GTA IV Multiplayer vs GTA Online: Which was a better experience?

[T-Bone Wilson]

So I've been playing GTA Online recently, thought i'd give it a go and see if i can get a hacker free game. I managed to find a reality decent server... for a while. But my time online sparked a question in my mind. Was GTA IV more fun than this? In my opinion, which may shock a few people, the answer is yes, GTA IV's multiplayer was better.

 

But better isn't probably the best way to describe it.... If you look at the two games side-by side, GTA Online is the superior game by a long shot. It has more content, more thought and effort put into it, and is generally more complete and offers a much bigger, broader experience than GTA IV's multiplayer did.

 

So why do I like IV's more? The simple answer is that it's way more fun.

 

Even though they are very similar in concept, with very similar events happening between players in both games; shootouts, car chases, role-playing etc, I had such a better time in GTA IV doing so. In my opinion, GTA V/Online is way too serious for it's own good. You know that saying "Money is the root of all evil", it's applicable in a sense with this game(40k for a car mod??!!) The money does ruin the experience for me. You can't be a mindless maniac as much as you'd like anymore unless you like losing a load of money. Money that takes an age to get by doing boring ass missions. Boring ass missions that consist of going from point A to point B, killing a few people and picking up a package or vehicle along the way. Obviously you don't have to just play missions. Deathmatch is pretty much the same in both titles, it's ok for a few games, and i'd say races are the highlight from both titles online gamemodes, bar freemode of course, and perhaps Cops n crooks.

 

I think the one thing I love with GTA IV's multiplayer is that you just jump in and play. It literally is just a playground for you and your friends. You spawn, grab a gun and a car, pickup your mates, and set off to wreck havoc or whatever. It's amazing how it's so simple but so great at the same time, and it's never really got boring, not until my mates stopped playing it anyway. Obviously a big point with the online gameplay part of games is who you're playing with, and when I was playing IV's online with my school mates, nothing could beat it in my opinion, bar perhaps Halo 3 custom games. The laughs were legendary, and the good times a many...

 

But anyway, I would love to see peoples opinions on the matter. I know there was another topic posted way back, that was pretty much the same as this but i wanted to see what people thought now some time has passed since V's release.

 

Thanks for your time!

 

P.S anyone who plays on PC and wants to team up, hook me up. Private servers are probably the best so as to avoid the hackers.

SC: OfficerMendez

[UshaB]

Red Dead Redempiton's online is the game where I completely massacred others at. Also just love the atmosphere and my bull.

[Osho]

GTA Online since me and my crew play invite only ( private ) sessions. 99% secure and safe. I know everyone on my crew since they include my office colleagues and real life friends. I avoid playing with internet people as they tend to cause mischief at times.

Though we don't play on a regular basis but once in a while for a short session, and only on holidays when many are available to join.

I didn't have had any issues yet and Online sh*ts all over IV MP when it comes to offering things to do.

 

E:typo

Edited December 18, 2015 by Osho

[Xing of Virtue]

IV multi, being a noob wasn't an issue back then.

 

Edited December 18, 2015 by Xing of Virtue

[Piggsy pls]

Online has more content, but the simplicity of IV MP was great. Tbh I think GTA Online would be better if it were a full blown MMO, rather than being "sort of". And if it were seperate from the singleplayer, Rockstar would be able to give both modes plenty of attention.

 

Edit: Voted for RDR though, that was just tons of fun, simply because of animals alone. I don't understand why Rockstar didn't add them in GTA Online.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Piggsy pls

[Algonquin Assassin]

I spent way more time playing GTA IV MP. RDR MP was pretty fun too. GTAO's only fun in small doses IMO. I haven't played it since the heists were launched. Sometimes I think simple is better which is where GTA IV's MP and RDR's MP come out on top.

 

However I voted GTA IV MP.

[Misunderstood]

I've played waaayyyyy too much GTA IV MP. Probably a couple hundred hours on 360, a few more on PS3 and I'm at like 70 hours on the PC (not including EFLC) . I prefer IV and RDR to Online. I think RDR's MP was the best multiplayer experience Rockstar ever made. IV's was too simple and Online is too much. It's fun in small doses but if you play it too much, it makes you want to rip your hair out.

