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Are the PS2 GTAs worth playing today?

entremet

entremet

Member
I didn't play any of the PS2 GTAs, but GTA5 for the next gen consoles looks great, however, I'm a completionist of sorts and I enjoy seeing what a series has to offer in the whole.

However, I don't mind skipping GTA and GTA2, since 3 is really the beginning of the series 3D wise. But I feel I need to play the PS2 trio plus GTA4/Gay Tony/etc., before playing 5.

I don't mind skipping the portable games either--Stories/Chinatown. I know there is a GTA PS3 collection around that I can probably get for cheap. Did these games age well, or should I just play GTA5 on PC?
 
Grand Theft Auto III's Chatterbox is still unparalleled. I'd say every GTA game is worth playing for its soundtrack.
 
Definitely. San Andreas still has the most content out of any Grand Theft Auto ever, and Vice City still pretty much has the greatest atmosphere of any of them.

I'd recommend playing them on PC though if you do bother replaying them, then you can at least mod it with ENB and stuff if you feel inclined to.
 
I booted up VC and San Andreas a couple of weeks ago. Narrative still holds up, controls...not so much. Still fun as hell.
 
The controls may take some getting used to (especially 3 & VC) as they are a bit outdated, but the games are all classics and worth playing. I like all of the 3 games better than 4 & 5.
 
It blows my mind that there are gamers that are first getting introduced to playing GTA (even if they had heard of them) with 4 and 5.

Then, I think about the year that GTA3 came out, and I both understand, and feel old.
 
The main thing that doesn't age all that well is the shooting, but it's not awful. I'd say give San Andreas and Vice City a go - then maybe if you get into those, go back to GTA3, see where it all started! (for the 3D GTAs).

I even think the PSP Stories games are good, too.
 
i really don't think it's worth it. GTA4 and 5 are basically better versions of GTA3 and San Andreas. it's not like there's some great storyline or on-going continuity you need or want to see like in some other series. you might want to try vice city for the setting and time period (miami in the 80s), or san andreas for some of the things they did with gameplay like eating and working out/character customization. other than that really the core gameplay has just gotten so much better, and the missions in the newer games are basically better versions of past missions
 
Vice City and San Andreas are great, especially with mods.

Also, I'd recommend checking out GTA 1 and 2, I personally like them and they're free on PC.
 
Tagyhag said:
Vice City and San Andreas are great, especially with mods.

Also, I'd recommend checking out GTA 1 and 2, I personally like them and they're free on PC.
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GTA 1 has one-hit deaths and no checkpoints, which makes the missions and story progression pretty much impossible. But the soundtrack was exceptional right from game #1 and it's worth playing with cheats to make the difficulty more bearable.
 
Play Vice City. San Andreas is mostly eclipsed by GTA V, and GTA III simply hasn't aged well. But VC still has a unique charm from it's setting.
 
GTA 3 - is the most basic in terms of gameplay, but has an appropriate sense of humour about itself unlike the following entries.

Vice City - best storyline and setting, and the best balance between gameplay and the narrative. Really made you feel like you were climbing the ladder of the underworld.

San Andreas - best in terms of gameplay and has a map good for exploration. Even though GTA V's map is bigger, I prefer San Andreas because the three cities and the region attached to them provides more flavour.
 
GTA 3 was mind blowing at the time it was release and that's the reason why it's my personal favorite GTA. I don't think the game is anything special nowadays tho. You can probably safely skip it. However, it still has the best car of all the games (2nd is GTA 4's Sentinel XS). Just look at this beauty:
DiabloStallion-GTA3-front.jpg
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GTA: SA is decent if you're into old school Hip Hop. It's the only GTA of the entire mainline series I never finished tho, because the gang wars were a drag and happened way too often during the later parts of the game.

That brings us to one of the best GTAs in the entire series, that even holds up today: GTA VICE CITY. The city is awesome, the music is just glorious, the atmosphere is ridiculous well tuned and the story is basically Scarface. Just so much fun to play. If you want to play one, play that.
 
Vice City is still the best GTA

But San Andreas is right there , both are still playable today, to me anyway

I've got it on my nexus 5 and while there are some issues with the controllers , still fun
 
The driving controls in Vice City/San Andreas work better than GTA 4 IMO. Yeah they're easy, but an open world game SHOULD have easy driving.
 
I'd say San Andreas because in a way a lot of it's scope hasn't been topped. My personal favorite is GTA3, but that's because it was the first one I played. Now, it probably dosen't hold up for those who are new to it. I mean they are just kind of janky games with pretty shitty shooting.
 
