TheGrand Theft Autofranchise is one of the most popular and beloved series in the world, having delivered a number of great entries over the last two decades that proved to be truly excellent games, with several entries listed among the best games of all time by many publications.
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While the driving mechanics and storylines are hugely important to the success of aGrand Theft Autogame, in addition to the characters and mission variety, one of the aspects that is often overlooked is the combat. WhileGTAgames aren’t strictly about combat, fighting is always an aspect, particularly as the games go on, and more violence is usually a result of the various crimes committed and betrayals enacted. For this reason, truly brutal combat can be a big help in making aGTAgame particularly great and helpedGrand Theft Autobecome one ofthe highest-selling franchises of all time.
6Grand Theft Auto 3
The release ofGrand Theft Auto 3was a massive moment in the history of the franchise. The entire idea of what aGTAgame could be, and what the idea of theGrand Theft Autofranchise has become in the eyes of fans, stems from the open-world nature and split focus across driving and adventuring,which was hugely experimental at the time.
The adventure, beginning with protagonist Claude being betrayed by his girlfriend Catalina, stretches across a variety of missions, but for the first time, there was a real focus placed on combat in the game. This resulted in some difficulty adjusting, asRockstartried to get combat right for the franchise, but despite the difficulty with shooting, players still loved the unique nature of the game’s combat system. It was so influential that it has, in fact, made its way ontothe Mount Rushmore of open-world games.
5Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Vice City Storiesis a bit of an odd duck as far asGrand Theft Autogames go; this prequel toVice Cityfeatured Vic Vance attempting to build a criminal empire alongside his brother. The game was simple in some ways, but the combat system was one that really managed to excel in ways thatGrand Theft Autoplayers might not have expected, given what they had seen ofGTA’s combat up to that point.
Instead of having truly great shooting and gun mechanics, which mostGrand Theft Autoplayers will admit is a problem the franchise has struggled with over the years,Vice City Storiesdecided to take a different approach to combat and focused on making a truly great grappling and hand-to-hand combat system. Unfortunately, this aspect didn’t survive in this format through any other games in the franchise, but it inspired later entries to improve upon previous hand-to-hand combat systems.
4Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Vice Cityis a game in theGrand Theft Autofranchise remembered more for the narrative aspects than most of the gameplay, and indeed, it isone of the longest Rockstar games. The story of Tommy Vercetti, as he rises to the top of the criminal world within Vice City, was a huge step up for the franchise in character and story work, and the world-building around the game and its story made for excellent additions to the franchise.
However, one of the major aspects was still the combat system, which was executed brilliantly. Coming out just a year afterGrand Theft Auto 3, there wasn’t a lot of time to improve on the systems of that game, butVice Citydefinitely did, with both melee and gunplay being a lot better this time around. This propelled Rockstar to even greater heights.
3Grand Theft Auto 5
The most recent entry in the franchise, despite being relatively aged in gaming terms, is stillGrand Theft Auto 5. The ambition and size of this entry have been praised many times over, and though there are a few minor difficulties with the combat system at times, it is still generally beloved by fans for a number of reasons.
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One of the great things about the combat ofGTA 5is the simple variety of weaponry, both guns and melee weapons, which players can make use of against enemies. The gunplay is definitely a lot better than in many of the earlier entries, and the game still feels like it comes with a solid level of difficultyin spite of being comparatively easierthan some previous editions.
2Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
San Andreasoffers what is arguably one of the bestGrand Theft Autoexperiences to date. It delivered on the promise ofGTA 3andGTA: Vice City, putting everything together to come up with a great story and world in addition to the fantastic mechanics and combat systems that the franchise had been missing out on up to that point.
Putting together all the great ideas with a much smoother polish gaveSan Andreasa great combat system, with gunplay and aiming being much more advanced, the fighting mechanics and enemy AI being much better, and the melee system offering different forms of martial arts. Gun skills were also more prominent than in any other entry since; the player character became more deadly and was able to reload faster the more they practiced and learned. Hopefully,future entries in the franchise take notes fromSan Andreasand its combat system.
1Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto 4was one of the most grounded, gritty, realistic entries the franchise has ever seen, and itdid many things better than the sequel. So it makes sense that much of the combat set out to feel that way as well. While the combat inSan Andreasresembled more of an RPG game between the customization and high skill ceiling, the combat inGTA 4felt quite brutal comparatively.
Weapons were more powerful, gun mechanics, in terms of locking on to enemies, were fluid and responsive, the fight scenes were gruesome and satisfying for players, and the melee systems were well-executed and smoother than other entries. Players also had more health, which made for a slightly easier time in tricky combat situations, makingGTA 4the best overallGrand Theft Autoexperience for combat.
