructed based on their characters. The one with a really complex development was Roman in my opinion. I really liked that character.

Don't see how there is even a debate on this haha. Even if you compare the games in the timeframe they came out. GTAV still wins. The smartest thing, imo, they did was allow you to play 3 characters. When I get bored of one being able to switch to another really makes it feel fresh.

And the side missions are some of the best... no filler crap like in all of these type of games.

I'm not terribly far into V, but I feel it is already far and away better than IV ever was. That's not to say that IV didn't have a decent story and some good characters, but overall I'm already having so much more fun doing missions and exploring the map. Also, heists seem like a ton of fun, I like the options so I could have a completely different experience than the next person based on variables like crew, stealth or guns blazing, etc.

GTA V by a country mile. Not even a contest. And I liked GTA IV!

GTAV by a long shot. Driving feels more controllable, gunfights are more fast paced, there are more likable characters, the map is much more varied, there are more activities to play, Los Angeles > New York City, the plot themes in the game aren't up its own ass... the list can go on and on.

dude are you kidding, GTA 5 for sure. It's just way better in every way for me. My main problem with 4 was how dark and slimy the world was all the time, and there was way too many cops on the streets to the point where if you did anything fun you had to deal with cops shooting at you immediately afterwards.