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[I collect VHS tapes]

I'm about ready to call it quits on GTA 5 due to the gameplay being so fucking awful. I just unlocked Trevor and literally his first mission where you have to chase down some bikers while shooting at them really cemented how terrible the controls are. And you fail the mission if you stray a few feet from the path they want you to follow. and the story just isn't good enough to make me want to keep playing

do any of the clones have better gameplay than the stuff Rockstar puts out? I had similar complaints about the gameplay of RDR 2 as well. The controls suck and the missions are too on the rails. The gameplay just isn't fun. I do like open world games though, and never played any of the GTA clones.

do any have better gameplay than the GTA series? I'm talking about games like Saints Row, Mafia, Watch Dogs, Sleeping Dogs, Just Cause, etc.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Sleeping Dogs is way better imo

 

[poppabk]

Sleeping Dogs would be my pick from that group. Has some actual fighting mechanics.

 

[kikkis]

First watch dogs has better shooting, but driving is ass

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

saints row and sleeping dogs

 

[joeygreco1985]

I thought Saints Row 3 and 4 are more fun than GTA.
Sleeping Dogs is great as well.
Watch Dogs 2 as a whole is a hell of a game.
Sunset Overdrive is one of my favorites.

 

[ssringo]

I always thought Saints Row was more fun to play. At least up through SR4. No clue about the reboot or whatever it was.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Watch Dogs 2 or Watch Dogs 1 with mods is way better than GTA V gameplay wise.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Going to echo Sleeping Dogs. I played through it last year (I blitzed through the story in around 9 hours) and I much preferred it to the gameplay of GTAV. It has good fighting mechanics, some funny little QTE games, great driving and some reasonably decent cover shooting. Well worth a crack for just a couple of quid now.

 

[R6Rider]

Watch Dogs 2 as a whole is a hell of a game.

Watch Dogs 2 is damn good.

Been giving it praise for years now and I'll continue. Underrated game. City is fantastic and alive.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Sleeping Dogs is way better imo

In terms of melee combat mechanics, yes. But literally everything else is better in GTA V and it's not even close.

 

[Gaiff]

In terms of melee combat mechanics, yes. But literally everything else is better in GTA V and it's not even close.

Sleeping Dogs has better action sequences and shooting too. But in terms of open world shenanigans and shit to do, yeah, GTA reigns supreme. Both games have similarly shitty driving.

Watch Dogs 2 is damn good.

Been giving it praise for years now and I'll continue. Underrated game. City is fantastic and alive.

But the cast of characters is awful. There are some fun mechanics with the hacking shit, but I still find it inferior to GTA V, which I don't find very good to begin with.

 

[Magic Carpet]

The first Aloy game. If you have a PS5 or a PC its pretty darn good. Don't have to worry about that pesky mission failed stuff.
I just recently re-bought it on a Steam sale.
Almost re-bought the second one, but I'm going to wait till it gets re-released on PS6 and then re-re-released on PC before I get the second game.

 

[Baemono]

No

 

[R6Rider]

But the cast of characters is awful. There are some fun mechanics with the hacking shit, but I still find it inferior to GTA V, which I don't find very good to begin with.

I actually didn't mind the characters. They're goofy, weird, hacker stereotypes in many ways, but also deep than that in certain missions and cutscenes. They were just fun in my eyes.

I fully understand the complaints with them though.

 

[wvnative]

Sleeping Dogs

 

[AJUMP23]

In RDR you can Ride horses, can't do that in GTA.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Not a clone since it's a GTA game, but check out Chinatown Wars. I remember it being very fun to play.

 

[R6Rider]

Not a clone since it's a GTA game, but check out Chinatown Wars. I remember it being very fun to play.

The mini game in Chinatown Wars was basically crack.

 

[Fbh]

Yeah sleeping dogs is great, has more of a focus on melee combat though.
I honestly thought Watch Dogs 1 played better too, maybe not the driving but the shooting was a whole lot better and I actually liked the mission design way more too.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Maybe Cyberpunk 2077? Not exactly a GTA clone but it is a game set in an open world urban enviroment where you do missions stuff. Gameplay is definitely much better than GTA's, story/characters are also good though this can be subjective still.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The mini game in Chinatown Wars was basically crack.

Quite literally

 

[RagnarokIV]

Mindseye

 

[Muffdraul]

IMO Watch Dogs 2 is possibly the funnest urban open world game ever. Even after you've finished the story and cleared every icon on the map, it's still fun to just cruise around fucking with NPCs, gangs, cops, security guards, baiting them to fight each other, getting in between two sides of a huge shootout and using the dance emote and seeing how long it takes for you to catch strays to the point of near death.

 

[Represent.]

You dont play GTA for the damn shooting mechanics - You play it for the world, atmosphere, killing sprees, story and atmosphere. the online is a bonus.

Some other mindless clone MIGHT have better feeling gunplay... but the actual open world is lightyears behind

 

[Esppiral]

You reminded me that I need a sleeping dogs sequel, what a fantastic and underrated game.....

