GTA vs Saints Row: A debate between two open-world games

The GTA franchise, when it burst onto the scene properly with GTA III, paved the way for an entire genre of games to become commercially viable projects for years to come.

The GTA franchise has been instrumental in popularizing the open-world genre of games. The open-world genre is now possibly the most popular genre of games in the industry today.

Reductively, a lot of games in the genre were unfairly labeled "GTA clones," which is an absurd statement to make. As there can be plenty of games in a single genre, and using terms like "GTA clones" is way too much of a stretch.

One of the game franchises that fell under the same reductive bracket was the Saints Row franchise. The franchise was unjustly labeled a GTA clone, and thus began the debate between fans of either franchise.

Saints Row v GTA, the debate between two open-world games

Saints Row, an Identity Crisis

Saints Row, the first game in the franchise, was released close to the release of GTA San Andreas, and the developers made their respect and appreciation of the GTA franchise pretty apparent.

The first game in the Saints Row series was somewhat of an ode to San Andreas with its similarly sandbox-style and relatively grounded nature, similar to perhaps the tone of the GTA games.

However, the internet and a lot of the gaming community unjustly labeled the franchise "GTA clone" and claimed that it had no identity of its own. However, by the time the sequels for both the games rolled around, all doubts and allegations were dispelled.

Saints Row 2 and GTA IV

The two games couldn't have been more different, with the GTA franchise opting for a more gritty crime-drama tone, and the other going down an even wackier and light-hearted tone than its predecessor.

Saints Row 2 was wall-to-wall craziness, filled with eccentric characters, over-the-top action sequences, and arcade-style gameplay. Detractors of the game couldn't possibly label it as a GTA clone anymore, as it was so far removed from Rockstar's franchise's identity.

The Saints Row franchise announced its arrival to the stage in a big way, and solidified its position as one of the premier open-world franchises with a unique spin on the genre.

Saints Row The Third and IV, ramping up the ridiculousness

The Saints Row franchise, at this point, might be a lot of fun. Saints Row The Third indeed marked the potential the series has, and going beyond the perceived limit of ridiculousness in gaming.

The Saints Row franchise had now dropped all pretense of a realistic game, and now was dealing with space invasions, superhero-style gameplay, and so much more.

If there were still any doubters and detractors, they were relatively quiet now, as the Saints Row franchise had proved they could not only rival the GTA franchise, but surpass them in some aspects.

GTA or Saints Row: Should there even be a debate?

As games in the same bracket or genre, they are bound to be compared. But it is a comparison that seems pointless and can lead to no actual resolution.

As it stands, both the franchise have completely unique identities, with both having different qualities to offer to the players. It all directly comes down to personal choice, depending upon the type of experience players are looking for.

The developers have always had mutual respect for one another, and some would even say the wackier aspects of GTA Online take a lot of inspiration from the Saints Row games.

How long before message boards on the internet start unjustly throwing allegations at GTA for ripping off Saints Row? It has already begun and has been going on for a while.