Grand Theft Auto III vs Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition
Grand Theft Auto III is an action-adventure game (2001) while Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition is an action-adventure horror game from Rockstar Games (2023).
Quick answer: Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition are too close, or too thinly reviewed, to separate on the numbers; the table below shows what each holds.
Grand Theft Auto III
What each one is
Grand Theft Auto III is filed under Action-Adventure. In contrast, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition under Action-Adventure and Horror.
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto series. Set in Liberty City, loosely based on New York City, the game follows Claude, a silent protagonist who becomes entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption while pursuing revenge against his ex-girlfriend. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets the player freely roam Liberty City, which consists of three islands.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: It’s the early ’90s. After a couple of cops frame him for homicide, Carl ‘CJ’ Johnson is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Small-time criminal Claude is betrayed and shot by his girlfriend Catalina (voiced by Cynthia Farrell) during a bank heist in Liberty City . Claude survives, but is arrested and convicted; en route to prison, his transport is attacked by members of the Colombian Cartel , who abduct another prisoner. Claude escapes with a fellow convict, explosives expert 8-Ball ( Guru ), who introduces him to the Leone Mafia family. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical response PlayStation 2 version reception Grand Theft Auto III was released to critical acclaim. Metacritic calculated an average score of 97 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 56 reviews. It is tied with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 as the highest-rated PlayStation 2 game on the site and tied with a number of others as the sixth-highest-rated game overall. (Wikipedia)
No Wikipedia detail on file.
At a glance
| Grand Theft Auto III | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | — | 7.0/10 |
| Steam rating | — | Very Positive (80%, 16,017) |
| Critic aggregate | 97/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | Unknown | $59.99 |
| Install size | — | 19 GB |
| Steam Deck | Untested | playable |
| Released | 2001 | 2023 |
| Developer | — | Rockstar Games |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Grand Theft Auto III vs Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Grand Theft Auto IIIAction-adventure gameGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive EditionAction-adventure horror gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Grand Theft Auto IIINo descriptive tagsGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive EditionSexual Content, Open World, ActionThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Content and scale
Grand Theft Auto III—Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition16,017 reviews · 19 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Grand Theft Auto IIIUnknownGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition$59.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 0 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
Where they differ
Sexual ContentOpen WorldActionCrimeThird-Person ShooterNudity
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Grand Theft Auto III is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Grand Theft Auto III | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel® Core™ i5-6600K / AMD FX-6300 |
| Minimum RAM | — | 8 GB |
| Install size | — | 19 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Grand Theft Auto III · Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Grand Theft Auto III and 1 for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition in scope?
Grand Theft Auto III lists little scope data. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition has drawn 16,017 Steam reviews and installs in 19 GB.
Is Grand Theft Auto III or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Grand Theft Auto III or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Grand Theft Auto III or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition?
Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition are too close, or too thinly reviewed, to separate on the numbers; the table below shows what each holds. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.