What did GTA III and GTA VC do better than GTA SA?

[hoodedshiba]

On youtube there are several videos comparing GTA IV and GTA V. Both games are great and have their good and bad points but it's curious to see that GTA IV does some things better than GTA V. I wonder... besides the open interiors, is there anything that GTA 3 and GTA VC do better than SA?

[The Tracker]

III > SA

 

-Weapon sounds

-Reflections

-Rampages

 

VC > SA

 

-Weapon sounds

-Reflections

-Interior variety

-NPC variety

-Races

-Rampages

-Properties

 

That's all I can think about right now. 

[Ser_Salty]

Vice City: Interiors. I know SA has a lot more, but the (nearly) seamless interiors of Vice City just feel a lot better. It's nice to look out onto the beach from the hotel room, or onto the water from the office in Tommys mansion. It adds a lot to the bright and warm feeling of Vice City.

 

Also both 3 and VC have better weapon sounds. SAs weapons just sound like somebody is throwing pencils at a wall.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Ser_Salty

[CynicalMexican]

GTA 3 has the best atmosphere hands down. Gritty, cold, dark, and cynical Liberty City is just unmatched.

[Smash Bandicoot]

GTA VC had the better AK sound, I guess...

[[Ambient]]

The balance between realism and fun. I mean, it's not like I put SA in par with Online or whatever, but SA is IMO the most over-the-top game in the whole 3D universe (not counting Advance because I know dog sh*t about it).

 

The gore. I find killing people much funnier in GTA III than in GTA SA. Honestly.

 

The soundtrack. True for both III and VC.

[GhettoJesus]

Weapon sounds would be one. I'd always add the weapon arsenal and the soundtrack which VC did better than SA. Now SA might have more weapons but it also omitted a few fun melee weapons and guns.

[Evil empire]

3 -->

-The ability to dismember your foes

-The way your enemies scream when your burn them

-None of San Andreas' races is as enjoyable as Bling bling scramble

-The taxi sub-mission pays largely more and you don't have as long itineraries to run

 

Vice City -->

-The cars and helicopters handle much better

-The Ocean View hotel suite looks largely better than the SA hotel suites

-The soundtrack

-The races and stadium activities are more enjoyable

-The companies really generate the income they are supposed to give you and you don't have to wait close of the dollar symbol so they generate money at a decent rhythm

-You can make money in the vigilante sub-mission much faster than in SA

-The tank is faster and much more resistant

 

Both -->

-The rampages

-The firefighter sub-mission doesn't automatically stop at the level 12

-The sounds of the weapons are more credible

 

I hope I didn't forget anything.

[H-G]

Little environmental details in GTA3 and VC such as the cotton candy-like clouds, newspapers and leaves flying around with the wind, ability to rob street criminals who pickpocketed someone, peds seeking shelter during rain, unused "use ATM or line-up and wait to use if already occupied" and "window shopping" ped attractor types for map objects (which work real perfectly and can be restored in a single click) and fun scripted EXE and SCM features like the $50 Good Citizen Bonus, the $5 bus fare bonus and the Keepie-Uppy Beach Ball minigame make the games feel very lively and a lot more atmospheric compared to SA which seems overdone and riddled with so-called hollow excuses for "RPG elements" and supposed "fun" side activities. SA is great too but GTA3 and VC both have so much seamlessly heart-winning stuff integrated into their cores that doesn't need to tell us that it's supposed to be "awesome".

Edited August 29, 2021 by H-G

[GhettoJesus]

2 hours ago, H-G said:

Little environmental details in GTA3 and VC such as the cotton candy-like clouds, newspapers and leaves flying around with the wind, ability to rob street criminals who pickpocketed someone, peds seeking shelter during rain, unused "use ATM or line-up and wait to use if already occupied" and "window shopping" ped attractor types for map objects (which work real perfectly and can be restored in a single click) and fun scripted EXE and SCM features like the $50 Good Citizen Bonus, the $5 bus fare bonus and the Keepie-Uppie Beach Ball minigame make the games feel very lively and a lot more atmospheric compared to SA which seems overdone and riddled with so-called hollow excuses for "RPG elements" and supposed "fun" side activities. SA is great too but GTA3 and VC both have so much seamlessly heart-winning stuff integrated into their cores that doesn't need to tell us that it's supposed to be "awesome".

Fun fact, the ATM thing was reimplemented in SA, sadly only at one place.

 

One more thing I'd add, the camera. I kinda miss both the top-down camera and the police camera that were in III and VC respectively.

[H-G]

11 hours ago, GhettoJesus said:

Fun fact, the ATM thing was reimplemented in SA, sadly only at one place.

Really? Where can it be found?

[GhettoJesus]

21 minutes ago, H-G said:

Really? Where can it be found?

You can find it in Las Venturas right here. It's east of the entrance to the Starfish Casino's parking house.

 

[H-G]

Just now, GhettoJesus said:

You can find it in Las Venturas right here. It's east of the entrance to the Starfish Casino's parking house.

 

(image)

Sheesh, even after 10 years of playing SA I still don't know this. Awesome find mang.

