About 10 years ago when I was in college, studying games design, my lecturer spent half of the small amount of time he was actually present going on about how he was on the development team for Wheelman. Considering he didn't seem to know much about how to make games, I'm inclined to believe him.
Let me just say, I played a lot of Wheelman when I was younger. It was stupid, and it was hard to control at times, but darn it, that opening mission is an absolute blast to play. You’re at your strongest, and you’re destroying cop cars in one hit, doing big jumps, and the chase ends with you jumping your car into an office building and jumping out the other side. It’s honestly the best part of the game, and I’d restart the game when it got difficult for me just to play that mission again. If you want a game that has you play as Vin Diesel doing big, loud, dumb things with cars, you can do worse. It could be Fast & Furious Crossroads.
I "conned" (not my words) my grandmother into buying me a copy of GTA 4 at walmart one visit. When my step dad caught wind of this he made me take it back (unopened) and I exchanged it for wheelman. I did have fun with the game, at least until I bought GTA 4 again off of a classmate.
Never played it but I might have to give it a try. I actually liked Driver 3 but I was like 13 or 14 when the game came out so I do have nostalgia. That said I can see the flaws of course. I actually beat the story to Driver 1, 2, and 3 only once each. They are definitely not the games strong suit missions wise whenever compared to GTA but the story is interesting. For me that "Take a Ride" mode was always fun in the Driver games even for a so called bad game aka Driver 3.
A great sequel to this video would be games that copied GTA and succeded in carving out a niche for themselves by being actually good and unique, some suggestions would be Sleeping Dogs, Watch Dogs (at least 2), Saints Row, Mafia etc
While it wasn't suitable for this list, The Getaway was probably closest to a GTA Clone that did something very different (that being 'realistic' gameplay and entirely without a HUD) and ended up standing out. Although it's a bit clunky and definitely isn't the game for everyone, I don't think anyone has tried a similar concept since.
I remember playing this at a friend's place back in the day, probably too young to fully enjoy it but we had a blast. Kinda want to try it again and see what it's like now. :)
Driver 3 was such a disappointment, I remember finishing it out of complete spite - one of the chases in Istanbul made me snap a controller, literally. But I will give it one thing, absolute banger of a soundtrack!!
I honestly kinda enjoyed the first game's garage tutorial. It forced you to figure out and master the key driving skills you need throughout the game. Hard, and a little frustrating, but ultimately rewarding. If I remember right, Driver 3's first mission ends with the hero shooting Iggy Pop in an alleyway and taking his car keys.
I’ll preface this with I was a kid when I played them. I loved Wheelman, but I did eventually get stuck on a mission that involved a ton of gun fights. I also really enjoyed Driv3r, but mostly the free roam mode not so much the actual missions.
Genuinely, the fact six is taking so much time is a good thing. It means they're actually (hopefully) treating those working on the game well, and putting out a good product in the end as well.
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo Well one of the things we DO know is that.. there will be no unique open world for GTA6 online... it's just an expansion to GTAO. Like how RDR2 has maps for the open world of RDR1 in it's online play. Or so I heard... don't have any first hand info.
Add that to the suggestions for the 7 Things Video Games Let You Do that You Shouldn't Do in Real Life video. (I mean, unless you also want a lifetime ban from United Airlines).
I really enjoyed both Wheelman and Driv3r when I was younger. If all you really wanted to do was just drive around and cause chaos, it was the kind of mindless fun that could keep teens and preteens occupied for hours.
Driv3r soundtrack and driving physics were so goddam good Gta3 couldn’t even compete they are actually equals imo I have gta 3 remastered but still have my ps2 hooked up to the flat screen
The fact the first entry in the OG Saints Row series was so blatant in the fact that it was a GTA clone was the reason why Volition started moving in a more wackier direction starting with Saints Row 2 which is argued as the best in the series by having a balance of the grounded GTA-esque realism the first game had and the wacky over the top comedic charm that would become a series staple going forward with Saints Row The Third.
There’s not enough weed in the world I could smoke to make me enjoy that shit. Who’s even on the development team? A bunch of 14 year olds who are Just started smoking on our waaay into weed culture
OG Saint's Row had a great story compared to a lot of the GTA's from the time (then GTA IV came afterwards and changed how stories should be implemented in videogames).
@@RandalfElVikingo How, by providing a negative example? Not saying GTAIV's story was entirely bad, it had a lot of great bits, but it also had a lot of "now let's do a single mission for a guy that's a stereotype of some New York criminal" and the delivery was just driving to letters on the map, not exactly revolutionary
Loved this premise, could/should do polar opposite. Saints Row, sleeping dogs, mafia, godfather and true crime were all great games that are considered "gta clones"
@@d-o_0-p No, GTA 3. Mafia 1 released in 2001. Oh you're correct. I got lot of videos saying 2001. Sorry my man. But still it is a competitor not a clone to GTA
I used to love doing free roam on the ps2 game The Getaway: Black Monday. The story had missions and such and you played through it as 3 characters, but the free roam basically you can go wherever in London (you only got half of London of course) I liked to pretend to drive sensibly until I had road rage because some arsehole didn't stop at a junction and hit my car. So I'd take their car and run them over with it 🤣
I must say, I played a lot of Driver 3 on PS2, and absolutely enjoyed it. Yes the lots of technical problems, but the cities were beautiful and the driving was enjoyable!
