This comment depresses me, probably more than it should.I'm confident in saying that Rockstar have totally knocked this out of the park already, it looks incredible, I can't think of another game I've seen in this generation which looks anywhere near as good
People loved V but I hated it. A very pretty and expansive game, but in every other way vastly inferior to GTA IV.
I grew up with GTA1 and GTA2 (2D) and played most of the 3D games (think I missed a couple). The driving always felt good... until V. The driving in V was so bad, that even tho I'd just paid full price for the game, I knew I could never enjoy it. The whole physics engine was a massive (massive) step backwards.
For me, GTA is a driving game + mayhem. If the driving sucks, nothing can redeem it. I hope they return to IV and improve on the physics, not dumb it down so a 5-year-old can corner at 100mph by holding left.

Did you play them years after they were current? Back then there was nothing like it (that I'm aware of). It's was truly ground breaking, and fun as all hell.