[Fidzy]

14 hours ago, H-G said:

Little environmental details in GTA3 and VC such as the cotton candy-like clouds, newspapers and leaves flying around with the wind, ability to rob street criminals who pickpocketed someone, peds seeking shelter during rain, unused "use ATM or line-up and wait to use if already occupied" and "window shopping" ped attractor types for map objects (which work real perfectly and can be restored in a single click) and fun scripted EXE and SCM features like the $50 Good Citizen Bonus, the $5 bus fare bonus and the Keepie-Uppie Beach Ball minigame make the games feel very lively and a lot more atmospheric compared to SA which seems overdone and riddled with so-called hollow excuses for "RPG elements" and supposed "fun" side activities. SA is great too but GTA3 and VC both have so much seamlessly heart-winning stuff integrated into their cores that doesn't need to tell us that it's supposed to be "awesome".

In all my years playing gta I've never even heard of keepy uppie beach ball. I feel like I've been kept out of the world's biggest secret

[CynicalMexican]

On 8/28/2021 at 12:37 AM, Fidzy said:

In all my years playing gta I've never even heard of keepy uppie beach ball. I feel like I've been kept out of the world's biggest secret

 

No son, that's the Krabby Patty Secret Formula, and the Israeli nuclear weapons program.

[Algonquin Assassin]

Most things have been mentioned except for these.

 

Vice City.

 

The assets are better. I love the fact you can purchase a strip club, adult film studio, printworks etc. It feels so much more varied and integrated into Tommy's business venture than it is for CJ's. I always felt like San Andreas went backwards in this regard and it didn't feel as fulfilling. Tommy feels like a boss and CJ feels like a middle man with someone else running the show.

 

Vercetti Estate > Madd Dogg's Crib. While Tommy doesn't buy it himself I like that he takes it by force and renames it after his own name. The obvious Scarface influences are cool and it's simply a nicer looking place. Madd Dogg's Crib on the other hand just looks like a generic "mansion". It's ugly on the outside and inside it feels as generic as the rest of the interiors in the game. Vercetti Estate feels like something Tommy actually owns instead of feeling like a squatter staying there on someone's else's behalf like CJ.

[Americana]

I wish the story of CJ ended in Los Santos. It became such a mess later...

[CynicalMexican]

I like how Vice City didn't rely so much on a 'filter that the other games in the series did. Vice City looks more "natural" compared to other GTA games.

 

It's something I wish other GTA games tried to replicate. San Andreas, IMO, has way too much filter that it doesn't feel like sunny California. 

[The Tracker]

2 hours ago, CynicalMexican said:

I like how Vice City didn't rely so much on a 'filter that the other games in the series did. Vice City looks more "natural" compared to other GTA games.

 

Not quite true, the PS2 version had a filter:

 

 

 

I think it wanted to capture those particular warm colors the 1970's-1980's homemade pictures had:

 

 

[CynicalMexican]

I haven't played PS2 GTA VC in a while.

 

GTA SA definitely had that grainy early 1990s photographic feel, I'll say that.

 

GTA 4 kinda reminds me of a grainy 2007 YouTube video

[The Tracker]

10 minutes ago, CynicalMexican said:

GTA 4 kinda reminds me of a grainy 2007 YouTube video

 

Yep, kinda like this classic:

 

 

[Badman_]

I feel like III and VC are more "stylish" games. III has a very unique atmosphere that makes you feel like you're in a gangster movie from Martin Scorsese while VC has all that '80s vibe we all like to praise (plus the soundtrack is probably the best one in the series).

[CynicalMexican]

2 hours ago, Wolfman_ said:

I feel like III and VC are more "stylish" games. III has a very unique atmosphere that makes you feel like you're in a gangster movie from Martin Scorsese while VC has all that '80s vibe we all like to praise (plus the soundtrack is probably the best one in the series).

 

GTA 3 had a distinct edgy vibe to it. Think Invader Zim, Courage the Cowardly Dog, or Donnie Darko. That "early 2000s edge" which isn't a thing anymore sadly.

[Be-Deliver]

Been mentioned a couple of times there is more variety when it comes to the audio of firearms in III & Vice City compared to San Andreas.

 

To add on the topic of sound variety, GTA III beats both of its successors due to each emergency vehicle having their own audio for the siren. Though the ambulance in Vice City has its own siren, but the firetruck shares the same audio as the police cruiser. San Andreas on the other hand, all emergency vehicles shares the same audio for the siren.

[The Tracker]

13 hours ago, CynicalMexican said:

 

GTA 3 had a distinct edgy vibe to it. Think Invader Zim, Courage the Cowardly Dog, or Donnie Darko. That "early 2000s edge" which isn't a thing anymore sadly.

 

Also movies like Matrix, or games like Max Payne, Hitman or Deus Ex, to give a few examples. 

[GhettoJesus]

23 hours ago, The Tracker said:

Not quite true, the PS2 version had a filter:

I hope they perfect that filter and make it optional for an eventual GTA game that takes place in Vice City. I really love those photographs from the 70s and 80s.

[paperbagdude]

Vice City had Hall and Oates

Edited September 16, 2021 by paperbagdude
oats

[CynicalMexican]

2 hours ago, GhettoJesus said:

I hope they perfect that filter and make it optional for an eventual GTA game that takes place in Vice City. I really love those photographs from the 70s and 80s.

 

This was an option in LA Noire.

[kobeni]

I really liked the gore and blood effects in those two games. I liked how shooting a different body part generates a different death animation, no such thing in San Andreas with its default death pose for everything.

 

Also I enjoyed how anarchic and fast paced these games felt. I'm a fan of slow burn storylines like San Andreas and IV but I do feel as though such games are a rarity now.

Edited September 17, 2021 by sabitsuki

[sefus]

I like how the cars in GTA 3-VC actually ran over people and didn't stop like they were made out of concrete like in GTA SA