One step forward and two steps back.
The graphics, are great by far the best yet.
The A.I is programmed really well and the city feels alive.
The missions are nothing really new if you have played the ps2 GTA games, but fun and challenging (mostly) anyway.
The characters didn't really interest me most people niko meets are idiots you want to kill(luckily some you can).
The soundtrack is lame compared to vice city and san andreas, they could have done much better.
What dissapoints me about this game is they have sucked alot of the fun out of it, No more character customization like getting buff or becoming obese,no tattos, No skills like weapon levels like in san andreas, no more propertys to buy basically nothing to spend your money on but clothes and weapons(and there is a major lack of clothes shops and variety anyway).
There are no more fun cheats like flying cars, riots etc.
Basically they could have done so much more with the power of the 7th generation consoles. instead this game feels like one step forwards and two steps back to me and Very Overated(perfect 10 reviews,Top 5 Rank on gamerankings)
Now the only redeeming feature in this to me is the online upgrades, like the upcoming Lost and the Damned, which for more money, can drag out your playing time a fair bit(there is nothing that will make you want to come back to play the main game again, unless you are the type that wants 100% completion and everything unlocked in all games)
Hopefully they do a better job with the next Grand Theft Auto and give the series a kick in the pants, and add lots of new features.