Six open-world crime games to play while you wait for Grand Theft Auto VI

Few video game franchises have been as influential as Grand Theft Auto. When Rockstar Games released GTA III in 2001, it helped redefine what an open-world game could be, enabling players to explore a sprawling city, steal vehicles, carry out criminal missions and generally cause havoc at their leisure.

Its success inspired an entire generation of imitators, as developers scrambled to create their own versions of Rockstar's blockbuster formula. The term "GTA clone" became a genre in itself, encompassing gangster adventures and increasingly ridiculous urban playgrounds.

While some were shameless copies, others introduced imaginative settings, inventive mechanics and memorable characters that helped the games to stand on their own. Several even improved on aspects of Rockstar's games.

With Grand Theft Auto VI due to be released on November 19 for PlayStation and Xbox, it is a good time to revisit an era when seemingly every major publisher wanted a piece of the open-world crime genre.

Here are six of the best games to play while you wait.

Sleeping Dogs (2012)

▶

If any game deserves to be remembered as the finest "GTA clone", it is Sleeping Dogs. Developed by United Front Games, the 2012 release transports players to Hong Kong, where undercover police officer Wei Shen infiltrates the city's dangerous Triad organisations.

The game brilliantly captures the thrill and intensity of Hong Kong kung-fu and action cinema, placing players in the middle of a violent gang war. Its martial arts combat system features spectacularly brutal environmental takedowns, while vehicle chases and gun battles evoke the elaborate action sequences of the genre's greatest films.

Hong Kong itself is equally impressive, with bustling markets, neon-lit streets and densely packed neighbourhoods.

Originally conceived as part of the True Crime series, Sleeping Dogs also explores Shen's increasingly complicated loyalties. It is an absorbing undercover police thriller that deserved a sequel.

Saints Row 2 (2008)

Show caption: Outrageous humour and over-the-top action helped Saints Row …

The Saints Row series often felt like a straight-faced parody of Grand Theft Auto, borrowing its criminal underworld and open-world chaos while pushing everything towards absurdity. Sometimes that was precisely what it took to stand out.

Released by Volition in 2008, Saints Row 2 arguably represents the creative peak of the series. Players return to the fictional city of Stilwater to rebuild the Third Street Saints gang and reclaim territory from rival organisations.

Activities include spraying buildings with sewage, committing insurance fraud by throwing yourself into traffic and taking part in spectacularly destructive rampages.

At a time when GTA IV was pursuing a more grounded approach to storytelling, Saints Row 2 enthusiastically embraced the ridiculous. Its extensive customisation, co-operative campaign and unpredictable missions made it a refreshing alternative to Rockstar's increasingly cinematic ambitions.

Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)

Show caption: Scarface: The World Is Yours. Photo: Games Press

What if Tony Montana had survived the bloody conclusion of Scarface?

That question forms the premise of Radical Entertainment's surprisingly ambitious 2006 video game, which rewrites the ending of Brian De Palma's celebrated 1983 crime film.

Players take control of Montana as he attempts to rebuild his drug empire in Miami, reclaiming territory, buying businesses and eliminating rival gangs. Although its driving and shooting mechanics borrow heavily from Grand Theft Auto, the business management systems introduce an addictive layer of progression.

Money earned through drug deals can be invested in properties and extravagant possessions, giving players a satisfying sense that they are growing in power.

The game also captures the excess of the film, from its colourful characters and lavish surroundings to its memorable soundtrack. Few film adaptations have translated their source material into an open-world experience quite so successfully.

The Saboteur (2009)

Show caption: The Saboteur. Photo: Games Press

One of the more unusual GTA clones replaces contemporary gang warfare with the French Resistance during the Second World War.

Developed by Pandemic Studios, The Saboteur follows Irish racing driver Sean Devlin as he wages a personal campaign against the Nazis in occupied Paris.

Its most striking feature is its visual presentation. Areas under German control are depicted largely in black and white, with colour gradually returning as players liberate neighbourhoods.

There is an impressive variety of activities, from planting explosives at military installations to climbing buildings, stealing vehicles and participating in street races.

Released shortly before Pandemic Studios closed, the game combined espionage, driving and open-world exploration in an imaginative way. More than a decade later, the sight of Paris slowly regaining its colour is still one of the genre's most memorable visual ideas.

Watch Dogs 2 (2016)

Show caption: Watch Dogs 2. Photo: Games Press

By 2016, the GTA formula had become so familiar that developers needed increasingly inventive ways to distinguish their open worlds. Ubisoft found one answer in hacking.

Watch Dogs 2 takes place in a colourful recreation of the San Francisco Bay Area, following Marcus Holloway, a young hacker who joins the activist group DedSec to challenge powerful technology companies and their surveillance systems.

Its greatest innovation is the ability to manipulate the environment through connected technology. Traffic lights can be disrupted, security cameras hijacked and electronic devices remotely controlled, creating opportunities for elaborate mischief.

The game's playful tone and lively recreation of San Francisco make exploration particularly enjoyable. Players can approach objectives through stealth, technological trickery or outright chaos, with the hacking mechanics encouraging experimentation that few other games in the genre have successfully replicated.

Mafia II (2010)

Show caption: Mafia II. Photo: Games Press

Few open-world crime games have captured the atmosphere of a particular period quite as convincingly as Mafia II.

Set in the fictional American city of Empire Bay during the 1940s and 1950s, the game follows Vito Scaletta, a war veteran who becomes increasingly involved in organised crime.

Developed by 2K Czech, the game pays particular attention to the smaller details that make its world believable. Period-appropriate cars, radio stations playing music from the era, as well as clothing and architecture, combine to immerse players in mid-century America. The changing seasons also contribute to the atmosphere.

It also takes a more restrained approach to the GTA formula, with fewer optional distractions and greater emphasis on storytelling and cinematic missions.

Driving through snow-covered streets in a vintage car with music playing on the radio can be as enjoyable as the game's carefully constructed gangster drama.