What are the best GTA clones?

[Erkki]

With GTA V still not out on PC, I am getting an urge to play one of the GTA clones instead. I mostly ignored all of them so far. And I don't mean clone as derogatory, that's the best name I know for the genre. I've played all GTA games, but I'm not enough of a fan of the genre itself to having played the others. There has to be some other aspect that makes the game interesting beyond having implemented the driving/combat mechanics well enough.

 

Mafia was great, although I guess it's not really in the genre, as the open world was more for creating the setting than an integral part of the game.

 

I played a bit of True Crime, but that was rather boring.

 

I've seen trailers for Saints Row games, but it seems like the kind of humor that I don't really care for.

 

I just noticed Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition on Steam (what actually triggered this post) and that might be interesting, but it seems kind of ultra-violent, which I'm also not a fan of, but can tolerate if the game otherwise seems compelling.

 

Can Just Cause be considered in the same genre? I played the demo, but it seemed like a rather confusing mess to me, despite having fun mechanics.

 

My favorite in the genre (if horses are allowed) so far is probably Rockstar's own Red Dead Redemption.

[TheLastBaron]

I really liked Simpsons Hit and Run, though it's kind of old now and I don't know how it holds up.

[Apelsin]

Not sure if Just Cause is close enough to be considered a clone. 

It's even more of a sandbox than the GTA games, where most of the fun comes from traversing the environment and parachuting around. Also, the driving is fairly shit.

 

You could take a look at Giant Bombs looks at Sleeping Dogs. They acknowledge the ultra violence and I believe one of them wasn't that big of a fan, but made the argument that the rest of the game might outweigh that.

[tegan]

I really liked Simpsons Hit and Run, though it's kind of old now and I don't know how it holds up.

 

YES! I came in to mention this one. I still play it every once in a while. I don't know how well it would be received by someone who didn't play it when it came out since I'm sure it's missing some features of modern GTA clones that might be taken for granted now.

 

Also, does Saints Row the Third count? Because I love me some Saints Row the Third (and to a lesser extent, Saints Row IV).

[Erkki]

You could take a look at Giant Bombs looks at Sleeping Dogs. They acknowledge the ultra violence and I believe one of them wasn't that big of a fan, but made the argument that the rest of the game might outweigh that.

This Sleeping Dogs quick look makes it look interesting -- especially the environmental hand-to-hand combat. I love that kind of stuff. I guess it will get pretty gross later in the game, though.

 

The vehicle physics seem kind of low-quality, but I could probably ignore that.

[clyde]

I really enjoyed Sleeping Dogs until the torture stuff at the end. I found the story to be more interesting to me than most games until the final act.

Oh and just to make sure, you played The Ballad of Gay Tony right?

[JonCole]

I actually came to like the vehicles in Sleeping Dogs more than I did the ones in GTA. I honestly think that game is my favorite in that sub-genre, except for maybe Saint's Row 3 although I feel like that is actually breaching some other sub-genre that something like Infamous is in.

 

I also think that Mafia II is pretty decent, although maybe it doesn't hold up as better open world sandbox-ish games have come out since.

[Erkki]

Oh and just to make sure, you played The Ballad of Gay Tony right?

Actually I haven't finished it. I started, but didn't get very far before I quit for a reason I don't remember.

[Erkki]

Well, despite my doubts about whether I'll like the style of humor, I decided to go ahead and buy some kind of ultimate Saints Row pack since it was so cheap on Steam right now. I now have SR2, 3 and 4 and I think all of the DLC.

[Smart Jason]

Well, despite my doubts about whether I'll like the style of humor, I decided to go ahead and buy some kind of ultimate Saints Row pack since it was so cheap on Steam right now. I now have SR2, 3 and 4 and I think all of the DLC.

 

It's convoluted, but I'd actually recommend playing The Third first just as a litmus test of whether you'll enjoy the franchise (as most will say it peaked there, although I prefer IV). If you do like it, then go back and play 2 - since it and the original Saints Row are so tonally different from the latter sequels that they're nearly a completely different series and are almost worth skipping unless you fall completely in love with the franchise. The reason I say to do it now is because IV is clearly intended as a retrospective on the series as a whole and not only begins directly after The Third in a way that The Third doesn't from 2 (including character importation), but contains a large number of references for, and reverence toward, the first two games, and knowledge of them will really help you appreciate its story.

