Volition released a Saints Row reboot in 2022, and it has proven to be a little divisive. We used to suggest that you go play Saints Row: The Third as a convincing alternative to GTA 5, but given that it is now over a decade old perhaps it's time for us to suggest something new.

Okay, so this may be a bit of a controversial suggestion but hear us out on this one. Platform(s): PC, PS5,PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One

If you've got the means to play it and somehow haven't already, go fix that right now. Truth be told, Simpsons Hit and Run is generally agreed to be one of, if not the best Simpsons games of all time. The Simpsons: Hit & Run is as much a game for Simpsons fans as it is for Grand Theft Auto veterans, as the game smartly peppers references to its serialised namesake across the entirety of the campaign. Homer and the gang aren’t able to commit atrocities on the same level as someone like Niko or Trevor, of course, but you can still cause all manner of mayhem across Springfield by kicking and punching to your heart’s content. Yes, this is definitely much older than most entries on this list, and a popular animated sitcom isn’t the first setting that comes to mind for a GTA-style video game, but Radical Entertainment achieved the unimaginable with this cult-classic hit from 2003. That said, the meaty, slow-burning narrative is as much inspired by the likes of The Godfather and Goodfellas as it is Grand Theft Auto, written so effectively that you’ll sometimes forget you’re playing a video game and not watching a Scorsese flick. Mafia 3, the series’ most recent release from studio Hangar 13, hews more closely to the likes of Rockstar with a focus on side activities and a story centered around a war veteran trying to escape the demons of his past (Niko Bellic, anyone?). These games come across as more grounded than the GTA series and its ilk, but you can easily see the echoes of titles like San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto 4 shining through their design.

There is yet to exist a Grand Theft Auto game which doesn’t include a run-in with the Mafia in some measure, which naturally leaves 2K’s Mafia series as a good starting point for open-world enthusiasts with a taste for organized crime.

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