Grand Theft Auto

Rockstar just released their announcement trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5, and I gotta say, I'm pretty excited.

It looks good, it sounds good, it's set back in San Andreas... all and all a good start to the next set of games.

What I want to talk about though is how it's being compared to GTA3 and 4.  Here's my take - those were completely different series.  Series?  Yes, series.  The thing that a lot of people miss with the GTA franchise is that each time it gets a new number, it gets several games built on that engine, and all those games have a similar feel/style to them.

3/Vice City/San Andreas were very wacky, all about a nobody moving up and taking over, becoming their own boss, that kinda thing.  4/Lost & Damned/Gay Tony were all about outsiders trying to integrate and facing push back, and at the same time get away from their pasts and not being allowed to by the wider world.  It was also very gritty and "real" feeling.  They were both social commentaries on overall feelings that the United States was experiencing at the time.

We don't know what this fifth installment is going to bring us, but stop comparing it to the other games - they may as well have been completely different series considering each set has had completely different design philosophies.

Names don't matter.