I remember True Crime: Streets of LA trying to capitalize on the success of the GTA franchise, but ended up failing miserably and nobody ever talks about the series. Though going from your standard crime drama to fighting giant floating flaming skulls in an arena surrounded by lava while Megadeth plays in the background was pretty epic.
@@bostonrailfan2427 Yep starting with Saints Row 2 the one that is arguably the best in the franchise. Basically when the first game in the original Saints Row series was released it got mixed reviews while there were enough positive reviews along with doing well enough sales wise to warrant Saints Row 2 being made and released the equal amount of negative reviews slammed the first Saints Row for being a GTA Clone and not even making the attempt to hide it. It was because of the GTA Clone criticisms that the first game got that Volition decided to move the series in to the more wackier comedic style that the series would become know for.
I think the True Crime games were different enough. Along with Mafia, The Getaway, Watch Dogs, The Godfather, and Scarface game. I also think Driver: Parallel Lines was good, but only Driver 3 gets brought up often. I always embraced games like GTA. I don't get why ppl hate on those.
True Crime: Streets of LA, was one of the best "GTA Like" games i have ever played. Funny dialogue , greats shooting/fights, and a decent challenge too. Upgrading your shooting, driving, and fighting skills was so fun. Frisking random pedestrians for drugs and weapons was so fun. Not to mention Snoop Dogg as a playable character
I loved the sequel TC:Streets of NY as well, it was even more open-world, and had lots more options for the upgrades etc. I ended up dressed as a pimp using a Chinese martial arts style, toting a minigun and katana for harder enemies. The range of side-quests and dispatch alerts kept me entertained for ages (rioting vegans was a fave)
@@valerynorth I haven't played that one but that does sound amazing and fun! True crime was my introduction to open world type games, and to this day its the only type of games I enjoy playing (except for the pokemon games)
@@horse_tornado7820 Play Sleeping Dogs. Its 1000x better than both True Crime LA & True Crime NY. Incase you didnt know, Sleeping Dogs was technically the 3rd game in the True Crime series and was originally gonna be called "True Crime Hong Kong" back in the day, but Activision sold the rights of the game to Square Enix (minus the rights of the IP name) so Square was forced to change the name of the 3rd game to Sleeping Dogs. And because the developer of Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games) was way more talented than the developer of the True Crime series (Luxoflux), Sleeping Dogs was a lot more polished, ran smoother and had higher quality. I just wished True Crime LA & NY were both handled by United Front Games from the get-go, because then those games wouldve turned out way better. Not that True Crime LA & NY were bad games by any stretch of the imagination, but United Front Games couldve given them more care & polish than Luxoflux did.
My favourite GTA clone was the Godfather game (the Wii version.. only because that version had fast travel, compared to the other versions, didn't see any notable differences otherwise)
@@OzzyBen07 yeah, it was interesting playing a no-name character following the story of the movie and actually being a big part of every plot element of it
It has also some cool gamepleay improvements that didn´t had the previous versions, like being able to recruit bodyguards for example (among other things), and I think that it had extra side missions. I recommend you to play the Ps3 version, since it has everything the Wii version improved, plus slighty better graphics. If you had a decent PC, the game runs fine in the RPCS3 emulator.
What about APB? A GTA clone by one of the original GTA devs (Dave Jones) that managed to cost £80 million and kill the studio that made it within one month of release while getting a sweet, sweet 5.7 Metacritic score.
Saints row and mafia aren't clones the bad ones are like call of duty if it was in the 90s it would be a doom clone but for saints row and mafia it's unfairly held as a gta clone where it isn't and wasn't their intent to considering they changed the saints colour to not copy san andreas
@@togepipi You're probably right about Mafia. However I disagree about Saints Row. Saints Row 1 tried to be super serious and then Saints Row 2 started being a bit more crazy which ended up being what made the Saints Row series great and its own from GTA. The new Saints Row looks like it's getting back to that perfect amount of crazy.
@@togepipi Saints Row definitely started out as one, might give it a pass after 3. Mafia and Godfather were quite different, but they're still so similar that they're definitely clones too and Mafia sequels didn't really do that much of its own thing to distance itself. Neither changing color or setting is enough to not be considered a clone, it's more about features and gameplay
@@Ethan_PT7 Saints Row 1 - 3 Were Good 4 Was A Dlc But Thq needed a new game so it became 4 But the new one looks horrible the new "saints" motivation for crime is to pay off student loans why is murdering and robbing to pay for student loans better than avoiding it it has awful dialogue and those masks remind me of wrench from watch dogs 2 I'm waiting till its on sale to buy it
ABP springs to mind. Cool concept, Cops Vs Robbers, terrible execution along with being passed between studios multiple times before finally shutting down.
I have fond memories of Total Overdose. It wasn't really good from a technical view but it did have a lot of charm. Flying through the air in bullet time, shooting two double barrelled sawn-off shotguns while mariachi music plays
To be fair, GTA copied Driver, making a fully 3D crime sim...and has, to date, never come close to Drivers excellent police chases. Driver 3 (on foot sections anyway) WAS bad.