 

I hope you enjoy them. For a long time I thought Saints Row would never be a series for me; I thought it was far too proudly dumb and held games back and all that, but beginning with The Third I actually found its characters and writing incredibly charming and I think its irreverence - rather than just being mindless - is knowing in a way few or no other games actually are.

 

Also, I agree that Sleeping Dogs is quite satisfying. I can't speak to whether or not it will disturb you, unfortunately. I found all of its systems very well done.

[Patrick R]

I am the only person I know who really liked that Scarface sequel game. It was always hard for me to be motivated in these kinds of games (almost never caring about the story) but that gave me an actual motivation to make money: To decorate my mansion! It was this half-baked Sims-ish building editor, along with a way to call sweet vehicles right to your location at any time, that made me play the hell out of that over the course of several Blockbuster rentals.

[thefncrow]

I don't know that Saints Row 3 is a good litmus test for SR2.  I like all those games, but SR2 has a tone more like "What if Rockstar never deviated from the track they were on from GTA3 to Vice City to San Andreas".  SR2 is, well, grounded is the wrong way to describe it, but more grounded than SR3, which starts from a place that's just bonkers and then somehow proceeds to become completely untethered from any sense of reality.

 

Also, if you do plan to play SR2 and you got it for PC, you should be aware that PC port is kinda crummy.  There was (probably still is, but I can't speak to how it is since I last played it a few years ago) a speed bug, where the game could run slightly too fast or too slow.  If you go and look up information on it, there's a fan mod that patches that.

 

SR2 is a game that has some really charming touches, and for all the ways SR3 does improve on areas, some of those really charming touches are lost.  I'd love to see another SR game that could bring some of that stuff back in, but I fear some of the stuff (like the way SR2 handles Boss' karaoke) is probably gone for good.

 

I really like Sleeping Dogs, but, yes, the combat gets really brutal between some of the environment combat and some of the hand-to-hand combos.

 

If you tried the original Just Cause, I'd suggest going and looking at Just Cause 2.  JC2 is a game that I've not done even half the story missions in, but I've played a ton of it.  The missions aren't the best, but the combination of the grappling hook, weird infinite parachutes, and the hijacking system that lets you take over just about any vehicle you can get your hands on (which includes things like helicopters thanks to the grapple) just gives you this incredible feeling.  I still fire that up every so often and just go screw around in the world.

[CollegeBaby]

Man Red Dead Redemption is a great game. Too bad RDR isn't on PC and probably never will be. The best hope is that they do an updated version for new consoles as well as PC.

 

Anyway I would echo Sleeping Dogs. I actually prefer it to any GTA game I've played. As a massive and ridiculous sandbox game it doesn't have as much originality or variety as GTA (although the hand-to-hand combat is pretty good), but it's so competently put together with a clarity of vision that is rare for open world games. It also doesn't retread the same worn out digs at "The American Dream" that GTA has been trading on for over a decade.

 

I think Saints Row gets an unfair reputation for its sense of humour, at least 3 and 4 do. I can definitely see why people would be turned off by it at first because I was as well, but once I started playing it I realised it came from a place more intelligent than it presents. I would loosely compare it to something like South Park - although the sense of humour is quite different from South Park - it does have a similar weird dichotomy of crass humour, clever satire and warm hearted drama.

 

Chris Franklin has a good video on how Saints Row 4 handles its tone, and I may as well give the Sleeping Dogs review as well (spoilers at 10 minutes)

 

 

[Murdoc]

I never really considered Just Cause a GTA clone, I guess the first one was sort of set up similarly? I get that the subject matter doesn't need to be the same and an open world game can be an open world game without being a clone.  So I wonder where we draw the distinction of what is considered a clone. Does it need to be about crime or just be an open world game, that follows a linear story, has side missions, and you can drive/steal cars? While Red Dead is very mechanically the same, there was some good discussion in the thread how the theme and narrative was very fundamentally different and a couple core systems discouraged the type of play you would normally do in GTA.

