Former Rockstar technical director Obbe Vermeij says he wasn't a big fan of GTA 4 due to it scaling things back.
GTA: San Andreas is still everyone's favorite for a reason. It's absolutely massive and took that PS2-style of GTA game to its natural conclusion. And following that up for the first at the time next-gen GTA would undoubtedly be a hard task for anyone, which is likely why Rockstar ended up taking the series into a more realistic, character-driven route with GTA 4, leading to an entry that's somewhat divisive… and it wasn't just from the fanbase.
Speaking to GamesHub, Vermeij explains, "I actually didn’t like GTA 4 that much when it was done because, yes, it does have the atmosphere and I think Nico Bellic is probably the best and most fleshed out GTA character in the universe, but I think we had to sacrifice so much in terms of gameplay."
He adds that this is mostly down to the lack of mission variety, saying there are"four missions." He explains, "You could either follow that car or clear out this compound, or follow this car with a time limit, or assassinate this character, or it’s a mix of all those. But that’s it." Vermeij explains, "In the games before, there were crazy missions like following the train, taking a plane to dump flyers and you didn’t know what to expect."
Vermeij adds, "I felt we lost a little bit too much of that gameplay in GTA 4 and actually I think Rockstar thought that too because GTA 5 and its characters are a bit more cartoony, a bit more extreme. I think the missions in GTA 5 are a bit more varied too."
