GTA: 5 best missions in the series' history

Rockstar Games' flagship franchise, GTA, has been the subject of much fascination and fanfare in the gaming industry for the better part of two decades. The series has managed to spawn not only a couple of great titles but a whole franchise worth of classics that have become the stuff of legend.

At the core of GTA, experience has always been the Missions that collectively build up to a cohesive and captivating story. The missions in GTA might appear straight out of a movie, given their cinematic inspirations and well-directed and well-written cutscenes.

A lot of these sequences appear as scripted set-pieces instead of the player making things happen, but that is the core value of the missions in GTA. They might be scripted set-pieces, but that isn't to say that they are not extremely fun to play through.

5 best missions in the GTA series

5) Black Project - GTA San Andreas

The infamous mission in GTA San Andreas still divides the fanbase in half, whether it belongs in the game or not. This mission, in particular, is what players point to when indicating how the GTA franchise took a turn into the campy and ridiculous nature of games.

The game, which had been moderately grounded up to this point, threw all sense of realism to the side and had the player, as CJ, break into a top-secret government facility to steal a jetpack.

The mission is fairly straightforward, but the player can barely contain their laughter as CJ makes his great escape on a jetpack as he is being chased down by men in suits.

This was definitely the high-point for Rockstar when it comes to achieving the truly ridiculous in the GTA franchise.

4) Saint Mark's Bistro - GTA San Andreas

This mission was a throwback in the best of ways as players did not expect they would be returning to Liberty City in GTA San Andreas, albeit for a single mission only.

The player finds him/herself in a familiar location as they take out several members of the Forelli family. This makes for an extremely violent trip down memory lane, but one fans certainly appreciated.

More GTA games should take this approach with nostalgia and let players visit locations from older games, but sadly none have done so since GTA San Andreas.

3) Cop Land - GTA Vice City

A number of mods now let players step into the shoes of police officers in GTA games, but Vice City contains one of the best missions in the series that lets you do just that without the use of mods.

The mission also serves a lot of purpose for the narrative as this marks the point where players can see cracks beginning to appear in Lance and Tommy's relationship.

The mission has Lance and Tommy don police uniforms after subduing a couple of cops and then blow up a cafe. Blowing up the cafe is fairly straightforward, and so is luring in a couple of cops into a garage. The tough bit is the getaway, as the chase can get pretty hectic after Tommy and Lance achieve a 5-Star Wanted Level.

2) Three Leaf Clover - GTA IV

Perhaps, it is the best mission in GTA IV, and one that probably gave Rockstar the brilliant idea to make the next game all about Heists. Three Leaf Clover has Niko join forces with the McReary brothers to rob a bank.

The job goes horribly awry, and Niko and the brothers must battle through a barrage of gunfire from cops and somehow make it through. The mission is chaotic and packed with brilliant writing, as well.

Three-Leaf Clover is absolutely one of the best Heist missions in any game, and not just the GTA franchise.

1) The Big Score (Loud Approach)

It really comes down to a matter of preference when deciding which approach is the best for The Final Score. One has players silently sneaking away with all the gold from the Union Depository and get into a massive gunfight with Merryweather a the end.

The other has a lot more action involved as players must string together a whole set of big action set-pieces to get away with the money. From drilling a massive hole to the side of the Union Depository and flying the money while it is attached to a Helicopter is certainly the highlight of the mission.

The Loud Approach is definitely one that will satisfy the action junkies in the GTA fanbase.

Note: The views in this article are the writer's own and differ from what may be the views of others or in general.