In 2009 I was 8 years old and tried to convince my mother to buy me GTA IV. Much to my dismay the guy working at Game Stop that day was a responsible adult who convinced her that GTA may not be appropriate for an 8 year old. He instead suggested Wheelman. Thanks Game Stop guy.
Driver 3 was a "so bad it's good" title for me. I don't know why but my best friend in high school and I would play that game for hours mostly cackling out how derpy it was.
I own Driver 3 because the previous 2 games were good, i own Gangs of London because i loved the Getaway & it's sequel, Black Monday, to a lesser extent, so a spin off for the PSP seemed like a good idea. I was wrong twice which is better than falling for it 7 times over.
I remember my cousin Brandy Parish was one of the graphics designers for The Order 1886 and she kept bragging about how amazing it was gonna be and game changing. And when it came out, the only good thing about it was the graphics LMAO
@@flaetsbnort They we're pretty janky lol. I really love the branching paths and alternative endings though. Plus I'm from LA so I had to get Streets of LA as a kid lol
Great vid! I was going to play a few of these for my channel. I've already played a few mobile knockoffs of ...what I presume to be GTA+Spider-man clones and those are...uh...entertaining? "Rope Black Hole Hero: Vice Vegas Mafia" is actually not 100% terrible. Cheers!
You missed teh second Godfather game. The first was a reasonably decent telling of the first movie, with elements of turf control, gang wars and goon management, the second was a terrible run of cloned locations, poor storytelling, and on several occasions having to shake down a business you already controlled because the story didn't appreciate if you wanted to do side missions or explore on your own.
I played Driv3r and Wheelman. I would have actually enjoyed both of them, if the former had better controls when on foot and if they made a few of the missions slightly easier. And the latter just had way too many side missions towards the end of the game :( I didn't even care, that they forgot to dub some of the dialog in one of the last story missions into German. Apart from that, I liked them.
25 to Life had one of the most painful introductions I've ever played. But I was poor, so I kept playing. Years later I still remember how fun the second half of that gane was.
This list could have been literally filled with mobile games 10 times over. However, don't let that deter you from trying too find a good mobile GTA clone. Because there are a few well known titles (IE: the Gangstar series by Gameloft) as well as a few hidden gems that could give you a dang good time.
Driv 3 arrrr was great though! If you didn't play the story... And if you did, there is a mod to fix it... Kinda.. on PC. It only really made it not crash as much.
Interesting how the PSP game on this list sounds like it's basically Saint's Row except that instead of picking which gang you join it's chosen for you. Also, Guru Larry AKA LarryBundy JR has done an entire video around the history of Dr3ver and why it's so terrible.
And forced you to mimic the action on your controller to choke someone in the game, which was a lot of fun until you explained it to someone and realized that talking about how enjoyable it was made you sound like a serial killer.
@@marhawkman303 Pretty much, but with all of the guns in the game, you don't have to go around strangling everyone (much less doing so to random pedestrians who are just minding their own business and trying to walk out of frame).
Hehehe, Driv-three-r was hilariously bad. The replays saved all your button inputs, so as you unlocked new weapons and things it would mess up the replays. xD And the cops were fantastically stupid. So bad, but so funny. xD
I'm gonna tell you right now that 25 to life isn't a GTA Clone, you can't jack cars and isn't an open world game either.... Just because a game is set in the urban city doesn't mean it's a GTA Clone but by your logic i guess the sims is also a GTA Clone to you aswell.
On ghe subject of good clones, saints row one and two were basically GTA made for a more adult audience, but made just daft enough for not quite adults to enjoy.
Don't recall many but the Sopranos when I was younger became difficult on one mission. In short you were locked in a truck and had to untie yourself but I don't think there were any button prompts or anything to how you do it and you were timed to figure it out. It was a great annoyance to the point I just quit the game and never returned to finish. Still unsure how that was supposed to be solved.
I remember being excited for Wheelman, but at some point it just seemed to disappear off of the face of the planet. Until I watched this, I wasn't even aware that it had ever even come out.
Do you guys have a video for badass moments in games? I know there’s the power trip video but I mean moments in games where you don’t get any extra powers but you still feel incredibly badass like the assault on the Braithwaite Manor in Red Dead Redemption 2. That whole mission from the walk up to riding away made me feel unstoppable even though there was no special weapons or powers.
You guys should do a "gta clones that hit the mark." Great games like Saints Row 2, The Godfather, Scarface: The World is Yours, etc... I think scarface is probably my favorite of the clones, but honestly that could be nostalgia talking.
OMG I can't wait to play in the THIRD of THREE cities we've EVER played in in the GTA franchise, it's almost like a female protagonist is the only original thing they think they can do at this point
shocked APB wasn't on this list, that was a game that got canceled, brought back, and shut down after pitiful numbers because a GTA MMO needs alot more then they thought they had
About 10 years ago when I was in college, studying games design, my lecturer spent half of the small amount of time he was actually present going on about how he was on the development team for Wheelman. Considering he didn't seem to know much about how to make games, I'm inclined to believe him.
you talking about Frankie ? 😆
@@MrAdamFC Yes.
@@Maedroth think we did the same course.
@@MrAdamFC In Gateshead?
@@Maedroth aye Gateshead college. Opposite the sage.
