I must admit that, although I'm probably in the minority, I didn't care much for GTA4. Although I only rented it and played for 4-5 hours, I found myself playing the bowling mission and being bored, and by the time I actually got to a point where I could fight somebody, the combat controls were janky as hell. So I gave up. Some would surely say I didn't play it for long enough, but I play games to have FUN, and entertainment is not supposed to be work, so if I'm not having fun after 4-5 hours, I think that's long enough to throw in the towel.

The last GTA game I played before that was GTA3, and I remember that one being great, although it's been about 10 years since I played it. Anyway, just wanted to get everyone else's thoughts on GTA5 vs GTA4. If one didn't like GTA4, is GTA5 even worth bothering with?

Yes, a thousand times yes. It's no Red Dead Redemption, but it's miles better than 4.

It improves upon IV in literally every way and brings back several things from what many would say is the best GTA game ever (San Andreas) and does all of them even better. V is better by a long shot.

Your fucking cousin doesn't call you every half-hour to go bowling.

"I'm in the middle of speeding/larceny/homicide, we'll go fucking bowling... never!"

I disliked GTAIV after you left Broker do to the story going off the rails and not having tight enough controls to handle it.

So far, GTAV is miles better. Go for it, I got burned on IV, but so far it's been excellent.

4 was my first GTA game and while I was semi-impressed with the story at the time I hated just about every minute of the gameplay. Which was a shame because there was some really cool mission design in that game, but actually shooting, driving, hell even walking felt janky as fuck, then there's the totally fucked checkpoint system. GTA 5 is still of below average competency for a shooting game and a driving game, but it's miles better than it was last time, and the story's as good or better.

4 was a huge step down for me in quality from the previous games. I do however like the expansions a lot. GTA5 is better than 4. Kilometers better.

Yes. It is in Los Santos, which is better than Liberty City. Y'all know its the best coast.

I want one in Carcer City, which I think is their version of Chicago or Detroit. Midwest crime.

I really liked GTA IV but I think V is a huge step up.

YES

yep, and i loved gta 4 to pieces

Gameplay wise, it's an improvement in just about every possible way.

You guys are wildly exaggerating how many times people call you in gta4

@worknman: In my personally objective opinion, yes.

As someone who did indeed enjoy GTA IV almost as much as I'm enjoying V I'm gonna say every half hour is being pretty generous. Fuckers blew your phone up for the most unnecessary reasons.

While I enjoyed GTA IV a lot V sure takes everything from IV and makes it even better.
Also, I think I've gotten more "HELP ME! WAAH WAAH! DAAAD! WAAH WAAH" calls in V than "Wanna hang out?" calls in IV.

@zeforgotten: This is just flat-out false. I finished the game and over the course of the game maybe got between 5-10 calls like that. GTA IV that shit was constant. And at least in V they are in legit danger. IV was let's play darts, let's go bowling, my asshole itches...

@mrxakarebel: "flat-out false" I had no idea you were here when I played both those games.
I should work on locking my house down so I don't let random hobos in from the street, that's for sure.

But hey, you're probably right then, but just for the hell of it let me write it down again so we also give the "slow" people out there a chance to understand it:

I have gotten more calls in GTA V about people needing my help than I had people calling me to go bowl or drink or play darts in GTA IV.
Mostly because I ended up beating IV pretty fast and they never seems to call me during missions ever (except for the obviously scripted calls)

"Hey, hey you wanna come..."

"Never."

"Well, we're gonna have some friends and bowl a little..."

"What?"

"Bowling."

"WHAT?"

"You wanna come bowl with us?"

"Never."

"...maybe?"

"NEVER."

"We bowl on a regular basis.. It's really fun... You'll enjoy it..."

"Oh, you know when I was gonna come bowling with you?"

"Oh, when? ... when are ya gonna come bowling..?"

"NEVER!"

It's a lot better but still kind of the same if that makes sense.

I think so, thou its a hard assessment to make, I have very fond memories of GTA4.

Nico is one of my favorite vidgame characters ever, and the story had a bitter tone to it.. they very different.

I haven't played it yet, but I can say without a doubt that it's the most fifth game in the series since San Andreas. Admittedly, GTAIV was the most fourth since Vice City, but it wasn't even slightly as fifth as GTAV.

@mrxakarebel: I mean, if you have some sort of attention disorder its a problem. But for fucks sake, does it really bring the whole game down? It just seems like such a small issue for an amazing game.

