Best GTA games ranked

Updated 5 November 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Ranked by Metacritic critic score, the best Grand Theft Auto game is GTA IV, which scored 98 on PS3 and Xbox 360. GTA III and GTA V follow on 97, with Vice City on 96 and San Andreas on 95. The lowest score in the series belongs to the 2021 Definitive Edition remaster.

How is this GTA ranking made?

This list ranks the games only by their Metacritic critic score, not by our own taste or by user scores. When a game came out on several platforms, we use its highest score and name that platform. Scores come from the review aggregate table in Wikipedia's Grand Theft Auto article, which takes them from Metacritic, and from Wikipedia's Definitive Edition article. Games with equal scores are listed in release order. GTA VI is not out yet, so it has no score.

Why does each GTA game score where it does?

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (98). Praised for its detailed Liberty City, its story and Niko Bellic as a lead.

2. Grand Theft Auto III (97). Moved the series into full 3D and set the pattern every later game followed.

3. Grand Theft Auto V (97). Three playable leads, heists and a huge map, plus GTA Online.

4. Vice City (96). An 1980s Miami setting, a strong soundtrack and Tommy Vercetti.

5. San Andreas (95). Three cities, a whole state to explore and role-playing style stats.

6. Chinatown Wars (93). A top-down handheld game that used the DS touch screen well.

7. The Lost and Damned (90). A biker story that showed Liberty City from another side.

8. The Ballad of Gay Tony (89). A lighter, nightclub themed episode with more over the top missions.

9. Liberty City Stories (88). Brought a full 3D GTA city to a handheld.

10. Vice City Stories (86). A 1984 prequel to Vice City with an empire building system.

11. Grand Theft Auto 2 (70). The last top-down main game, with a gang respect system.

12. Grand Theft Auto Advance (68). A small top-down spin-off for Nintendo's handheld.

13. The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition (56). A remaster hit by bugs and visual problems at launch.

Why is GTA 1 not on the list?

The 1997 Grand Theft Auto and its London expansions have no Metacritic score in our sources, so they cannot be ranked by this method.