Let me just say, I played a lot of Wheelman when I was younger. It was stupid, and it was hard to control at times, but darn it, that opening mission is an absolute blast to play. You’re at your strongest, and you’re destroying cop cars in one hit, doing big jumps, and the chase ends with you jumping your car into an office building and jumping out the other side. It’s honestly the best part of the game, and I’d restart the game when it got difficult for me just to play that mission again. If you want a game that has you play as Vin Diesel doing big, loud, dumb things with cars, you can do worse. It could be Fast & Furious Crossroads.
Its entertaining to say the least
But does it have FAMILY?
I mean for opening missions of that style I'd play Saint's Row 🤔
I "conned" (not my words) my grandmother into buying me a copy of GTA 4 at walmart one visit. When my step dad caught wind of this he made me take it back (unopened) and I exchanged it for wheelman. I did have fun with the game, at least until I bought GTA 4 again off of a classmate.
@@sennageneux784 I don't think so but you get to "live life a quarter mile at a time".
Someone on the team has to legitimately enjoy these bad games otherwise lists like this wouldn’t happen. My money’s on Andy.
25 to life was fun af. Def remember playing that often when I was a wee boy
Car games? Surely it's Mike.
Yeah.
The original oxbox members were all former game reviewers (I think?) so it wouldn't surprise me that they had to review several of these in the past.
Hes the RLM of gaming, except less cussing and self depreciating humor.
Can we accept that the best GTA-like game is The Simpsons Hit and Run?
Yes, yes we can.
True, but it's currently stuck in licensing and abandonware hell, unfortunately.
It is easily one of the best. I hold it up alongside Saints Row 2 (3 and 4 are fun, but 2 is the best of the series).
Sleeping Dogs is another great GTA clone
and sleeping dogs, it even has a better story and characters than gta v
I am glad they changed things up a lot with Driver: San Francisco. The car switching mechanic is still super unique to this day.
Underrated game
Parallel lines was really good
Never played it but I might have to give it a try. I actually liked Driver 3 but I was like 13 or 14 when the game came out so I do have nostalgia. That said I can see the flaws of course. I actually beat the story to Driver 1, 2, and 3 only once each. They are definitely not the games strong suit missions wise whenever compared to GTA but the story is interesting. For me that "Take a Ride" mode was always fun in the Driver games even for a so called bad game aka Driver 3.
A great sequel to this video would be games that copied GTA and succeded in carving out a niche for themselves by being actually good and unique, some suggestions would be Sleeping Dogs, Watch Dogs (at least 2), Saints Row, Mafia etc
Hey watch dogs didnt copy gta
And scarface lol. You could swim in scarface before gta
Watch dogs one was so much better than 2
@@sethwitts1823 scarface was 2006 gta san andrease was 2004 so gta did it first just not the main games
@@itsdemetri4282 is that so. I only ever played vice city and 3 back then. Gotcha.
While it wasn't suitable for this list, The Getaway was probably closest to a GTA Clone that did something very different (that being 'realistic' gameplay and entirely without a HUD) and ended up standing out. Although it's a bit clunky and definitely isn't the game for everyone, I don't think anyone has tried a similar concept since.
Was actually about to comment the same thing.
Wasn't too bad of a game too, pretty enjoyable from what I remember of it.
I remember playing this at a friend's place back in the day, probably too young to fully enjoy it but we had a blast. Kinda want to try it again and see what it's like now. :)
came here and commented basically this before seeing it. the getaway was dope as hell and im sticking to it.
the navigation system solely relying on the indicators was sweet but sour at the same time. loved black monday.
and having to rest up against walls to heal. ahh a remake of those games is so deserving.
Driver 3 was such a disappointment, I remember finishing it out of complete spite - one of the chases in Istanbul made me snap a controller, literally. But I will give it one thing, absolute banger of a soundtrack!!
Yes, I remember that chase in Istanbul. Took me forever to finish. The game had some positives, but was definitely the weakest of the series.
Wasn't Driver 3 the one with the bullshit tutorial in the parking garage?
@@RoonMian If I recall correctly you're thinking of the first one. God, what a nightmare that tutorial/first level...
@@RoonMian nope that was the first game . What an intro to a series!
I honestly kinda enjoyed the first game's garage tutorial. It forced you to figure out and master the key driving skills you need throughout the game. Hard, and a little frustrating, but ultimately rewarding.
If I remember right, Driver 3's first mission ends with the hero shooting Iggy Pop in an alleyway and taking his car keys.
I’ll preface this with I was a kid when I played them. I loved Wheelman, but I did eventually get stuck on a mission that involved a ton of gun fights. I also really enjoyed Driv3r, but mostly the free roam mode not so much the actual missions.
There are also some VERY good "GTA-likes" out there, just off the top of my head: Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row, Mafia, The Godfather, Scarface etc.
That Scarface game was way more fun then I feel it had any right to be
A pity the movie adaptations are currently hard to get nowadays. Stupid licensing expirations.
Mafia is not "like", it's a competitor
Saints row and sleeping dogs are different
Genuinely, the fact six is taking so much time is a good thing. It means they're actually (hopefully) treating those working on the game well, and putting out a good product in the end as well.
Yep, no complaints here!
_and this is where we throw our head back and laugh_
Or they're just milking five online until it's totally dry.
