A wonderful game that deserves the hype.
As someone who has played the GTA series since one of the original iterations (GTA 2,) to see the transformation that has taken place both with characters and the actual cityscape since the days past is absolutely stunning. Aside from multiplayer games, never before have I played a game that had such human ambiance. The people walking on the streets, going about their business, the ebb and flow of traffic, the city lights... it's really quite incredible.
It's important to remember, however, that the game HAS changed in other ways too, besides adding an almost unheard of amount of detail to the scenery and whatnot. First off- car handling: In this game, cars perform less arcade style and more simulation. This means you will have to actually use the break to take a turn, or to avoid a car within this incredibly crowded city. At first this was a little uncomfortable, but I'm since adapted easily and don't think twice about it. (The exception to the "simulation-style" driving is with the Emergency brake: use that and you'll swing your whole car around, even at 5mph ;)
Camera's a little strange too, but I use WASD and mouse to drive, which was different from my old style, but fits perfectly now.
Now with the gripe: Antialiasing. Doesn't exist. There is none. None whatsoever. In this day and age, (with Crysis-performance computers slowly becoming the norm) this is unheard of. In some ways, I feel that the way the graphics were handled made the game seem more of a port than the PC performance it always should have been. I mean, for Claude's sake, the game got its roots on the PC!
Maybe I'm being a whiny little whiny thing. My point is that the gameplay is fun, thought-provoking, enticing, and fantastic. The graphics are great, if you look past them. Rockstar did a fantastic job with this one. If only they'll give PC users the same care on its next multi-platform project as it gave the Xbox and PS3 consumer base.