5 best crime games like GTA

The GTA franchise has always been a video game that showed us the gruesome inner workings of the world of crime. The gameplay focuses on stealing, fighting, as well as well-planned heists that allow players to experience the world of crime to the greatest extent possible.

There are quite a lot of such games whose stories revolve around the brutal world gangsters, weapons, drugs and sex crimes. These games are great for players who love to immerse themselves in a realistic criminal experience like in GTA.

5 best crime games like GTA

1) Red Dead Redemption 2

RDR 2 (Image credits: The Drum)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR 2) comes very close to the gameplay experience of GTA, which is no surprise since both games were created by Rockstar Games. RDR has a similar massive open-world that a player can explore and roam freely in.

Apart from that, a player has the choice to undertake missions just like they would in a GTA game. Since the game is a Western-themed action-adventure game, players can customise their clothing, horses and even their weapons and gear as they progress in the game. And of course, the main objective of the game is to make as much money through criminal activities as outlaws do.

2) Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs (Image credits: Steam)

Sleeping Dogs is an incredible crime game set in Hong Kong. Players play as Wei Shen, a Chinese American police officer who goes undercover and infiltrates into the ranks of a Triad organisation in order to bring it crumbling down.

The gameplay of Sleeping Dogs borrows a lot of elements from GTA. Shen can commandeer vehicles, cars and motorcycles.

It is also possible to customise the clothing and look of Shen. Players must also undertake main as well as side missions through the story to gain XP, which in turn unlocks further skills. The game borders on violence and has an incredible combat mechanism that has often been compared to Batman Arkham Asylum.

3) Saints Row 3

Saints Row 3 (Image credits: IGN)

Saints Row has often been called a clone of GTA, albeit with a terribly silly side to it. With Saints Row The Third, the franchise takes things to another level as they take players to the fictional city of Steelport where they must rise victorious in the brutal gang turf war that’s ongoing in the city.

The free roam world of the game allows players to play through story missions and side missions at their own pace, which is very similar to the format in GTA. The game also introduced the idea of earning experience and upgrading gear and weapons while progressing through the storyline.

4) Yakuza Kiwami

Yakuza Kiwami (Image credits: RockPaperShotgun)

When talking about video games based on criminal empires, we cannot leave out the genius remake of the original video game, Yakuza, which was in turn a window into the world of the Japanese mob.

The plot of the game follows the original title, with the protagonist being Kazuma Kiryu, a man who took the fall for the crimes of his sworn brother.

When ten years later Kazuma gets released from prison, he finds the streets of Tokyo on the brink of a gang war, which he becomes a part of. The gameplay allows for different styles of combat as well as missions that allow players to earn both money and experience. Just like in GTA, the game also allows free roam within the open-world map.

5) Mafia 2

Mafia 2 (Image credits: Steam)

Mafia 2 is a video game that is very similar to the kind of gameplay made famous by GTA. The only difference is that Mafia is based in the 1940s and early 1950s, an era when gang violence was on the rise.

Based in an open-world fictional city of Empire Bay, Mafia 2 allows players to freely roam the map and undertake missions as and when they deem fit.

The game has around 50 models of historical cars as well as a decent arsenal of weapons. While the story of the game is brilliant, the best part about it is the background score, which includes music from the genres of rock and roll, big band and rhythm and blues.