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo Well one of the things we DO know is that.. there will be no unique open world for GTA6 online... it's just an expansion to GTAO. Like how RDR2 has maps for the open world of RDR1 in it's online play. Or so I heard... don't have any first hand info.
Hopefully they stick with that and it's not just a PR move for the time being.
How DARE you come at Wheelman like that! They gave us the ability to AirJack!
Excuse me? That can't be what it's called lol
Add that to the suggestions for the 7 Things Video Games Let You Do that You Shouldn't Do in Real Life video. (I mean, unless you also want a lifetime ban from United Airlines).
@@insertclevername4123 - Unless you're on Spirit Airlines. In that case, you might get an upgrade.
@@spicybeantofu - Oh, it's definitely called that. Why? Because it's THAT gratifying.
@@ELPRES1DENTE45 You're also allowed to do it on RyanAir, but only if you pay an extra €3 per go.
I really enjoyed both Wheelman and Driv3r when I was younger. If all you really wanted to do was just drive around and cause chaos, it was the kind of mindless fun that could keep teens and preteens occupied for hours.
I played driv3r a fair bit as a child. It did its job lol
Driv3r soundtrack and driving physics were so goddam good Gta3 couldn’t even compete they are actually equals imo I have gta 3 remastered but still have my ps2 hooked up to the flat screen
I absolutely loved Driver 3, but i was a little kid so i just drove around and tried to outrun the cops, never did any of the story stuff
SAME!
The vehicle physics and dynamic damage blew GTA out of the water! I loved driving around and getting into chases so much lol
Absolutely and drive into that big yacht to trying to drive it 😂
The fact the first entry in the OG Saints Row series was so blatant in the fact that it was a GTA clone was the reason why Volition started moving in a more wackier direction starting with Saints Row 2 which is argued as the best in the series by having a balance of the grounded GTA-esque realism the first game had and the wacky over the top comedic charm that would become a series staple going forward with Saints Row The Third.
There’s not enough weed in the world I could smoke to make me enjoy that shit. Who’s even on the development team? A bunch of 14 year olds who are Just started smoking on our waaay into weed culture
@@Wetknees l + ratio + no bitches + who asked
OG Saint's Row had a great story compared to a lot of the GTA's from the time (then GTA IV came afterwards and changed how stories should be implemented in videogames).
@@RandalfElVikingo How, by providing a negative example? Not saying GTAIV's story was entirely bad, it had a lot of great bits, but it also had a lot of "now let's do a single mission for a guy that's a stereotype of some New York criminal" and the delivery was just driving to letters on the map, not exactly revolutionary
All 4 saints rows are amazing games
Loved this premise, could/should do polar opposite. Saints Row, sleeping dogs, mafia, godfather and true crime were all great games that are considered "gta clones"
mafia and GTA came around the same time
Vice City released the same year as mafia 1
@@d-o_0-p No, GTA 3. Mafia 1 released in 2001.
Oh you're correct. I got lot of videos saying 2001. Sorry my man. But still it is a competitor not a clone to GTA
Nah 3 was '01, vc and m1 were '02 😂
M8, I don't consider any of them to be clones, but others do. 🤷 just suggesting a list I'd like to see of games I love
I played Gangs of London a lot in my PSP back in the days. It's not exactly GTA but it still had charm and I enjoyed it.
Kind of want to see a remake considering the tv show came out
yeah...as a kid i loved it...played it the shit out of it....even the territory wars which was just a map with turn based strategy
I used to love doing free roam on the ps2 game The Getaway: Black Monday.
The story had missions and such and you played through it as 3 characters, but the free roam basically you can go wherever in London (you only got half of London of course) I liked to pretend to drive sensibly until I had road rage because some arsehole didn't stop at a junction and hit my car. So I'd take their car and run them over with it 🤣
I must say, I played a lot of Driver 3 on PS2, and absolutely enjoyed it. Yes the lots of technical problems, but the cities were beautiful and the driving was enjoyable!
I feel like back then, technical problems were, more or less, an understood byproduct of most games anyways.
Flipping cars and just seeing what happens was fun. Damn thinking back, it had an advanced damage system for that era.
Driver 3 was a fantastic game, Parallel Lines was basically perfect
Even if its developement was cut short and it didnt match gta quality, Driver 3 was still enjoyable to some despite its quality.
I remember True Crime: Streets of LA trying to capitalize on the success of the GTA franchise, but ended up failing miserably and nobody ever talks about the series. Though going from your standard crime drama to fighting giant floating flaming skulls in an arena surrounded by lava while Megadeth plays in the background was pretty epic.
You HAVE to be making that last part up.
@@MasterZebulin He is absolutely not making that up.
@@coyoteone6197 That's crazy. I need to see it for myself. Do you have a video link?
@@MasterZebulin The best part about it is the fact that it is never mentioned again after the scene.
He sure isn't.
At least this game led to Sleeping Dogs.
I call this genre 'GTF (Grand Theft Faux-to)'.
...grand theft photo ? 😭
How about just Grand Theft. Since they're stealing from GTA
I'm guessing the only good one wound up being Saints Row outliving this origin story
@@bostonrailfan2427 I'd say Saints Row 2 already stands out pretty well with the insane amount of freedom
@@bostonrailfan2427 Yep starting with Saints Row 2 the one that is arguably the best in the franchise.
