When you take a step back and look across the Rockstar Games catalogue, Grand Theft Auto appears a lot. It’s easy to overlook just how many titles have been released in the franchise given some of them have been exclusive to certain platforms.
As we’re all aboard the hype train forGTA VI, we’ve been looking back over all of theGrand Theft Autotitles and weighing them against each other in a good old-fashioned ranked list. Where does your favourite entry appear? What are your personal top three? Let’s start the debate here.
The hype train is still rolling for GTA VI and there’s no slowing it down
Grand Theft Auto 2 - 1999
Released hot on the heels of the original game and capitalising on the popularity of a burgeoning genre,Grand Theft Auto 2did improve a little on the first game, but it takes a lower spot on the list because it’s the most forgettable. Still using a top-down view and built on pixel graphics, the blueprint of the franchise was further fleshed out. Set within a ‘retrofuturisitc’ city called ‘Anywhere City’ it was the biggest miss in the franchise history with very mixed reviews.
Grand Theft Auto: London - 1999
While this appeared as the third instalment in the GTA franchise, it stands out as the first, and only, time a game takes place in a real-life location. It was originally released as an expansion for the first game, but later featured as a full release onPlayStationand came as part of theGrand Theft Auto: Director’s Cut. Though the series had always been funny, this was a chance to lean into that humour. It was, unfortunately, a very short game, which marks it down a touch.
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GTA London
GTA: Liberty City Stories - 2005
Originally launched as a PSP exclusive title (it later came to PlayStation 2 and mobile devices)GTA: Liberty City Storiesfeatured Toni Cipriani, a character found withinGTA 3, who found himself in a power struggle within the mafia. The game was enjoyable and brought the recent move to 3D over to the handheld Sony console, though it did have to make some adjustments and wouldn’t feature flying vehicles due to the low power of the PSP. It was a brilliant accompaniment to the third mainline GTA game.
GTA: Vice City Stories - 2006
Following in the footsteps ofGTA: Liberty City Stories, this iteration took us to Vice City to build a criminal empire - there was actually an empire building system built into this one as a side project to the main story. Due to the popularity of Vice City as a setting, this became the second best-selling PSP game of all-time. Much like the previous PSP title,GTA: Vice City Storiesfeatured an ad-hoc multiplayer mode for up to six people, which was a unique aspect of the series for the time.
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Vice City Stories
GTA: Chinatown Wars - 2009
GTA 3 - 2001
Okay, here we go. This is where the list gets really exciting because we’re moving into the 3D shift for the series. When Grand Theft Auto jumped from that retro top-down style to what we know today.GTA 3was a monumental switch and while it’s recognisable, it was still different in some important ways. For example, the protagonist, Claude, was completely silent; the map of Liberty City (based on New York) was broken down into three sections, though still featured open-world shenanigans. This iteration was also the start of a life of controversy, because while you could still kill and maim in the first few games, taking it to a 3D space made it all too real for some, and GTA would find itself broiled in controversy.
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GTA 3
Grand Theft Auto - 1997
It might seem odd stepping back to the very first game at this point, but hear me out. WhileGTA 3might be the better game, from a gameplay perspective, the originalGrand Theft Autowas groundbreaking. Aside from titles likeCarmaggedon, games were still seen as for kids, and games with an edge certainly didn’t appear often on consoles. This landing on PlayStation was huge for the industry and, surprisingly, it still holds up well today, mostly due to the graphics. Sure, it’s very simple, but it still packed in a tonne of charm, humour, and outlandish mission design. It’s in this spot due to its legacy, also.
GTA IV - 2008
GTA IVis still a brilliant game, let’s get that out of the way. It was another monumental release because so many of the game’s systems were improved from the previous generation. However, at the time, and still today,GTA IVisn’t seen as one of the very best for a few reasons, chiefly, it was very repetitive. Plus, for some, the shift in tone was off-putting. Suddenly the series wasn’t as funny as it used to be and it became more serious. Having said that,GTA IVaged well and many of its original detractors found joy after revisiting it. It should also be mentioned that one of the best GTA stories was the DLC,The Ballad of Gay Tony, which featured some of the best narrative design from the studio.
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GTA 4
GTA Online - 2013
GTA: Vice City - 2002
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Vice City
GTA V - 2013
GTA: San Andreas - 2004
But. But,GTA: San Andreasjust holds too many memories, too many well-loved moments, and too many points of controversy that hold the franchise up to the light. It was a game that walked the fine line between drama and comedy like so few games ever have, bridging gaps between the impoverished and the rich, speaking on the class war of America, and touching on the crack epidemic, while still being able to laugh at the ludicrous missions given to Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson. In hindsight, we can critically look at the representation of race and gender and voice our objections.
Taken as a product of its time, and at face value,GTA: San Andreasstands out for so many aspects, some mentioned, and others not. The spoofed world of L.A. was a dream to navigate, with new ways to play with weapons and vehicles, and a more interesting narrative direction. It was an adventure, role-playing gaming as we’d rarely seen and it’s held high in the fondness of many.
San Andreas
Topics:Grand Theft Auto,GTA 5,GTA 6,GTA Online,Rockstar Games,Retro Gaming
