The Grand Theft Auto series is undoubtably a controversial one, and it has been since its inception. There are examples throughout the entire series. In Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, we’ve seen congressman Tom Stubbs pose totally unclothed for all the gaming world to see; a delightfully in-depth uncomfortable scene in Grand Theft Auto V; and “Hot Coffee” in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas... I’ll say no more about this one.

You may love or hate Grand Theft Auto, yet few could argue against how the series has revolutionized the way we see gaming, especially open-world games, today. Grand Theft Auto has in some ways become less of a series and more of a sub-genre in gaming–‘Grand Theft Auto Clone’–time and time again we find games described as ‘GTA like’–games like Saints Row, Mafia and The Getaway, and even The Simpsons: Hit & Run and Lego City Undercover, showing more family-based games have ‘GTA’ in their DNA as well.

We’ve been given some of the best writing and acting in video games, we can drive tanks; steal cars; fly military aircraft; explore beautiful living cities; eat at burger joints; work out at a gym; go bowling and even bring a date; and so much more. Yet, all this is not enough, we’ve seen what Grand Theft Auto can give us and we want more, we’re like a dog with a treat. Here are 15 unused GTA ideas that we would have loved to see.

15 The DLC We All Wanted...

We’ve been tormented by this for years. Back in 2013 Rockstar said on their website: “For those ready to jump back into the story of Grand Theft Auto V, we have big plans for substantial additions in 2014 continuing Michael, Franklin and Trevor’s action, mayhem and unexpected adventures in Southern San Andreas.” Woohoo! But down to GTA Online’s success and resources moved to Red Dead Redemption 2, it never materialized, boo. The image above shows a screenshot of Liberty City in GTA V's engine, could this have been where the DLC was originally set?

Some of my favourite GTA memories have been in expansions of the main game; notably, in Vice City Stories, the mission ‘In The Air Tonight’ and saving Phil Collins’ life. There is such a playground on offer in the state of San Andreas and here’s to hoping Rockstar have a little bit more time on their hands to give us what we all desperately want.

14 This Seems Like A Lucrative Business

In 2004, few could rival Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in terms of its scope and shear amount to do. It had three huge cities to explore: Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas; each with their own identities, culture, and all the different activities thrown in–not an activity, per se, but I always enjoyed using a combine harvester, stolen from a farmer’s field, and mowing down things that weren’t crops, if you catch my drift.

What was always incredible to think about at the time was how much gambling was on offer when walking into one of the casinos; you had blackjack, roulette, slot machines, video poker and wheel of fortune. Even more incredible is the fact that Rockstar had planned on letting you create and run your own casino. This could have meant more missions, perhaps battling against other casinos and the factions involved. Sadly, it was never meant to be.

13 For State And Liberty

Liberty City, first appearing in GTA III and reappearing 7 years later in Grand Theft Auto IV, is a wonderful depiction of New York City. It has its very own ‘Star Junction’ and ‘Statue of Happiness’ and gives the player a great sense of realism when exploring Liberty City’s streets and suburbs.

Now, don’t get me wrong, GTA IV is a big game, but its map size is dwarfed in comparison to its other Rockstar counterparts. It’s hard to tell exactly how much bigger or small the maps are to each other, it is clear though that GTA IV’s map is considerably smaller than GTA: San Andreas, Red Dead Redemption and GTA V’s.

It is possible that GTA IV was intended to be much larger than the end result, and set in the entire ‘Liberty City State’ based on New York State. Thanks to a user on gtaforums.com we can see what the map could have potentially looked like, it would include the countryside, beaches, mountains, woods and even a waterfall based on Niagara Falls!

12 The Multiplayer Game That Could Have Been

If you are reading this article you should know about GTA Online, you should also know how incredibly successful it is and continues to be. What you may not have known is that GTA Online was not the first online multiplayer that was meant to occur in the Grand Theft Auto universe.

