When it comes to Rockstar Games, there's a few things that fans of the company are sure of: it releases great games and it takes its time getting those games out. The current wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 and the 8-year difference between Red Dead Redemption 1 and Red Dead 2 is evident enough of that. However, there's also, among other, one more thing fans know: it has become more and more synonymous with open-world games.
Sure, in the past, Rockstar Games has put out games like Midnight Club and L.A. Noire, but arguably, its open-world approach is Rockstar's identifying trait nowadays. It also does so in such a way that an Rockstar Games' open-world approach stands apart from a Ubisoft open-world; whereas the latter focuses on filling up a sandbox with a lot to do, Rockstar Games' approach is about dressing up the sandbox in a specific way.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Grand Theft Auto 5 will be 8 years open in September 2021, but it has continuously topped sales chart. It's practically a phenomena in the gaming industry, earning itself the title as the "most profitable entertainment product of all time." Some of this is based on the continued success of Grand Theft Auto Online, but at the same time, there's no way it wouldn't be a success without its basic story. The intertwining stories of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor as they commit an escalating series of crimes and heists, which end up taking on this idea of Big Brother/the Government itself, captures the entire essence of the franchise. With solid third-person open-world mechanics on top of all of this, it's not surprising that the game has outlived many games released since then.
Bully
Where waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto is just a matter of time, the wait for Bully 2 doesn't seem likely to see the light of day, which many seem odd to some as Bully did some things better than GTA. It released back in 2006 as a game about James "Jimmy" Hopkins navigating the various cliques of school life. Outside of the main story, there's an open world complete with the fictional town of Bullworth, Old Bullworth Vale, New Coventry, Happy Volts Asylum, and Bullworth Academy itself. Of course, the academy is where the game begins but it does expand, with these locations also changing based on story progression. Chapter 3 is set in winter, for example, and so the town changes accordingly. In 2006, that would have been a big deal, but even near 15-years ago, Rockstar was a master of the open-world.
Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto 4 is the highest-ranked Rockstar title on Metacritic, coming in at a 98 vs. GTA 5 and Red Dead 2's 97s. It's also among the most unique entries in the Grand Theft Auto series. For example, it was one of the last Rockstar titles to received single-player DLC, as well as ditch the cinematic level of storytelling for something wholly original. And that ties into the open-world design of Grand Theft Auto 4 really well. Reportedly, the developer conducted extensive research in New York to help design its open-world, compiling thousands of photographs and several hours of video. Grand Theft Auto 4 is far from the largest open-world map, but it does go to show that it's not the size that counts.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
In many ways, San Andreas was a foundational moment for the franchise. It combined the storytelling of the GTA franchise with RPG-style mechanics, customization options, gambling, mini-games, and more activities, all the while containing a solid, if not the franchise's strongest, open-world. If Grand Theft Auto 4 proved that scope and design is better than size, San Andreas is the game that proved open-world elements are important in the franchise's gameplay experience. After all, there's CJ and GTA: San Andreas memes everywhere, proof that the game is part of the gaming community's collective consciousness 17 years later.
Duel at Dawn: Red Dead Redemption 1 vs. RDR2
The Grand Theft Auto franchise is where Rockstar Games flexes most of its open-world muscles, but the Red Dead Redemption franchise is where it dominates the sport. Truthfully, it's hard to compare Red Dead Redemption 1's open-world design to Red Dead Redemption 2 because both are really good games. Perhaps the simplest way would be the arguable philosophy: Red Dead Redemption 1 better marries its story to its open-world approach, with John Marston traveling all around and even down into Mexico to save his family, but Red Dead Redemption 2 creates a better, more realistic environment with its open-world. The latter, at times, feels like something straight out of cinema, not something inspired by it, as all of the mechanics create a powerful design.
Indeed, if Rockstar Games ever made a Red Dead Redemption 1 remaster or even a remake with Red Dead 2's engines and open-world systems worked in, it could perfectly marry the two games into something unique. Of course, that seems unlikely, but the fact remains choosing between Red Dead 1 and Red Dead 2 is a cardinal sin. Nor is it acceptable to talk about Rockstar Games' growth and perfection of its open-world design without the franchise that nailed it the most.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is reportedly in development.