All GTA Games In Order Of Story

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series is a big franchise that spans over a dozen games in the last two decades. They often don't follow up directly on each other, with the games mainly being self-contained adventures. However, there are still certain story elements that connect the games. In this article, we are going to showcase a list of all GTA Games in order of story, from oldest to newest.

GTA games in order of story

Below is the list of all Grand Theft Auto titles arranged by their setting time and places, starting from London 1961 to San Andreas at present.

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961

Setting: London, 1961

This is probably one of the most obscure entries in the franchise. Usually, a GTA game would take place in an American town and not in Britain. This game took an even bigger step - it brought the players back to the 1960s, 20 years before the usual GTA games. There is no connection between this and the other GTA game, except for the #13 on this list.

Grand Theft Auto: London 1969

Setting: London, 1969

This game is actually the first mission pack released for the original GTA. Overall, both of the packs and the original GTA game are dated in both gameplay and story. The only connection between 1969 and 1961 is their shared main characters (they don't have much personality anyway).

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

Setting: Vice City, 1984

Vice City Stories is a prequel to GTA Vice City, one of the best games in the franchise. The game took place two years before the main story, with players stepping into the shoes of Victor Vance, the creator of the Vance Crime Family. He is the brother of Lance Vance, the protagonist's ally-turned enemy.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Setting: Vice City, 1986

Vice City and its prequel are the most special titles in the mainline GTA games. They are set in the 80s instead of the 90-2000s like all other GTA games. However, the world and settings are perfectly realized by the game's vibrant presentations of a neon-lit Miami.

The story follows Tommy Vercetti's rise to the top of the criminal underworld. Similar to the usual GTA narratives, the game is filled with betrayals and gunfires.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Setting: San Andreas, 1992

Gang warfare and gangsta rap were huge in the 90s, and GTA San Andreas did its best to capture that period of time. The story follows CJ, a small-time criminal returning to his hometown after a period of exile. His mission is to help his family to rise up from the brink of destruction.

GTA San Andreas has a direct connection to GTA 3, with the two protagonists engaging in a race for the hand of Catalina, CJ's former girlfriend. She is one of the few San Andreas characters who appear in other GTA games.

Grand Theft Auto

Setting: Liberty City, San Andreas & Vice City, 1997

The first game that started it all. Surprisingly, when ranking GTA games in order of stories, the original is actually set in the middle of the franchise's timeline. There is no big reason behind this, as 1997 was just the year the game was released. Grand Theft Auto or GTA 1 is a pretty mediocre game by today's standards, however, it sets the foundations for later installments of the franchise.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Setting: Liberty City, 1998

Liberty City Stories revolves around Antonio "Toni" Cipriani, the second-in-command of the Leone Family in GTA 3. He works closely with GTA 3's main character, Claude on multiple occasions. As a prequel to GTA 3, Liberty City Stories allows players to get a glimpse of what the city looked like back in 1998.

Grand Theft Auto 2

Setting: Anywhere City, 1999 or 2013

GTA 2 is probably the weirdest game in the series... and in this game, Rockstar hasn't really known which direction the series should take. This is the only game that takes place in an ambiguous city and an ambiguous period. Fans usually picked the year 1999, as one of the radio hosts mentions that the "millennium is coming."

Grand Theft Auto Advance

Setting: Liberty City, 2000

GTA 3 is probably the game with the most connections to the other titles in the franchise. GTA Advance is another prequel of 3, which takes place a year before 3's events. In this game, players step into the shoes of Mike, who is on a vengeance mission to take revenge for his friend's untimely demise. Outside of a few shared characters to GTA 3, not much happen in Advance.

Grand Theft Auto 3

Setting: Liberty City, 2001

Amongst GTA Games in order of story, GTA 3 is the one game that established the series' rise to greatness. It is the first game in the 3D era. The story follows silent protagonist Claude as he attempts to track down his ex-girlfriend Catalina after her betrayal (again).

While GTA 3 was pretty innovative gameplay-wise, its setting of Liberty City is not nearly as exciting as Vice City or San Andreas.

Grand Theft Auto 4

Setting: Liberty City, 2008

As GTA 4 set in the same city as GTA 3, the developers took a big time skip to 2008. The city has definitely changed with the times, from residents to technology. GTA 4 is generally considered Rockstar's peak in story writing, with protagonist Niko Bellic coming to Liberty City in pursuit of the American dream.

GTA 4 also has two huge story expansions called The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, starring Johnny Klebitz & Luis Fernando Lopez.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Setting: Liberty City, 2009

Another game with Liberty City as the backdrop... however, Chinatown Wars focuses on the Asian gangs in the city instead of the usual criminal underworld. The story revolves around yet another revenge story, with protagonist Huang Lee's journey to find out the truth. The best part of Chinatown Wars is probably the details about the Asian gangs and how they operate.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Setting: San Andreas, 2013

The second GTA game to set in San Andreas. Grand Theft Auto 5 brings the city into the modern era, with three protagonists instead of one. Overall, the story of GTA 5 pokes fun at the present-day world, with focuses on things like social media, celebrity status, and the government.

The city of San Andreas looks much different than the original 1992 version. Players can still find various landmarks such as CJ's house.

Grand Theft Auto Online

Setting: San Andreas, 2013 - Present Day

GTA Online is the first GTA game to be constantly updated. Overall, it pretty much keeps up with the real world calendar, with the beginning just after GTA 5's main campaign. With GTA 6 on the horizon, Rockstar is planning on turning GTA:O into a standalone title that gets updated alongside mainline games.

For summary, you can refer to this table for the entire list of GTA games in order of story and their specific settings:

GTA Games ranked from best to worst

Besides the story timeline, playing GTA games according to their ranks is also a good choice. Based on the Metacritic score, here is a list of all GTA games ranked from best to worst.

It is generally agreed that GTA IV was the peak of GTA storytelling, with the two large story expansions improving the experience.

GTA games in order of release date

The last bonus is a complete timeline of GTA games in order of release date, from oldest to the most modern for your reference:

>>> For detailed descriptions of GTA games in order of release, please check our previous post: List Of All GTA Games In Order Of Release Date

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