Was GTA4 better than GTA5?

[Levka]

Im having an argument over if GTA4 did things better than GTA5.

[ShelLuser]

Depends. I personally thought that the story played out a lot better in GTA IV and was more enjoyable and maybe more believable as well; also because it wasn't so over the top as in V. This idea got extra enhanced when they released the DLC which more or less told the same story but from completely different perspectives. I still remember my surprise when Johnny met up with Nico and suddenly I played the same mission using a different character.

GTA V was kinda enjoyable with its 3 protagonist approach but... things felt rushed to me and I never really enjoyed the constant swapping around. Especially because as soon as I switched to another character they would immediately stop using their best weapons and switch to common stuff. The heck!? Not to mention that this swapping only worked during missions, you couldn't do this in freeroam which made me lose complete interest in the mechanic.

However... when it comes to cars and helicopters and such then I'll take V over IV anytime. Although I do miss the silliness of IV where you could park a burning car somewhere and then set of chain reactions I enjoy the current driving mechanics a lot more. Sliding around corners is actually easily doable, and creating "action scenes" where your car somewhat breaks out in the back (bit of oversteer) which you then correct is also doable. Takes practice (and the right car) but once you got that.. it can be a very satisfying experience.

And well, the models also look better in V.

SO I guess it depends. I wouldn't necessarily call IV better though I did enjoy the story a lot more.

[[-iD-]]

i found gtaiv very hard to digest. it ran very poorly and the story was not quite there imo.

but the physics and driving model were much better if you ask me.

[Messsucher]

GTAIV is the best GTA because it does have the best believable story. GTA5 story is so bonkers, it is like made by high school boys, totally out of touch of realities, though, there are good stuff but bonkers stuff go really over the top. It is not even b grade, it is c or d grade. Tote bad. Have not been able to finish it because so bad.

Graphics are good in GTA5, impressive even, but good graphics save little if game is otherwise bad. I would rate GTA 5 after GTA1&2, getting tie with GTA3.

[Tesityr]

If I may agree with the two points above: the story and the physics - both were "better" in IV, to me too.

The driving was more realistic, although it is kind of easier to drive at high speeds in GTAV. The physics of bodies was as though things weighed more in IV, things reacted more realistic. People and things didn't fly through the air so crazily. This sense of realism was enjoyable in IV, it made it seem 'more real'.

That and the story, together, made IV seem more...depressing though. The story of the downtrodden and the areas at first, with the realistic physics, really made IV seem 'a drag' (IMO) compared to V. GTAV is "bonkers" as another poster said, but that took away from the insane violence and darkness of it all, whereas IV didn't have that distraction, so to speak.

I still am trying to figure out if the excess violence in the games is a tale that "violence is bad" (eg. First Blood, Starship Troopers) or if the crazy violence in the game is just for pure visceral carnage enjoyment and addiction... I saw over time, so far, that there is a presence of both in GTAV (part "violence is bad" and part "violence is fun") so maybe their message is just that, both.

Sorry for the rambling, 'I agree' in any case.

[WhiteKnight]

I hated GTA 4. Frustrating KB&M controls, ugly graphics that i had use icehancer to play, hated the vehicle controls & GFWL.

In GTA 5 everything is great.


I used to hate flying in previous gta but whenever there is flying missions i would get angry & annoyed. In GTA5 i wanted more of it.

[Mirage]

Guns in IV were great though.

[Akakun]

Not better in my opinion, but I find that GTA IV had features that they removed or look worse in GTA V (like melee, ragddoll physics, food stands/buildings, peds who can resist more than one punch...).

[Mewsha]

I prefer the characters in GTA IV, but for everything else I prefer GTA V.

The story in GTA V kind of gets a little too big and unbelievable at times, but it's not taking itself as seriously as the story in GTA IV. I'm someone who played Saints Row 2 a lot more than GTA IV during that release period though.

Everything is just too big in GTA V, and as a result the characters lack depth. The choice of making it 3 characters instead of just 1 also affects that. Even when you see characters that were memorable from GTA IV in the online version, they just don't have that flavor anymore.

World building and parodies of real life events/people is top notch in GTA V though, so because the world is so immersive in GTA V, I can easily overlook some of the weaker characters and plot points.

The graphics, even though they're a little outdated today, have aged so much better than in IV too. I feel like in just a few short years IV looked crunchy and oudated. The washed out palette of Liberty City was also why I just never had as much fun playing in that world.

[[drunk] 2021 Giant Stance]

gta IV got REALLLLY boring after you start the gerrald/pegorino missions. Just bland and dull. There's only 2 helicopters and no planes, no vehicle customization, every car has bungie cord suspension and can't take a turn faster than 10mph, your friends are needy and require constant attention or they passive aggressively get mad at you, There's only 10 weapons and they are all mediocre, the water looks like OIL, you don't have any garage. It felt like it should have come after GTA3, where you had most of the same things. Going from vice city to san andreas with tons more features felt like a huge step backwards.

But I enjoyed the story. I just started playing again recently. It gets very dull when you start the pegorino/gerrald/payphone hitman missions.

If they added all the features from san andreas or GTAV, it would be much more enjoyable.

[[drunk] 2021 Giant Stance]

Originally posted by Mirage:

Guns in IV were great though.

No they were not. There's a glock and desert eagle, a mac something and mp something, an ak and a m4 or something, and an RPG. Molotov and grenades...which can't be both held at the same time...only one or the other.

Weapons in GTAIV were NOT great. I don't know how you can think that.

[Ceb]

Originally posted by Green:

Originally posted by Mirage:

Guns in IV were great though.

No they were not. There's a glock and desert eagle, a mac something and mp something, an ak and a m4 or something, and an RPG. Molotov and grenades...which can't be both held at the same time...only one or the other.

Weapons in GTAIV were NOT great. I don't know how you can think that.

The amount of weapons you can carry and the performance of said weapons aren't the same thing, though?

"I don't know how you can think that."
Short answer: Opinions that differ from yours.

[presto668]

Just remember: "Hey cahhhhsin, want to go bowling?"

[in]

IV's main story worse than V (and V has one of the worst stories too..). But DLCs were much better than both.. They pretty much gave life to the game.

[chris.boney2]

gta5 is way better than gta4.
gta4 did have some sweet steering with a wheel and pedals though. a controller was a nightmare.

gta5 is pretty much worlds apart. even the single player story/map/physics/vehicles etc are pretty decent. way better with mods though.

both gta5 sp & gtao play pretty sweet with a wheel and pedals too but for me seemed a better emulated experience on win7 than win10. win10/wheel emulation is still so much fun though, i cant really play the gta4/5 series without one.
(a lot of the time i can play gta5 like i play ets2. unless im playing the harcore grind, in which case its m&kb+controller)
although we all know that gta physics are gimped on purpose, the controller is very well done for cars and stuff in gta5, i just wish they add proper support for the whole wheel/pedals/first person driving thing.

so yeah, waffle aside, i really like gta5 a lot more than gta4 because its an all more modern game with more content both in sp and online.

[Tesityr]

Originally posted by StandardGuy:

Originally posted by Green:

No they were not. There's a glock and desert eagle, a mac something and mp something, an ak and a m4 or something, and an RPG. Molotov and grenades...which can't be both held at the same time...only one or the other.

Weapons in GTAIV were NOT great. I don't know how you can think that.

The amount of weapons you can carry and the performance of said weapons aren't the same thing, though?

"I don't know how you can think that."
Short answer: Opinions that differ from yours.

If I may suppose you mean "more realistic", then I agree with you... There was more realism with weapons and physics in general in IV.

I still enjoy the crazy-ness that can ensue in V though.