Games like GTA: Whether you enjoy fast vehicles or loaded guns, here’s all you need to know:
It’s fair that you’d want to find games like GTA, as the series has become famous in gaming, but this is a difficult challenge to accomplish because Rockstar Games sets the standard so high with each of its releases. This has resulted in GTA 5 becoming one of the most successful video games of all time, and GTA Online becoming one of the most enduring, despite the fact that both were released a decade ago!
With that said, there are other amazing crime-ridden action games out there, so if you’re looking for those or just one of the finest open-world games to explore, we’ve selected some strong options for you to consider. The five finest games like GTA are listed here, which should make the long wait for GTA 6 a little less painful.
5 games to play if you like GTA
1. Red Dead Redemption 2
Developer: Rockstar
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
You can probably imagine why this one is here; after all, the GTA series and Red Dead are both produced by the same studio. Despite the setting in the early twentieth century, Red Dead Redemption 2 (and its predecessor, if you want to go back in time) exemplify GTA’s values of player freedom in an expansive open world that feels alive, a commitment to including even the most minute details, and morally questionable men and women doing morally questionable things. To label Red Dead Redemption 2 “Grand Theft Auto with horses” would be oversimplifying the game, but it’s well worth checking out if you’re in the mood for GTA.
2. Just Cause 4
Developer:Â Avalanche Studios
Platform(s):Â PC, PS4, Xbox One
Just Cause 4 revels in new levels of anarchy, which it does by allowing you, the player, an absurd amount of flexibility. If you liked the ragdoll physics in GTA 5, wait till you see what you can accomplish in The Republic of Medici. To be clear, Just Cause 4 lacks the storytelling sophistication and mechanical polish of Rockstar’s flagship game, but it excels with its (literally) sky-high approach to choreographing devastation on a massive scale.
3. Watch Dogs 2
Developer: Ubisoft
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
The original Watch Dogs was such a bittersweet experience that Aiden Pearce’s revenge story became almost unbearable by the end, but Ubisoft took that criticism to heart for the sequel. As a result, the studio’s follow-up eschews the themes and tone of modern Grand Theft Auto titles in favor of cutting satire, using its setting as the stage for scathing satire. Remember the Grand Theft Auto 5 quest “Life Invader”? Watch Dogs 2 is essentially the same thing, just on a much larger scale. Rockstar’s Silicon Valley satire still packs a little more punch than Ubisoft’s, but Watch Dogs 2 has enough chuckles for anyone who’s had to sit through an Apple keynote or a Facebook commercial.
4. Yakuza 0
Developer: Sega
Platform(s): PC, PS4
Grand Theft Auto has long been praised for the way it brings cities to life, with dozens of side diversions to enjoy outside of the main narrative. Yakuza 0 goes all out with this design philosophy. Whereas Grand Theft Auto 5 includes tennis, yoga, and stock trading, Yakuza 0 includes karaoke, pool, arcades, wrestling, bowling, dancing, gambling, and… oh, awkwardly viewing a few explicit scenes in the rear of a video store. As that last one attests, not all of the side diversions are elegantly designed, but the sheer volume and range of options are mind-boggling.
5. Sleeping Dogs
Developer: United Front Games
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
Sleeping Dogs, which became a surprising hit in 2012, adds elements of martial arts and B-movie stunt action to the traditions of the open-world crime genre. It’s like a Grand Theft Auto game dressed up as a vintage Bruce Lee film, and it’s wonderful. Unfortunately, the sequel, which reportedly contained a co-op campaign, was canceled while it was still in the early stages of development, making Sleeping Dogs a rare gem that deserves more recognition for the novel ideas it introduced. Sleeping Dogs was even re-released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2014.
