GTA: love it or hate it

[Mr.collection]

Well I have finally actually played a GTA game, and I love it, but now I see why some people hate it and say it is a bad game. So I wanted to know what you guys think about it. What I mean by not really playing it is that you only drive around and destroy stuff. The worst thing is that since I have it for the PSP is the battery issue and it died on me while I was playing. :angry: This is not to bash Jack just to know what YOU think about the game in YOUR opinion.

Later,
Mr.collection

[Arcade Antics]

Moving from Off Topic to Modern Gaming...

>>>SLIDE<<<

[Slate]

Can't say that i love it, but i don't hate it. I play it too much (Considering that i had a GTA related dream last night). Usually it's GTA San Andreas wich i play, wich will change to LCS once i get it.

[Snapple]

So my choices are: "Haven't played it," "Think it's immoral," or "Love it."

Well, I don't fit any of those. I have GTA:SA. I just think it's "okay." I like how there's such a large interactive environment, but the game got old a bit quick for me.

[diskoboy]

GTA 3: Really wasn't impressed.
GTA VC: Not just a game, but more a work of art. I've beaten it at 100%, and I still play it all the time.
GTA SA: Good, but I'm not enjoying as much as I did Vice City.

I do like the 2-D GTA's as well. But they don't have the immersion factor the 3-D ones do.

[jajaja]

I love it. Not because of the violence, but for being a great game. I remember when I first played the demo of GTA for PC at a friends house. I bought the PSX version some hours later, really fun game.

I didnt like GTA 3 and Vice City that much, got bored after a while. San Andreas, that game had a great story. Had to play through the whole game :)

[Retsudo]

I didnt vote, but i just find the games funny as hell.
I bought Vice City to see what the hub-bub was about and didnt play it much. My nephew gave me GTA3 and I thought it was ok.

I rented GTA SA, and I just played it a while and took it back.

Like I said , I just find them funny.

[Neil Koch]

I love the series... been playing it ever since I got the demo of the first game on PC. I've put hundreds of hours into the various games and I have no regrets. I'll probably get LCS right away for PS2 when it comes out, even though it's basically just an expansion for GTAIII (which is my favorite game in the series).

[Hep038]

I love the series, but I think its a little unfair to make people who do not like the game side with Jack Thompson. LOL I think you should maybe add a "I do not like the game, but I am not crazy like Jack thompson" choice.

[petewhitley]

My favorite game series ever. All the way back to the 2D iterations. I play them straight through, missions only. I don't remember ever going around and just committing mindless acts of violence in the game either; there's too much to do as it is. Long live GTA.

[ClubNinja]

I think its a little unfair to make people who do not like the game side with Jack Thompson. LOL I think you should maybe add a "I do not like the game, but I am not crazy like Jack thompson" choice.

Yeah, that's pretty much where I'm stuck. Jack Thompson is a dopefish. That said, I think the GTA games are overrated, average-at-best games that thrive on shock factor and publicity for sales. Stinkers.

[Push Upstairs]

I've only played "Vice City" and i absolutly loved the satire about the 1980's in that game. Listening to the radio was half the fun.

I liked the fact that you could go screw around and go where you wanted. A fun minigame was to piss the cops off really bad and see if you could *run* around the city without getting killed.

I once owned a demo for the first game and it was one that had a time limit (five minutes) and you were limited to Liberty City. Normaly this limit would suck but it made the game into a really good mini-game. Piss off the cops and see how much damage/trouble you could get into withing getting killed or busted before the timer runs out. :D

[Leo_A]

Kind of missing a option for those that are indifferent. Like the series, but find they're too repetitive when it comes to missions, and I think the controls suck and are the main reason certain missions are so difficult.

[Haoie]

VC was by far the best for me, it's what got me interested in 80s music. Yes, it's the forgetten age of music.

SA improved on a lot of things [swimming, climbing, etc etc], not to mention was a lot lot bigger, but just wasn't as fun as VC.

[njiska]

Well as i see it GTA 3 doesn't thrill me and San Andreas is a wigger paradise. The only good GTA game is Vice City.

[kainemaxwell]

Really got into the GTA series with Vice City and enjoyed it since. The open-endedness can be frustrating, but it does leave the player the option of a non-set path so they can do what they want, when they do.

[nik]

The original, and the best.

I loved the freedom you had with this game, although others have tried, you just can't copy its fun.

The original was mind blowing for me, 1000% fun, vice city was a great take on the 80's, and kept it all cool.

Same with San andreas, another take, with additions, and lots to do, I can't wait until the next one hits 360, if they manage to get it.