 

Anyway, Saints Row 1 was certainly a me too product, but I think by 3 it offered something so much different and became it's own thing, even though it's roots were a clone. The fourth seemed to walk  too much of the same ground as 3 and became just a little too far fetched for me to get into.

 

Sleepy Dogs is by far the best GTA clone, it doesn't even try to pretend that it isn't, much like the True Crime series didn't give a shit about being a clone. (Since, as everyone knows, this was supposed to be a true crime game) It was also made by a lot of ex-Rockstar Vancouver people so I think they really nailed what they were after and had some really cool systems (melee combat). It became that middle ground between modern GTAs grandious scale and seriousness and Saints Row budgety/silliness. A lot of the people that made the core game of Sleep Dogs were laid off before Square picked it up and as far as I understand, UFG is a shadow of it's former self when all the work went into the game. I dunno if they have the resources or the talent to make another one, which is a shame.

[Erkki]

I guess what I meant with "GTA clone" is 3rd person open world/sandbox game with lots of driving and probably some amount of combat.

[thefncrow]

Sleepy Dogs is by far the best GTA clone, it doesn't even try to pretend that it isn't, much like the True Crime series didn't give a shit about being a clone. (Since, as everyone knows, this was supposed to be a true crime game) It was also made by a lot of ex-Rockstar Vancouver people so I think they really nailed what they were after and had some really cool systems (melee combat). It became that middle ground between modern GTAs grandious scale and seriousness and Saints Row budgety/silliness. A lot of the people that made the core game of Sleep Dogs were laid off before Square picked it up and as far as I understand, UFG is a shadow of it's former self when all the work went into the game. I dunno if they have the resources or the talent to make another one, which is a shame.

 

I was really shocked that Sleeping Dogs was actually good.  That game had such a troubled development history.

 

Even before it was going to be True Crime: Hong Kong, it was a game called Black Lotus that was apparently much the same open-world game except it was supposed to feature a female protagonist.  Several months after development started, Activision came along and said "You know, what if we slapped on the True Crime name, and turned the lead character into a dude?"  They wanted to put it in the True Crime series because they liked what they saw and thought they might be able to revive the name if they could produce a good game.

 

Then, it got cancelled in 2011 and Activision basically took a giant public shit on the game.  The initial announcement of the cancellation cited "quality issues", and then they later released this statement:

 

In addition to changes in music, we announced our decision to discontinue development on True Crime: Hong Kong. Even our most optimistic internal projections show that continued investment is not going to lead to a title at or near the top of the competitive open-world genre. In an industry where only the best games in each category are flourishing, to be blunt, it just wasn't going to be good enough.

 

Knowing all that in the lead up to the release, I was expecting that game to come out and be somewhere between bad and mediocre.  That it's truly great was a really pleasant surprise.

[miffy495]

Sleeping Dogs is fantastic. It's a better-written GTA with Batman combat instead of guns. If that doesn't sell you, I can't help any more.

 

I love the Saint's Row series, and the change in character is really obvious from 2 to 3. I actually love both games, like, a lot. How you will feel about them may be indicated by your reaction to this:

Saint's Row 3 has a mission in which two characters are driving to a location and a song comes on that they both really like and sing along loudly to. It's highly scripted, unavoidable, and the only time it happens in the game. It's also a great moment and one that a lot of people point to as showing the feel of SR3. It does that in multiple ways though. See, in Saint's Row 2, if you listen to certain radio stations for long enough, the game will recognize that you have favourites. After a set amount of time listening to one station, the game will decide that your character has probably heard it enough times to have internalized some lyrics. Every now and then (not every time) when some songs come on after that point, you can hear the voice actor of your choice quietly singing along to the radio. The SR3 sing-along both shows how lightly they took everything and how much fun they had with the development AND how much more tightly controlled your experience with SR3 is compared to SR2. Both are excellent, but 2 is far better for emergent things and 3 is much more of a roller coaster. SR4 has three different missions in which people sing along to the radio. The take-away? It's still good, but really milking what made 3 great and not doing much new (superpowers are fantastic though).