For me, gtav looks and plays better, but its story is goddamned minor compared to the expansive crime saga that is IV. I gained absolutely nothing from any of the characters in V and they gained nothing, but money, from their experiences. In comparison Niko and I both gained a different perspective on american life, culture, and its fallacies. I pondered my time with IV long after completing it, while I've completely forgotten my time with V.

@truthtellah: That kinda put me off of GTA IV. But then,

Opinions like this make me want to go back to it.

"Come on cousin! Big american titties?"
*Niko hangs up and calls Packie* "Packie? our bank heist is gonna have to wait a bit"

@truthtellah: I like this post.

Also agreed with everyone else about FAHKING HROMAN always calling. In 4 I spent all my time trying to avoid my alleged friends. Now I play as Michael, walking city streets window shopping at 3 in the morning, calling every member of his family, so desperate for affection. It's really moving stuff.

I'm waiting to call Jimmy, get sent to voicemail, switch over to Franklin, call him and up he picks up right away. That would be a narratively appropriate event.

@zeforgotten: Lol dude, you act like I made a fuckin personal attack on you. Get a grip.

@believer258: I know you're being sarcastic, and I'll admit that my comment is overly angry. Its just, I came away very disappointed with V and being in the minority isn't fun. I wish I could see what you guys do, but I don't. And it sucks.

@mrxakarebel: What would you call it when someone just calls you a liar out of the blue without knowing a damn thing about anything if not a attack on on that person?
Thought so

@naru_joe93: Wow, had no idea people were so fuckin sensitive on the subject, maybe you have and attention disorder since you seem to have missed the part where I said I enjoyed GTA IV almost as much as GTA V.

It's good my only gripe is that your not that tough. So just messing around and doing mayhem you get killed quickly.

@zeforgotten: I know the way the phone works in GTA IV and I know the way it works in V. There are way more random calls in GTA IV that have little to nothing to do with anything and all the calls you get in V are scripted so yea I know there are fewer. Also I didn't call you a liar, people just remember things differently after time has passed. I assumed that's all it was. Now the shit you said was clearly a personal attack on me and you definitely don't know shit about me.

@mrxakarebel: I actually wasn't attacking you, just agreeing with you very angrily. I see that my post could come off as an attack, and apologize

Also, when I said 'you' I did t mean you specifically.

@mrxakarebel: Which part was an attack on you exactly?
The part where I had to explain to other people who might not know what a personal experience is? that's not an attack on you, or anyone. That's just a helping hand to better understand how it works.
I had no idea people were "so fucking sensitive" on that subject. Oh well :P

@naru_joe93: It's all good man, no hard feels.

@zeforgotten:

"I should work on locking my house down so I don't let random hobos in from the street, that's for sure.

But hey, you're probably right then, but just for the hell of it let me write it down again so we also give the "slow" people out there a chance to understand it:"

Yea dude, stay classy...

@mrxakarebel:

Didn't call you a random hobo though, more of a "just in case" scenario, I mean if you were there without me knowing what else walks through that door and into the hall and then into the game room?

Also, didn't call you "slow" either.
But sure, go ahead and pretend they're attacks on you or anyone for that matter.
If you being all upset and angry over nothing is what keeps you sane then I won't stop you, jut know that I wasn't trying to insult or offend anyone.
But just in case that I did: ..'shrug'

GTA V plays better in mostly every way. Though, I think I like the vehicle handling better in IV, specifically the helicopters. Both stories start to tell something pretty grand, but neither really execute to the full potential in the end. Both have fantastic characters, and an amazing city. IV had a lot of really weird needless shit that they dropped for V, which ultimately made V feel like a huge improvement. The relationship stuff was a terrible fucking idea that was executed poorly. The weird "choose if this character dies or not" was hollow and only served to make the narrative feel undefined - which pisses me off when it returns in a different fashion toward the end of V.

I think the switching between characters in V is possibly the most revolutionary device in story telling in games since the beginning of this generation. It allows the possibility of multiple arcs without sacrificing the player agency that is core to what a video game is. It's like you're directing your own story, but it still feels natural. They fucking nailed that. Though, the narrative kind of peters out in the end.

It's kind of a toss up for me. V feels like an improvement, definitely. But five years is kind of a long time, and most of the problems with IV seem like they're of that age. Player choice was a huge thing right around then, you know? Drop that shit from the game, and overhaul the graphics, and it might be a tougher call. As is, V is probably better made.

@zeforgotten: You completely overestimate how much I care about what you said. Just seemed unnecessary to me. Also I definitely lol'ed at the complete and utter ridiculousness of it.

