"Games like GTA" is usually a disappointing search, because most of what it returns is imitation rather than alternative. The genuinely worthwhile entries in this genre aren't the ones that copied GTA most closely — they're the ones that took one element of it and did that element better.
Here's what's actually worth your time in the run-up to November.
- 01Mafia: Definitive Edition — for the story
A ground-up remake of the 2002 original, and the strongest narrative in the genre outside Rockstar's own work. It's linear where GTA is sprawling, which is precisely the point: a tightly authored crime story that ends when it should, in a beautifully realised 1930s American city.
Roughly 15–20 hours. Ideal for this window - 02Sleeping Dogs — for the combat and the city
Hong Kong, undercover police work, and hand-to-hand combat that's substantially better than anything in GTA. The city is smaller than Los Santos and considerably denser, which many players prefer. It's also been very cheap for years.
Roughly 20–25 hours. One of the best-value games in this list - 03Saints Row 2 and The Third — for the chaos
Where GTA edged toward satire, Saints Row went fully absurd. The Third is the high point — deliberately ridiculous, mechanically generous, and unconcerned with realism. If GTA's tonal seriousness isn't what you want, this is the answer.
Roughly 15–20 hours each - 04Watch Dogs 2 — for the traversal and tone
San Francisco, hacking as a movement and combat system, and a markedly lighter tone than the first game. The traversal is genuinely distinctive and the city is one of the better-realised in the genre.
Roughly 20–30 hours - 05Just Cause and Far Cry entries — for the sandbox
Not crime games strictly, but they scratch the same itch: large spaces, generous tools, systemic chaos. Worth considering if what you actually love about GTA is the messing about rather than the missions.
Highly variable — check completion times - 06Yakuza / Like a Dragon — for depth over breadth
A small district rendered with extraordinary density instead of a large map rendered thinly. Crime drama with genuine emotional weight, and an enormous quantity of side content that's actually good rather than filler.
Long — start now or save for next year
What most GTA imitators got wrong
Worth understanding, because it explains why the list above is shorter than you'd expect from a genre this popular. The games that failed generally copied the structure — big map, mission markers, escalating crime story — without the density. An open world only works if it's worth traversing, and traversal is expensive to make interesting.
The entries that endured either built a smaller world with much more in it, or offered a movement system that made traversal itself the pleasure. Very few managed a third option.
| You want… | Play | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| A great crime story that ends | Mafia: Definitive Edition | 15–20 hrs |
| A dense city and great combat | Sleeping Dogs | 20–25 hrs |
| Absurdity and freedom | Saints Row: The Third | 15–20 hrs |
| Distinctive traversal | Watch Dogs 2 | 20–30 hrs |
| Emotional weight and depth | Yakuza / Like a Dragon | 40+ hrs |
| Pure systemic chaos | Just Cause / Far Cry | Variable |
Build the crime backlog
Almost everything here has been discounted for years, and the used console market is where the real bargains are. This is one of the cheapest genres to work through.
The one to play if you only play one
Mafia: Definitive Edition, for most people. It's the right length for this window, it's a genuinely excellent crime narrative, and it does the thing GTA structurally cannot: tell a focused, authored story without an open world constantly pulling attention away from it.
If you specifically want a city to inhabit rather than a story to follow, Sleeping Dogs instead. It's been absurdly cheap for a decade and it remains one of the most underrated games of its generation.
A note on the older entries
Several games in this genre are now old enough to carry real friction — checkpointing, controls, camera behaviour. Saints Row 2 in particular has known technical issues on some platforms that are worth researching before buying rather than after.
Where a definitive or remastered edition exists and is cheap, take it. The convenience is worth the small premium in a window where your time is the scarce resource.
What holds up
- A genuinely deep back catalogue, almost all of it heavily discounted
- Several entries do specific things better than GTA ever has
- Most fit comfortably inside the pre-November window
- Definitive and remastered editions remove most of the age-related friction
What doesn't
- Many GTA imitators built large worlds without the density to justify them
- Older entries carry real control and checkpointing friction
- Yakuza and similar are excellent but too long for a late start
- Some older titles have platform-specific technical issues worth checking first
The verdict
BUY — and start with Mafia: Definitive Edition. It's the right length, it's a better authored crime story than anything else in the genre, and it finishes. If you want a city rather than a story, Sleeping Dogs is the pick and it costs almost nothing.
Save Yakuza for next year unless you're starting in August. It's excellent and it's far too long to begin in October.