 

And yeah, Just Cause 2 is one of my favourite games ever. If that's close enough to a GTA clone for you and you've never played it, you need to get on that.

[Smart Jason]

I guess what I meant with "GTA clone" is 3rd person open world/sandbox game with lots of driving and probably some amount of combat.

 

Actually, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bully yet. True, there's no driving, but the bicycles handle pretty well, and the combat was definitely improved compared to its PS2-era GTA brethren. In fact, at the time I was quite fond of saying it was the best Grand Theft Auto game yet made. And this one is available on Steam.

[Erkki]

Heh, what do you know. I actually have finished Gay Tony (at 67% and the save game says TBOGT Complete or something). Was a really forgettable one for me I guess.

 

I also have Just Cause 2 which I bought for a couple of bucks from a sale, so now I'm torn between playing that or Saints Row The Third, or getting Sleeping Dogs. I might do the latter actually -- seems I like more buying games than playing them.

 

Actually, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bully yet. True, there's no driving, but the bicycles handle pretty well, and the combat was definitely improved compared to its PS2-era GTA brethren. In fact, at the time I was quite fond of saying it was the best Grand Theft Auto game yet made. And this one is available on Steam.

 

I did play Bully on the PS2, at least for a few hours. Don't remember if I finished it, but I remember having trouble with the controls at that time. But I had trouble playing GTA III on the PS2 as well. Nowadays I play many PC games with the PS3 controller, though.

[Salacious Snake]

If you want to extend your search to bad GTA clones, this youtube playlist can help you out: 

[Justin Leego]

Cough FAR CRY 2 Cough

(I know you don't like Far Cry 2 that much)

 

I also feel compelled to recommend Driver: San Francisco even though it meets almost none of the usual criteria for a GTA-clone, especially as it's all in-car rather than on foot.*

 

Couple of things in common with Sleeping Dogs: arcade-style driving simulation, modern urban setting, criminal backstory, complete and utter narrative insanity.

 

Plus you get to find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes whereas in Sleeping Dogs

you are given a hero's write-up for being an urban war criminal with the blood of hundreds and hundreds of gruesomely incapacitated citizens upon your hands

and conveniently located fish hooks

 

S.Dogs is brimming with references to HK action movies though, if that could tickle you. And visually, it's incredible.

 

Steam Halloween Sale is supposed to start on the 30th, if that factors in to your immediate purchasing decision matrix.

 

*I have been mildly feverish over the last few days so, yeah. Judgement issues. Sorry, forum.

[thefncrow]

S.Dogs is brimming with references to HK action movies though, if that could tickle you. And visually, it's incredible.

 

Oh yeah, and the DLCs kinda continue that.  One of the DLCs, The Zodiac Tournament, has you going to an island off the coast to participate in a martial arts tournament. 

is the intro to the DLC.  It's really short, so I'd hesitate for full price, but I think it's been like a buck before in Steam sales and it's part of the Definitive Edition.  Worth playing through.

[tegan]

Clearly what you need to play are African hacked bootlegs of actual GTA games.

 

 

 

[Erkki]

So I decided to get Sleeping Dogs since I had let myself get rather psyched about it during the last 24h. I'm now 3 hours in and its everything I expected and more. The combat is really great, and even when it gets really bloody, it doesn't really focus on the gory details as much as I feared. The driving I can get used to, I guess, but so far it seems a little odd. I really liked how the vehicles in GTA IV handled. But as for style and story, this is way better than the tired old GTA GangsTer's American Dream thing.

 

Cough FAR CRY 2 Cough

(I know you don't like Far Cry 2 that much)

 

I don't know whom that was in response to, but I love Far Cry 2... I don't consider it in the same genre, though. A simple way to eliminate it is that it's first person, but the more complicated way is harder to think about. It's not necessarily about cities... or RDR wouldn't qualify either (maybe it shouldn't).

 

Clearly what you need to play are African hacked bootlegs of actual GTA games.

 

...

Whoa! What are those?

[tegan]

Whoa! What are those?

 

http://gameological.com/2013/02/the-pirate-hacks-of-africa/