Former GTA dev says Rockstar had so long to make San Andreas that it "went crazy" with the amount of stuff added
Former GTA dev says Rockstar had so long to make San Andreas that it "went crazy" with the amount of stuff added
Including skydiving and stealth sections
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And it was why gtaIV felt like such a step back. It felt empty. There was less stuff to do. The was hardly any character customization. Money was kinda pointless. There was just a lot less is the silly open world stuff to do.
Eh, I don't feel that way at all, the feel and direction of the games felt very different. San Andreas felt like a cozy place to spend time, IV felt like a story to play through and experience. And that fits with the theme of each. GTA SA is all about that sense of family in the gang, so spending time in and around your hood felt natural. GTA IV is about an immigrant trying to get ahead, so anything other than looking for the next job feels out of character.
Whether this was intentional or not is kind of beside the point. I really enjoy both games, but for very different reasons. GTA SA was a fun romp and the story backs that up with betrayal and revenge. GTA IV was much more serious and the side content often felt like it got in the way. I enjoy both a lot for the different things they bring to the table. I'll replay GTA SA if I want to mess around, I'll replay IV if I want to relive the story.
I mean yeah, the story became a bigger focus in an attempt to make the game more cinematic. But it lost a lot of the open world silliness that made San Andreas more of a video game and less of an "experience".
Ive always felt like if a sequel to San Andreas continued in the same direction, the game game we would have gotten would be Saints Row 2. That game felt like volition saw San Andreas and thought, "oh yeah we can do that better". Serious story to bind the game together, but silly gameplay to keep you exploring the open world.
Yeah, GTA IV is more of a sequel to GTA III, and GTA V isn't really a sequel to either SA or IV, and that's probably why I disliked it.