Zukuu said:
GTA 3 was mind blowing at the time it was release and that's the reason why it's my personal favorite GTA. I don't think the game is anything special nowadays tho
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I've been playing them since the first one and III is still my favorite, because of what it was for the time.

The entire time I was playing 1 and 2 I had "These games are okay, but this series is going to be huge when they make a 3D one" in the back of my mind, and I was more right than I ever could have possibly imagined.

I remember seeing the GTA III preview in Game Informer in the summer of 2001 and my mind just being absolutely fucking annihilated. Definitely lived up to the hype.
 
Only if you feel the desire to play the ones that started it all. Vice City was pretty damn classic but I think they'll probably feel a bit dated now for sure.
 
As someone who loved them all back in the day and recently replayed all of them again, GTA San Andreas is the only game that is still awesome.

I loved Vice City back in the day too, but anyone saying it's worthwhile today is crazy. Especially for new players without a nostalgic attachment to it.
 
dirtywhirlwind said:
As someone who loved them all back in the day and recently replayed all of them again, GTA San Andreas is the only game that is still awesome.

I loved Vice City back in the day too, but anyone saying it's worthwhile today is crazy. Especially for new players without a nostalgic attachment to it.
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I think Grand Theft Auto V is the only game in the entire franchise that holds up without any nostalgia attached to it.
 
The controls haven't aged especially well, but Vice City and San Andreas to a lesser extent still have a certain charm to them that even GTA V lacks.
 
San Andreas is worth it. Long game even if you are just doing the story missions, and has really really good mission variety. Not a ton of "drive to shootout while listening to NPCs talk".
 
antitrop said:
I think Grand Theft Auto V is the only game in the entire franchise that holds up without any nostalgia attached to it.
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I would probably have agreed with this if it wasn't because I've recently played San Andreas and even by today, it's still a lot more fun to play then V.

Although you probably want to play it on PC and not PS2 though.
 
Well, I recently beat III. Had my fun in the Liberty City sandbox, enjoyed having a tank after the last story mission, uninstalled...feels good to play these old games, even with the jank. I don't see why I can run over pedestrians with ease but a cop with a gun can bust me in the most mundane situations ("over Claude's dead body!", I thought).

III's definitely basic. It gets as much out of the car traversal as possible, even encouraging me to cautiously drop window fire on Yakuza grunts during the assassination mission. Every character plays to their tropes, though there's some occasional flourish ("Now try the chili sauce"). Game's actually a bit challenging, and some missions really do offer freedom in completing the necessary objectives. The PC port's shit, though: lot of graphical rough-edges and chugging performance issues, simply not optimized. The radio selection's not as embellished as in later installments, but I like a lot of the original tracks in addition to that awesome Chatterbox. Military APCs and M-16 fire = a nice stress toy.
 
I played through San Andreas earlier this year on my Shield, it's still incredible. I don't use words like unputdownable very often, but in this case it says everything which needs to be said.
 
Dragoon En Regalia said:
III's definitely basic. The radio selection's not as embellished as in later installments, but I like a lot of the original tracks in addition to that awesome Chatterbox.
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GTA III's radio has The GTA Theme from the first game, though.

That counts for a lot.

dirtywhirlwind said:
I would probably have agreed with this if it wasn't because I've recently played San Andreas and even by today, it's still a lot more fun to play then V.

Although you probably want to play it on PC and not PS2 though.
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Yeah, you're probably right. I've only played San Andreas on PS2 when it first came out.
 
III and Vice City controls like crap on consoles, awful camera and aiming. Play them on a computer it you have the choice, while it's not perfect it's better.
San Andreas holds up really well control-wise on consoles, and I'd say it's the one most worth playing. Best GTA.

And GTA PS3 Collection? There's nothing of the sort except the GTA IV Collection.
 
It's been awhile since I've played GTA 3 or Vice City but I played SA not too long ago and think it still holds up quite well. Controls may take some getting used to but I don't think it'll be too bad to hinder the experience. I'd still say start with GTA 3 and play through them to see how the series progressed.
 
Whether it holds up or not, one very, very important thing to take away from GTA III is that Rockstar established themselves as the best in video game marketing right from the very beginning.

GTA III Trailer

Perfect music. Perfect editing. They've always had it.
 
GTA:III is still probably my favorite. Don't know if it's just that nostalgia, but I've yet to find a game I can go back to as often as that one. And no matter what GTA I'm playing, I always think about some way I enjoy III more. If the consoles allowed custom radio stations, the music in all of them would only be from III.
 
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