[cyberfluxor]

I really enjoy #2 more than all the others. I just didn't like the 3D version with all that jazzy junk they threw in. Now, I did love the radio show in #3 with "Liberty City Surviver" and "Laslo". Yes, I know everyone loved the part when Laslo comes on talking about being a pimp. :D But really, just something about #2 makes me love playing it.

[stressboy]

Yes, I know everyone loved the part when Laslo comes on talking about being a pimp. :D But really, just something about #2 makes me love playing it.


Hey man, Laslo didn't finish high school because he is hardcore!!

I used to play GTA1 on the PC a lot, but could never really get into the story mode of it. Most of my playtime was spent trying to outrun the cops.

GTA3 I loved, and thought was a great game, until I got Vice City, which blew me away. Growing up in the 80's and watching Miami Vice a lot helped here. The music in this is my favorite of the series.

GTA San Andreas.. I really love this game, but I have had a hard time getting into it. My son is near the age of 2, and he loves watching me play video games(sits on my lap). This really is not a game I want him watching at his age. Also, while I love the huge environments, the driving long distances thing gets a little old every now and then. I didn't really have that problem with the previous games.

GTA: LCS.. good for a GTA fix when I am at work. I think I like it a little more than GTA3(motorcycles!), and it was nice to play in a city I already knew. I would like to see a new city in the next PSP GTA game though.

I have never played 2.

[GrayFox]

I think its a little unfair to make people who do not like the game side with Jack Thompson. LOL I think you should maybe add a "I do not like the game, but I am not crazy like Jack thompson" choice.

Yeah, that's pretty much where I'm stuck. Jack Thompson is a dopefish. That said, I think the GTA games are overrated, average-at-best games that thrive on shock factor and publicity for sales. Stinkers.
I'm sitting on the same fence as Ninja here.

[Ackman]

I'm not that impressed with current gen I loved 1 and 2(quite a bit actually), never played 3, loved vice city.....

and got really sick of it with GTA SA it was really disapointing, the combat was unimpressive, the cars seemed floaty, the flying was much more horrible and more sim-like.....

The citys were larger and some nice things but didn't have as much character or effort as VC had there is one radius in vice city that has more character and fun parts in it that the whole of SA imho..... altho the desert and hill billy town are quite nice.

All the missions in SA sucked big time awful, I was seething with anger and rage, most of the time (lets face facts if GTA were only about the missions and it wasn't sandbox it would be a really poopy game imho.... all in all SA is better in some ways but lacks the charm of VC if you've skipped VC then SA will impress I recon.

GTA SA 7.4 / 10 it's good but it's not that good and doesn't deserve all the hype it gets imho.

[sabre2922]

I like the GTA games a LOT not "luv" the thing is that the re-play and overall hours of gameplay that one can get in a singe GTA game is incredible and thats why I do like the games so much.

GTA 3: still my fav GTA game but have played through it multiple times and it seems like a minituare GTA compared to the GIGANTIC SA

GTA: Vice City: I grew up in the late 80's and early 90's so I was really looking forward to this one but was slightly let down at all the "flat" scenery and it didnt seem like a huge jump from part 3 IMO- hey dont flame me for it thats just my impression

GTA SA : just recently started this impressively HUGE game and I do like the many added elements like swimming, jumping walls/fences and all that but the story isnt my thing and it hasnt "grabbed" me like part 3 did so im kinda torn on this one

GTA Liberty City Stories for PS2 : NOW THIS IS THE ONE IM LOOKING FORWARD TOO a sequel to part 3 with the new gameplay elements of VC and SA OH YEAH thats what im talking about 8-)

[Mr.collection]

I'd love to put more options in but it won't let me.
GTA2: it was ok but never really liked it
GTA3: I still like this one and thought it was good.
GTA VC: liked the 80's but hated the way the sun was when bright out.
GTA SA: This one is good but I didn't like the eating and working out.
GTA LCS:Haven't stopped playing it till now but he can't swim :(
I only own 2 and LCS but my friend doesn't know his GTAs are missing for the past year :)

[Nature Boy]

I *loved* GTA3 back when it came out. It was what the series should've been all along. I'd tried the 1st or 2nd one before that but never got into them at all.

Vice City didn't do much for me. Part of it was the hype around it since the first one was so big. Part of it was that it wasn't different enough. Yeah riding motorcycles was cool, but it felt very much like the first game to me, except with 80s music, which isn't enough IMO.

San Andreas has become *easily* become my favourite in the series. They've made enough changes that it feels fresh to me. The biggest being swimming - it's nice to be able to get out of your car in the water and swim to shore as opposed to simply dying and having to start something over. But I like the 'RPG stats' that you can work on (they might've been a part of the game before, like endurance, but making them visible was long over due).

