What is the best platform to play the Grand Theft Auto games?

[consptheory77]

Yeah, I know, it's Tom's Hardware, not Tom's Gaming Software, but since this community does seem to be open to gaming questions, for which I am grateful: which platform is best to play the GTA games? I'm not concerned about the first two, but GTA III and everything afterwards. No, I have not played any of them before. Mobile versions seem convenient, but I also know some have the reputation of being bad ports: buggy, and incompatible, and also overpriced.

I have a PS2, a PS3, and an Xbox 360 as well as a gaming PC. So far, all I can conclude other than to avoid the mobile ports, is that GTA V on PC is supposed to the best way to play it:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/what-new-things-should-you-expect-in-gta-v-pc/1100-6426472/

and also that some of the "upgraded" versions from PS2/Xbox over to PS3/Xbox360 were felt to be inferior to the originals. For GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas, would I be better just sticking to the original platform releases?

 

[ikaz]

Well thing is console versions of GTA are optimized the best while PC port you need to have higher end equipment to match that being said you can mod the heck out of the GTA games so they will always look the best on PC. If your planing to play GTA V multiple player it best to play were your friends are.

 

[dark_lord69]

I played GTA III, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas on the PS3 and loved it.
I did play vice city on the PC. I used a Playstation controller and mapped the same buttons.
It felt like the same game. There was no obvious difference BUT... A good gaming PC is always capable of better graphics but the variables of a PC can be the source of issues. (Problems with windows and other software.)

 

[consptheory77]

"You can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you find you get what you need."

From what I can tell, there is no version that is going to cover all the bases - at least this is true of San Andreas:

If one is a purist, the original Xbox and PS2 versions are unaltered.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-gta-san-andreas-on-xbox-360-is-a-mobile-port

There's debate on GTA fan sites about the extent to which the mobile version is better than the PC original in terms of elements such as draw distance and asset quality - the Xbox 360 version occupies 2GB of space vs the 4GB of the original PS2 and PC versions. Certainly the mobile release on which the 360 game is based appears to lack effects, such as the screen distortion designed to emulate heat haze, while radio station music is pared back, presumably because of licensing issues. This 360 port also suffers from glaringly obvious bugs, like audio cutting out completely during some cut-scenes.

In revisiting San Andreas, it's actually the PS2 original that comes across as the most authentic of the lot: a technological masterpiece of its time, with assets built to service what is today a relatively miniscule resolution, but at its most comfortable on the original target hardware. Curiously, despite the often crippling frame-rate, the controls just seem to feel better in some ways than the remastered version.

Scaled up to 720p and beyond, even with the enhanced assets, it's clear that the level of detail in the assets doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. The game wasn't really designed to scale in this way and it shows. At just £2.99, the Xbox 360 port is keenly priced for what it offers, but we can't help but wonder whether keeping the Xbox Originals version - at least alongside any HD remaster - may have been the preferable option.

If one is an aesthete, it could go either way:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/31/gta-san-andreas-hd-review

In the first mission, Carl Johnson silently mourns his recently deceased mother. Thanks to the upgraded textures and higher resolution (all the way up to 720p!), I could see pain in his face that wasn't apparent a decade ago.

The sights and sounds of San Andreas are the best they've ever been on consoles, but those come with the biggest caveats. While improved textures make the world more vibrant, signs more readable, and characters (slightly) less puppet-like, you'll have to deal with a surprisingly choppier framerate. It's usually manageable, only really manifesting when the camera is moved around quickly or too many cars are on the road, but it can become distracting when it plays out during action sequences. There's also that issue of audio suddenly muting during cutscenes roughly 10 percent of the time, which is stranger than the graphical issues since San Andreas' epic soundtrack and star-studded vocal performances haven't been altered.

If trophies are important to you, then the later version will be preferable:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/31/gta-san-andreas-hd-review

It's worth noting that this is the first Xbox version of San Andreas to incorporate Achievements, so if notifications and meta-points happen to give you additional motivation, you might find additional reason to explore, experiment, and complete the campaign.