Grand Theft Auto=overrated IMO

[KenshiroX]

Seriously, I can't see what people find so great about it. It's fun for 10 minutes, then it gets really old. I think the producers are riding an awful lot on their reputation. I just don't really like it. It feels pretty uninspired, seeing as GTAIV felt to me about the same as GTAIII/Vice City. They can add all the "realism" they want, but the formula's kind of stale, and am I the only one who finds the bikes and cars a little loose? What happened to innovation in games? I mean, it's not like GTA's as bad as Guitar Hero for this, it's just it would be nice if some older concepts got brought back. Picture GTA fused with the fast-paced run and gun action of Contra. Wouldn't that be good?

[Joe Redifer]

Agreed. These games bore me. And they give me motion sickness due to the hyper-low frame rate which is attempted to be covered up by really bad motion blur.

[sega fan]

Some people don't like GTA and I can see why. Because all the people who talk about the games all talk about "ZOMGZ I GOTZ A TANKZ WEPONS". I play the missions all the way through and then get bored. Although GTA lost and damned will have me dusting off GTA 4.

My favorite GTA is San Andreas. No matter how many Grand Theft Autos come out, I'll still play through San Andreas every summer. I'm really nostalgic for GTA SA. I played GTA : SA and Streets of Rage every day in the summer of 2006.

The reason I love GTA is because that even though the gameplay is the same, the landscape and issions are brand new. I mean, if you're going to bitch about GTA, you might aswell bitch about the NES Mega Man's (1 through 6) or Mario Bros. (1 to 3)


Picture GTA fused with the fast-paced run and gun action of Contra. Wouldn't that be good?

good on paper, bad execution.

[drewza89]

I enjoyed both Vice City and San Andreas, but GTA IV bored me. I hated how they went with a more realistic approach. It zapped out all of the fun and it became a chore to play. I think I traded it in after a week of owning it.

The series has gotten stale and I don't think that there is anything they can do to make it fresh again. It's time to put it to rest, but I know they won't as long as it keeps raking in cash.

[Iron Lizard]

I remember it was really shocking when III came out. The thing feel very stale now. Sort of the same feeling I had for SFII about a year or two after it came out.

[Kollision]

Seriously, I can't see what people find so great about it. It's fun for 10 minutes, then it gets really old.
That's exactly my opinion too!

I start the game, then I drive around a little, get out of the car, start beating people on the streets, rob a bike and keep on beating people and running from the cops until I'm arrested. And that's it, there's nothing more for me in this game. :?

[Metal_Sonic]

I hated how they went with a more realistic approach.

The series has gotten stale and I don't think that there is anything they can do to make it fresh again.

You say they went with a new approach then you say the series is stale?

I like GTAIV, playing in free mode with a load of friends has given me hours of fun.

[17daysolderthannes]

I never played GTA as a game, in fact, I refuse to play any more missions than it takes to unlock all of the areas.

For me, the whole point of Grand Theft Auto is making your own fun, like I used to do with the original game's DOS demo with a no time limit crack. I would spend hours on my dad's laptop lining up busses and tankers and then opening fire with the machine gun and getting the cops mega pissed. Then I would jump in the nearest sports car and drive as fast as I could, hitting the handbrake on every turn, until the cops set up roadblocks and gunned me down. No matter how many times I did it, it never got old. If you try to play Grand Theft Auto like you play Final Fantasy, you are missing the point and it won't be fun. Its not about story, its not about leveling up, its about doing whatever the hell you want for the first time in video game history. I don't play it much anymore, but for about 3-4 years straight I would play that game for hours every weekend. I still love it, but I won't be buying any new installments unless there is a serious change.

For those looking for Contra meets Grand Theft Auto, there is a game called "Mercenaries" that is kind of like that for PS2 and XBOX. I didn't play it for very long, but its seemed like a more linear Grand Theft Auto (take any vehicle, but more straightforward landscapes).

Grand Theft Auto is the RPG for people that don't give 2 fucks about listening to some convoluted melodramatic storyline and just want to snipe a random dude on the street and then run someone over in an ice cream truck and then run from the cops until they gun you down. Ahhhh, so fun.

[Rusty Venture]

I used the time limit demo as a game itself. Kill as many people/do as much damage before the timer runs out. Except you cannot get busted or killed.