 

RDR>IV>Online

[Tycek]

As I sated previously IVMP was simply the best MP for me. It was fun, had couple of interesting modes and it wasn't really necessary to level up unless you wanted to have a couple of clothes more for your character.

 

I couldn't somehow get into RDR MP and I'm not sure why? Maybe it was already too complicated with the open world map, or maybe I simply didn't spend enough time there.

 

Online definitely isn't my favourite. It's based too heavily on F2P rules and grinding cash and RP points. Most people you encounter have 0 sense of team play, usually resorting to creating huge shootouts in the middle of LS and modes R* gave us have annoying features, which make them barely playable. I had some quality time there (mostly during DeathMatches with vehicles), but it's not a game I will remember well.

[PhillBellic]

I am not going to Vote as I did not Play either.

 

Anyway, from those 'BUSTED!' Videos posted by GTAMissions, Gussi111, et al. IV's Multiplayer seems to be more enjoyable.

[Lemoyne outlaw]

I am not going to Vote as I did not Play either.

 

Anyway, from those 'BUSTED!' Videos posted by GTAMissions, Gussi111, et al. IV's Multiplayer seems to be more enjoyable.

yea i loved playing busted and demo derby with them it was awsome. i miss it they were a fun group to play with. but i think 4 multiplayer is the best because like people said its so simple. spawn in the airport get a car and fight for the helicopters. gta online is way to complicated and also has those op jets and tanks. its not as fun anymore. they should also bring back awsome game modes like cops n crooks and turf war mafia work those are my favorite.

[Shadowfennekin]

Online cause you know...... we can actually KEEP weapons when we die. -_-

And it's FUN. No annoying brat hackers freezing my console like every few minutes on IV. Xbox One is safe from those low lifes, I'm so happy. And it feels like you accomplish something when you're able to buy that fancy yacht or mansion. IV was just mindless killing

 

A big disadvantage IV's had. "Oh you died? Let the person who pwn'd you just keep pwning you as you have jack sh*t to fight back with"

 

And Red Dead's too broken for me to judge. I got into it too late and well..... invisible people thing.

 

TL;DR I love IV. But hate the MP.

[Tycek]

IV was just mindless killing

 

A big disadvantage IV's had. "Oh you died? Let the person who pwn'd you just keep pwning you as you have jack sh*t to fight back with"

I believe you had to play different multiplayer than I did, because all your statements regarding IV MP fit O perfectly.

 

O is mindless killing in every possible form. You get out from your apartment - you will get shot, you want to tune up your car a little - again, want to buy clothes - why not buy a coffin while you're at it. It doesn't matter if it was a race, co-op mission or just free roam - there is always some little c*nt with twitchy finger ready to send you back to dust.

 

Disadvantage you're talking about is also present in V, because you may get simply spawn killed 50 times in a row, if you encounter troll in a tank or one of the planes. Sure, you will keep your weapons after the death, but they won't help you that much. And in IV you were starting with pistol, so you were able to kill an adversary - just one carefully aimed bullet.

 

In the end people are what matters in games like these and I met many great players during my IV MP days. People who were giving their time to create many great events and even whole leagues and people who were ready to sit through the night to participate in them. As I said before, IV MP was simple game, first multiplayer mode in GTA made by R*, but it wasn't just tacked on the main game. It was valid part of it, with its up and down, but also full of fun, nonetheless.

 

R* tried to hard with O. I understand they wanted to show their great idea to whole world, but in the end something that's sound good on paper (and O sounded really great) doesn't exactly work in reality. Maybe it's their will to get the money, maybe it's the people or everything at the same time, but O simply doesn't work as expected. Games are supposed to be fun, yet O became a quintessence of chaos.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Tycek

[svanderman]

They're both great in their own way.

 

IV MP is a lot simpler, and there is less worrying about money and K/D Ratios. The gamemodes are cool too, especially those added in TLAD.