When GTA III was released in 2001, it was originally going to have online multiplayer; the multiplayer would include games modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch stealth, Stash the Cash, Capture the Flag, Rat Race, and Domination. None of these emerged due to Rockstar favouring the development of Vice City. On a positive note, some awesome community members have gone back and made a multiplayer mod for GTA III–‘Liberty Unleashed.'

11 Dale Sounds Like A Creep

Throughout GTA V you will come across plenty of Strangers & Freaks side missions. As the name suggests you do come across some more unusual characters and missions than your standard open-world game. From a guy who wants to legalise stuff, causing you to ‘trip out’ and fight waves of aliens with a Minigun, to Trevor’s mum making him grab a truck full of substances and a gentleman–some of these side missions can make even the campaign seem conservative in comparison.

It seems a shame then that there were more missions that didn’t make it to the final game, one called ‘Mrs A and Mrs B’ sees Franklin conspiring with two wives and helping each humiliate the other. Franklin also meets a stranger called Dale, who asks him take 10 pictures of hot women, it turn outs Dale plans to incapacitate the women with Franklin chasing him down and killing him.

10 All Tanked Up And Nowhere To Go

Grand Theft Auto has been the game to turn to for missions that are ridiculously over the top and fun, but we also like the idea that some of these, in a weird way, could have happened in real life–we’ve tailed cars, dealt with corrupt politicians and cops, and battled gangs in the streets. However, the cut mission from San Andreas, “Tanked Up” is certainly not one of those that will be seen on the news anytime soon, at least I sincerely hope not.

“Tanked Up” was a mission given by Zero to CJ. By using RC bandits, CJ must prevent Berkley’s RC Tigers (remote controlled tanks) from reach Zero’s RC Shop by destroying them before the remote control’s battery runs out. This mission would have been so much fun to play as the mini vehicles cause chaos throughout San Andreas.

9 A Horse Is A Horse, Of Course

A horse is seen in a Pisswasser Ad in GTA V, you can find the video on YouTube and the horse appears around the time the gentleman is doing something ‘naughty’ with a pig.

Throughout San Andreas, and especially Blaine County and the forest and moutain regions, we come across a large array of animals: mountain lions, boars and dogs and many more can be seen and discovered, so it seems strange why we don’t have horses in the game; they have the blueprint for horses with Red Dead Redemption, why couldn’t this have been moved across you wonder. According to Kotaku.com.au, users of GTAForums have found horse print images, police dispatch audio referring to horses and even unused horse ragdoll code. Imagine riding a horse through Blaine Country, or the city for that matter, and going all ‘cowboy’ on enemies.

8 Oh Hey, Mr. Moffat

I couldn’t have had a Grand Theft Auto piece without mentioning Vice City. A personal favorite of mine in the series, with its neon colours, retro cars and clothing and an awesome music list–crusing through the city in a banshee and listening to 99 Luftballons on the radio felt so good.

Mr. Moffat is a character that was dropped from Vice City. He and Tommy Vercetti knew each other from the past and a highly amusing script was recovered of a phone conversation between the two of them. Moffat is on the run again in Vice City, it is believed he would appear in a mission where Tommy would help him escape. Little else is known of the character and how he ties in with Tommy’s past, but it would have made for an exciting addition to the Vice City story and missions.

7 May I Take Your Car, Sir?

I’m very likely going to be the exception in this, but I found the valet parking in San Andreas one of the most fun activities in the game and also across the whole series. There was something strangely satisfying about doing a normal job, wearing a valet uniform, parking a car and earning money for it. It was not quite as normal when a sports car rocked up and instead of parking it, you stole it for money and delivered it to a ship in Exports and Imports.

Valet parking was supposed to be included in GTA V too, and the game would have been perfect for it. All the hotels, golf clubs and establishments are just waiting for rich folk to have their cars parked for them, or stolen.

