I agree with this. I went back and beat both GTAIII and Vice City a couple of years ago, and neither aged well at all. Tried to get into San Andreas as well, but maybe was burnt out on the dated gameplay after III and Vice City.
V, while certainly the best-looking by a few hundred miles, had a story that is amusing but kind of interesting. Lots of stuff to do in the world, but no real reason to. And I hate the driving.
IV however has the best mix of almost everything. Excellent characters, well-written story, fun gameplay and fantastic physics. Driving was almost perfect.
The graphics do not hold up at all though. Likely because of the physics hogging up the resources. There's a weird, painterly effect on all distant objects that is kind of cool, but it also doesn't really fit the realistic style of the game. And the character models look like college students tried making humans out of clay.