Basically when the first game in the original Saints Row series was released it got mixed reviews while there were enough positive reviews along with doing well enough sales wise to warrant Saints Row 2 being made and released the equal amount of negative reviews slammed the first Saints Row for being a GTA Clone and not even making the attempt to hide it.
It was because of the GTA Clone criticisms that the first game got that Volition decided to move the series in to the more wackier comedic style that the series would become know for.
I recon driver could have pulled it off if it didn't go down the route it did
I think the True Crime games were different enough. Along with Mafia, The Getaway, Watch Dogs, The Godfather, and Scarface game.
I also think Driver: Parallel Lines was good, but only Driver 3 gets brought up often. I always embraced games like GTA. I don't get why ppl hate on those.
@@bostonrailfan2427saints row 2 have way more freedom than gta
My God! Someone else who remembers that GTA 1 also had a female player character!
These are the games my aunt bought me for Christmas instead of GTA.
Oh no 😅
What a pitiful aunt.
I really enjoyed The wheelman. Very enjoyable car chases.
Yea it’s definitely not a great game but it was enjoyable, and playing as Vin Diesel at the time was pretty fucking badass
True Crime: Streets of LA, was one of the best "GTA Like" games i have ever played. Funny dialogue , greats shooting/fights, and a decent challenge too. Upgrading your shooting, driving, and fighting skills was so fun. Frisking random pedestrians for drugs and weapons was so fun. Not to mention Snoop Dogg as a playable character
I loved the sequel TC:Streets of NY as well, it was even more open-world, and had lots more options for the upgrades etc. I ended up dressed as a pimp using a Chinese martial arts style, toting a minigun and katana for harder enemies. The range of side-quests and dispatch alerts kept me entertained for ages (rioting vegans was a fave)
@@valerynorth I haven't played that one but that does sound amazing and fun! True crime was my introduction to open world type games, and to this day its the only type of games I enjoy playing (except for the pokemon games)
@@horse_tornado7820 Play Sleeping Dogs. Its 1000x better than both True Crime LA & True Crime NY. Incase you didnt know, Sleeping Dogs was technically the 3rd game in the True Crime series and was originally gonna be called "True Crime Hong Kong" back in the day, but Activision sold the rights of the game to Square Enix (minus the rights of the IP name) so Square was forced to change the name of the 3rd game to Sleeping Dogs. And because the developer of Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games) was way more talented than the developer of the True Crime series (Luxoflux), Sleeping Dogs was a lot more polished, ran smoother and had higher quality. I just wished True Crime LA & NY were both handled by United Front Games from the get-go, because then those games wouldve turned out way better. Not that True Crime LA & NY were bad games by any stretch of the imagination, but United Front Games couldve given them more care & polish than Luxoflux did.
@@thechosenone2123 I have heard that about Sleeping Dogs. Thanks, will check it out!!
@@horse_tornado7820 you wont regret it!
My favourite GTA clone was the Godfather game (the Wii version.. only because that version had fast travel, compared to the other versions, didn't see any notable differences otherwise)
I loved The Godfather. That was actually a ton of fun.
@@OzzyBen07 yeah, it was interesting playing a no-name character following the story of the movie and actually being a big part of every plot element of it
It has also some cool gamepleay improvements that didn´t had the previous versions, like being able to recruit bodyguards for example (among other things), and I think that it had extra side missions. I recommend you to play the Ps3 version, since it has everything the Wii version improved, plus slighty better graphics. If you had a decent PC, the game runs fine in the RPCS3 emulator.
I'm surprised none of the True Crime games are on here... But those games did spawn Sleeping Dogs, so there's total forgiveness right there.
What about APB? A GTA clone by one of the original GTA devs (Dave Jones) that managed to cost £80 million and kill the studio that made it within one month of release while getting a sweet, sweet 5.7 Metacritic score.
Didn't GVMERS recently release a video about this game?
On PS2, The Getaway and The Getaway: Black Monday were similar to GTA, but more European. I enjoyed both.
I did not know how to play the getaway as a kid until I was older and realized that you can heal by standing next to a wall 😆😂😂
Both classic games
“Enjoy! I mean, beware.” LMAO that had me laughing 😂
You could probably do a video that goes through good GTA clones as well. Stuff like the Saints Row series or Mafia for instance
Saints row and mafia aren't clones the bad ones are like call of duty if it was in the 90s it would be a doom clone but for saints row and mafia it's unfairly held as a gta clone where it isn't and wasn't their intent to considering they changed the saints colour to not copy san andreas
@@togepipi You're probably right about Mafia. However I disagree about Saints Row. Saints Row 1 tried to be super serious and then Saints Row 2 started being a bit more crazy which ended up being what made the Saints Row series great and its own from GTA. The new Saints Row looks like it's getting back to that perfect amount of crazy.
@@togepipi Saints Row definitely started out as one, might give it a pass after 3.
Mafia and Godfather were quite different, but they're still so similar that they're definitely clones too and Mafia sequels didn't really do that much of its own thing to distance itself.