GTAO is more serious but fun too thanks to the huge amount of content and the ability to own cars, planes, appartments and now even yachts.

 

While I do think that the focus on making money through Shark Cards sucks, I prefer GTAO personally. I guess it just depends on whether you prefer online modes simpler or more complicated.

[Masketta Man]

IV, but when I came into this topic I almost tricked myself because Online is fancier.

 

IV is what GTA should be as a multiplayer game, with all the cool stuff you play GTA IV for open from the beginning without the prerequisite of weeks of grinding for experience. IV's game modes are more open, so every match of whatever game has a different feel to them depending on how players act. The freeroam games are more than dicks cruising around in tanks and armored super cars.

 

Another thing that bothers me is the cutscenes, loading, and lobbies. If you're not always in freeroam or good company, then half your time is spent waiting to play.

 

Could never play RDR online because it didn't agree with my network, but the videos I've seen of it have been cool.

 

 

 

A big disadvantage IV's had. "Oh you died? Let the person who pwn'd you just keep pwning you as you have jack sh*t to fight back with"

Perhaps if they were far away and godly with a sniper rifle, but in any other case you could run away for higher ground easily or just headshot with the pistol. I suck and I could always manage to kill people within 5-6 deaths.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Masketta Man

[Lowi]

SAMP/MTA is better than both

[Jimbatron]

GTA IV had better modes with more lasting appeal, tmw and cnc. GTA V has more variety. It's a quality versus quantity thing.

[TheDiablo]

GTA Online got me hooked and I have more than double as much playing time than on GTA V Multiplayer.

[XxJazzy42xX]

Imma say this OP even though its mad late. GTA 4 in my opinion had a better story and multiplayer, BUT gta 5 is the better game if you know what im what I'm saying. GTA 4 had a multiplayer where money didn't matter, cars didn't matter, team deathmatch was fun in both AA and FA lobbies(Have them going down in Star Junction(Times Square in NYC). Not to mention Cops n' Crooks, Team Mafia Work, Car Jack City. It was a time you could pick whatever game mode without worrying how much money you were going to make. There was no grind fest.... it was just do whatever. Look at it like this OP the story in GTA 4 was darker and more serious with some goofiness in it(which I preferred), but the multiplayer it was fun and hilariousness all around and on the other hand GTA 5 was more goofy, but online is more serious and when I say that I mean now everybody is looking for money makers, quick cash, and grind fest of missions. To top it off we got the CEO, Biker Business, and Gunrunning update and because of those people are looking for private public lobbies to do those missions without interference from griefers and when they are in real public lobbies everybody ignores each other. I also like fighting the npcs and instead of them getting knocked out to end the fight the npcs could limp away in GTA 4 in general. Cops weren't overpowered neither so the whole lobbies teamed up against cops, because in that game you had nothing to lose. When I'm around cops there are no reactions in gta online unless they start shooting, but in gta 4 multiplayer if you take your character and stand near a cop's patrol in Albany and the cop walk by, the cop will say something like "Better not try anything" and your character might say "Man i'm tired of these pigs sweatin me!" In gta 4 multiplayer your character would say things to other players or characters if they were of the opposite sex depending on the head your character had for instance you might be around the female character and your male character would say "You want to kiss the raangg baaaayyby" same thing happens when you kill somebody. Small things like this would make me choose a rust bucket game over a game like gta online anyday. This is not to say gta online isn't enjoyable, but the fact that we own stuff now takes away us wanted to associate with others in the lobby because we can lose what we own easily now. Maybe its just me OP, but I feel that if we were more free and didn't have anything in a garage or a bank account we would be around each other more in the lobby. In gta 4 I had more people honk at me to get in instead of running me over. I was on gta online/5 multiplayer last night and heard some guy on the mic telling someone else "don't you come over here or you gon get blasted!!!!" because he was carrying supplies....he had something to lose. Unfortunately since gta 5 is a better game and its what consumer will choose day one more than gta 4, because it has more content it attracts more people, even more of the unwanted kind(griefers, internet thugs, gta thugs, hundreds of Caillous,etc). At the end of the day its depends on the player and all I can say is what I prefer and toss in my 2 cents have a nice day all.