Libery City Stories was the reason I decided I finally wanted a PSP, and I just finished the last of the missions a week ago (and I'm not even at 50% yet!) I enjoyed GTA Advance well enough I suppose, but this kicks it's *ass* all over the place and takes it's name...

[Push Upstairs]

The biggest being swimming - it's nice to be able to get out of your car in the water and swim to shore as opposed to simply dying and having to start something over.

The best thing they could add to the series. It always pissed me off that you would just drown when falling into the water.

My only complaints about Vice City (other than the swimming) was the city was too small and there wasnt enough radio station programming.

[stressboy]

GTA Liberty City Stories for PS2 : NOW THIS IS THE ONE IM LOOKING FORWARD TOO a sequel to part 3 with the new gameplay elements of VC and SA OH YEAH thats what im talking about 8-)

I think prequel would be a better word to describe it, as far as the storyline is concerned.

[njiska]

GTA Liberty City Stories for PS2 : NOW THIS IS THE ONE IM LOOKING FORWARD TOO a sequel to part 3 with the new gameplay elements of VC and SA OH YEAH thats what im talking about 8-)

I think prequel would be a better word to describe it, as far as the storyline is concerned.

He also forgot that it's a straight port of the PSP version with no graphical upgrade. Or so i've heard.

[Gamereviewgod]

I enjoyed 3 for random fun, but as games, there's no excuse for how awful the targeting is (haven't played SA). It's not worth dealing with it. I don't find open-ended stuff all that enjoyable most of the time, and toss in the aiming problems and this is a franchise I have zero interest in.

[Gamemaster_ca_2003]

My Younger Brother (13) Really Loves The GTA Series
As for Me I Like It a Lot espacialy GTA 2 Demo Ver.

[Push Upstairs]

I enjoyed 3 for random fun, but as games, there's no excuse for how awful the targeting is (haven't played SA). It's not worth dealing with it. I don't find open-ended stuff all that enjoyable most of the time, and toss in the aiming problems and this is a franchise I have zero interest in.

Which is why i bought "Vice City" for the PC. If i needed better aiming than what the gamepad could provide i could fall back on my trusty keyboard+mouse.

Taking out helicopters, popping tires, and making headshots is a breeze with the mouse.

[kedawa]

I've dinked around with every game in the series to some extent, but the controls and graphics were so sloppy that I just couldn't get into it.
It's weird, though, because I liked other DMA games like Space Station Silicon Valley and Body Harvest, which have similar gameplay mechanics and shortcomings.
I think the praise the GTA game gets from mouth-breathing morons was the thing that poisoned it for me.
I see it as a decent series of games made mediocre by the spite I have for its fanbase.

[Push Upstairs]

I see it as a decent series of games made mediocre by the spite I have for its fanbase.

This applies to *SOOOOO* many different games it's not even funny.

[sabre2922]

GTA Liberty City Stories for PS2 : NOW THIS IS THE ONE IM LOOKING FORWARD TOO a sequel to part 3 with the new gameplay elements of VC and SA OH YEAH thats what im talking about 8-)

I think prequel would be a better word to describe it, as far as the storyline is concerned.

He also forgot that it's a straight port of the PSP version with no graphical upgrade. Or so i've heard.

umm yea guys Im well aware of those things BUT my point is that I dont have to buy a PSP just to play this game and Prequel/sequel/tittiequeal or what the hell ever anything to do with part 3 IM THERE

I have been getting more and more into SA but the story kinda holds me back although it is a good one its difficult to explain really

[Neil Koch]

The story in SA kind of sucks, which is why overall I don't like it as much as GTA3 or VC.

CJ is kind of a pussy - he gets pushed around by his brother and girlfriends. Even towards the end of the game, when you own a lot of property and have tons of cash, you're still runiing around dinking with dumb crap.

Also, it's just too long. Once you get out of Los Santos, you have the wilderness missions, San Fierro, Toreno, the desert and then Las Venturas (not to mention the side missions like Zero and Truth). By the time you get back to Los Santos, it's hard to connect with the story.

I really hope the next GTA gives the player a little more wiggle room on how the game develops - for instance, instead of having to unlock all the other areas to get to Las Venturas, you should be able to go there right away, but since you didn't go to San Fierro and meet Woozie, you would have to take a different appraoch to the missions. I'd also like to see a True Crime-esque approach that rewards you differently based how you play the mission.

[Push Upstairs]

I hope the next GTA incorporates more of the RPG elements that show up in SA.

