Summary
Grand Theft Autohas been a cultural phenomenon sinceGrand Theft Auto 3defined open-world video games back in 2001. The brand was redefined further with the hugely successful launch ofGTA Online, which spawned an entire livable world full of dedicated players. Due to the runaway success ofGTA Online, however,Rockstarsomewhat neglected the single-player experience, allowing a whopping 12 years to pass betweenGTA 5and the highly anticipatedGTA 6.
With money on the table for so long, publishers would presumably be scrambling to fill that void, but there has actually been a stark lack of successful alternatives. That’s not to say a few titles didn’t forge their own paths for the latest console generation. Any gamers looking to fulfill that crime power fantasy can certainly do worse than these great PS5 games similar toGrand Theft Auto’s single-player offerings.
Crime Boss: Rockay Citypares downGrand Theft Auto 5’ssignature heiststo their core elements with a roguelike progression system that sees players level up with minor perks across multiple run-throughs. The game attempted to differentiate itself by adding star power, casting iconic names like Michael Madsen, Chuck Norris, Danny Trejo, and Kim Basinger.
Sadly, that seems to have consumed the majority of the development budget with no meaningful planning options and missions mainly consisting of shooting wave after wave of bullet sponge goons. It falls more into the camp of so bad, it’s good. For fans looking for a B-movie gangster epic starring the above, it’s more than worth its moderate price tag.
It’s fitting that a series that began life as a shamelessGTAclone has gone full circle after venturing out into some insane territory to forge its own identity.Saints Rowis, unfortunately, another game that promises more than it delivers, although it is still one of the closest game to thatGTAformula on the PS5.
WhenVolitionrebooted the series in this fifth installment, they returned to turf wars and an open-world crime sandbox. It lacks the depth and character of its inspiration, but it does sprinkle an extra dose of chaos andcustomization optionsin keeping with the series' roots for anyone looking to experiment.
Likely a more direct inspiration forCrime Boss: Rockay City, thePaydayseries has cornered the market ofmultiplayer heist simulators.Payday 3was not as well received as its predecessor largely due to a familiar problem with bugs and connectivity issues that have plagued previous launches.
Fans felt rightly aggrieved at another lack of overall polish on aPaydayproduct, but like the previous entries, the developers have supported it well post-launch. With a dedicated fanbase and a slew of technical improvements and DLC over the past year, there’s never been a better time to jump intoPayday 3.
Moving back to the open world but away from adverse crime, we find another latest in a popular series,Far Cry 6. Set in what is essentially a reimagined Cuba, players take on the role of a freedom fighter attempting to overthrow the oppressive regime.
For those who enjoyed the compelling narratives and moral ambiguity of theGTAseries,Far Cry 6is arguably the best option. It perhaps doesn’t quite match the hype of those pre-launch trailers, but it’s still a great villainous performance from Giancarlo Esposito.
Ubisoft’s Watch Dogsis another series that has long-drawn parallels withGTA. The latest entry,Watch Dogs: Legion,was slightly less well-regarded than the previous entry, but it’s easily the most ambitious game in the series — and maybe the genre, making every NPC recruitable.
Watch Dogs: Legionhas impressively fleshed-out hacking mechanics to differentiate it while retaining that open-world GTA feel. It also features a very well-realized near future London map to explore for any players looking to relive the thrill of the lesser-knownGrand Theft Auto: London 1969.
It’s worth clarifying, that this list is attempting to rank games on the overall quality of the experience they aim to provide, as opposed strictly to their likeness toGTA, which would likely have seenSaints Rowas the unwarranted top recommendation.Teardownbears little mechanical resemblance toGTA,but it does offer a very different take on one of itsmost popular features, the heists.
The indie hit features a series of destructible maps with players given unlimited planning time to prepare their route. Once the heist begins, the timer drops to just 60 seconds to grab all the loot and reach the getaway vehicle. Players are essentially limited only by their imagination.
Given the enormous hype during the build-up ofCyberpunk 2077,CD Projekt Redwould have hoped it would have been talked about as an industry juggernaut of its own, but it instead serves as an apt substitute forGTA. To be fair, much of the damage was done in an infamously disastrous launch with the game released in a frankly unacceptable state.
It’s a shame how frequently that has come up in this small subsection of AAA games. Like the aforementioned, though, the game has received enormous support post-launch and is in a much better state today.Cyberpunk 2077offers ahugely dense open world to exploreand some deep character progression options — not to mention an incredible narrative running through the dark streets of Night City.
TheYakuzaseries began life as a melee-focusedGTAalternative based on the infamous Japanese crime syndicate, but it truly has taken on a life of its own, becoming one of the best-regarded AAA series around.Yakuza: Like a Dragonsuccessfully reinvented the series as a turn-based RPG, and the sequel,Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth,is the best of all worlds.
A rich open world, an engaging if convoluted narrative,a healthy dose of wackiness, and a more fluid combat system that highlights the perfect blend of approaches across the series.Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealthis an excellent game in its own right.
