The problem I've had with GTA games is that all the non-silent main protagonists have been entirely unlikable. Tommy Vercetti was super annoying, guy from San Andreas was just a whiny bitch-type. And none of the stories entertwined particularly well from group of missions to group of missions. GTAIV tied everything together, and I do think the writing was very strong.

Being said, I will probably pick up SR II when I finish Prince of Persia and Fallout 3.