Don't get me wrong pardner, it is very awesome - thunderstorms in the desert when fighting against scumbags trying to hang some poor woman (made all th emore poor when i accidentally shoot her) are just incredible gaming moments. But the game has a learning curve, and you kinda have to follow the storyline initially to learn stuff otherwise you end up scratching your head a bit.
The online isn't bad (much better than GTA4) but it suffers from a lack of balance between player levels (some people seem bulletproof) and is a bit random (the opening standoff), plus the layout for the online is a bit messy to say the least. Free Roam is a great idea, in theory, but, as with many games these days, it really depends on the people you play with. It seems the more ambitious the title, the more disappointing the experience when you inevitably join a game hosted by a bunch of random idiots.