[B Dawg]

GTA IV Multiplayer is easily better, and I say that without even trying V's Multiplayer (and I never will try it). Simply watching videos, reading update news and reading the Bitch & Moan thread shows how horrible it is. Plus, I hate/dislike any multiplayer game locks away gameplay changing elements behind leveling/grinding. Level unlocks are a cancer to multiplayer gaming that managed to find it's way into GTA with V. The only things that should be locked behind leveling are cosmetic items, or better yet, nothing at all. Make multiplayer about who is more skilled, not who has the better equipment that he got for playing more, that sh*t is unfair.

Edited June 16, 2017 by B Dawg

[Piggsy pls]

IV's multiplayer never lead to Take-Two trying to make mods illegal.. so yeah.

[Giantsgiants]

IV.

 

GTA Online may have more content, but it has a ton of microstransactions and paywalls.

 

This is a case of quality, not quantity.

[Lemoyne outlaw]

I am starting to like gta online a bit more than 4 now. yes I will be the first to admit gta online has a lot of griefing and jerks in it. but gta 4 had its share of griefers too. people in the annialator griefing others. now sure it wasent as op as the hydra but if you were good with it than you could grief. and also in tbogt they added the buzzard and that was a griefers toy. and they also added explosive rounds to the annialator. not to mention the modders are a plague to gta 4 now. they are 100 times worse than jet griefers because you cant do anything to them. they have god mode on so they cant be killed. they could teleport you to the prison. or freeze your game. and more. it is so annoying. at least with gta online rockstar are still working on it and trying to stop them.

 

 

now the money aspect of online can be annoying. if you want all the cool stuff in the new update you either have to spend hours upon hours of repetitive stuff. or buy cash cards like rockstar wants you to buy. it is annoying sure but I feel like its worth it. there is some cool stuff you can get. and I like that you feel like there is always something your working towards. there are still things that I want in gta o but I didn't get them because I didn't have enough money or I wanted something else more. in gta 4 there is nothing to work towards except clothes. it dosent feel as rewarding. and if you remember gta 4 mp had grinding too. money was a aspect in gta 4. you had to get a certain amount of money to rank up. when you rank up you unlocked new clothes that was it. but there was still grinding. I remember me and friends grinding hangmans noose to get to level 10 the highest level. but of course there was no cash cards.

 

 

 

I also love the personalization in gta o. it is really cool. you can own your own cars and customize them. you can own the guns and customize them. even more after gunrunning. you can own houses apartments business, motorcycle clubs, and bunkers. you really have a lot to choose from and you rarely get bored. not to mention character customization is much bigger you make your own character instead of gta 4 were you had to choose from a few character models. there is a lot of clothes. and if that wasent enough there are masks and tattoos and hair styles and face paint. there is so much you can do. also you can do minigames from singleplayer unlike gta 4. you can play golf tennis and darts and more. I remember in gta 4 when I first started playing it I thought oh cool since you can bowl in singleplayer I assumed you could do it in multiplayer. me and my friend went to the bowling alley. I was so disappointed to see that it was empty. I hated it. I went to the homebrew café same thing.

 

anyway I like both they each have their ups and downs but I think gta o might be a bit better. but not by much. its the only game I play mostly ever since cod started sucking. I also think gta o is much better when you play with friends. I think gta 4 mp could have been even better if it had all the eflc stuff. it sucked because If you wanted to use tlad weapons and vehicles you had to play that. and hardly anyone played it. the game modes were very fun but it was hard to find a lobby with a lot of people. same thing with tbogt. and I feel like it had more potential for new game modes. it had so many new cool toys but it just had the same stuff as gta 4. just imagine how much better 4 mp could have been if they could have merged all 3 in one. that's what I love about gta o every update keeps adding to the same thing. the amount of content in gta o is huge. and it keeps getting bigger every few months. and I think the quality of it is pretty good. sure there have been times when gta o gets frustrating. but for the most part gta o is very fun for me.

