Our picks, beyond the numbers
5 games like Grand Theft Auto V we would recommend for different reasons
Grand Theft Auto V's Los Santos works because it never asks you to take it too seriously while still giving you plenty to do if you want to. A heist, a rampage, a leisurely drive down the coast — the game is equally happy with all three, and that flexibility is part of why it's stayed relevant for over a decade. We looked for games that carry one piece of that appeal forward, whether it's the open-world chaos, the crime story or the freedom to just drive.
A couple of these are the obvious places to look for more Rockstar specifically; others come from studios chasing their own version of open-world crime, comedy or destruction. Here's where we'd send a GTA V player next.
Grand Theft Auto IV
Our first choice for more Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto IV is the most obvious next stop, and for good reason: it's the same series, the same third-person open-world crime structure, just set in Liberty City and told with a noticeably more grounded, serious tone than GTA V's satire.
We'd point a GTA V player here first because the fundamentals — driving, shooting, a story about climbing a criminal ladder — transfer almost directly, while the writing leans harder into drama than comedy. It's a good match for someone who wants Rockstar's open-world crime formula with the volume turned down on the jokes.
One real caveat: the Complete Edition on Steam no longer includes online multiplayer, so if you're hoping to carry GTA V's social side over, that mode isn't part of this package. Choose it for the single-player story and Liberty City itself, not for another online playground.
Saints Row: The Third
For chaos played entirely for laughs
Saints Row: The Third takes GTA V's willingness to be ridiculous and pushes it much further, setting its gang war across Steelport with a tone that's openly comedic and over-the-top rather than satirical around the edges.
We like it for a GTA V player whose favorite moments were the pure chaos — the deliberately absurd missions, the character customization, the sense that the game is in on the joke with you. Co-op is supported throughout the campaign, which GTA V's story mode isn't built around.
Its narrative stakes are intentionally lighter and sillier than GTA V's crime drama, and the open world is smaller. Pick this one when comedy and spectacle matter more to you than a grounded story.
Saints Row 2
For a rougher, earlier gang story with co-op
Saints Row 2 is the older, scrappier sibling: an open-world crime game set in Stilwater years after the original, with a story about rebuilding the Third Street Saints that sits somewhere between GTA V's crime drama and Saints Row: The Third's outright comedy.
We'd recommend it specifically for the co-op campaign, which lets two players split roles — one driving while the other shoots — in a way GTA V's story was never designed around. It's a good pick if playing through a crime story with a friend matters more than going solo.
Expect rougher, more dated production than GTA V: the driving, shooting and visuals all show their age. Choose it for the shared campaign and the tone, and go in with your expectations adjusted for a 2009 release.
Just Cause 2
For traversal and destruction over story
Just Cause 2 strips away GTA V's crime narrative almost entirely and makes movement itself the main attraction: a grapple-and-parachute combo lets you zip across the 400-square-mile island of Panau, attach enemies to vehicles, and cause enormous, cartoonish destruction along the way.
We'd choose it for a player who loved GTA V mainly for messing around in its world rather than following its story — the game is built from the ground up around spectacle and movement rather than character drama.
There's no official campaign co-op (a separate fan-made multiplayer mod exists, but it's not part of the base game), and the writing and characters take a back seat to the chaos. Pick this one purely for traversal and destruction, not for another crime story.
Mafia II
For a slower, more cinematic crime story
Mafia II goes the opposite direction from GTA V's sandbox freedom: it's a tightly scripted, story-driven gangster drama set in Empire Bay across the 1940s and into the 1950s, following Vito Scaletta's rise through organized crime.
We like it for a GTA V player who actually wants less freedom in exchange for a more focused, cinematic story — think of it as the period-piece crime drama rather than the open sandbox.
It's single-player only, with far less to do outside the main story than GTA V offers, and its pacing is deliberately slower. Choose Mafia II when a well-told gangster story is what you want, not another open world full of side activities.
