Entertainment
7 ‘GTA Clones’ That Excelled Where Rockstar Couldn’t
There’s no one in the industry who can create a crime-filled open-world sandbox quite like Rockstar Games, and it seems no one in the West is willing to even try anymore. Rockstar earned their monopoly honestly through obsessive attention to detail and by raising the technical bar with each release. Grand Theft Auto VI will surely raise that bar again when it launches November 19. But the genre they defined used to be a competitive one.
From the early 2000s to the mid 2010s, studios constantly attempted to go toe-to-toe with the champ, and they fared far better than the “clone” label suggests. Many outclassed Rockstar in specific areas, whether it be robust combat mechanics, unique mission design or an engaging narrative. These games proved there’s room for more voices in the space and room for improvement in Rockstar’s formula. Here are seven titles that outplayed Rockstar in some way or another, and a reminder of what this industry gave up when it stopped competing.
7. Retro City Rampage (2012)
Brian Provinciano created Retro City Rampage as a mostly solo developer. It was originally a demake of Grand Theft Auto III, but eventually morphed into something far stranger. It’s the only game on the list that shot for the classic top-down style, so the natural comparison is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, an excellent return to where Rockstar made their name. Although they share the same perspective, they have completely different approaches to the genre.
Chinatown Wars was more about condensing the 3D GTA formula into a handheld. Provinciano’s game leaned into the comedic and satirical aspects of GTA while delivering new mechanics with each new mission. Almost no two missions in Retro City Rampage share the same blueprint, going from a stealth section with Metal Gear energy, to a grappling hook sequence inspired by Bionic Commando, to a Frogger-style traffic-dodging situation. Each only appears once before you’re on to the next unique mechanic, something you can’t say for GTA‘s standard mission structure of “drive here, shoot this, repeat.”
The weapon selection goes just as hard with 24 absurd, situational options that promote diversity over settling on a favorite. Throw in a skateboard and grappling hook for traversal, along with an arcade-style scoring system akin to Rampage Mode, and Retro City Rampage becomes a rare game in the space that offers a varied and diverse experience from beginning to end.
6. Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)
Radical Entertainment took one of the most interesting approaches to a movie tie-in video game, creating a “what if” scenario where Tony Montana survived the mansion shootout and continued growing his empire. That setup alone made Scarface: The World Is Yours worth a playthrough for any fan of the movie, but it wasn’t only the premise that made it great.
The empire management system is where the game truly shined over Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which released in 2004. Players were able to launder money at a bank, move contraband through real supply chains, and buy fronts while staving off heat from police and rivals. San Andreas had a light asset-purchasing mechanic to generate passive income, but Radical took it to another level with its economic simulation.
Even the combat had some tricks up its sleeve with the introduction of the Balls meter, a resource built up by taunting your enemies that unleashed the brutal first-person Blind Rage mode. This devastating mechanic slowed the world down, granted the player infinite ammo, and regenerated health with each kill. Not only was it insanely fun to use, but it also made the gunplay stand head and shoulders above Rockstar’s latest offering. Nearly 20 years later, Scarface: The World Is Yours remains one of the most ambitious licensed games the open-world genre has ever produced.
5. True Crime: Streets of LA (2003)
Luxoflux and Activision were the first to take the fight directly to Rockstar. True Crime: Streets of LA made a name for itself by recreating roughly 240 square miles of actual Los Angeles, allowing players with knowledge of the city to navigate by memory. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City‘s fictional depiction of Florida did not offer the same accuracy, and it would be years before Rockstar even attempted a similar feat.
The differences run deeper than just the map, however. As LAPD detective Nick Kang, players were equipped with a full suite of melee fighting abilities that could be expanded further with unlockable moves. It made Vice City‘s hand-to-hand combat look like an afterthought. A “good cop, bad cop” morality system monitored your behavior, bringing a branching narrative structure with multiple endings to the GTA formula over 20 years before Rockstar allegedly implemented the honor system into GTA VI.
To top it off, failing a mission did not force a game over and a restart. True Crime‘s narrative adapted to the failure and continued down a different path, an impressive system that is still not standard in modern gaming. True Crime: Streets of LA took on GTA with pure ambition, but the true crime is that this franchise didn’t become the juggernaut it had the potential to be.
4. Watch Dogs 2 (2016)
Watch_Dogs was originally heralded as the next-gen blockbuster that would become the “GTA Killer.” Unfortunately, the game fell well short of expectations with huge graphical downgrades from the initial gameplay trailers, stunted hacking mechanics with little agency, and an overall run-of-the-mill story and protagonist. Ubisoft Montreal course-corrected hard with Watch Dogs 2, going for a sunny San Francisco and a likable group of characters that felt like an antidote to Grand Theft Auto V‘s cynical take.