And yes, being able to wonder anywhere in the city from the get go would be great.

But as for the missions well....

I'd like to think that some missions would open only because you helped a certain someone out and then someone else requested your services. However should you not do that mission and choose another it should open up a new, different set of missions perhaps leading to a different "ending".

[zerohero]

The original, and the best.

I loved the freedom you had with this game, although others have tried, you just can't copy its fun.

The original was mind blowing for me, 1000% fun, vice city was a great take on the 80's, and kept it all cool.

Same with San andreas, another take, with additions, and lots to do, I can't wait until the next one hits 360, if they manage to get it.

Pretty much how I feel,

The original was just one of those special gaming experiences for me, not to meantion I thought it would be stupid before I went over a friends house to play it. Needless to say I was blown away.

[c0ldb33r]

I don't like 'em.

Well, I don't like playing the missions.

I do enjoy grabbing a car and driving around listening to the radio. Beat up some pedestrians, attack some cops, die, etc...

But I really don't like the actual game itself.

[Neil Koch]

I hope the next GTA incorporates more of the RPG elements that show up in SA.

And yes, being able to wonder anywhere in the city from the get go would be great.

But as for the missions well....

I'd like to think that some missions would open only because you helped a certain someone out and then someone else requested your services. However should you not do that mission and choose another it should open up a new, different set of missions perhaps leading to a different "ending".

Well, True Crime (the first one) did that. There were certain missions that would change the flow of the game depending on how you played them (ie, kill someone instead of arresting them). I'd like something a little more in-depth though, instead of the systems they have now, where you basically have 1 or 2 "bosses" available, you do those missions, move on to the next area, etc.

For example, say in SA you skip the Zero missions, so he's too busy dinking around with Berkely to help you out with doing the casino heist in Venturas.

I'd rather see a small, more in-depth game, rather than basically the same thing with a bigger map. Something where the choices you make in the game determine how it flows. For instance, have something like a "global wanted" level that goes up if you go around killing people and goes down if you bribe cops in your area. If your wanted level is too high overall, you won't be able to access certain missions because the cops will always be looking for you, but on the other hand, if it is too low, you won't be able to get jobs from certain gangs because they won't respect you.

[Slate]

Post edited so i won't start the topic to go off topic.

[SegaAges]

I have been playing gta since it 1st came out on pc and ps1.

There are many gamers out there that started playing the game with gta3.

I have been able to see the game transition from a super pixelated top down driver with a few down down shooting elements, to a solid 3rd person shooter/driver.

See, back in the day, you progressed through the game by getting money. After you gained a certain amount of money, you could go to the next level. You didn't have to do missions at all to gain all the money, you could just go around and kill everything in sight for the money.

And besides, the fmv opening for gta2 on dc is pretty cool.

[Push Upstairs]

Well, True Crime (the first one) did that. There were certain missions that would change the flow of the game depending on how you played them (ie, kill someone instead of arresting them). I'd like something a little more in-depth though, instead of the systems they have now, where you basically have 1 or 2 "bosses" available, you do those missions, move on to the next area, etc.

Well, the way GTA is now is that you have to do all the missions to get 100% and the way i was thinking would be like this.

In Vice City you had the Cuban and the Hatian missions. If you choose one you cannot do the other as whoever you don't choose will "know" what you did and therefore won't like you enough to do thier missions.

Perhaps doing the Cuban missions leads to more Cuban missions, perhaps you can do some and at a certain point you can choose to switch sides and do some work for the Hatians (but these missions would be different than if you had chose to work with them from the get go). Or you could blow both sides off and instead mind your own criminal business.

I think the only thing that is holding this series back is that, while it is an open sandbox, you still have to complete set missions.

[unwinddesign]

GTA 3. What memories. Top 5 games of all time, no doubt. Anyone who says that game was average had their head up their ass at the time of its release.

Even if you don't like the game -- which is fine -- you have to respect it for it's scope, originality and cohesiveness. Prior to GTA 3, no game took so many elements and fused them all together in one grandiose open ended package.

Vice City took this formula, improved it, doused it in acid wash, and released what is probably my number three game of all time. And I was born at the very end of the 80s (89), so that ain't nostalgia talkin'. The 80s flare is just spot on, and the game has been cleaned up, tweaked, and made into a masterpiece.

Haven't played San Andreas. Played LCS a good bit; it's ok, but the PSP isn't well suited for this game. My hand starts to cramp after about an hour due to the crappy analog nub. It's also extremely difficult to make evasive car manuevers given the controls, so running around and causing carnage ain't that fun either. Still decent.

[Joker T]

I've played them but never been a huge fan.