Neither changing color or setting is enough to not be considered a clone, it's more about features and gameplay
@@Ethan_PT7 Saints Row 1 - 3 Were Good 4 Was A Dlc But Thq needed a new game so it became 4
But the new one looks horrible the new "saints" motivation for crime is to pay off student loans why is murdering and robbing to pay for student loans better than avoiding it it has awful dialogue and those masks remind me of wrench from watch dogs 2 I'm waiting till its on sale to buy it
When I only had a gamecube, I had to get my gta hit via True Crime streets of LA. It was a decent effort.
Those last games look like State of Emergency, which qualifies as irony
ABP springs to mind. Cool concept, Cops Vs Robbers, terrible execution along with being passed between studios multiple times before finally shutting down.
Its still "live" as in it's a zombie game now, no up dates but the severs still run.
I have fond memories of Total Overdose. It wasn't really good from a technical view but it did have a lot of charm. Flying through the air in bullet time, shooting two double barrelled sawn-off shotguns while mariachi music plays
Ayyy Total Overdose was SICK. Had sooooo much fun playing that when I was a kid
To be fair, GTA copied Driver, making a fully 3D crime sim...and has, to date, never come close to Drivers excellent police chases.
Driver 3 (on foot sections anyway) WAS bad.
I enjoyed 25 to life a lot as a teen. Crazy soundtrack and you could literally play as Tech N9ne 😂
In 2009 I was 8 years old and tried to convince my mother to buy me GTA IV. Much to my dismay the guy working at Game Stop that day was a responsible adult who convinced her that GTA may not be appropriate for an 8 year old. He instead suggested Wheelman. Thanks Game Stop guy.
At least Gangs Of London gave us a rather good TV adaption a few years ago, with a second series out this year.
Driver 3 was a "so bad it's good" title for me. I don't know why but my best friend in high school and I would play that game for hours mostly cackling out how derpy it was.
I own Driver 3 because the previous 2 games were good, i own Gangs of London because i loved the Getaway & it's sequel, Black Monday, to a lesser extent, so a spin off for the PSP seemed like a good idea. I was wrong twice which is better than falling for it 7 times over.
I remember my cousin Brandy Parish was one of the graphics designers for The Order 1886 and she kept bragging about how amazing it was gonna be and game changing. And when it came out, the only good thing about it was the graphics LMAO
Fun fact: in my childhood we called every GTA game "Driver" 😂
That's adorable, honestly.
Ha, ha, ha, ha. That is fun.
I don't even think I've heard of any of these except Driver 3 as I really loved that series as a kid.
You forgot to mention the worst GTA Clone.
Rockstar likes to call it GTA Online.
I swear the only GTA clone I had fun with a lot of was True Crime: Streets of LA and Streets of NY respectively lol
I concur, even though they are objectively bad
@@flaetsbnort They we're pretty janky lol. I really love the branching paths and alternative endings though. Plus I'm from LA so I had to get Streets of LA as a kid lol
I never played the Driver games past the first one, so I never had the opportunity to make the connection. Suddenly those missions make sense now.
Great vid! I was going to play a few of these for my channel. I've already played a few mobile knockoffs of ...what I presume to be GTA+Spider-man clones and those are...uh...entertaining? "Rope Black Hole Hero: Vice Vegas Mafia" is actually not 100% terrible. Cheers!
You missed teh second Godfather game. The first was a reasonably decent telling of the first movie, with elements of turf control, gang wars and goon management, the second was a terrible run of cloned locations, poor storytelling, and on several occasions having to shake down a business you already controlled because the story didn't appreciate if you wanted to do side missions or explore on your own.
I played Driv3r and Wheelman.
I would have actually enjoyed both of them, if the former had better controls when on foot and if they made a few of the missions slightly easier.
And the latter just had way too many side missions towards the end of the game :(
I didn't even care, that they forgot to dub some of the dialog in one of the last story missions into German.
Apart from that, I liked them.
I'm surprised the awful APB reloaded wasn't included, it's a really really REALLY bad wannabe version of gta online
25 to Life had one of the most painful introductions I've ever played. But I was poor, so I kept playing. Years later I still remember how fun the second half of that gane was.
I got the entirety of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up as an ad on mobile today on this video.
Watched the entire thing out of respect.
This list could have been literally filled with mobile games 10 times over. However, don't let that deter you from trying too find a good mobile GTA clone. Because there are a few well known titles (IE: the Gangstar series by Gameloft) as well as a few hidden gems that could give you a dang good time.
Driv 3 arrrr was great though! If you didn't play the story... And if you did, there is a mod to fix it... Kinda.. on PC. It only really made it not crash as much.
Interesting how the PSP game on this list sounds like it's basically Saint's Row except that instead of picking which gang you join it's chosen for you. Also, Guru Larry AKA LarryBundy JR has done an entire video around the history of Dr3ver and why it's so terrible.
Few things will endear you to me faster than a quote from The Wire.
💯
can’t believe you didn’t specifically mention gangstar when talking about mobile games, that game was so addicting to me when i was a kid
There was a mobile game I played years ago called "San Andreas Real Gangsters 3D" or something like that.
As bad as Gangs of London was, it got us the best TV action/drama series in years - so it was all worth it.
Xcal’s Sheppherd from ME looks more like Vin Diesel than Vin Diesel in Wheelman
I see you didn’t include The Godfather because it is actually great and it includes a horse head chopping mission.
The second game is kinda like Godfather III, though. Nobody really asked for it and it has not much to do with the original.
