I think the best thing they can do for the GTA series is take San Andreas and all of its features, then give it the look that GTA IV had use physics that they had in GTA IV. I think that would be an awesome game. Basically, it would just be an updated San Andreas. Obviously we would want a new story which moves away from the whole "sup homie" theme.
I think GTA IV really took a step back in many ways. The map was tiny when compared to San Andreas, they removed A LOT of cool features that San Andreas had. I mean why would you take away car customisation? If anything I was expecting GTA IV to also include bike customisation, forget none at all.
Although I liked the realism of GTA IV, it just wasn't as fun removing features like the jet pack. I missed planes in GTA IV and some of the more unique vehicles like the hovercrafts and those rally cars (forget the names. It has been so long).
To sum up, I'm hoping Rockstar take 3 steps forward with their next title (not expansion) in order to catch up with where they should be. I've been a long term fan of the GTA series, owning all the titles. I'd buy their games regardless, but now I feel that I'm going to have to read reviews after the release of GTA V, whenever we actually see it, to make sure that it has gone back to the fun and chaos that GTA once was.
