The wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 is almost unbearable. It sits on the near horizon after more than a decade of production, and it’s so close that we could almost taste it. You know, if you could taste a video game. But it’s not here yet, and that means we need to busy ourselves playing other games to tide us over.
Fortunately, there are some bangers out there that you can play to get yourself in tip-top shape, ready for the imminent release of the most anticipated game ever made. Below, I’ve sketched out the top games you can play right now while you wait for GTA 6.
Top Games to Play Before GTA 6
Here are my pick for the best games you can play right now to keep you going until November 19th, and the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Does it really need to be said? Red Dead Redemption 2 is the last game Rockstar Games released before GTA 6, and it serves as a perfect introduction to this year’s open-world epic in many ways. In an architectural and technical sense, it’s the closest thing you’ll get to how GTA 6 will run and feel, so that’s a huge win.
But it’s also a staggering title with a narrative arc that will take your breath away. It’s one of the best-selling games of all time, and it deserves every inch of the love that has been lavished upon it for almost ten years.
It features a massive open-world environment, incredible combat sequences, memorable characters, and plenty of side content. Perfect.
Cyberpunk 2077
Nobody does an open-world RPG experience quite like CD PROJEKT RED, and Cyberpunk 2077 is a testament to that fact. If you want an expansive, jaw-dropping, and crime-filled romp across a futuristic setting teeming with emergent opportunities and customization elements, you’ll do no better than Cyberpunk 2077.
It’s an incredible game that had a tough start but has evolved immeasurably over the last six years. It’s now one of the best games in the business, and fans of the open-world action experience will fall in love with it.
It’s a first-person title, so it’s not the same perspective as GTA 6, but with driving elements, gunplay, police chases, choices, and skill systems, it’s pretty close to the ethos that GTA 6 promises to deliver.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Do I really need to explain this one? If you’re excited for Grand Theft Auto 6, then playing GTA 5 seems like the most obvious move you could ever make, even if you’re only playing it as a farewell to what once was.
It has been thirteen years since GTA 5 hit the market, and for some gamers, it has been the only GTA game they’ve ever known. It’s not going anywhere on November 19th when GTA 6 comes out, but it’ll arguably fade away in the shadow of the new giant.
That makes now a brilliant time to experience GTA 5, and you’ve probably got just enough time to complete the incredible single-player campaign before GTA 6 comes out. What a transition that will be.
Sleeping Dogs
It’s a bit older now, given that it came out in 2012, but Sleeping Dogs is considered the best ‘GTA clone’ ever made. It’s a phenomenal third-person action title set in Hong Kong, and in it, you assume control of Wei Shen, an undercover police officer sent to infiltrate a bloodthirsty triad.
Sleeping Dogs is by far and wide one of the most respected crime titles ever made. It boasts a cinematic story, an incredible cast, and unparalleled combat mechanics that perfectly fuse hand-to-hand battles and fierce gunfights.
It was once supposed to be a True Crime title, but things changed. It’s a great stopgap to tide you over until GTA 6 hits.
Mafia 3
Mafia 3 is the most open-ended game in the Mafia franchise, taking players and planting them in a brutal 1960s setting densely packed with murder, betrayal, and vengeance.
As Lincoln Clay, you’ll amass a following, build an empire, and make a name for yourself while strategically dismantling a cutthroat mafia organization, pulling apart an entire family piece by piece.
It didn’t get the best reviews at launch, but Mafia 3 certainly is a remarkable game with enough meat to keep you going until Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out. It features high-octane car chases, mass shootouts, stealth sequences, and the ability to take over an entire city how you see fit.
Watch Dogs 2
Watch Dogs 2 is the open-world action title from Ubisoft that refuses to quit. Every time it goes on sale somewhere, it flies up the charts all over again. It has been almost a decade since it was released, but it still manages to hold a candle to the top GTA games out there.
In many ways, Watch Dogs 2 might be the best game like GTA 6 you can play right now.
It’s set in San Francisco, which mirrors Vice City and Leonida in a few aspects; it features an open-world sandbox operating model that lets you do what you want, when you want; and it has a keen focus on crime, all of which makes it perfectly comparable to GTA 6.
It has plenty of customization, a lengthy story with plenty of side content, and it looks great on the surface, even after ten years on the market. Brilliant stuff.
Battlefield Hardline
It’s a tough connection to make, but Battlefield Hardline is one of the best games to play while you wait for GTA 6.
Firstly, it’s set in Miami, which is the location that Vice City emulates in GTA 6. It features a drug war theme, and you assume control of a betrayed cop out for vengeance, which is very ‘Grand Theft Auto’ by nature. It’s also not a military-themed shooter, but more of a ‘cops-and-robbers’ theme, which aligns it even more closely with GTA 6.
What’s more, the game’s protagonist, Nick Mendoza, is voiced by Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, who voiced a DJ in Vice City and Vice City Stories. The connections just run even deeper!
Many of the game’s multiplayer maps and campaign settings even look like parts of the GTA 6 map.
It’s a match made in heaven.
What game do you think people should play while they wait for GTA 6? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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