I used to piss the cops off till they set up roadblocks, steal a bus, and plow through roadblocks at full speed.

In "Vice City" after I'd officially got 100%, I'd do a bunch of dumb shit just to see if I could. I'd piss the cops off till wanted level 4 or 5 then RUN around the city ducking into alleys and shooting down the helicopter. I think I managed to circle the city 2-3 times before getting killed.

I remember discovering that you could get the tank to speed up & jump long distances by firing the turret backwards.


The only thing I hated about VC was that the place was too small and that there weren't more places to go/do to goof off. And the fact you couldn't swim.

[gamevet]

GTAIII and Vice City were okay, but they really didn't hold my attention for long. San Andreas and GTAIV are a totally different story though; there was so much more to do in those games.

GTAIV is the only game in the series that I've completed and I might go back to San Andreas, because I'd bought it when the Xbox was pretty much dead.

[Youngie]

I liked the first one the most. Played it on the PC when it first came out. Great stuff & innovative.

[TmEE]

Some of the most "meh" games for me... my brothers go crazy over the game though...

[Zebbe]

I approve this thread, GTA is crap. There is nothing good about it, the graphics, the story, the design, the music... Nothing. It is probably the worst video game series together with Mortal Kombat, Guitar Hero, Compendium of Final Fantasy VII, Halo, John Madden Football, Gears of War, Street Fighter II etc.

[Youngie]

Zebbe: joking or serious?

[nissling]

I've played hours and hours in GTA: SA and GTA: IV. Once you first start playing GTA, it's fun in some hours but it won't take long until you're tired at the gameplay. But if there's something good with the games, it's the music when you're driving. It's atleast music with origina and well known artists.

Another problem I have with the games (except for GTA: 4) is the polices. Once they started to hunt you, it goes on and on and on and they won't stop. It's just way too annoying that it really takes long time to get away from the people who wants to stop you.

[RowdyRodimus]

The thing I liked about GTA III-SA was the talk radio stations while driving. It seemed like they had hours and hours of different content. IV on the other hand seemed to have about 30 minutes worth and it kept repeating. I know it's a small complaint, but to me it just killed the fun for me.

[Elusive]

What happened to innovation in games?

Ah, Grand Theft Auto created the sandbox genre, and all the resulting PR quotes: 'open world', 'emergent gameplay' etc. Unless you stretch the definition and include it with 'simulation' games, I don't see how GTA could be anything but innovative.

I mean, the point of the game is that there's nothing to force you into doing anything without you triggering it: in GTA4 you turn off your mobile phone, in the original games you avoided the payphones, and in the rest you avoided the little halo-thing that indicated you could interact with something. Whee, now we can make our own fun!


I'm certainly not a fan of the stuff the games beat you about the head with, though. I get it, people are stupid! Corporations are big and evil! Hippies get it wrong! The media lies to you! Politicians and the police are corrupt and self-serving! Enough already, why does everything have to be a parody?

GTA4 was brilliant while Niko was fresh off the boat and getting to grips with his cousin and the shithole he landed in. Shame the game just dragged on :(

[edit] haha, and the Lost and Damned expansion is the same. Johnny only speaks in sarcasm, and why the fuck did I just see a willy

[Zebbe]

Zebbe: joking or serious?

Serious.

[MrMatthews]

Okay, get a little perspective, people.

I held out on the GTA series for a long time, turning my nose up at its attention-grabbing reputation and its glorified M rating. Then I picked up San Andreas when I bought my 360 and began to see what all the fuss was about.

The thing is, for every "overrated" game, there is a solid example of quality and addictive gameplay, and that's applicable regardless of whether you're referring to GTA, Guitar Hero, Gears of War, and an expansive list of games that don't begin with "G."

Is the GTA series overrated? Most certainly. Some of the highest scores I've ever seen given to a video game were lavished upon San Andreas and GTA IV. No game is worth a solid ten.

But overrated certainly doesn't make the game crap. I refuse to even consider thinking about entertaining the idea of giving Guitar Hero (and its ilk) more than a passing glance in the stores, but I can't deny that there's something about the games that make them so insanely popular. The same is true of the Grand Theft Auto games. Although the formula has become a tad redundant (allegedly, anyway - I've never played any console version other than SA), the great thing about the games is that they are basically two games in one. You can play them as been-there-done-that action games, or you can play them as an M-rated Animal Crossing.

