The aforementioned concept has remained the same between Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, but underwent several changes. OG Loc doing a drive-by on a motorbike in GTA San Andreas during the mission OG Loc.

While in a vehicle, the player may look left or right to view the target and take aim, then fire their weapon, discharging bullets to the target. In the 3D Era games, players must have any submachine gun in hand in order to perform drive by shooting. The player guns down Yakuza members in a drive-by shooting in GTA III. The player can only use a Machine Gun and perform drive-bys by shooting diagonally. In Grand Theft Auto: London 1961, drive-bys can be activated in the form of a powerup.