It's a worthy GTA-like experience!
The gameplay, controls, soundtrack and general esthetics are great, very fun and different things to do at all times so you can spend lots of hours just chasing the side missions and earning respect and virtual money to further customize your character and unlocks new levels for the mission base aspect. I for instance loved the car collection for some sketchy dealers, so you have to look for the cars they want all around the town, it just adds some extra life to this already long game.
The missions are not necessarily though, and I was able to get through most of them in one try, but here and there I found some missions that kept me a little in the frustrate side, but challenge is the great reward at the end. You'll always know where to go and what to do. You can also spend a lot of time listening to the dozen radio stations and going through the motion. I highly recommend this game a try if the opportunity presents itself.