The "sandbox" gameplay makes these games what they are. Rockstar has created these cities with an astonishing attention to detail and given gamers a near-infinite amount of things to do in them. Even a good number of the missions themselves serve as little more than a reminder of all the things you can do outside the missions.

The Grand Theft Auto series is absolutely overrated, but it definitely deserves about 80-90% of the praise it receives.

[Youngie]

Serious.

Fair enough. I don't agree but respect your opinion.

[Kollision]

It would be nice to know which gaming series Zebbe actually likes. :roll:

[Youngie]

It would be nice to know which gaming series Zebbe actually likes. :roll:
Is there one?

[TjN001]

I played the series up to San Andreas but sold all the games when I sold my PS2. I don't miss playing them that much, but they were pretty good games.

[Rusty Venture]

It would be nice to know which gaming series Zebbe actually likes. :roll:

Anything Hello Kitty.

[Zebbe]

It would be nice to know which gaming series Zebbe actually likes. :roll:

Phantasy Star (up to IV, Universe/Online DON'T count), Sonic (up to 3D Flickies' Island), Shining Force (haven't played anything except I/II/CD), Lunar series (those on Sega CD and PS), Mega Man (original series), Thunder Force series (up to IV, may buy V for PS one day), Streets of Rage series (Bare Knuckle for the third one), Final Fantasy (up to X), Grandia (I/II), Ecco the Dolphin and Space Harrier, among others.

I hope that's enough for you.

[The Jackal]

The GTA series is a great series, overhyped, yes, but still great non the less.

[Zebbe]

No. Golvellius is better.

[Psy]

The missions in the GTA games are a mixed bag meaning playing through the story in the GTA games is a mixed experience from trying to complete frustrating missions to missions that are actually somewhat fun. So yhea GTA is somewhat overrated.

[Casselfornia]

GTA IV is way too realistic and serious...where`s the fun? And, of course I hated that damn bank robbing mission...beating that was really tough!

The atmosphere is also...I don`t know, strange!

I choose Saints Row 2! Better missions, better gameplay (arcade bitch!), better main character, everything beats that GTA IV shit!

And NO! I`m not into Hip-Hop (except, NAS, ATCQ, PE etc.).

Ohh...Kudos for that LCHC radio channel! :) Killing Time, SOIA! Damn, never heard that before in any game...but hey SR2 has Paramore! xD

WINNER -> SAINTS ROW 2

[TjN001]

I could never get past that damn mini helicopter mission in SA. Played GTA IV at a friend's house, but wasn't that impressed. No more GTA for me.

[MrMatthews]

This seems as good a time to say this as any: GTA Chinatown Wars is pretty awesome.

[InternalPrimate]

Agreed. I just had my first BIG drug sale, and it was pretty satisfying. Plus I found the Liberty City Gun Club, and that place is awesome. I'm really liking it so far.

[RowdyRodimus]

So, would you recommend CTW for someone who just kind of like the last GTA but is kind of burned from the constant "This is the greatest thing ever" hype?

If it helps my favorites were III and Vice City.

[MrMatthews]

Agreed. I just had my first BIG drug sale, and it was pretty satisfying. Plus I found the Liberty City Gun Club, and that place is awesome. I'm really liking it so far.

Oh yeah, well I just beat it! (i'm listening to the closing credits right now, in fact).

Where is the gun club? I keep getting emails about guns to try out there, but I haven't found it.


So, would you recommend CTW for someone who just kind of like the last GTA but is kind of burned from the constant "This is the greatest thing ever" hype?

If it helps my favorites were III and Vice City.

Well, yes. On one hand, it's still the same old GTA, so you get the familiar missions (drive someone here, kill someone there), but the touch screen really opens the game up for some innovative mini games. And there's an entire drug-selling sub-game that's incredibly addictive.

Also, there's more of an action focus, so any sense of realism (other than vehicle physics) has been pretty much thrown out the window.

[InternalPrimate]

It's nothing too special, but some fun little mini games:


http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj216/iprimate858/thumb_lzHBTRNzqle06j9mgyxVyROoo1_40.jpg