And forced you to mimic the action on your controller to choke someone in the game, which was a lot of fun until you explained it to someone and realized that talking about how enjoyable it was made you sound like a serial killer.
@@insertclevername4123 i mean, in-game you kinda are a mass-murderer?
@@marhawkman303 Pretty much, but with all of the guns in the game, you don't have to go around strangling everyone (much less doing so to random pedestrians who are just minding their own business and trying to walk out of frame).
Hehehe, Driv-three-r was hilariously bad. The replays saved all your button inputs, so as you unlocked new weapons and things it would mess up the replays. xD And the cops were fantastically stupid. So bad, but so funny. xD
If driver 3 isn't on here I'm shitty. I know everyone hated that game, but I was like 14 when it came out and I loved it
Update: thank you
To be fair, the graphics for Vin weren't that great either, but that's just how he looks IRL: low res and poorly animated.
Whats crazier about the last GTA coming out 10 years ago is that in those years there's still not a single competitor
I'm gonna tell you right now that 25 to life isn't a GTA Clone, you can't jack cars and isn't an open world game either....
Just because a game is set in the urban city doesn't mean it's a GTA Clone but by your logic i guess the sims is also a GTA Clone to you aswell.
25 To Life wasn't even a GTA Clone 😂 there wasn't any driving or even an open world .
On ghe subject of good clones, saints row one and two were basically GTA made for a more adult audience, but made just daft enough for not quite adults to enjoy.
the saints row and watch_dogs series are some of the best gta clones that added their own things to the gta formula.
Don't recall many but the Sopranos when I was younger became difficult on one mission. In short you were locked in a truck and had to untie yourself but I don't think there were any button prompts or anything to how you do it and you were timed to figure it out. It was a great annoyance to the point I just quit the game and never returned to finish. Still unsure how that was supposed to be solved.
You shouldve just looked up a strategy guide or even an online guide. Guides have existed for ages whether its thru internet or paperback book guides.
@@thechosenone2123 Think back then I had limited access to the net or just didn't care enough to see. Went through quite a number back then.
We all have to admit though, Jumping car to car in Wheelman WAS AWESOME!
Well, how's this for a good GTA clone? Sleeping Dogs.
The Gang Wars one has the most bizarre shoulder animation I've ever seen in a game.
We adore you, Jane!
saints row and watch_dogs are a few of the rare actually good gta clones.
Wheelman is hilarious, and very fun on occasion.
No, it’s not good but I recommend everyone find a second hand copy and play it.
You forgot to mention that Rockstar said they're toning down the amazing satire that makes the entire series.
Driver3 with cheats was a funny mess to be fair, and the Survival mini-game where the cops are pretty much banzai-ing you is pretty hilarious
I liked “25 to life” as a kid
I remember being excited for Wheelman, but at some point it just seemed to disappear off of the face of the planet.
Until I watched this, I wasn't even aware that it had ever even come out.
I'm so glad GTA-VI will be more sensitive to the people's feelings. Now all the NPC will be treated with the dignify they deserve.
Man, Gangs of London was my childhood. I remember playing the free roam mode and having a blast
What about "Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition"?
I wish that wasn't a real thing.
Driv3r was such a pity, it had so much potential and could have actually been a viable competitor to GTA
GTA London was such a great and underappreciated game!
The voice acting was hilarious
My favorite gta-like would be either the godfather game or the scarface game. Those were really good.
Can't wait to go back to Vice city!
so an entire irl decade in Vice city like they did for LA ?
Well depending on how good it is it might be worth it.
my favorite GTA clone is first Godfather game. i need a remaster or remake for that. it was so much fun
It's the commentary keeps me coming back!
Do you guys have a video for badass moments in games? I know there’s the power trip video but I mean moments in games where you don’t get any extra powers but you still feel incredibly badass like the assault on the Braithwaite Manor in Red Dead Redemption 2. That whole mission from the walk up to riding away made me feel unstoppable even though there was no special weapons or powers.
You guys should do a "gta clones that hit the mark." Great games like Saints Row 2, The Godfather, Scarface: The World is Yours, etc...
I think scarface is probably my favorite of the clones, but honestly that could be nostalgia talking.
I really like Wheelman for the unique car combat, and the fact that it focusses more on the driving aspect.
I'm adding 'Just Cause', the first one, because the mission to burn down a field of cocaine was unbeatable.
I don't care what anyone says, the Driver franchise is so much fun. I remember playing it when I was younger/with my Dad and loving it.
OMG I can't wait to play in the THIRD of THREE cities we've EVER played in in the GTA franchise, it's almost like a female protagonist is the only original thing they think they can do at this point
And it's not even original.
@@darkfoxxbunyip A storyline and personality is
@@futurestoryteller hmmm potentially.. we lack data there....
What do you what them to do, 1990's Saint Petersburg?
@@ДмитрийЗеленский-ж7х Yeah, let's pretend that wouldn't be more interesting than repeating themselves over and over
shocked APB wasn't on this list, that was a game that got canceled, brought back, and shut down after pitiful numbers because a GTA MMO needs alot more then they thought they had
You forgot Simpsons Hit and Run. Even the Official PS2 Magazine at the time said it is" like GTA (without the shameless stealing)....."
25 to life actually kinda good, its similar like true crime etc.