39 Narrative games like Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City that you should try

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Ranking compiled by Lluis Enric Mayans, Founder & Head of ContentUpdated May 19, 2026How this is calculatedOrdered by an attribute-similarity model, not editorial opinion.

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We filtered the 50 games similar to Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City down to the 39 that fit the “Narrative” category. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Mafia III and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas top the list, ranked by affinity and similarity score to Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

iRank81/ 100

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GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

The best narrative games like Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

39 similar games foundUpdated May 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. Each one has been evaluated across 15 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

#1Grand Theft Auto: Vice CityClosest overall match

iRank93

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeRangedNarrativeDarkOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 93%· 30KRAWG👍 93%· 3.1KMC94IGDB94· 4

Year 2002Dev Rockstar North · Rockstar GamesPlaytime ~2hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Fits the open-world action games cluster, with third-person shooting, adventure storytelling and shooter

≠ Stands apart with puzzle design

Tighter and more focused than the open worlds that followed it, with a compact city you learn by heart rather than by map marker. Driving carries most of the game. The shooting has aged badly — no proper cover, stiff aiming — and missions restart from the beginning, which turns a late failure into a long redo.

Same studio: Rockstar North.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Tone100World100Progression100

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeNarrativeDarkOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 57%· 63KIGDB68· 23

Year 2016Dev Hangar 13 · 2K GamesOn PS4 · PC · Mac

✓ Fits the open-world action games cluster, with adventure storytelling, shooter and third-person shooting

≠ Its own twist: first-person shooting and stealth mechanics, while skipping ranged combat

New Bordeaux and its period soundtrack are exceptional, and the story handles race and its era with more seriousness than the genre usually manages. Driving feels heavy and right. The structure undercuts all of it — the same racket-clearing loop repeats across every district, and the mission variety runs out long before the map does.

On reception: its Steam reviews are mixed, against mostly positive for Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Released 7 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Game mode100Tone100World100Progression100Visuals100

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Steam GOG

#3Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

iRank93

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeRangedNarrativeDarkOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 92%· 83KRAWG👍 93%· 4.1KMC93IGDB93· 6

Year 2004Dev Rockstar North · CapcomPlaytime ~2hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of open-world action games: adventure storytelling, racing gameplay and shooter

≠ Stands apart with first-person shooting, stealth mechanics and co op

The largest of the PS2-era entries by a distance: three cities, countryside between them, and systems the series never repeated — stat training, gang territory, vehicle variety from bikes to planes. It is also the most uneven. Mission difficulty spikes without warning, and the RPG-ish stat grind sits oddly against the pace of everything else.

Same studio: Rockstar North.

Genre100Tone100World100Progression100Combat72Game mode70

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Steam Epic Xbox

#4Grand Theft Auto IV

iRank90

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

MultiplayerSoloMeleeRangedNarrativeDarkOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 83%· 195KRAWG👍 96%· 103MC95

Year 2010Dev Rockstar Toronto · Rockstar GamesOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Fits the open-world action games cluster, with adventure storytelling, third-person shooting and shooter

≠ Where it differs: brings co op, while skipping racing gameplay

The most grounded entry: heavier driving, a euphoria physics system that makes collisions and stumbles feel physical, and a city built for density rather than scale. Combat is serviceable. It is also the slowest — long drives between missions, friends who phone constantly asking for activities, and a tone considerably more sombre than the games around it.

Genre100Combat100Tone100World100Progression100Visuals100

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Steam

#5Grand Theft Auto III

iRank89

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMeleeRangedDarkNarrativeOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 87%· 15KRAWG👍 86%· 1.6KMC93IGDB95· 2

Year 2001Dev DMA Design · CapcomPlaytime ~1hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of open-world action games: third-person shooting, adventure storytelling and shooter

≠ Stands apart with deep simulation and visual isometric, while skipping multiplayer gameplay

The one that established the template: a 3D open city with radio stations, missions on call and free roaming between them. Historically it matters enormously. It has aged the hardest of the era — no mission checkpoints, no map markers for much of it, a silent protagonist, and shooting that amounts to auto-aim and hoping.

It predates Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City by 8 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Combat100Tone100World100Progression100Visuals64

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeNarrativeDarkSandbox WorldOpen WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 87%· 63KIGDB85· 16OC85· 196

Year 2021Dev IO InteractiveOn Xbox · PS4 · PC

✓ Both are open-world action games — sharing adventure storytelling, shooter and third-person shooting

≠ Where it differs: brings first-person shooting, puzzle design and stealth mechanics, while skipping racing gameplay

Where it drifts furthest from Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City: combat.

Released 12 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

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Steam Epic Xbox

#7Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell

iRank70

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeDarkNarrativeOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 75%· 9.7KIGDB64· 11OC67· 69

Year 2015Dev High Voltage Software · Deep SilverOn PlayStation 3 · PS4 · Linux

✓ Same family of open-world action games: shooter, third-person shooting and adventure storytelling

≠ Its own twist: first-person shooting, horror setting and co op, while skipping racing gameplay

A standalone expansion set in Hell, built around flight: you unlock wings early and the whole map is designed for vertical movement rather than driving. That traversal is the best part. It is very short — a few hours — and reuses the systems and much of the structure of Saints Row IV without adding a real campaign.

