Originally Posted by
andrews2547
GTA IV doesn't have vehicle customization, weapon customization, the only character customization was a few items of clothing, property ownership, very few "strangers" missions, no planes, a dead online multiplayer, doesn't multiple characters (unless you want to include the DLC, then you have to quit and relaunch the game every time you want to switch and to be honest, I consider them separate games), no rampages, far less mini-games, no underwater environment at all, etc.
GTA V has far more replayability than IV. IV has 2 endings with very few choices on how to get to them. V has 3 endings and just about every mission can be played differently. When you're done with the story in IV, there's almost nothing left to do and you have $1M of money that you can't spend because there's nothing to buy. In GTA V, the story just makes up for around 70% completion whereas completing the story in IV makes up for around 90% completion.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying GTA IV is terrible. I loved it and would still play it today if it worked properly on Windows 10, but GTA V is hardly a step back overall. Yes, it does have a few features that are missing and I do prefer the vehicle handling of IV to V but overall it's a huge step forward in terms gameplay, graphics and optimization. It's a bit far fetched to say GTA V is just a tech demo.
When CrowbCat made that video, he was just jumping on the "Let's hate on GTA V because of Shark Cards" bandwagon, and it worked. Just over 9 millions views/$9000 in ad revenue (at $1 per 1000 views).