Alexey "Alexi Emerald" Proschaylo
When Rockstar releases a new GTA, the entire gaming world holds its breath. But what if you’re craving that signature cocktail of crime, open-world chaos, and insane adventures right now? Thankfully, in the 20+ years since the series debuted, plenty of worthy successors have emerged. Some copy the formula to a T, others bring fresh mechanics, and a few even reinvent the genre.
Watch Dogs: Legion
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Rockstar Games deserves credit—their game is older than some zoomers, and its visuals still pack a "wow" factor. But Ubisoft isn’t giving up: "Look, our grass sways in the wind, and puddles reflect the sky…" And they’re right. From a technical standpoint, Watch Dogs: Legion has moved forward.
Its main hook? You can literally play as anyone. The problem? None of them have much charisma. You’ll find yourself thinking, "This guy can hack traffic lights… and that one can’t, but hey, he has a cool hat." That’s the extent of the depth.
London looks gorgeous—if you ignore how pedestrians sometimes fall through the ground or fly around like Superman. The grim dystopian future is so convincing, after a few hours you might long for real-life London. Still, it’s a stunning, futuristic spiritual successor to GTA.
Cyberpunk 2077
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After four years and several massive patches, players can finally enjoy Night City in all its glory. You could spend dozens of hours on the main campaign alone—and if you factor in side quests, that number easily hits triple digits.
That said, you can do almost anything except follow the plot: hack terminals, collect cybernetic arms, or try to convince Johnny Silverhand that rock ‘n’ roll is dead.
But if you prefer car theft over dealing with cyberpsychosis, then GTA 5 is the obvious favorite. At least in that game, the police don’t teleport behind you if you accidentally step on someone’s foot. The story in Cyberpunk 2077 is, at times, a philosophical drama that both inspires and makes you cry... from the bugs. But it’s one hell of a beautiful drama. However, for all that beauty, be prepared to spend a thousand or so dollars on a good PC.
Saints Row IV
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The Saints Row series doesn’t aim for realism—not even close. Its physics are exaggerated, and the story feels like it was written during a psychedelic trip.
Where else can you have a shootout with aliens and then cruise through town in a tank that fires people? In Saints Row, you can get so absurd that even Trevor would say, "Guys, that’s too much."
There are also downsides. In Saints Row, the pedestrians seem to be part of a massive flash mob where all they have to do is stand around… and nothing else.
And the story? If GTA offers at least a hint of drama, Saints Row feels more like circus performers on LSD storming downtown for shenanigans. It’s both genius and utterly ridiculous.
Yakuza 0
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Think the life of a yakuza is just gunfights, shady deals, and brooding stares in the rain? Yakuza 0 will quickly change your mind. This game is the perfect blend of epic back-alley brawls, melodrama, and mini-games. One moment you’re managing a cabaret club, the next you’re racing go-karts while chasing a karaoke machine.
The city is bursting with things to do. Just take Kamurocho: in an hour, you can save a girl from gangsters, lose all your cash to a poker-playing monkey in a suit, and engage in a dance-off with a J-pop-loving street gang—all without leaving a few blocks.
The title proves that criminal life is not just about "shoot and hide behind cover," but also about "sing karaoke as if your life depends on it." While GTA teaches you to be the bad guy, Yakuza 0 teaches you to be the bad guy with a golden heart, incredible resilience to bat strikes, and a strange love for collecting phone cards.
Mafia: Definitive Edition
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Mafia is cinematic nostalgia for a bygone era. Here, even the rain falls according to the script to emphasize the drama, while GTA is more like an adult playground. In Mafia, you'll be handed a gun but asked to behave properly. Well, as properly as a gangster can.
The main strength of the game is its atmosphere and storyline. Instead of crazy adventures of psychopaths, it offers the story of a man who slowly, but inevitably, sinks into the criminal world. And yes, you will really have to obey speed limits, because the mobsters of the 1930s are serious people and don't approve of reckless driving.
