Do any of the GTA clones have better gameplay than GTA?

I find it hard to name one that has worse gameplay than GTA.
if there's one thing GTA always sucked at, it's the core gameplay. they mainly triumphed in terms of atmosphere and map design.

the only GTA with decent gameplay TO THIS DAY, remains San Andreas. everything before and after played like ass
 
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Sleeping Dogs is the obvious answer.

Saints Row was the first GTA clone with dual stick controls which was a huge upgrade at the time.
 
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.
The problem with C2077 is that the world feels rather empty & fake during normal freeroam. The gameplay can shine during missions, but it's definitely not one of the better open worlds.
 
Crackdown is one of my favorite video games ever. It bent way more in the direction of arcade action that GTA4 seemed too proud to continue from the series' PS2 era. Furthermore, Crackdown didn't get weighed down by silly things like plot even compared to something like Saints Row. It had a very simple gameplay loop of killing bad guys in regions (with rag doll physics ofc), collecting jumpy orbs on high structures, and otherwise blasting through cities on improbably destructive road vehicles.
 
Square Enix didn't know how good they had it with Sleeping Dogs, which is why it makes complete sense that they canned it and went live service. Which, of course, ruined the series and the devs.
 
The problem with C2077 is that the world feels rather empty & fake during normal freeroam. The gameplay can shine during missions, but it's definitely not one of the better open worlds.
Didn't get that impression at all when i played. I often found interesting stuff just walking around, from remnants of some events, interesting dialogue from random people, just cool stuff in general. And that was before 2.0 and the dlc. Only aspect i'd say is worse than GTA is the physics/chaos elements.
 
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I find it hard to name one that has worse gameplay than GTA.
if there's one thing GTA always sucked at, it's the core gameplay. they mainly triumphed in terms of atmosphere and map design.

the only GTA with decent gameplay TO THIS DAY, remains San Andreas. everything before and after played like ass
If you haven't already, give State of Emergency, The Warriors, and Manhunt a chance.

Rockstar was starting to lean into more responsive controls and arcadey design, but then they threw it all away once GTA 4's design philosophies became the norm.
 
If you haven't already, give State of Emergency, The Warriors, and Manhunt a chance.

Rockstar was starting to lean into more responsive controls and arcadey design, but then they threw it all away once GTA 4's design philosophies became the norm.

I played basically all their games. and yes, it was sad to see.

they have struck a decent balance with Max Payne 3 however... and then threw that away once again real quick
 
Sleeping Dogs was and still is pretty amazing, said that here are 2 prequel from same group of devs:
True crimes: Streets of LA:
I buy old games cheap when I see them at retro and antique stores with my wife.
I recently got True Crime streets of LA for $3.

I wasted $3. It sucks, the controls are horrible. I get that its ps2, but GTA3, VC and San Andreas had much better controls and they came out 1-2 years earlier.

Also all the timed driving, I barely played it for a few minutes before i was completely frustrated.
I've been playing video games since Atari 2600, I know bad design and this was a shit game.

How they went from that to sleeping dogs (which had good controls) I don't know, but glad they did.
 
Just cause 2 (3 and 4 as well), not because it's a good gta clone, as it's not. It's just a super fun game.

It's more an open world game similar to Mercenaries, only better. You can use vehicles, in fact you buy and spawn cars, trucks, bikes, planes, boats, etc... but the star of the game series is your parachute and grappling hook, slingshotting around.

Shooting your grappling hook at an enemy and attaching them to your bumper as you drive off. Oh and you can jump out on your roof of a car or plane and shoot or do combat as people try to jump on your vehicle.

Just Cause 2 is was amazing when it came out. So many easter eggs and creative ways to blow shit up and cause "Chaos" which was what the game is about.

If taking over territory by blowing shit up and painting the map sounds fun to you, then give this game a go.

JC1 was more a prototype its ok, but jc2 was the best, imo.
JC3 did everything the jc2 did but instead of going to tackle a dictator in the Philippines like island chain , it was islands outside Italy, They ratcheted everything up, graphics number of grappling hooks, and vehicles, plus a wing suit, but the plot wasn't as good, and biomes were less imo.

JC4 - went back to South America and added extreme weather, tornados, hurricanes, and a larger map but they messed up and changed the liberation mechanic, no more creating chaos to fill the meter to take out territory. Now it was all mission based.


If you want an action open world game with a lot of movement - Just cause.


IF you want post apocalypse with cars and combat -- MAD MAX

If you want GTA cars and crime, - watch dogs or sleeping dogs.
 
Square Enix didn't know how good they had it with Sleeping Dogs, which is why it makes complete sense that they canned it and went live service. Which, of course, ruined the series and the devs.
I wonder if there is a tally on old good devs ruined due to the GAAS push? It would be interesting to know, and explain why we get so few new AAA games anymore.
 
I buy old games cheap when I see them at retro and antique stores with my wife.
I recently got True Crime streets of LA for $3.

I wasted $3. It sucks, the controls are horrible. I get that its ps2, but GTA3, VC and San Andreas had much better controls and they came out 1-2 years earlier.

Also all the timed driving, I barely played it for a few minutes before i was completely frustrated.
I've been playing video games since Atari 2600, I know bad design and this was a shit game.

How they went from that to sleeping dogs (which had good controls) I don't know, but glad they did.
Back in the day controls felt clunky but good enough, like i said, only game of the 3 that holds up today in 2025 is sleeping dogs, and for a very good reason, controls are crucial :)
 
If you haven't already, give State of Emergency, The Warriors, and Manhunt a chance.
Rockstar was starting to lean into more responsive controls and arcadey design, but then they threw it all away once GTA 4's design philosophies became the norm.
Three on-brand Rockstar games with their signature dark cartoony aesthetic and responsive gameplay.
Manhunt should have been Rockstar's second big original franchise along with GTA.
The whole cowboy thing is boring and off-brand.
Everything GTA4 and newer isn't worthy of the Rockstar logo.
 
saints row and sleeping dogs
Add the Scarface game and you have trifecta of the GTA clones.

Imagine a drug dealer game were you actually get to spend the money you make!

Cars, guns, businesses, more product to push, exotics that gives you XP but can also be placed as decoir in your mansion. All that while also having a shooting mechanic based on swearing.

Man, I love that fucking game.
 
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