6. Grand Theft Auto Online
GTA Online was a nightmare when it was first released. The so-called dream GTA experience was quickly compromised by a variety of server issues that rendered the game unplayable for many fans. Even after some of those issues were smoothed over, early players quickly discovered that the initial version of GTA Online often asked you to make your own fun while navigating a hostile environment and dealing with a busted (and often microtransaction-fueled) economy.
Even though GTA Online has never quite solved some of its biggest problems, the game has grown into a phenomenon, and rightfully so. The ambition of this online experience’s open-world elements surpasses even the wildest expectations for what an online version of GTA might look like. What other game lets you shoot an orbital defense laser from your Yacht before heading to the casino with your friends? More importantly, GTA Online eventually grew to provide enough quality scripted content to fill a new GTA game. Yes, some would have preferred a new GTA game (or just more single-player DLC), but it’s impossible to deny the ambition of this project.
5. Grand Theft Auto V
What do you say about the second-best-selling game of all time and a title that regularly tops the sales charts a decade after its release? That’s the question that writers, fans, and even detractors continuously ask themselves as they try to contextualize and comprehend a level of success no other game may ever achieve again. Of course, much of that longevity can actually be attributed to the success of GTA Online. What about the base game?
Well, after all these years, the thing that stands out to me most when I play even the original version of Grand Theft Auto 5 is how modern it feels. Actually, it’s better than that. Yes, developers since GTA 5’s release have certainly tried their best to replicate its success, but so few have come close. As a result, GTA 5 somehow remains the best modern(ish) GTA-like experience for the millions and millions of people who dearly love this franchise. That’s a testament to the ways Rockstar took so much feedback to heart and aspired to make GTA 5 the ultimate version of what GTA had become in the hearts and minds of millions.
That’s the wildest thing about Grand Theft Auto 5. If you view it in the context of the franchise, you may very well find it has the best driving, the best action, and some of the best world design, characters, and narrative moments in a series defined by many of those things. Yet, it’s the ability to sit with GTA 5 today and find a game that is, essentially, two generations old that still feels remarkably untouched by time that may be the biggest testament to its power.
4. Red Dead Redemption
Despite the now-legendary “GTA on horses” jokes people often made when this game was released (and shortly thereafter), the fact of the matter is that many people played Red Dead Revolver and found themselves wishing it was more of a GTA-like game. The thing that most people were curious about (or even worried about) was how the game was going to distinguish itself from the things that often defined that series. A GTA-like game without cars, radio stations, and all other modern devices? What would that even look like?
Well, it ended up looking like a game that many still believe is Rockstar’s finest open-world title. By depriving themselves of certain GTA tropes, the team at Rockstar San Diego seemingly challenged themselves to reconsider their approach to open-world design. As a result, simply riding around Red Dead Redemption’s world on your horse and soaking in the atmosphere feels as good (if not better) than causing havoc in a GTA game. Yes, Red Dead Redemption features some of the best action in a Rockstar open-world game (as well as Rockstar’s trademark sense of humor and outlandish characters), but it’s the smaller pleasures that ultimately make this concept work better than some felt it ever would.
