I'm currently in the process of replaying the series, and considering the imminence of the announcement of GTA 5, this might be a good time to discuss these games.

I'll simply list a few of the things that crossed my mind while playing.

The writing and voice acting is amongst the best gaming has to offer. I think that this aspect of GTA doesn't get enough attention. The writers have a real knack for authentic dialogue. The highlight, of course, are the radio stations. I had forgotten how funny some of the stuff on there is. A personal favourite is the Wild Traveler from San Andreas.

While the missions from GTA 3 might seem bland compared to what the later games have to offer, I think the higher amount of scripting in Vice City and San Andreas comes at a cost. There don't seem to be as many different ways to tackle the missions anymore. And when I manage to come up with a creative solution, this sometimes breaks the tight scripting, making me feel more like I'm exploiting a glitch.

Is it just me, or is GTA 3 the most difficult game of the trilogy? I'm currently in the process of finishing off San Andreas, and I'm surprised how easy a time I'm having. I'm able to complete most missions on my first try, that definitely didn't happen in GTA 3.

I'm once again gobsmacked by the sheer amount and crassness of the anti-Americanism on display especially in San Andreas. How the hell did this part of the games attract so little controversy, considering the hot debates stuff like this normally provokes?

I'm not too excited about the Boyz n the Hood pretensions of the beginning of San Andreas, but I have to admit I like the that the early missions don't reward you with money. This makes side quests like the burglaries more than just fun distractions and generally fits the agenda of the game.

I really wanted to like the GTA 3 series of games, but couldn't get into the gun play itself. I liked driving, the music, and the acting, but having to play the game kinda sucked. :(

I agree with you on the difficulty, Jaime. The second Island was crazy stuff, especially when the gangs start shooting randomly at you.
I also liked the very dark, gritty feel of GTA3. Lots of rain and gloom.

GTA3 is my favorite of the three, gameplay wise. It's so simple and addictive and the world is very well designed. Nothing really gets in the way of the gameplay.

Vice City is the best as far as personality, but it added some gameplay I disliked that muddled the experience. San Andreas even more so. For me GTA in general is at its best when it's simple like GTA3 and I was happy to see GTA4 go back to that simplicity.

And I have to disagree on the writing. While the GTA3 era games still hold up very well today on that score I think GTA4 shows an incredible improvement in story-telling and script.

III is the king. Claude is a badass mute.

But honestly, the GTA I played the most was 2.

I couldn't get into the 2D GTAs. They were too tough for me.

Authentic dialogue!? You mean 'Hey, I've seen a crime movie, let's make a game about it!' and after they got tired of that, it was 'Hey bro, we're black and we're dealing drugs, yo!' ... That's as much authentic as the biggest cliché taken from a gansta/prison escape movie. But since GTA games are going precisely for that, well, it works, althou the black gangsta thing that's going on in San Andreas is driving me nuts.

Anyway, my favourite is Vice City. It's addictive, fun, not as grim as third part and it's genetally awesome.

edit: That's AS authentic. See, our language has double negative that results into negative so .. Eh .. I sometimes get confused

My vote goes also to Vice City. Perfect atmosphere, great music and playing around with the clichées covering 80s movies and tv series. The other two games are also great, but I really love it when games send you back in another time. Mafia und GTA Vice do that perfectly.

Edit: Okay, San Andreas plays also in another time, but for me it's too close. I don't get that time journey feeling with it.

Edit:2 I also liked the idea behind Driver: Parallel Lines, first in the 70s (with David Bowie as soundtrack) and then in todays time, but I really can't get into the controls and the gameplay. Coming from the GTA series Mafia controls were also unusual, but after awhile not problematic anymore. For a non-racer like me GTAs controls were perfect.

I actually found the game Body Harvest to be more interesting which they made before they Became Rockstar North.

Body Harvest is the precursor to the gameplay found in GTA games but set in multiple time periods and you fight a variety of giant alien bugs to save the world, some are remiscient of the ones in teknoman.

It's been a long time since I've played it, but this was the one thing that I thought the sequels (of the ones I tried, as well as Red Dead Redemption) did worse than GTA3. Maybe the sandbox environment itself got more expansive and elaborate (or in Vice City's case, it's got a more appealing style and atmosphere), but it is a shame to see a sandbox game where there is not much choice in the missions themselves.