6 Limb By Limb

GTA III was the first in the series to be in a third-person view, very few games offered the same sense of realism which is great, but on the flip-side this realism was further enhanced by the amount of violence you could do to your fellow pedestrians on the street, which certainly to a sizeable ‘anti-GTA’ group, is not so great.

Nevertheless, I suppose the road Rockstar took with GTA III and regarding its violence, there was no turning back from so why not go all the way, which they did for a time. The ability to blow off NPC’s limbs was actually in the PS2 version of the game and used to be enabled by default. Though this is still an option via cheat codes, it should have stayed as part of the game, some may not like it, others may hate it, but this is part of Grand Theft Auto’s identity.

5 The Truth Is Out There

The Truth is certainly one of the characters from San Andreas that you would struggle to forget about, the aging hippy and former substance manufacturer gave us plenty of memorable fuelled missions. 'Are You Going to San Fierro' is a hilarious mission with CJ and The Truth having to torch their weed farm and finishing off by travelling in The Truth's Mothership.

One of The Truth's missions that didn't quite make the cut was named 'The Truth Is Out There.' CJ would have had to go to Bayside Marina and rescue The Truth from government agents after he was caught trespassing in Area 69. This mission would have also included the FBI truck which never actually made it to the final game.

4 DJ And Dancing

You've heard about my weird obsession with valet parking and how it would have made GTA V that bit more amazing, well, this next entry is probably something people would be even more receptive to.

It is believed that a comedy club was supposed to feature in GTA V as discovered in text files where you would be able to watch a comedian which is similar to GTA IV. The image above shows a player who managed to glitch their way into the comedy club leading us to believe it must have had a use at some point down the development line. Dancing, like we have seen in San Andreas and The Ballad of Gay Tony, and possibly taking the role as a DJ were other activities which were once part of Rockstar's ideas.

3 "Toys For Boys"

Heading back to GTA III now, we have another character who didn't make it to the finishing line. Darkel was a revolutionary terrorist vowing to bring down the city's economy. Even though Darkel was removed from the game he is still seen in the credits, and there is a group of tramps with molotovs who were supposedly remnants of Darkel's "gang".

It seems then that Darkel was a big enough character for Rockstar to still acknowledge his existence. One of his missions for Claude was named 'Toys for Boys', similar to 'Tanked Up' in San Andreas, you drive a remote controlled car with a bomb, however, instead of blowing up an RC Tiger you are to blow up a school bus. Rockstar could have picked a slightly less controversial target, but if I'm arguing for blowing things off, this isn't that much worse.

2 Joining A Faction In GTA Online

GTA Online is proof of an online multiplayer done well. It continues to support players with new content, guns, outfits, houses, vehicles, missions and game modes. It's so successful that it prevented Rockstar from finishing the single-player DLC that was meant to come out... damn them!

Recently images have emerged that the GTA Online we see today could easily have been different. GTA Forums' user ZT managed to acquire images from the digital portfolio of artist Steven Walsh before he had chance to take it down. What is evident from the leaked images is that GTA Online was once going to be faction-based. Factions including The Police, The Vagos, Bikers and Grove Street Families would all have battled against each other to help their gangs complete missions and take over territories. GTA Online is undoubtedly a success, but I would have loved to see this come to fruition.

1 The 'Sharmoota Heist' Job That Never Was

Arguably the best missions in GTA V were its heists; there was a thrill with strategically planning each step of the heist with Lester, and choosing which approach you wanted to take to do the job properly.

The Sharmoota Job had originally appeared in the beta. The objective was for Michael and Trevor to rob Martin Madrazo's mansion, steal his safe and prized horse, and kidnap his wife. Initially, Michael and Trevor pretend to be prospective buyers to allow them to view the house. Next were three options: Night Stealth, entering the house at night; High Impact, disguised as mime artists and entering the house during a party; or, Clown Day Stealth, disguised this time as clowns during the same party, performing party tricks to gain access to the stables. Whichever method was chosen, like the other heists that made it to the game, it was certain to be a blast!