Playing as Marcus Holloway, you are given DedSec’s signature arsenal of hacking tools complete with more player agency and options. The RC jumper and quadcopter allowed players to scout, infiltrate, and sometimes even complete entire missions without Marcus setting foot in the building. With one character, Watch Dogs 2 offered more options when tackling missions than in GTA V with three characters.
Best of all, nonlethal playthroughs are fully viable in Watch Dogs 2. Stun guns and takedowns allow players to complete every mission in the game without killing a single person, an option completely foreign to GTA. Watch Dogs 2 proved the crime sandbox Rockstar defined didn’t need to be dark and cynical, and there was room for more open-ended mission design.
3. Mafia II (2010)
2K Czech went the opposite direction from Grand Theft Auto and every other studio that chased it. Mafia II showcased Empire Bay across the 1940s and 1950s as a period piece first, letting players watch Vito Scaletta age into the life over years rather than a few months.
Vito was a well-developed character like no other in the genre. Grand Theft Auto IV‘s Niko Bellic caused whiplash as, depending on the mission, he would feel like a different character with different motives. Every mission in Mafia II had an intent and impact on Vito’s character, as well as his friendship with Joe Barbaro. The years of small moments carry the game and slowly lead to an explosive ending that hits much harder than Niko Bellic’s split decision at the end of GTA IV.
The bigger achievement is the design of Mafia II. 2K Czech traded the open-world filler for a tightly authored crime drama, proving the sandbox doesn’t have to offer everything to justify itself. Mafia II was the rare competitor that gained success by focusing its scope and elevating its strong points to the highest degree.
2. Sleeping Dogs (2012)
Sleeping Dogs has the best action to ever grace the open-world crime genre, and it’s honestly not even close. United Front Games built a dynamic martial arts system for Wei Shen equipped with grabs, counters, and environmental takedowns that found vicious ways to finish enemies with meat hooks and table saws. No matter which Grand Theft Auto you compare it to, its combat comes up short of Sleeping Dogs by a few miles.
Traversal received just as much care, with dynamic chase sequences that had the player dodging crowds and jumping over obstacles to apprehend a suspect. You could also hijack speeding cars by leaping from one to another mid-chase. These gameplay sequences felt cinematic without taking away player agency, which is very difficult to pull off.
Sleeping Dogs also stood out by moving the setting out of America to Hong Kong. Setting this undercover cop story in China added a fresh layer to the genre. Wei Shen earned separate Cop and Triad experience, and players would juggle which side they wanted to lean toward. The narrative did not disappoint either, with moments that still stick even 14 years later. If you’re looking for the best moment-to-moment gameplay in the genre, then Sleeping Dogs easily takes the crown.
1. Saints Row 2 (2008)
Volition dropped Saints Row 2 the same year Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto IV, and it genuinely felt closer to a follow-up to San Andreas than GTA IV ever did. Rockstar introduced many robust mechanics in San Andreas that made the game feel giant and expansive, but GTA IV completely stripped everything that made its predecessor special in order to chase realism. This worked for some players, but it went too far in the wrong direction for a lot of fans. Saints Row 2 ended up being the safe haven that felt most like home.
Everything fans loved about Los Santos was still there but bigger and better: gang territory to take over, businesses to buy, tons of activities and mini-games, and a completely customizable protagonist. While GTA IV‘s sandbox felt paved over with cement, Saints Row 2‘s was still a robust playground with tons of fun to be had outside of missions. Volition’s take on the formula was goofier at times, but it still knew when to have heartfelt or serious moments.
Volition’s sequel struck the perfect balance, and here’s the hot take: Saints Row 2 was a better GTA than Grand Theft Auto IV. The game offered a more complete experience including drop-in/drop-out online co-op across the entire campaign, a robust character creator, vehicle, crew and crib customization, a bigger map, smooth vehicle handling, and a deeper melee fighting system with finishing moves. Although Volition and Saints Row‘s story didn’t end well, history should highlight that there was a time when developers could go toe-to-toe with GTA and decisively come out on top.
The Genre Rockstar Won by Forfeit
Grand Theft Auto VI will arrive on November 19 with no direct competitors in sight, and that should be frustrating. In an industry full of Soulslikes, why did the ball drop with GTA-likes, even though it’s proven that there are areas where developers can improve over Rockstar? No game has been able to dethrone Grand Theft Auto, but none needed to. They pushed the open-world crime genre in ways Rockstar was unwilling to, and the space was healthier for it.
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