Each mission here feels like a chapter from a great book. Yes, you won't get to wreak havoc with a rocket launcher or hijack a helicopter, but you will get an authentic gangster saga, where even the dialogues are so well written that you won’t want to skip them.
Sleeping Dogs
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A contained action movie about martial arts, wrapped in an open-world experience. The protagonist, Wei Shen, knows how to escape from gangsters across rooftops, doing triple flips—just because he can. Hong Kong here breathes, lives, and smells like Peking duck, while Los Santos sometimes feels like a giant sandbox where NPCs exist only to be run over.
Yes, in GTA, you can buy a skyscraper, but can that compare to Sleeping Dogs, where you take down enemies using a live octopus from the market as a weapon?
There is police here too, but they’re more like background decoration — after all, the main weapon of Wei Shen isn’t a gun, but his steel fists and ability to leap across rooftops. The game gives you the feeling that you’re the star of a cool Asian action movie. While there are no tanks or airplanes, there’s something far more valuable.
Red Dead Redemption 2
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A three-hour western where even combing a horse’s mane is more detailed than many games. Rockstar Games got so obsessed with realism that Arthur Morgan not only shoots and robs, but also washes his hands, cleans his weapons, and listens to random cowboy philosophers giving him life advice.
This is a very slow-paced game. In GTA V, you’ll be hard-pressed to stand still for more than 10 seconds, but in RDR2, you might get praised for your contemplation. Both games feature huge maps, but while in Los Santos you’re zooming around in a supercar chasing the next car to steal, in the Wild West, you’re stopped by your own camp because "Susie wants to talk about her troubled childhood again."
Tired of the wild dynamics of all the GTA-like games? Want to feel like an intellectual cowboy and slowly admire the majestic, almost photorealistic forests? Get in the saddle, partner.
Far Cry 6
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If you’ve always wanted to feel like Che Guevara, but with a cooler wardrobe and the ability to shoot from a homemade machine gun made from an old motorcycle, Far Cry 6 will be right up your alley.
The game continues the series' traditions. It features crazy characters (especially the charismatic dictator Antón Castillo, played by Giancarlo Esposito), weapons that look like they were assembled from spare parts in a garage, and a great setting.
And while there are no online bank heists here, there is a crocodile wearing a sombrero. That's already a win. The level of irony is just right, and that’s another plus for the sixth installment.
L.A. Noire
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After playing this game, you'll start suspiciously eyeing every waiter who asks, "Was everything tasty?" Maybe he's hiding something? In fact, here, you'll have to figure out if a suspect is lying based on their eyebrows or not.
The facial animation remains one of the best in gaming. This forms the backbone of the gameplay, which sets the game apart from similar successors to Grand Theft Auto. And successors? The game was made by Rockstar Games.
The city looks stunning, but the real fun isn’t in car chases (although that’s an option), but in trying to understand why every NPC is so mannered. As if the next bandit before robbing a bank will first check if his suit is wrinkled. You’ll figure it out from their eyebrows.
Mad Max
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One of the unique features of the title is that you don’t need to look for a reason for chaos. You simply wake up in the middle of a desert, and the whole world already wants to kill you. But at least you can crash your car into a wall, and then build a new one from rusty tin cans.
But the main highlight is the car battles, which even Twisted Metal would envy. There are foot fights too, but they mostly resemble trying to fight a group of unskilled martial artists.
However, when you're ramming bandits with your rusty four-wheeled... vehicle, while setting their gas tanks on fire and listening to the engine howl, you realize this is the real "Mad Max".
This is more of an arthouse open-world. There's no shiny gloss like in GTA 5; it's much simpler. But if you dream of becoming the lord of sandstorms, with a hammer in one hand and a gas can in the other, welcome to the crazy wastelands.
If, after this list, you feel like returning to Los Santos, it means Rockstar has truly created something unique. But if you catch yourself dreaming of singing karaoke with a Yakuza member, putting out fires with gasoline in Mad Max, or interrogating waiters in L.A. Noire—congratulations! You've just discovered that the world of open-world games is much more diverse than it seems.
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