5 ways that GTA 5 stood above other open world games

GTA 5 is a perfect example of an open world game that other video games should look up to for inspiration.

It might not be everybody's cup of tea, but other games should borrow some aspects of GTA 5. After all, GTA 5 is a commercial success. Some of that success comes from the features that the open world game incorporates.

Naturally, any video game can take inspiration from GTA 5. Its attention to detail is astonishingly great for a 2013 title, the characters are memorable, and its soundtrack is still fondly remembered today. Interestingly enough, those aren't the only ways that GTA 5 set the bar for other open world games.

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Five ways GTA 5 set the bar for open world games

5) Insane sales

GTA 5 has done well financially (Image via Sportskeeda)

Meta examples are still applicable for an article like this one. There is no way to sugarcoat or exaggerate its merits, but GTA 5 is a financial success. It has sold over 150M copies. As far as individual games go, only Minecraft has sold more.

That means every open world game, AAA or not, should look at GTA 5 and see why it succeeded. One could argue about what the game offers to a consumer, but there is no denying that it was an objective success by every metric of the word.

Not every reason for GTA 5's success is tied to its great features. It comes from a long-standing series of legendary video games that have built a connection with millions of gamers globally. Not to mention, Take-Two and Rockstar Games poured a substantial amount of money into its marketing.

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4) A massive amount of content

Some open world games are massive in sheer size, yet they offer little to nothing for the player to do in some parts. While GTA 5 isn't perfect in this regard, there is still an astonishingly high number of activities to do.

For example, Trevor Philips has several exclusive features. Hunting, bail bonds, and delivering people to the Altruist Cult are good examples. Each gameplay mechanic plays differently from one another, and they may have the player be in a different part of the world from Los Santos.

Like other notable open world games, GTA 5's world is big. Hence, there is a good amount of both quality and quantity to consider when it comes to content.

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3) A stable game from top to bottom

GTA 5 runs well on most modern computers (Image via Rockstar Games)

It doesn't necessarily mean GTA 5 isn't without glitches, as that would be blatantly false. However, there is a stark difference between how GTA 5 and Cyberpunk 2077 ran at launch.

Modern AAA open world games will continue to try and push the boundaries of what's possible, but they tend to fall short on the technical side. Plus, GTA 5 is an old game, so gamers don't need an impressive desktop computer to run it optimally.

It's easy to overlook how important it is for modern games to play well on most devices. If a game plays terribly on one system, then it doesn't matter how good the rest of its features are.

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2) Holds up well by today's standards

For a 2013 title, GTA 5 is still a good open world game (Image via Rockstar Games)

It's vital for a game to not only perform excellently at its launch but for it to remain a timeless classic down the line. Take a game like GTA 3, for example. It was revolutionary for the time, but it's now seen as a mediocre game.

By comparison, GTA 5 holds up significantly better. It's nearly eight years old, but the game's graphics are adequate by modern standards. Not only that, but the gameplay is still fluid and easy to get into for modern gamers.

If GTA 5 feels stale for some players, they can always look at the game's iconic modding scene. Other AAA open world games lack the depth or useful mods that GTA 5 has.

This modding scene also includes good graphics mods that can help elevate GTA 5 to match its modern open world competitors.

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1) Exhilarating online

GTA Online is still popular to this day (Image via Rockstar Games)

Most single-player open world games could only dream of having an online counterpart equivalent to GTA Online's success. Having both GTA 5 and GTA Online as a package deal is a steal for how much content there is. The player can devote hundreds to thousands of hours of their life to these games and still have plenty to discover.

Either game by itself is a masterpiece. Hence, having these two titles together sets the bar for other open world games to try and replicate. There are plenty of good single-player and multiplayer games, but not often packaged together.

This reason helps some players who might prefer either GTA 5 or GTA Online, as they're not forced to play the other game. Both games are largely played on the same open world, but that's not a major detriment.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.

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