3. Saints Row (Series) 
Perhaps a controversial selection given the criticism the game received in 2006 when the first of the series was launched. Many at the time wrote Saints Row off as being yet another one of those "GTA Wannabes". However, since then, Saints Row had spawned two sequels, the most recent of which was released just last year. It has now become a fully-fledged sandbox game as a result, and features certain gameplay elements that Rockstar's GTA franchise lacks, like the ability to throw enemies into the way of moving objects or off tall buildings. Whilst it also sports features all too familiar to the GTA franchise, especially the "respect feature" that San Andreas revolved around, Saints Row is still a thoroughly enjoyable game in its own right - one of the biggest game-play elements employed by Saints Row that GTA distinctly lacks is the ability for the player to choose just how to end certain missions - an example being deciding whether to drop a bomb on an enemy skyscraper or leave it standing for the players use in the future. Whilst GTA IV had certain elements of freedom of choice, it certainly had nothing like that.