The 10 Most Iconic Moments in GTA History

23 Years, 7 Major Games, and Memories That Last a Lifetime.

Before GTA 6 arrives this November, it’s worth looking back at what the series has built. The Grand Theft Auto saga has produced moments so deeply burned into the collective memory that players can describe them in detail years later: jaw-dropping scenes, genuinely emotional beats, missions that made entire forums erupt. Here are ten of them, completely subjective, inevitably incomplete, and open for debate in the comments.

10. The First Time You Steal a Car in 3D (GTA III, 2001)

It seems trivial today. But when GTA III launched, when you first controlled a character in a 3D city, jacked a car, and drove freely through Liberty City, something shifted in games for good. It wasn’t the first 3D open world (Shenmue existed), but it was the first one where you felt genuinely free to do as you pleased.

9. “I Ran” on Flash FM (GTA Vice City, 2002)

You steal a red Infernus on Ocean Drive. The sun is setting. “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls kicks in on Flash FM. Nobody warned you it would feel like this. That exact moment, the car, the music, the palm trees, the sunset, stands as one of the most purely cinematic memories the series has produced. Ask anyone who played Vice City in 2002. They know exactly what you’re talking about.

8. Following the Damn Train (GTA San Andreas, 2004)

“All you had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!” Big Smoke screaming that line from the back of your motorcycle became one of gaming’s most enduring memes. The mission “Wrong Side of the Tracks” is objectively janky, frustrating, and unfair. It’s etched into the collective unconscious anyway. Sometimes a moment is memorable precisely because it’s terrible.

7. Arriving in San Fierro (GTA San Andreas, 2004)

After dozens of hours in the streets of Los Santos and the dusty countryside, the game ships you off to San Fierro, GTA’s version of San Francisco: its hills, its bridge, a completely different atmosphere. Then Las Venturas after that. The revelation that the map was three times bigger than expected was, in 2004, a genuine shock.

6. Killing Vlad (GTA IV, 2008)

GTA IV marked a serious tonal shift for the franchise. The moment Niko Bellic executes Vlad Glebov, that arrogant small-time mafioso who spent the entire game disrespecting everyone around him, is when it becomes clear that this GTA doesn’t play around. The scene is brutal, cold, final. Niko isn’t CJ. Niko isn’t Tommy. He’s a killer worn out by war, and Rockstar makes you feel it.

5. The Final Choice in GTA IV (2008)

“Deal” or “Revenge.” Two paths, two endings, two deaths. For the first time in a GTA, the player faced a narrative choice with real, permanent consequences. No matter which option you picked, someone you cared about died. It was brutal, unfair, and genuinely affecting. Entire forums debated the “real” ending for years.

4. The First Heist in GTA V (2013)

The Jewel Store Job. Michael and Franklin, their first score together. The planning, the choice of approach (stealth or brute force), the crew recruitment, then the execution. When the motorcycles escape through the storm drain and the adrenaline finally fades, GTA V shows its true colors: not just an open world, but a heist simulator built around preparation and payoff.

3. Switching to Trevor (GTA V, 2013)

After hours playing as Michael and Franklin, the game switches to Trevor Philips for the first time. He’s in a crappy trailer in the middle of the desert, busy doing something best left undescribed. Within minutes, Trevor destroys everything and everyone around him. The most disturbing, hilarious, and unforgettable character introduction in franchise history. Steven Ogg stole the entire game that day.

2. The Union Depository Heist (GTA V, 2013)

The final score. Weeks of in-game preparation, recruiting the best possible crew, choosing an elaborate plan of attack, then the execution. When everything goes perfectly, the drills, the gold, the escape, it’s the quintessence of GTA: the ultimate crime fantasy, staged with the kind of narrative control Rockstar has made its signature.

1. The GTA 6 Trailer 1 (December 2023)

Technically, this isn’t a gameplay moment. It doesn’t matter. When that trailer leaked a few hours before its official release, and Rockstar decided to drop it early, 90 million people watched it within 24 hours. Lucia’s voice. The streets of Vice City. Tom Petty underneath. In ninety seconds, Rockstar reminded the entire industry where the benchmark sits.

Not just a trailer: a promise. In seven months, we’ll find out if it holds.

What the Next List Might Look Like

GTA 6 will create its own defining moments. If Rockstar delivers what the trailer suggested, Lucia and Jason will break into this top 10 without much resistance. See you on November 19 to update the rankings.

Image credits

The following images are reused under CC-BY-SA from the GTA Wiki.

• Claude dans Liberty City (GTA III) — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Claude (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)
• Tommy Vercetti sur Ocean Drive, Vice City (2002) — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Tommy_Vercetti (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)
• Wrong Side of the Tracks mission (San Andreas) — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Wrong_Side_of_the_Tracks (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)
• Niko Bellic, GTA IV protagonist — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Niko_Bellic (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)
• Trevor Philips, GTA V — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Trevor_Philips (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)
• Jewel Store Job heist, GTA V — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Jewel_Store_Job (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)
• The Big Score, finale heist (GTA V) — source : https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Big_Score_(GTA_V) (licence CC-BY-SA 3.0)