Released 6 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Tone100World100Progression100Visuals100Combat76

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMeleeRangedDarkNarrativeOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 46%· 6.1KIGDB10· 1

Year 2011Dev Running With Scissors · AkellaPlaytime ~2hOn PC

✓ Same family of open-world action games: shooter, third-person shooting and sandbox freedom

≠ Stands apart with first-person shooting, horror tension and horror setting, while skipping racing gameplay

Good or Insane? The choice is yours. Following the Apocalyptic end to the Postal Dude’s week in Paradise, we follow him and his insane pitbull Champ as they emigrate to its appropriately named sister city, Catharsis.

On reception: its Steam reviews are mixed, against mostly positive for Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Combat100Tone100World100Progression100Visuals59

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeDarkNarrativeOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 83%· 92KIGDB81· 21OC82· 136

Year 2016Dev Ubisoft Montreal · Ubisoft EntertainmentOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Same family of open-world action games: adventure storytelling, shooter and third-person shooting

≠ Where it differs: brings first-person shooting, stealth mechanics and setting scifi, while skipping racing gameplay

Where it drifts furthest from Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City: combat.

Released 7 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Tone100World100Visuals100Progression78Game mode71

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMeleeDarkNarrativeOpen WorldSandbox WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 62%· 32KIGDB69· 15OC68· 134

Year 2018Dev Avalanche Studios · Square EnixOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Both are open-world action games — sharing adventure storytelling, shooter and third-person shooting

≠ Its own twist: first-person shooting and co op, while skipping racing gameplay

Where it drifts furthest from Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City: game mode.

On reception: its Steam reviews are mixed, against mostly positive for Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Released 9 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Tone100World100Progression100Visuals100Combat75

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Steam Xbox PS

#11RAGE

iRank72

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerRangedMeleeNarrativeDarkOpen WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 78%· 18KRAWG👍 52%· 834MC79IGDB81· 10

Year 2011Dev Aspyr Media · Bethesda SoftworksPlaytime ~5hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of open-world action games: shooter, racing gameplay and adventure storytelling

≠ Its own twist: first-person shooting, deep RPG systems and horror tension, while skipping sandbox freedom

id Software shooting at its most precise, wrapped in a wasteland that mostly exists to connect combat arenas. The gunfeel and enemy animation still hold up. Everything around it is weaker: driving sections pad the runtime, the world is a hub-and-spoke rather than open, and it ends abruptly enough that many players assume they missed a final act.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Progression100Game mode71World66

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Steam Xbox PS

#12Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

iRank68

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeDarkNarrativeOpen WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 67%· 9.4KIGDB69· 7

Year 2010Dev IO Interactive · Square EnixOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Both are open-world action games — sharing shooter, third-person shooting and adventure storytelling

≠ Stands apart with first-person shooting and co op, while skipping sandbox freedom

Shot entirely through a handheld-camera aesthetic — grain, blown-out light, censored gore — which is the reason to see it, and consistently committed to. The shooting itself is unremarkable and the cover system is imprecise. It is also very short, and the unrelentingly bleak tone gives you little reason to return once it ends.

On reception: its Steam reviews are mixed, against mostly positive for Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Tone100Progression100Visuals100Combat76Game mode71

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Steam

#13Gears 5

iRank79

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeDarkNarrativeOpen WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 71%· 24KIGDB88· 12OC85· 150

Year 2019Dev The Coalition · Xbox Game StudiosOn Xbox · PC

✓ Both are open-world action games — sharing adventure storytelling, shooter and third-person shooting

≠ Its own twist: first-person shooting, setting scifi and co op, while skipping sandbox freedom

Released 10 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Tone100Progression100Visuals100Combat76Game mode63

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeDarkNarrativeOpen WorldExplorationThird Person

Steam👍 84%· 11KIGDB73· 12OC74· 93

Year 2018Dev Rebellion DevelopmentsOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Both are open-world action games — sharing adventure storytelling, shooter and third-person shooting

≠ Where it differs: brings puzzle design, first-person shooting and horror tension, while skipping sandbox freedom

Released 9 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Tone100Progression100Combat76Visuals63World60

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Steam PS Nintendo

#15Crysis 3

iRank81

GenreActionSubgenreOpen World Action

SoloMultiplayerMeleeRangedDarkNarrativeOpen WorldExploration

Steam👍 85%· 5.6KIGDB74· 12

Year 2013Dev Crytek Frankfurt · Electronic ArtsOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Fits the open-world action games cluster, with shooter, adventure storytelling and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Where it differs: brings first-person shooting, stealth mechanics and setting scifi, while skipping sandbox freedom

Where it drifts furthest from Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City: visuals.

Released 4 years after Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Genre100Game mode100Tone100Progression100Combat70World58

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Steam Xbox

Complete list of narrative games like Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

The full catalog of games sharing gameplay DNA with Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, ordered from highest to lowest similarity score. Use the filters above to narrow down by genre, setting or game mode and find the alternative that best fits your playstyle.