5 best games like GTA 5 for low-end PCs

GTA 5 is one of the most popular offerings of the franchise and despite being seven years old, its gameplay and graphics are still considered stellar. However, not all fans have a PC with enough power to run the resource-intensive game.

If you’re someone who loves GTA 5 but your PC won’t allow you to play the game, here are a few alternative games that you can consider playing because they can run on low-end PCs as well.

5 best games like GTA 5 for a low-end PC

1) GTA San Andreas

GTA San Andreas (Image credits: Den of Geek)

The best replacement for GTA is more GTA. It only makes sense to play San Andreas as an alternative to GTA 5, since GTA 5 is the spiritual successor of the former. The kind of open-world format that was introduced by San Andreas was not remade until GTA 5, and both share a lot of common features, starting with the fact that they’re both set in Los Santos and its surrounding areas.

Even the rest of the elements in the game are very similar, along with missions and side missions packed with content. Of course, there are a few differences like San Andreas’ focus on the brutality of gang wars over the high-tech heists in GTA 5.

2) Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs (Image credits: Polygon)

Albeit an underrated game, Sleeping Dogs is a great alternative to GTA 5 that does not require a fancy PC to run. The game follows the story of Wei Shen, a Chinese-American cop who goes undercover in order to take down the Triad organisations of mobs. Shen then encounters the world of criminals and is forced to make decisions that infringe on his morality.

Sleeping Dogs is a game that is set in the open-world of Hong Kong, where the player must navigate the city in order to select which missions to undertake. While guns are a part of the game, the main focus is on the highly sophisticated melee combat system, which is the one thing where this game beats GTA 5.

3) Mafia 2

Mafia 2 (Image credits: Polygon)

Mafia 2 is a great criminal game set in the 1940s and the early 1950s. The game not only provides a great plot for the players to enjoy but creates a realistic world set in the 50s, complete with licensed music from the time to set the mood.

The gameplay elements more or less resemble those in GTA 5, with characters traversing through the open-world map in various vehicles. The game also has a ‘wanted’ system, in which the level of crime that one has committed decides the response they receive from the police.

Lastly, each mission in Mafia allows the player to either execute it in an obvious way by killing everyone or by using stealth tactics to avoid getting unnecessary attention.

4) Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2 (Image credits: Steam)

Just Cause 2 follows the arc of Rico Rodriguez, an Intelligence agent that goes to Panau, a fictional island country to take down its dictator’s hegemonic government as well as confront his former mentor who has gone rogue. The game features an open-world format which can be freely explored by the player when not doing missions.

The map includes chaos points that the player must capture and destroy in order to topple the government. The game also requires for Rico to fight off various militants all over the map. Lastly, Rico can buy various weapons and vehicles, which can be upgraded by collecting parts or by going to the black market.

5) The Godfather 2

The Godfather 2 (Image credits: savegamedownload.com)

The Godfather 2 is the video game that sprung from the cult classic movie of the same name. The story of the Godfather and the Corleone family has been legendary, and the game builds on that legacy with a plot that is based on the plot of the film. In fact, there are plenty of throwbacks to scenes from the movie, which is an additional perk of playing the game.

In terms of gameplay, the Godfather 2 is basically a clone of GTA, featuring an open-world map, which the player can explore at leisure while undertaking missions as and when they want. The game also includes a wide range of vehicles to commandeer off the road as well as weapons to use in street violence.