The Rise and Fall of Competitors to GTA

Over the years, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) has become one of the most well-known and successful open world video game series in history, earning Rockstar Games widespread recognition. However, it took many years to achieve this level of success. The Grand Theft Auto series consists of several action games set in an open world, focusing on the criminal underworld.

Many other studios attempted to create similar open world games, but only a few succeeded. These games were often referred to as “GTA clones” by the media, although not all of them mindlessly copied Rockstar’s formula. Some of these series gained initial popularity but eventually faded away for various reasons.

This article explores a few GTA rivals that couldn’t withstand the test of time.

1) Saints Row

The Saints Row franchise was often considered the closest rival to Grand Theft Auto due to the similarities between the two series. Games in this series often pushed the boundaries of GTA, offering deep character customization, crazy but entertaining side missions, excellent storylines, and amazing soundtracks.

Saints Row 3 took a less serious approach to appeal to a wider audience. While veterans were not happy with the new direction, many players enjoyed the game, making it the most successful title in the series. Unfortunately, Saints Row 4 became too absurd, feeling like a less developed version of SR3 as it reused the same map and ran on the same game engine.

When the series was rebooted, everyone was naturally excited, but it only went downhill from there. Upon the release of the new Saints Row, it became clear that it would be a completely different game from the original, alienating many of the existing fans. The game was filled with bugs and lacked excitement, failing to attract a new audience. Unfortunately, with the closure of Volition studio, there is little hope for another installment in the Saints Row series.

2) True Crime

The True Crime franchise was initiated by Activision following the success of the GTA trilogy but disappeared after the release of only two games. The first game, True Crime: Streets of LA, achieved significant commercial success, but its sequel, True Crime: New York City, proved to be a sales failure.

The franchise managed to differentiate itself from Grand Theft Auto in many ways, with the most notable difference being that both games featured a protagonist as a police officer. Gameplay diversity was achieved through four types of missions: shooting, fighting, stealth, and driving. Particularly, the shooting mechanics seemed to be much better than those in GTA titles from the old three-dimensional era.

Unfortunately, the second game in the series was rushed, had numerous bugs, and its storyline was unengaging, contributing to its failure. Sleeping Dogs, its spiritual successor initially titled True Crime: Hong Kong, turned out to be much more successful and is often considered one of the best GTA rivals. Despite its popularity, the game didn’t meet sales expectations, leading to the cancellation of the planned sequel.

3) The Godfather

The Godfather is an intriguing game set in the world of the 1972 film universe. The fact that the game’s story takes place against the backdrop of events depicted in the film makes it an enjoyable open-world action and adventure game. Over two million copies of the game were sold, indicating its commercial success.

The gameplay is fairly dynamic, and the story is not too long, although sometimes it may feel repetitive. Unfortunately, the sequel didn’t achieve the same level of success as the first installment. It was criticized for its numerous glitches, lack of polish, and overly easy gameplay. Due to the failure of The Godfather II, the third title in the series was canceled.

4) Driver

The Driver series started as a racing game with elements of open-world exploration and achieved significant success. Over time, it began to be compared to the GTA series, and the games started to adopt certain similarities. In the case of Driver 3, the series completely transformed into a GTA clone with an added third-person shooting element. The game even parodied GTA Vice City by satirizing its main character, Tommy Vercetti. However, most players felt that the game was somewhat unfinished. It was also heavily criticized for its bugs and unusual difficulty spikes.

Driver: San Francisco was a success, reversing the series’ direction and returning to its roots, eliminating the GTA cloning aspects. The game even exceeded sales expectations. Despite this change, no new game in the Driver series has been released since San Francisco, and Ubisoft seems to have abandoned the franchise.

5) Watch Dogs

Although the newest franchise on this list, Watch Dogs achieved tremendous success, with the first two games selling over 20 million copies. Unfortunately, this series also faded into insignificance over the years. The first game received criticism for failing to meet expectations in terms of graphics but still achieved commercial success.

Watch Dogs 2 also enjoyed popularity, even surpassing the popularity of its predecessor. However, when the series shifted with Watch Dogs: Legion, it didn’t garner as much praise and didn’t achieve the same sales results as the previous titles. The game often feels repetitive, and the lack of a main protagonist occasionally makes it feel dull. Many believe that Ubisoft has abandoned this franchise, as there is no information about a new title in production. Despite its enormous potential, players feel that the series ultimately let them down.

FAQ Section based on main topics and information presented in the article:

Question 1: Which games were compared to the Grand Theft Auto series?
Answer: The article compared the following games: Saints Row, True Crime, The Godfather, Driver, and Watch Dogs.

Question 2: What similarities do the Saints Row series have with GTA?
Answer: The Saints Row series had similar elements to GTA, such as character customization, crazy side missions, and a great soundtrack.

Question 3: Why did the Saints Row series lose popularity?
Answer: The Saints Row series lost popularity because the rebooted series changed drastically and failed to attract new fans due to bugs and lack of excitement during gameplay.

Question 4: How does the True Crime series differ from GTA?
Answer: The main difference between the True Crime series and GTA is that the protagonist in True Crime is a police officer. These games also differ in certain gameplay and graphical aspects.

Question 5: Why was the True Crime series canceled?
Answer: The True Crime series was canceled because the second game in the series failed to meet sales expectations and was criticized for numerous bugs and lack of polish.

Question 6: What is the storyline of The Godfather games?
Answer: The main storyline of The Godfather games is set in the world of the 1972 film universe.

Question 7: Why did the Driver series lose popularity?
Answer: The Driver series lost popularity because some games in the series were considered somewhat unfinished and received criticism for bugs and unusual difficulty spikes.

The source of the article is from the blog procarsrl.com.ar