Claim: Grand Theft Auto clone is a type of video game.

Grand Theft Auto clone is a subgenre of open world action-adventure video games , characterized by their likeness to the Grand Theft Auto series in either gameplay , or overall design . These types of open world games are games in which players may find and use a variety of vehicles and weapons while roaming freely in an open world setting . The objective of such games is to complete a sequence of core missions involving driving and shooting , but often side-missions and minigames are added to improve replay value . The storylines of games in this subgenre typically have strong themes of crime and violence .   The subgenre has its origins in open-world action adventure games popularized in Europe -LRB- and particularly the United Kingdom -RRB- throughout the 1980s and 1990s . The release of Grand Theft Auto -LRB- 1997 -RRB- marked a major commercial success for open-ended game design in North America , and featured a more marketable crime theme . But it was the popularity of its 3D sequel Grand Theft Auto III in 2001 that led to the widespread propagation of a more specific set of gameplay conventions consistent with a subgenre . The subgenre now includes many games from different developers all over the world where the player can control wide ranges of vehicles and weapons . The subgenre has evolved with greater levels of environmental detail and more realistic behaviors .   As usage of the term `` clone '' often has a negative connotation , reviewers have come up with other names for the subgenre . Names such as `` sandbox games '' , however , are applied to a wider range of games that do not share key features of the Grand Theft Auto series .