GTA clone is a term used by videogame critics and players to refer to the slew of videogames released following the massive success of Grand Theft Auto III (GTA III) in 2001, which emulated, or at least attempted to, the gameplay functions of GTA III or other later games from the Grand Theft Auto series.

History

Many critics note the release of Grand Theft Auto III as a revolutionary event in the history of videogames, much like the release of Doom nearly a decade earlier. (Game Informer Issue 138 p.73). Rather than inventing new forms of gameplay, the Grand Theft Auto series combined existing elements and fused them together into an entirely new experience. The free-roaming world, intense violence, criminal plotline, and freedom of choice found in GTA III was extremely popular. Such as the case with Doom, game developers quickly began to "clone" the game style of GTA.

Some of these "clones" offered original gameplay scenarios and attempted to create their own interpretation of the "free-roam" gameplay of GTA. However, others simply attempted to capitalize on the success of GTA, and "borrowed" wholesale from the gameplay, story, and themes found in GTA, without offering anything new.

Game critics are often quick to label a game "GTA clone", and as such, it is often used in a derogatory way (See this review for an example). Nearly any game that employs a free-roaming game structure in the third-person style are bound to be compared to GTA, no matter how dissimilar they are to GTA. However, similar labeling occurred to many first-person shooters that were released following Doom.

Games considered GTA clones

• DRIV3R (2004) and Parallel Lines (2006): In a somewhat ironic twist, the last two games in the Driver series have been labelled "GTA clones", however, it was the Driver franchise that actually pioneered the 3-D free-roaming game structure before GTA III; two Driver titles under this design were released before GTA III. DRIV3R was received poorly (see: DRIV3R - Reviews and criticism), and Parallel Lines was met with mixed critical reception.
• Playground of Destruction (2005): Although using an open-world structure like GTA, Mercenaries changes setting from the inner-city criminal underworld of GTA to a war-torn North Korea and focuses on military themes.
• Destroy All Humans! (2005): Much like Mercenaries (the two games were developed by Pandemic Studios), Destroy All Humans! uses the gameplay structure of GTA but changes setting; the main character is an alien invading Earth. 1UP.com points out that the premise is 'GTA meets aliens', giving it an overall rating of 7.6/10 Overall, the game was well-received by critics: its Game Rankings score for the PS2 version is 76% [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/920589.asp.
• The City of Lost Heaven (2002): A free-roaming action/driving game set in a fictional 1930s city plagued with organized crime, Mafia garnered wide critical acclaim when originally released on PC. However, when ported to consoles the game lost many of its appeal (including worsened graphics and gameplay and very long loading times) and, according to IGN, "GTA it is not". ^*
• Streets of LA (2003) and New York City (2005): Although Streets of LA was well-received by critics as a strong rival of GTA (its Game Rankings score for PS2 is 77.5%), its sequel was received considerably poorer (64.2% for the same platform).
• The Simpsons Hit & Run (2003): Incorporates many of the open ended themes of GTAIII, buts adds a more family-friendly theme to them, and allows players to control The Simpsons. Perhaps the first licensed GTA clone.
• The Game (2006): This game marks EA's first attempt at the open-world crime genre. The Godfather: The Game uses the open-world structure within the story of The Godfather movies. In Edge, a UK games magazine, The Godfather: The Game is accused of treating the players like children, and is hailed as 'a landmark failure', receiving a mark of 4/10.
• A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico (2005): Total Overdose doesn't borrow elements from just the Grand Theft Auto series; IGN says Total Overdose 'is best described as a combination of Grand Theft Auto meets Max Payne, with a little Desperado or Once Upon a Time in Mexico thrown into the recipe to add some flavor.' The game has had mixed reviews: IGN gave the game an 8/10 ^*, whilst X-Play gave it a more average 3/5, deploring its lack of 'cultural sensitivity'. In the X-Play review, Morgan Webb describes Total Overdose as a 'totally generic, totally average, Grand Theft Auto clone'.
• A number of games jumped onto the "street gang" theme popularized by San Andreas, and attempted to emulate the success of that game by employing the "gangsta" image. However, games like 25 to Life, 187 Ride or Die, and Gang Wars were met with negative reviews and were generally ignored by the gaming public. ^*
• Non-shooting or driving games that utilize the free roam game structure include Spider-Man 2, Tony Hawk's Underground, Rock Angelz (video game) for PS2 and GameCube (which one of the reviews even managed as "GTA for girls" and Jaws Unleashed (which IGN describes as "Grand Shark Auto" [http://xbox.ign.com/articles/710/710295p1.html), as well as Rockstar Games' own The Warriors.
• Saint's Row

See also

• Doom clone

Computer and video game genres | Grand Theft Auto