GTA clone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

1 History
2 Games considered GTA clones
3 Rockstar's response
4 See also
5 Notes

[edit] 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 ^[1]. Rather than inventing new forms of gameplay, the Grand Theft Auto series combined existing elements and fused them together into an entirely new experience (however, some critics believe that accolade should go to DMA Design's earlier, less-popular game Body Harvest, of which GTA III itself is a clone). 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 (free roam environment, ability to use any vehicle/weapon, etc.), story (generally criminal in nature, full of seedy characters), 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.

More recently, the term "Sandbox" has been used to refer to free-roam games in the same style as GTA. This term is becoming increasingly common in videogame criticism as the genre establishes itself as more than just a "GTA clone".

[edit] Games considered GTA clones

Payback (2001): Considered a clone of the original, top-down games in the GTA series. Originally developed for high-end Amigas and eventually ported to the Apple Macintosh and Game Boy Advance, the aim during development of Payback was, in the author's own words, "to ensure that Payback beats GTA in every way."
DRIV3R (2004) and Driver: 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.
Jak II (2003): Haven City was the main area of the game where people could walk around in. Incorporates elements of GTA like taking vehicles and pursuing police forces, even the areas to go to for the next mission, but also adding the platforming feel to it as well.
Mafia (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 much of its appeal (including worsened graphics and gameplay and very long loading times) and, according to IGN, "GTA it is not". ^[2]
The Simpsons Hit & Run (2003): A game based on The Simpsons, that incorporates many of the open-ended themes of GTAIII (probably as a parody - Chief Wiggum even says "What is this? Grand Theft Auto? Get outta there!"). Perhaps the first licensed GTA clone, and among the first Simpsons games to be well-received by critics.
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005): Although the game did not directly mimic the GTA formula of driving cars and using firearms, it did borrow the series' "go anywhere, do anything" philosophy, allowing players, controlling the Hulk, to run rampant through a virtual city, picking up, throwing, or smashing objects, vehicles, and people as they see fit. Ultimate Destruction even featured a Military Response Team that hunts down the Hulk after a certain amount of mayhem, similar in function to the police response in GTA.
True Crime: Streets of LA (2003) and True Crime: New York City (2005): Although Streets of LA was well-received by critics as a strong rival of GTA ^[3] ^[4], its sequel was received considerably poorer ^[5] ^[6].
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' ^[7]. Overall, despite some complaints about it being too linear, the game was well-received by critics^[8].
Total Overdose: 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." ^[9] In her X-Play review, Morgan Webb describes Total Overdose as a "totally generic, totally average, Grand Theft Auto clone."
Just Cause (2006): Just Cause, a videogame from Eidos Interactive, utilizes the expansive free-roam world as does GTA, only set on a tropical island with the player acting as a secret agent. In its initial announcement of the game, IGN asks "Grand Theft Island, anyone?" ^[10]. However, in an interview, game developer Odd Ahlgren denies that the game is simply "Far Cry meets Grand Theft Auto" ^[11].
The Godfather: 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.
Saints Row (2006): Saint's Row for the Xbox 360 has been named as one of the most blatant copies of the Grand Theft Auto games. IGN asks, "How can they so indiscreetly copy GTA?" ^[12] while 1UP says, "Everything about it apes Grand Theft Auto to such a degree that we'll never again be able to call anything else a 'GTA clone', just because it's not really possible that anything else will ever so brazenly imitate the thing." ^[13]. However, the game has been lauded for improving on a number of aspects of GTA's gameplay in the transition to the next-generation console.
Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006): Based on the movie Scarface, Scarface: The World Is Yours uses the same game style as GTA. In fact, IGN says, "Much of Scarface is based on what we've seen in Grand Theft Auto. In fact, it's fairly obvious that Radical used said series as the blueprint..." ^[14] Ironically, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was heavily based upon and influenced by the movie Scarface.
A number of games jumped onto the "street gang" theme popularized by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and attempted to emulate the success of that game by employing the "gangsta" image. However, games like 187 Ride or Die (2005), 25 to Life (2006) and Crime Life: Gang Wars (2005) were met with negative reviews and were generally ignored by the gaming public. ^[15].
Other, non-shooting or driving games that utilize the free roam game structure include Spider-Man 2 (2004), Tony Hawk's Underground (2003), Bratz: Rock Angelz (2005) (which one of the reviews even called "GTA for girls" ^[16]), Bratz: Forever Diamondz (2006) and Jaws Unleashed (2006) (which IGN describes as "Grand Shark Auto"^[17]), as well as Rockstar Toronto's The Warriors and Rockstar Vancouver's Bully.

[edit] Rockstar's response

As a result of such similarities, Rockstar has placed several Easter eggs to mock the competition.

Billboard in GTA: San Andreas mocking True Crime: Streets of LA.

In Grand Theft Auto III, the player is tasked with a mission called "Two-Faced Tanner", where they must kill an undercover cop (that Asuka describes as "strangely animated"). This "Tanner" character is described as being "totally useless outside of his car", a reference to the uselessness of on-foot action in Driver 2. Rockstar even went as far as to give Tanner female walking animation.

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, during the mission "Autocide", the targets that the player must kill are subtle references to the main characters of Driver 2 (Dick Tanner, after Tanner), The Getaway (Marcus Hammond and Franco Carter, after Mark Hammond and Frank Carter), and True Crime: Streets of LA (Nick Kong, after Nick Kang Wilson). DRIV3R responded by including enemies named "Timmy Vermicelli" (after Vice City protagonist Tommy Vercetti), who wore waterwings, since no one in the GTA series could swim before GTA: San Andreas.

As a mockery of DRIV3R, San Andreas included a mission where, while breaking into Madd Dogg's mansion, there is a man playing a video game and making fun of the way the main character walks (Tanner's walking animations were often criticized) and asking how "Refractions" (A spoof of Reflections Interactive, the designers of the Driver Series) could have "made something this bad".

Luxoflux, makers of True Crime: Streets of L.A., also responded by putting up billboards in their game mocking the Rockstar Games logo used to advertise jockstraps around Los Angeles. In response to the "Jockstrap" billboard, another San Andreas Easter egg mocks True Crime, which was depicted on several billboards in the city of Los Santos. One mission features Ryder, before entering and robbing a house, crying "Yeah, yeah, we gotta do it ninja style.", a coin phrase for the True Crime protagonist, Nick Kang. And in a cemetery in San Fierro, gravestones with "R.I.P. Competition, 1997-2004" can be seen, as Rockstar implies that San Andreas has "killed" the competition.