When Microsoft and Sony showcased their Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles, there was one game in particular on many gamers wish lists, a new Grand Theft Auto title. Unfortunately, players universally groaned as yet another port of GTA 5 was announced instead. It’s almost hard to believe at this point, but its been over seven years since GTA 5 initially released on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Although a day will inevitably come when people look at their Twitter feed and see that a new Grand Theft Auto has been announced, it could still be many, many months before the game is released. So until that glorious day comes, here are some great GTA-style games to play in the meantime.
10 Bully
Rockstar’s cult classic Bully took the gameplay mechanics from the GTA series and put them in a dysfunctional boarding school. Unlike the GTA games that take heavy influence from the relevant pop-culture at the time, Bully has minimal references to life outside the school and its neighboring town making it far more timeless and less-dated than its GTA counterparts.
The game is a joy to play as it has one of the most charismatic and memorable casts in a Rockstar game, and many quintessential childhood items are available like itching powder, stink bombs, and itching powder.
9 Red Dead Redemption 2
The Xbox One and PS4 generation may not have been blessed with a new GTA game, but there was a follow up to 2010s Red Dead Redemption. The 2018 prequel had everything that you would expect in an open-world Rockstar game with a huge world to explore, action-heavy gameplay, and tons of side activities.
The game offered a level of realism not yet seen in a Rockstar game, particularly the incredible weather effects and wildlife AI. Rockstar clearly spent many, many hours perfecting these details, implying that they will also feature in the next GTA game as it would be a waste not to re-use them.
8 L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire is the final game on this list that is developed by the same team as GTA. Unconventionally for a Rockstar game, L.A. Noire puts players on the side of the law. As a detective, players a tasked with solving crimes around Los Angeles. Consequently, the game is less focused on action and more on methodical police work.
The game was re-released in 2017, featuring updated facial animations that greatly improved the game’s frequent questioning sequences. The re-release also removed the confusing ambiguity over the Truth, Lie, and Doubt options, replacing them with Good Cop, Bad Cop, and Accuse respectively.
7 Saints Row 4
Of all the non-rockstar entries on this list, the Saints Row series is the most directly influenced by the GTA games. The series is largely split into two half’s, as the first two games have a more realistic feel, whereas the latest two feature over-the-top action that is focused far more on fun than realism.
The fourth game takes the third’s action-pact gameplay to a whole other level as players become the US President and are tasked with using their superpowers to battle an army of aliens.
6 Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 is similar to the previous entry, not just because they’ve both got 4 in their title, but because they both offer fun over-the-top action. The game gives players a ton of exciting items to use, such as the wingsuit and grappling hook and lets them tackle objectives or simply explore the game’s huge playpen-like map in any way they choose. Along with the items are some of the most innovative and havoc inducing weapons in all of gaming, such as the lightning gun, wind gun, and super-sniper.
Just Cause 4 ramped the action of its predecessor up a notch by adding extreme weather conditions to the mix, including giant, destructive tornados.
5 The Simpsons: Hit and Run
There’s a reason why The Simpsons: Hit and Run is often referred to as GTA for kids. Developer Radical Entertainment took the open-world driving gameplay from GTA and threw it into the iconic Springfield.
The game’s missions aren’t as varied as GTA, as most of them consist of simply driving from point A to point B within a time-frame. But exploring the game’s wonderfully designed levels is a joy and there are tons of collectibles hidden away in each stage, providing hours of enjoyable optional gameplay.
4 Lego City Undercover
The Simpsons: Hit and Run isn’t the only child-friendly GTA alternative out there, Lego City Undercover combined the open-world gameplay of GTA and gave it the Danish block treatment.
The game does feature many of the gameplay elements that Lego Star Wars: The Video Game introduced and subsequent entries have built upon, but generally speaking, it plays very differently to the other modern Lego games with its emphasis on free-roaming and lack of movie tie-in to adhere to.
3 Watch Dogs 2
The original Watch Dogs didn’t quite live up to its huge expectations but it was still a solid game that had many great ideas. This is comparable to the original Assassins Creed game, and like Assassins Creed, the second game realized a lot of its predecessor’s potential.
Watch Dogs 2 removed the grey and gloomy setting of the first game, replacing it with summery aesthetics similar to GTA 5. A sequel recently released, Watch Dogs: Legion, although the game currently has too many bugs for it to be recommendable.
2 Mafia II
The second entry in the Mafia series is set in the same era as L.A. Noire, although players are on the opposite side of the law than in Rockstar’s detective game. Mafia II puts players in the shoes of Vito Scaletta who, as the name suggests, is caught up with Mafia crime families. Similarly to GTA, the gameplay is centered around gun-firing and car-driving action, with a wanted system that indicates police response to the player’s criminal actions.
The game received a sequel in 2016, although it failed to impress both fans and critics, evidenced by its 62 PC Metascore and 3.8 user score.
1 Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogs differentiates itself from most of the entries on this list as instead of being set in the US, players are treated to a stunning rendition of Hong Kong. Players take the role of a police officer tasked with infiltrating a triad known as Sun Yee On, which interestingly is a real organization.
Despite being a solid open-world game that was well-received by fans and critics, the game sadly underperformed sales-wise. Square-Enix, the game’s publisher, named Sleeping Dogs when discussing games that they felt were a development success but commercial failure. Interestingly, 2013’s Tomb Raider was also mentioned despite receiving two sequels.
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