10 Video Games That Blatantly Ripped Off Iconic Franchises
1. Saints Row
The Game: Saints Row is an open world action-adventure franchise. It centers around the Third Street Saints, a gang that does criminal stuff like shoot guns and steal cars.
As the franchise progressed, it grew more absurd. Saints Row The Third even featured a parody of horde mode called Whored Mode. The series' absurdity reached its peak with its (possibly) final main entry, Saints Row 4. That title introduced aliens and bestowed the Third Street Saints with superpowers.
The Game It Ripped Off: Grand Theft Auto
Saints Row vs. Grand Theft Auto has been a debate ever since Saints Row launched. The very first Saints Row game was released in 2006, which was almost ten years after the first Grand Theft Auto in 1997. Saints Row has come under constant fire for being a "Grand Theft Auto clone," but being a clone was never its intention. One of the development team's main goals while creating Saints Row 2 was to establish a unique identity for the franchise. A goal that they managed accomplish.
Saints Row has come to be known as the funnier, more ridiculous version of Grand Theft Auto. The Whored Mode and the superpowers mentioned earlier were established to further that identity. Unfortunately, the quality of the games couldn't keep up with GTA. The latter series is still going strong today while Saints Row seems to be on hiatus. If the Third Street Saints ever return, it'll probably be in the form of yet another ridiculous adventure.