Calling Saints Row a Grand Theft Auto clone would be an understatement... now. For a while, it only seemed like Saints Row was created to rival Rockstar's most successful franchise but the truth of the matter is that Saints Row has since done a great job in becoming a respectful series. With its definitive tone and game mechanics, Saints Row has not only found its own image but has even surpassed Grand Theft Auto in certain aspects.

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While players love both of these games for what they are and what they've become, it's interesting to see just similar and different they are at the same time. When it comes to Saints Row vs GTA 5, it's easy to notice the differences between the two series, especially in contemporary times.

Updated October 2, 2021 by Erik Petrovich: The age-old debate of GTA vs Saints Row has returned with the announcement of the next entry in the series Saints Row Reboot. The game will be its own standalone experience in a new setting, and it's made some fans of the criminal open-world genre question whether it's worth sticking with GTA after so long with no new games. While both series have their ups and downs, ultimately the choice is up to the player. In general, GTA tends towards realism while Saints Row tends towards ridiculousness, making the two games much more distinct from one another than players might think.

13 Better: Weapon Choices (And Combat In General)

Saints Row vs Grand Theft Auto GTA Weapon Choice Annihilator Sharkomatic

The weapon choices throughout the Saints Row series are nothing short of fantastic - both in terms of power and being weapons that only exist in fantasy. In the first two games, weapons were relatively realistic, though Saints Row 2 did introduce the Pimp Slap and Cane and the ability to use improvised weapons like the Garden Gnome. Later games in the series veered towards ridiculousness, with Saints Row 4 weapons in a wacky ballpark all their own.

Weapons in the Grand Theft Auto series are almost always based on real weapons, and there are very few ridiculous video-gamey weapons available. GTA 5 could never feature a weapon like Saints Row: The Third weapon the Shark-o-Matic, which summons a sewer shark to attack the target, but maybe it could get away with the Penetrator weapon that resembles, well, something that ought not to be fully described here.

12 Worse: The Modding Community

Saints Row vs Grand Theft Auto GTA Modding Addons Superman

While Grand Theft Auto 5 famously made it much harder for creatives to create custom mods for the singleplayer version of the game, previous versions of Grand Theft Auto, like GTA 4, San Andreas, and even GTA 3 had robust modding scenes that still put out great content to this day. While modding GTA 5 is notoriously difficult nowadays, when it was first launched it had some of the most innovative single-player mods out there. Now, these are mostly relegated to private servers.

Saints Row, on the other hand, is already such a ridiculous series that modding it almost seems like a moot point. When players can already go to the moon, take on superhero-like powers, and use some of the strangest weapons in all of video gaming, what else can be improved through addons?

11 Better: Side Missions/Diversions

The Saints Row series brought us really interesting side quests or diversions. Saints Row 2 let the player participate in drug trafficking, crowd control, and even a fight club where you can train in different fight styles. Later entries kicked it up a notch with the exciting blazing, Mind Over Murder and Mayhem to help divert us from the main story.

Grand Theft Auto did technically have side missions but they still felt like part of the bigger story. Grand Theft Auto 5 tried to even match Saints Row with running into strangers for actual side missions. Unfortunately, Grand Theft Auto 5 also had the excitement of yoga, dart and golfing.

10 Worse: World Variety

Say what you will about the world of Vice City, you remember everything about its colorful environment and easy-to-navigate map and even Liberty City was improved in Grand Theft Auto 4. However, Rockstar's golden achievement of world design goes to San Andreas, just for the variety that presented to the gamer, going from rural, to deep country and then the city life. This was the first time a Grand Theft Auto game really felt grand and epic.

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While Saints Row map is not terrible, there isn't much to set it apart from any other city-based video game. It's still rather generic, grey and dull. Even in Saints Row 4, where the game takes place in space, they still managed to put us in a generic city. Just seemed like a missed opportunity there.

9 Better: Customization

San Andreas really improved on the character customization, not only in picking new clothing combinations but also morphing your character's body type. You could be muscular, skinny or fat, really innovating the mechanic. However, for whatever reason, Rockstar just dropped this idea going into Grand Theft Auto 4. Sure you could still change clothes, but sequels should build on these ideas and not take them away.

Saints Row customization, for lack of a better word, is completely wacky. You can choose your character's gender, body type, clothes and even their voice. Everyone who's played Saints Row 3 has experimented with the goofy zombie voice. Even Saints Row 4 had amazing car customization, which is really sad since no one used it due to your character's ability to mega jump and glide.

8 Worse: Online Play

While Grand Theft Auto Online had its problems at the beginning, it has evolved into a respectable online multiplayer game. You can do everything you've wanted to do in a Grand Theft Auto game including plan heists, buy an underground facility, and even complete story missions; all with a couple buddies. It's basically like playing a multiplayer Grand Theft Auto game, except all the other players are jerky trolls. But it's still a very fun experience.

