wasn't constantly trying to be tongue in cheek le wacky which is one of the many things that makes gtav a bore to play through if you're mentally above the age of 8
the gangsters are appropriately brutal but still portrayed as human which is why wei's internal conflict works as opposed to nugta having everyone be haha silly violence and dood weed because its funny
of course it still had some humor and silliness but it didn't detract from or override the tension and drama of the overall plot
its insane that that's something that makes it stand out from its peers but that's a post james gunn world for you