7 GTA Clones That Did Some Things Better Than Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto has become the benchmark for open-world crime games. Since Grand Theft Auto III helped establish the modern 3D open-world formula, countless developers have tried to create their own version of Rockstar's winning combination of driving, shooting, exploration and crime.

The term "GTA clone" is often used as if it automatically means an inferior copy. But that's not always fair.

Several games inspired by GTA have introduced their own ideas, mechanics and storytelling approaches that arguably worked better in certain areas than Rockstar's formula. Some focused more heavily on realism, while others offered deeper customization, stronger character progression or simply gave players more freedom.

Here are some of the GTA-inspired games that did at least a few things better than Grand Theft Auto.

1. Mafia – A More Focused Crime Story

The original Mafia, released in 2002, took the GTA-style open-world concept in a much more serious direction.

Instead of giving players a huge sandbox filled with distractions, Mafia used its city primarily as a setting for its story. Lost Heaven recreated 1930s America and gave the game a distinctive atmosphere.

That focused approach helped Mafia deliver a more dramatic crime story.

The game also featured more realistic elements than GTA at the time, including detailed vehicle damage and a more complex approach to police offenses.

Mafia wasn't necessarily trying to beat GTA at pure open-world freedom. Instead, it showed that a crime game could use an open city to support a tightly controlled cinematic experience.

2. Scarface: The World Is Yours – A Deeper Crime Empire

Scarface: The World Is Yours took another interesting approach to the GTA formula.

Rather than simply copying GTA, the game used the Scarface movie as a foundation and imagined what might have happened if Tony Montana had survived the film's famous ending.

Players could then rebuild Montana's criminal empire.

The game introduced several systems that made running a criminal operation feel more involved. Money laundering, territory control and relationships with rival gangs all played a role in progression.

Its targeting system also gave players more control during combat.

Perhaps most interestingly, Scarface featured a Balls meter that could eventually trigger a powerful rage mode. That mechanic feels surprisingly familiar when compared with some of the special abilities introduced in later GTA games.

3. Saints Row 2 – More Freedom and Customization

If there's one franchise that has always been closely associated with the GTA-clone label, it's Saints Row.

But Saints Row 2 demonstrated why simply calling it a clone doesn't do the game justice.

Released in 2008, Saints Row 2 embraced a much more ridiculous tone than Grand Theft Auto IV. While Rockstar was moving toward a darker and more realistic crime story, Volition went in the opposite direction.

The game allowed players to create and customize their own character, including a fully voiced female protagonist.

That level of character customization gave players a greater sense of ownership over their version of the game's protagonist.

Saints Row 2 also filled its world with activities and absurd side content, making the sandbox feel more playful than GTA's increasingly serious approach.

4. Sleeping Dogs – Better Hand-to-Hand Combat

Sleeping Dogs took the GTA formula somewhere very different by placing players in Hong Kong and focusing heavily on martial arts.

Driving and gunplay were still important, but hand-to-hand combat was one of the game's biggest strengths.

Instead of relying almost entirely on shooting, Sleeping Dogs gave players a sophisticated melee system with counters, combos and environmental attacks.

The result was an open-world crime game that felt different from GTA despite sharing many of its basic ingredients.

Its Hong Kong setting also gave the game a distinct identity. Crowded streets, markets, neon-lit neighborhoods and Chinese architecture created an atmosphere that most Western crime sandboxes simply didn't have.

5. The Simpsons: Hit & Run – Turning the Formula Into Comedy

Not every GTA-inspired game needed guns and gang warfare.

The Simpsons: Hit & Run took the basic open-world driving formula and transformed it into a cartoon comedy adventure.

Players could explore Springfield, drive different vehicles and complete missions involving familiar characters from The Simpsons.

The game showed how flexible the open-world structure could be when combined with a completely different theme.

Instead of trying to imitate GTA's crime story, Hit & Run used the formula to create something much more family-friendly and comedic.

Its cult following demonstrates that the basic GTA-style structure can work extremely well outside the traditional crime genre.

6. True Crime – Playing From the Other Side of the Law

True Crime: Streets of LA offered another twist on the GTA formula by putting players in the role of a police officer.

That simple change dramatically altered the perspective.

Instead of playing as a criminal trying to escape the police, players became part of law enforcement while investigating cases, chasing suspects and taking part in shootouts and driving sequences.

The game demonstrated that the open-world crime formula could work even when the player wasn't technically the criminal.

Although the series never reached GTA's level of popularity, its concept helped show the potential for different perspectives within the same genre.

7. Saints Row – Embracing Player Freedom

The first Saints Row helped establish the direction that the series would later take even further.

While it clearly drew inspiration from GTA, Saints Row focused heavily on giving players activities and customization options outside the main storyline.

That approach eventually became one of the franchise's defining characteristics.

Rather than competing directly with Rockstar on realism, Saints Row found another way to stand out: give players an enormous playground and let them have fun with it.

The series proved that a GTA-style game didn't necessarily have to take itself seriously.

Why Did So Many GTA Clones Disappear?

The success of Grand Theft Auto created an obvious opportunity for competing developers, but matching Rockstar proved extremely difficult.

GTA's combination of open-world design, production values, storytelling, music, characters and technical ambition is difficult to reproduce.

Many competitors eventually disappeared, while others changed direction.

Even successful franchises such as Saints Row struggled to maintain their position. The 2022 Saints Row reboot failed to revive the series and was followed by the closure of developer Volition.

Meanwhile, more recent attempts to challenge the GTA formula have also struggled to make a major impact.

This leaves Rockstar in a remarkably dominant position as the industry approaches Grand Theft Auto VI.

GTA Clones Proved That Rockstar Isn't the Only Developer With Good Ideas

Calling these games "clones" can sometimes hide what made them special.

Mafia demonstrated the value of a focused crime story. Scarface experimented with criminal-economy systems. Saints Row embraced customization and comedy. Sleeping Dogs showed how effective melee combat could be in an open-world game.

None of these games replaced GTA, but they didn't necessarily need to.

Their best ideas helped demonstrate that the open-world crime genre has room for different approaches.

Final Thoughts

Grand Theft Auto remains the standard by which many open-world crime games are judged, but its competitors have repeatedly shown that Rockstar's formula isn't perfect.

Some GTA-inspired games delivered better combat, others offered deeper customization, while some simply provided a more focused or entertaining experience.

That's what makes the history of GTA clones so interesting. They weren't all failed copies. Many experimented with ideas that made the genre more diverse.

With GTA 6 expected to push Rockstar's open-world formula even further, it will be interesting to see whether future competitors continue trying to copy GTA — or finally find a completely different way to compete with it.