Sorry to the OP for hijacking their thread as well

@mrxakarebel: Meh, you just seem angry, but what do I care.
As I said, wasn't trying to attack you or anything.

And yeah, sorry to the OP. This is the last reply to this "discussion"
If you're still unsure or want me to clarify something else then just hit me with a PM.

You should. The expansions are excellent as well... If you're a crazy person you can find a timeline that'll let you play thru the game and expansions all at once with the stories from each meshing together -- not perfectly mind, but...

Also (and I really don't know how so many people have missed this considering the amount of vitriol that is layered on the Bombcrew for not reading tooltips when doing quick looks -- so I just assumed that eveyone else always reads and absorbs all of them)... You can turn your phone off and that will completely stop phone calls. This is one of the first things that pops up to read in the upper left of the screen when you first get your phone. I don't recall that any mission requires your phone to be on to get it started, but if there is it's only one or two... You will need to remember to turn it off after each mission as it's turned back on by default, but if it's really bugging you it's there. The other trick is to take the call, say yes to hang out and then call right back to cancel and you lose no "friendship points" that way.

I have to admit that I liked the relationship stuff (but I'm an outlier, I guess) as it added texture to the world an the conversations on the way to and from activities fleshed out the characters for me.

Just went to a strip club and I gotta say, YES.

I think the story in IV was better. But, the gameplay refinements, multi-character story structure, wider range of vehicles with upgrades, and graphical improvements make this a better overall game. I just wish the story didn't chug to a stop in the back third.

GTA V undeniably improves on IV in almost every possible way. But I think I enjoyed IV more. I haven't finished V yet, so I can't judge it fully, but at the time I think GTA IV was a more impressive experience. GTA V does everything right, but I've yet to really see something that has a true "wow" factor. There are a lot of things that make me say "huh, that's cool" but there's nothing that makes me feel it's awesome. I suspect there may be some things like that in the back end of the game, but I feel like GTA IV had them throughout. And in a world where Saints Row 3 had me going "Holy shit, that's fucking awesome" practically every five minutes, GTA V falls a little flat. Don't get me wrong - I know GTA V and Saints Row are doing totally different things, and I don't want GTA to try to imitate SR. But I feel like GTA V could keep a more grounded reality whilst still doing things that make me want to run to my friends (or to the internet) and talk about how great that moment was. So far GTA V has failed to do that.

I guess the ultimate conclusion is this - comparing them directly today leads to GTA V being clearly superior. But comparing them with the context of when each game came out and what else was around at the time, I think IV may win.

I gotta agree with this. For as much as Rockstar was touting the 3 protagonists, they didn't really do too much interesting with them from a story perspective. Their paths never really intertwined as much as they converged head on every time someone forced them to cooperate with one another. The most interesting dynamic of the multiple protagonists thing was the very beginning when Franklin broke into Michael's house. And yeah, the characters did not really develop at all. There was no arch to any of them except for Michael and his family.Gameplay wise, the 3 protagonists is a godsend. Stuck in the middle of the desert? Stranded in the water and don't feel like swimming to shore? Just switch to a different character and do something else.

Overall gameplay is just better in GTAV. Not better than it could be compared to something like Sleeping Dogs which has great shooting, great drive by shooting controls, good Batman style combat, and smoother on foot traversal. But it's still a huge step up from GTAIV. I also prefer GTAV's rendition of San Andreas to Liberty City. You've got the bustling city of Los Santos, the redneck trailerpark town of Sandy Shores, and the quiet mountainside town of Paleto Bay. While individually they might not be as big or dense as any of the individual islands of Liberty City, I appreciate the diversity in environments.

@mattyftm: I think what was also so impressive at the time of GTA IVs release is the fact that we went from San Andreas to IV. So graphics, sound assets, the world looked awesome and still felt like a living breathing world. And now going from IV to V doesn't seem like that big of a deal in comparison and people won't see the jump from IV to V as such a big step as we did back when IV came out.

Hrm... I can't recall now if the log in GTA IV had the Help and Notifications sections under the Brief tab in the pause menu (I want to say they did but I'm too lazy to boot it up and check), but it's a great thing to have when you miss that stuff in V...

As far as I'm concerned the answer is most definitely yes. I didn't care much for GTA4 either. I thought it was ok, I guess, but I never really had much fun playing it or cared much about the characters or story. I pretty much feel the exact opposite about GTA5. I'm only speaking for the single player. I haven't been able to get on GTA5 online yet, and never played any of 4 online.

I was in the same boat. I'm enjoying V 1000% more.