 

[Chuck Berry]

The gunplay in Mafia 3 is way better imo. Over the top kill and hit animations, a really great shotgun and that focus/bullet time makes it super satisfying.

I think the driving feels better too. Weightier, similar to GTA4.

 

[Gonzito]

Watch Dogs franchise have better gameplay imo but their story and missions are not as good obviously

 

[StereoVsn]

Sleeping Dogs is way better imo

Yep, combat was much better, especially melee. Hong Kong as the setting was awesome. Motorcycles were fun to ride as well.

It is certainly much smaller in scope than an average GTA game but it was much more dense. I certainly enjoyed Sleeping Dogs more than any GTA even including Vice City and IV with DLCs.

 

[seething left]

GTA V on PC with KB/M.

 

[Imtjnotu]

Mindseye

you stfu

 

[The Cockatrice]

I think RDR2 is the best game Rockstar ever made, miles ahead of any GTA game. Sleeping Dogs was cool, but on paper it wasn't better. Watch Dogs 2 was nice as well, better than most gta games even if it was a bit too much "diverse".

 

[bender]

Sleeping Dogs is a lot of fun but the vehicle physics are its' weak point.

 

[R6Rider]

Sleeping Dogs is a lot of fun but the vehicle physics are its' weak point.

Pork Bun makes up for it.

 

[poppabk]

you stfu

Probably a good chance that it does have better shooting mechanics than GTA though.

 

[Punished Miku]

I haven't played Minds Eye but the shooting looks unironically better than GTA.

 

[Hudo]

Sleeping Dogs is more fun than GTA 5, imho. Or to put it another way: I have played through Sleeping Dogs multiple times over the years. I have played through GTA 5 just once and have no desire to go back to it.

 

[Connificent]

Mad Max. Arkham Knight

 

[Signalis]

SLEEPING DOGS

The pork bun thing is getting very cringe though. Always some daft cunt that has to mention it whenever the game is mentioned.

 

[hemo memo]

Not really. They're better in different aspects but overall, no. GTA is better.

I remember Sleeping Dogs being really good but that was a long time ago, so it could be nostalgia.

 

[R6Rider]

SLEEPING DOGS

The pork bun thing is getting very cringe though. Always some daft cunt that has to mention it whenever the game is mentioned.

Calm down and have a pork bun.

 

[PeteBull]

Sleeping Dogs was and still is pretty amazing, said that here are 2 prequel from same group of devs:
True crimes: Streets of LA:

And its sequel True Crimes: NYC


I say they were prequels to Sleeping Dogs coz early on that game was named True Crime: Hong Kong:

Edit: Ofc strongly recommend Sleeping Dogs, especially Definitive Edition that still is fun and doesnt look too terrible at all even in 2025, so quick trailer of ps4 version to hype u up:

It runs on pc maxed in 4k perfectly even on midrange mashine nowadays and looks even better :

 

[nush]

Sleepy Doggos.

 

[Roman Empire]

Sleeping dogs has good hand-to-hand fighting mechanics, but shooting and driving is horrible.

 

[Stafford]

Sleeping Dogs absolutely.

GTA could learn a lot from that, especially when it comes to actual enjoyable and good hand to hand combat.

 

[PlayStaytion]

Silver Palace? my eyes on the plot and I like it.

 

[Isa]

For me the reason I was totally into Saints Row since the first is the actual controls felt so much better. Just straight forward modern controls with easy free aiming. I don't get how Rockstar gets a pass with the same controls 20+ years later. That plus the vehicle damage and such. Sure it lacked in other areas but for sheer fun, humor and character customization from 2 and on it was miles better for me. They did go full retard with the last entry sadly.

 

[March Climber]

Saints Row 3 is in my top 10 all-time list.

The devs focused on fun, the gameplay is extremely smooth, the mission variety is incredible, the menus and animations are snap fast, the humor is done well, and the game's length is perfect and doesn't overstay it's welcome.

SR3 (and to a slightly lesser extent Sleeping Dogs) proved to me that GTA-like games can actually be super responsive and play well in all aspects, and that the main thing holding them back are the developers themselves.

When Rockstar does what they do, they are insisting upon it, not because they think it's not possible otherwise. They know they can try and change, but they will instead force the player into their own vision of control.

 

[Soodanim]

With how little I enjoyed 5 I would take any of the mentions ITT over GTA. Perhaps it isn't just me that isn't interested in 6.

For me the reason I was totally into Saints Row since the first is the actual controls felt so much better. Just straight forward modern controls with easy free aiming. I don't get how Rockstar gets a pass with the same controls 20+ years later. That plus the vehicle damage and such. Sure it lacked in other areas but for sheer fun, humor and character customization from 2 and on it was miles better for me. They did go full retard with the last entry sadly.

The reboot was mentioned in post 7 and by the time I got to yours I had completely forgotten it existed again. That's how forgettable it is. What a travesty of a project.

 

[NeverYouMind]

All of them with a decent budget. Scarface: The World Is Yours, Mafia series, True Crime series, Saints Row series, Watch Dogs series, The Godfather: The Game, and even Rockstar's Bully play better.