[SmokesWithCigs]

I am starting to like gta online a bit more than 4 now. yes I will be the first to admit gta online has a lot of griefing and jerks in it. but gta 4 had its share of griefers too. people in the annialator griefing others. now sure it wasent as op as the hydra but if you were good with it than you could grief. and also in tbogt they added the buzzard and that was a griefers toy. and they also added explosive rounds to the annialator. not to mention the modders are a plague to gta 4 now. they are 100 times worse than jet griefers because you cant do anything to them. they have god mode on so they cant be killed. they could teleport you to the prison. or freeze your game. and more. it is so annoying. at least with gta online rockstar are still working on it and trying to stop them.

 

 

now the money aspect of online can be annoying. if you want all the cool stuff in the new update you either have to spend hours upon hours of repetitive stuff. or buy cash cards like rockstar wants you to buy. it is annoying sure but I feel like its worth it. there is some cool stuff you can get. and I like that you feel like there is always something your working towards. there are still things that I want in gta o but I didn't get them because I didn't have enough money or I wanted something else more. in gta 4 there is nothing to work towards except clothes. it dosent feel as rewarding. and if you remember gta 4 mp had grinding too. money was a aspect in gta 4. you had to get a certain amount of money to rank up. when you rank up you unlocked new clothes that was it. but there was still grinding. I remember me and friends grinding hangmans noose to get to level 10 the highest level. but of course there was no cash cards.

 

 

 

I also love the personalization in gta o. it is really cool. you can own your own cars and customize them. you can own the guns and customize them. even more after gunrunning. you can own houses apartments business, motorcycle clubs, and bunkers. you really have a lot to choose from and you rarely get bored. not to mention character customization is much bigger you make your own character instead of gta 4 were you had to choose from a few character models. there is a lot of clothes. and if that wasent enough there are masks and tattoos and hair styles and face paint. there is so much you can do. also you can do minigames from singleplayer unlike gta 4. you can play golf tennis and darts and more. I remember in gta 4 when I first started playing it I thought oh cool since you can bowl in singleplayer I assumed you could do it in multiplayer. me and my friend went to the bowling alley. I was so disappointed to see that it was empty. I hated it. I went to the homebrew café same thing.

 

anyway I like both they each have their ups and downs but I think gta o might be a bit better. but not by much. its the only game I play mostly ever since cod started sucking. I also think gta o is much better when you play with friends. I think gta 4 mp could have been even better if it had all the eflc stuff. it sucked because If you wanted to use tlad weapons and vehicles you had to play that. and hardly anyone played it. the game modes were very fun but it was hard to find a lobby with a lot of people. same thing with tbogt. and I feel like it had more potential for new game modes. it had so many new cool toys but it just had the same stuff as gta 4. just imagine how much better 4 mp could have been if they could have merged all 3 in one. that's what I love about gta o every update keeps adding to the same thing. the amount of content in gta o is huge. and it keeps getting bigger every few months. and I think the quality of it is pretty good. sure there have been times when gta o gets frustrating. but for the most part gta o is very fun for me.

nailed it! my thoughts exactly. imo gtao is hands down the best. I've played all three online games. I've owned ps3 since 2013 and I bought gta IV a month after I first got V sadly I didn't get to experience IV multiplayer for consoles in its heyday. I didn't get to experience all the modes in the previous post mentioned. it was just mindless free roam killing and it was dull and limited. I got some joy out of rdr multiplayer but sadly the game was broken by some idiot who wanted to show off a stupid mod. I took down a game hide out or two with friends and I did a mission to rob a gold mine but that was it and because the game was broken I couldn't play the liars and thieves dlc I paid for so no gambling , poker black jack or dice with other gamers I was looking forward to and I no on ever joined a deathmatch etc.

gtao howerver its been a ride from the start. all 3 years and some change of fun. although it had its hiccups at the start I got to watch as my characters started out spawning outside a hotel to owning my first run down apartment to now living in a stilthouse minimansion with a pool owning a yacht , running a business from a highrise office running a car import/export garage, running a biker club and buisnesses, running guns from an underground bunker with high grade military weapon. the game has plenty depth,detail and customization variety in game modes and challenges etc. its endless fun the game has the sandbox depth and fun that the singleplayer should've had. the best of all this is hooking up with a crew and playing with friends. teamwork is the best aspect of this game.

