It lived with GTA games expectations as a newer version and more
You can fill the city is alive, missions are not impossibly hard and specially if I was in trouble, walk through helps on net were helpful with one or two tips.
The game story is good and grows on you.
After while I got bored of checking all the features and stories, but it is possible to ignore side stories.
Flying with helicopter and using it in some missions are immensely enjoyable.
Riding a motorcycle is hard at first but after few tries it might become your favorite vehicle. Also I used the taxi's in Skip mode a lot to jump form one mission to another without need to drive the whole way. Taxis are also very useful.
After a game like Metal Gear 4, it was hard for me to chose another game that I can enjoy, but as I expected, based on my previous experiences with older versions of GTA, this game also rocks.
Going with a boat into the sea and just waiting there was kinda relaxing! even if it was in a computer game!