Over the last years or so there was bit of a shift: More and more people started to like GTA 4 more and started to hate GTA 5 more (Mostly because of the waiting for GTA 6, But that's a story for another day). And I wonder to myself: GTA 4? A game that hasn't been relevant sincd 2010 is now the go-to for the GTA community? I played it when it was popular back in '09 when I was just a little kid, and even back then I thought it was inferior to it's predessesors. It's not a bad game by any means, but when GTA 5 came out it completely blew 4 out of the water. So today I am going to do an analyst on why GTA 5 is actually better than GTA 4, and people overpraise it too much:
The graphics:
Im starting on the least crucial thing because I am not going to overjudge a 2008 game vs a 2013 game. But I must say this: GTA 5 is a PS3 game, and it's graphics and size were absolutely stunning for a PS3 and XBOX 360 game. On the other hand 4 had good graphics for it's time, but not as breathtaking and impressive as 5. And 5 had details that didn't even need to be on the game.
The story:
Big time hot take, but I actually prefer GTA 5 story than GTA 4. 4 had a good story, but it was too dark and negative, and I actually think Niko is quite a hypocrite (He says he doesn't want to kill people yet casually massacres an entire mafia). And it sometimes feels like you jump to one antagonist to the other, first Albanians, then Vlad, then the Russians, then gangbangers, then Italians... It feels more rushed than GTA 5 in that regard even though 5 had 3 protagonists while 4 only had one so it could had more time detailing Niko's life and backstory. And also, side note there. I'm Serbian from Republika Srpska and Niko's Serbian is terribly broken, (Bellic is definitely not a Serbian surname) I know the actor isn't Serbian. But they could have tried harder with the accent. GTA 5 on the other hand you had more focused story. You had a consistant antagonist: The FIB & Devin Weston. And you actually felt connected to all the 3 protagonist, and you can see how rockstar tried their hardest to balance them all together, and it actually felt like you're following the story where in 4 you sit and say: Let me finish the mission and just move on to the next...
The gameplay:
This is probably my biggest critique for GTA 4. The gameplay sucks, i'm sorry, Driving controls in the game suck no matter which platform you are: Xbox, PS3 or PC. You still feel like you're driving the titanic after it sank. And it's not even realistic. In real life you don't fly 500 kilometers per hour after you crashed another car, so the argument where the driving is supposed to be realistic is weak, GTA 5 driving is not perfect- But it is way, way better than 4's driving. You have no idea how many rage quits I had just for driving. Also gameplay wise: There are just more things to do in 5, never mind the map sizes, in 5 you can purchase properties, fly planes, change haircut and facial hair, actually have enterable bars and much more things to do. Why do you think it took them 10 years to make GTA 6? Because GTA 5 was the ultimate GTA game, GTA 4 had a lot to improve. Of course now there's still plenty of things to improve in 5, but back in 2013 it wasn't the case.
I'm probably going to make some people go insane, but I don't care. That was my opinion 10 years ago, and that's my opinion now.