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While Saints Row's multiplayer was fun, it wasn't anything that gamers really praise about the game. Completely the main storyline with a friend was fun in its own right but it doesn't compare to what Grand Theft Auto Online has accomplished.

7 Better: Sense Of Humor

Whenever Grand Theft Auto tries to make a subtle joke, it comes off as childish. This may have been funny when we played the game when we were children, but now that we're all adults, it's easy to see these jokes come off as immature. From the character named Jizzy to doodles of male genitalia climaxing or a literal pornstar named Candy Suxxx, it's hard not to facepalm at these weird jokes. Saints Row, on the other hand, goes all out on the wackiness.

No matter how crazy Grand Theft Auto gets, when it comes to GTA vs Saints Row, nothing will top the absolute insanity of the latter franchise. While Grand Theft Auto still attempts to tell stories with some deep characterization and themes, Saints Row just has the leader of a street gang fight luchador crime bosses, become the president and single-handedly fight against an alien warlord. This kind of humor is what has helped Saints Row find its voice and tone, and everyone has appreciated them for it.

6 Worse: Deep Lore

Something that Rockstar has become famous for over the past couple of decades is its ability to give its Easter eggs their own intriguing backstory. Remember the mass grave in San Andreas? There are actually two possibilities that could explain where it came from. What about the ghost of Mount Gordo in Grand Theft Auto 5?

You literally have to solve the mystery here from a single clue written out on the cliffside. Keep looking hard enough in each game in the series and you'll find that there are some interesting things going on around you.

5 Better: Rewarding The Player

Ok, you've endured the unbelievably boring and tedious mini-game that is yoga, what do you get in return? Absolutely nothing, except maybe Michael will be a bit more limber for his age. This is a problem through a lot of the side quests in Grand Theft Auto 5, with all these new side missions, there are few rewards for the player except the usual cash prize. It doesn't really feel like you've accomplished something great.

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After you complete a round of Mayhem or Mind Over Murder in Saints Row, you're rewarded with cash, experience and sometimes, even new weapons and accessories based on how well you do. When you get the big reward, you know you caused the most property damage and it feels good.

4 Worse: Intriguing Storytelling

While you can make the argument that Saints Row has a more consistent story, following one character's journey and his rag-tag team of side characters. However, which is something we can probably all agree on, Grand Theft Auto just has more mature themes, characters and situations. While Vice City could be considered a somewhat silly game, it still tells the story of man who lost his life in jail and wants to regain his power.

In San Andreas, it follows a man trying to restore his home and family to what it once was. Saints Row, while endlessly funny and entertaining, usually only has one note when it comes to storytelling, starting from the bottom and gaining power for you and the gang. Well, if it worked the first time, no sense in changing it... right?

3 Better: Innovative Gameplay

It's certainly admirable that each Grand Theft Auto tries to add a small dab of creativity to their gameplay like operating crane or parachuting or something like that. However, Saints Row always tried to build upon their own insanity, whether that was new fighting style, new weapons to go crazy with and even, literally, giving you superpowers in the fourth game. Granted these mechanics were building off of their own crazy universe but that doesn't mean they did give some of the best and most entertaining superhero gameplay ever.

2 Worse: Changing The Game

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Ever since the day Saints Row was announced, the label Grand Theft Auto clone was thrown around a lot and, unfortunately, they're not completely wrong. While the first Saints Row was a good game in its own respect, a lot of the mechanics and ideas did stem from the same soil where Grand Theft Auto bloomed. Granted, the series did finally find its own image in Saints Row 2 but that doesn't change the fact that the franchise is following the coattails of another.

Grand Theft Auto, on the other hand, completely changed the game in 3D gaming and open-world games. While it might not be that impressive to look at today, Grand Theft Auto 3 was praised for its new concepts and ideas, leading it to be the best-selling video game of 2001. This has led to the cleaner gameplay of Vice City, the large world of San Andreas, and the graphic upgrade of Grand Theft Auto 4 and beyond.

1 Saints Row vs. Grand Theft Auto: Which Is Better?

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The argument of whether the Saints Row series or the Grand Theft Auto series is better is something that's hard to come to a conclusion on. On one hand, Saints Row features some of the most unique, hilarious, and stylistic gameplay of any open-world city crawler. On the other hand, the Grand Theft Auto series prides itself on its realism, which can be attractive and fun in its own way. At the end of the day, the Grand Theft Auto series is much more popular, but that doesn't mean it's better.

In recent years Saints Row has put out more original games and is scheduled to receive its next title, Saints Row Reboot, in 2022. Grand Theft Auto, on the other hand, has been stuck on GTA 5 for more than a decade with updates to GTA Online being prioritized over a new standalone game. Play GTA if you want to experience a relatively realistic life in a city crawling with crime, but play Saints Row for being able to do things in the open-world sandbox genre that GTA could never pull off.

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