I’m so desperate to play Grand Theft Auto 6 that I downloaded this unfinished open-world game set in 1990s Slovakia

Ever since Grand Theft Auto 6 was formally revealed, I’ve been yearning for a new city-sized sandbox. But Rockstar’s latest crime epic is still months away at least, and outside of GTA, the industry doesn’t really make games where you can lead the police a merry dance through a chunk of Urbania anymore. The last true open-city game (as opposed to an open-world game), was the disappointing Saints Row reboot from 2022. I suppose Cyberpunk 2077 also counts, though its priorities are very different from a GTA-style simulation.

Steam’s algorithms must have sensed my longing, however, as over the last few weeks they’ve repeatedly recommended a game to me called Vivat Slovakia. Set in 1990s Bratislava and currently in Steam early access, it’s basically a Slovakian studio’s attempt to create their equivalent of Grand Theft Auto. Having passed on it numerous times already, this week I finally took the plunge. I’m not sure it was a good city break, but it was certainly a memorable one.

Vivat Slovakia places you in the role of Milan, a middle-aged guy who looks like he moisturises with wet cement and has a past more chequered than a lumberjack’s shirt. Milan is introduced in a prologue tutorial working as a guard on the Czechoslovakian border, which teaches you how to move and shoot. This starts with you shooting some beer bottles, but quickly escalates to blasting someone trying to sneak across the border using “Comrade sniper rifle”.