Grand Theft Auto Series Alternatives and Similar Games

Based around a criminal gang in fictional Tokyo, Yakuza lets the players run wild on the streets of Japan, racing, shooting, and running missions for competing interests. Sound familiar? This game is so similar to GTA 5 that sometimes you just feel as though you are playing in a new setting, and you could very well see Trevor running through the streets of Tokyo naked at some point.

Most people have started playing ‘Saints Row’ since the third installment in the series, but many others have been playing the game since the first. It came up along the same timeline as the Grand Theft Auto series did, and while it never quite had the same popularity until the third title, the fourth game is a very good, if not slightly different experience. It’s still a third-person shooter, and it has all of the hallmarks of the genre: cars, guns, weird mission. But, in Saints Row Four, you play as the president of the United States, abducted by aliens and forced to shoot his way out of a computer simulation. Even that level of craziness is not in GTA 5.

If the main thing that drew you to GTA5 and kept you playing was the ability to create rampant chaos wherever you want, here is a game that will actually reward you for causing indiscriminate destruction! Just Cause Series! For example, in Just Cause 3, you play as a government agent sent into a foreign country, tasked with disrupting the region and inciting rebellion against the local government. This game rewards your mischievous actions with perks, experience, and cash! No matter if you consider yourself a freedom fighter or an agitator, this game is for you!

In the latest continuation of the hit series, you play as Lincoln Clay, an orphan and veteran of the Vietnam war, as he tries to make a living in the streets of 1968 New Bordeaux, a fictional re-imagining of New Orleans. Lincoln’s calling is to build a new criminal organization in New Bordeaux to rival the Italian Mob and take over the city. This game has all the elements of GTA you might be looking for: great cars, guns, and intense shoot-outs, all with a much more old-school feeling to them.

Much like ‘Yakuza’, in this game you are thrust into another Asian setting, this time Hong Kong. You play as Wei Shen, an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating the Hong Kong Triad gangs and collecting everything you need to bring them to justice. But the life of a gangster is hard for Wei, who has to see and do things that turn his stomach. This game has a much larger emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, and Wei only occasionally uses weapons to help him fight, relying primarily on his skills with martial arts. This is a unique take on the genre, and well-reviewed almost universally.

In the first entry, in this wild-western adventure, also made by Rockstar, you play as John Marston, a former gang member who has now been recruited by the government to track down his old compatriots and either kill or capture them. To do this, Marston has to travel around the lower United States and northern Mexico, shooting his way through opposition and causing chaos as he goes.

Regarding the latest iteration of the game, if fighting against the system is something that appeals to you, hop into the shoes of Marcus Holloway, a Hacker in a high-tech, borderline dystopian version of San Francisco. Marcus works with Dedsec, the fictional equivalent of reality’s Anonymous, to try to get rid of the city’s massive surveillance infrastructure. Shoot, drive, and hack your way through obstacles to make the people free!

In one of the most popular series installments, Far Cry 4, what starts as a simple journey to put your grandfather’s ashes to rest quickly spirals out of control shortly after you enter the fictional Himalayan country of Kyrat. You are soon pulled off the bus you came in on and thrust directly into the center of the country’s ongoing civil war. In this first-person shooter, you have to conquer territory, fulfill challenges, and so much more, all in the name of freedom from Kyrat’s tyrannical monarchy.

If you prefer to be on the side of the law, step into the shoes of a detective with L.A. Noire, a game with a great old-school setting, and an interesting take on people and how they behave. You get to not only do the standard shooting and driving unreasonably fast, but you also get periods where you get to interrogate suspects, find criminals, and do your best to figure out how smaller events fit into a bigger picture. With such a diverse range of activities blended seamlessly into a retro setting, it’s no wonder why people have been raving about this ever since it was released.

If you were a fan of the movie ‘The Godfather’, which followed the exploits of Italian Mobsters as they dealt with both internal and external conflicts, this game builds upon that universe and takes the players through an immersive experience as a member of the New York Italian Mob. This game mixes up the events of the source film a little bit, so even people who have watched it and played the first Godfather video game will still have a fresh experience making their way through this critically-acclaimed game.