GTA 4 vs GTA 5: Which Is Really Better?

Thirteen years and a technical gulf separate Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V, and yet the debate never dies down in the communities. Short answer: GTA 5 is the better game for the vast majority of players, thanks to its content and scale, but GTA 4 holds a real edge on atmosphere and physics. We’re comparing everything, point by point.

Liberty City vs. Los Santos, two Americas

GTA IV (2008) drops us into Liberty City, Rockstar’s take on New York, in the shoes of Niko Bellic, a Balkan war veteran chasing an American Dream that turns into a nightmare. The tone is gray, rainy, world-weary, almost an indie gangster film. GTA V (2013) flips the climate completely: head to Los Santos, a glitzy satire of Los Angeles, with savage humor about fame and money. Where IV told an intimate descent, V aims for the sweeping social portrait and the big spectacle.

Driving and physics, the great divide

This is THE point that divides fans. GTA IV runs on the RAGE engine backed by Euphoria, NaturalMotion’s procedural animation system, which gives bodies and vehicles a stunning sense of weight: soft suspension, mass transfer, spectacular pileups at the slightest impact. Many purists have never found that feel anywhere else. GTA V went the opposite way, a deliberate game-design call: more arcade-y, snappier driving, where the car sticks to the road. More accessible and more fun for most players, less “alive” for IV’s devotees.

Content and scale, GTA 5’s crushing lead

Here, it’s no contest. GTA V’s map combines Los Santos and the Blaine County backcountry (desert, mountains, ocean and even an explorable seabed), several times larger and more varied than Liberty City alone. Add the real-time switch between Michael, Franklin and Trevor, the scripted heists, and above all GTA Online, launched on October 1, 2013 and still being fed in 2026. GTA IV made do with basic multiplayer and two expansions, excellent ones admittedly (The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony).

The numbers, 25 million vs. nearly 230

Critically, it’s close and historic. GTA IV posts 98 out of 100 on Metacritic, the highest score in the entire saga, ahead of GTA V’s 97. But on sales, the gap is staggering: GTA IV topped out at over 25 million copies (the last figure released, back in 2013), while GTA V is closing in on 230 million as of March 2026. That makes it the second best-selling game of all time, behind only Minecraft. So the success didn’t track the critics’ scores: content and longevity made the difference, as we explain in our piece on why GTA 5 still holds up after 2013.

And GTA 6, heir to both schools?

Good news for IV nostalgics: every sign points to Grand Theft Auto VI wanting to marry both legacies, the immersion and deep physics in the vein of Red Dead Redemption 2 (so the Euphoria bloodline) with the scale and content carried over from V. To dig deeper, see our GTA 6 vs. GTA 4 comparison, our GTA IV Liberty City retrospective and the GTA 6 release date.

FAQ

GTA 4 or GTA 5, which should you pick in 2026?

To discover the universe, enjoy a huge amount of content and play online, GTA 5 is the obvious choice: it's richer, better looking and still updated through GTA Online. If you're after a mature story and realistic physics, GTA 4 remains a one-of-a-kind experience.

Why do so many fans prefer GTA 4?

For its dark atmosphere, the writing of Niko Bellic and above all its Euphoria physics, which make driving and crashes incredibly believable. It's a slower, more immersive game than GTA 5.

Is GTA 4 better rated than GTA 5?

Yes, just barely: GTA 4 scored 98 out of 100 on Metacritic, the series record, against 97 for GTA 5. But GTA 5 sold nearly ten times more copies.

Can you still play GTA 4 online?

GTA 4's original multiplayer is no longer really active. GTA 5, on the other hand, is still carried by GTA Online, updated continuously since 2013.