[Homemade Dynamite]

GTA IV multiplayer for several reasons:

 

- It was a fun side thing that didn't devour the focus on single player (unlike GTA O, which is the sole focus). Instead, it existed alongside the SP experience rather than to overshadow it.

- It was simplistic, but that made it better. Your level mattered not, as anyone could do well at the game.

- It had better modes that weren't complete gimmicks. Cops 'n' Crooks and GTA Race (that isn't Mario Kart) completely blow the stupid over-the-top modes of later GTA Online out of the water.

- You could customize your free mode experience, so you could have a completely passive lobby (something GTA O still doesn't have).

- The modes fully utilized the map. Deathmatch actually had a unique GTA twist of using the whole city with vehicles in the mix, GTA O makes it completely generic with small maps and no vehicles. Basically, any game could have this mode, rather than the completely unique take GTA IV did on it.

- It still felt like GTA. GTA O has too many non-criminal things running around, like tanks, jets, stuff about private organizations, corporations, and whatever. In GTA IV, it was simple: You're a criminal, the others are criminals, and you're out there living in a world without rules. The stuff in GTA O is basically what Saints Row would've done if they had the budget and manpower to make it happen.

 

Don't get me wrong, GTA IV multiplayer wasn't perfect, and I do enjoy GTA O, but it just doesn't have that kind of magic that GTA IV possessed. I guess GTA IV was a one-of-a-kind game no one else could replicate, not even R* themselves.

[Algonquin Assassin]

GTA IV multiplayer for several reasons:

 

- It was a fun side thing that didn't devour the focus on single player (unlike GTA O, which is the sole focus). Instead, it existed alongside the SP experience rather than to overshadow it.

When GTA IV was still a new game I liked that I could fire it up and not get harrassed with multiplayer related loading screens like it is with GTA V.

 

Multiplayer/online should always be a companion. Not an overshadow.

 

Seeing as it's been some time since this thread was made I hate what GTAO's become. In the beginning it wasn't too bad, but now it's become a clusterf*ck of random sh*t that doesn't fit a GTA game at all.

 

When's the super hero and magical wizard dlc coming?

[SmokesWithCigs]

 

GTA IV multiplayer for several reasons:

 

- It was a fun side thing that didn't devour the focus on single player (unlike GTA O, which is the sole focus). Instead, it existed alongside the SP experience rather than to overshadow it.

When GTA IV was still a new game I liked that I could fire it up and not get harrassed with multiplayer related loading screens like it is with GTA V.

 

Multiplayer/online should always be a companion. Not an overshadow.

 

Seeing as it's been some time since this thread was made I hate what GTAO's become. In the beginning it wasn't too bad, but now it's become a clusterf*ck of random sh*t that doesn't fit a GTA game at all.

 

When's the super hero and magical wizard dlc coming?

 

nice try

[B Dawg]

When's the super hero and magical wizard dlc coming?

The wizard dlc is already here! The magic flying broom is just disguised as a rocketbike!

[ROCKSTAR MANIC]

Like many here have said, IV has quality but, V has Content. I loved doing cops and crooks, and hangman's Noose, Bomb da base 2. they are repeatable missions, but each single time you play is some different. Sometimes I imagine putting V content in IV without micro transactions would be a pleasurable experience.

[Eugene H. Krabs]

GTA IV's multiplayer, because by this point, I have no idea what the f*ck GTA Online is even supposed to be anymore.

[Good Hombre]

Even though GTAO is complete (tons of content) I voted for GTA IV Multiplayer because you felt like a real criminal, you didn't have to buy sh*t you just had to get 'em by either killing or robbing.

Edited June 24, 2017 by Good Hombre