Whilst I take issue with the game’s pacing and its hit and miss AI, there’s little else to scoff at here. American Fugitive is a love letter to fans of classic Grand Theft Auto. The game’s stunning world is full of varied activities and events, with no shortage of choice to take to throughout each and every aspect within. This is all held together by remarkably fluid gameplay, putting forward a sandbox that’s deep, robust, and constantly action-packed.

The team at Fallen Tree Games have created a brilliant playground for us to explore, destroy and burgle. It is a great love letter to the humble origins of the open-world game that we know and love now, but that does mean it comes with the restrictions associated with that; mainly, the overly long mission arcs that unfortunately become a bit of a grind, especially in the opening hours where the map is more restricted.

A very nice and satisfying top-down open word game, bringing back vibes of the first GTA games. It shines during the car chases, while the shooting system feels imprecise and the indoor thefs mini-game end up being boring very quickly, but this is definitely a game to try by lovers of open world games.

If you're not looking for anything particularly original, American Fugitive is a decent adventure with enough good ideas and atmosphere to keep you interested.

American Fugitive is a neat take on the top-down crime drama. I like a lot of its ideas, while others hold it back. I would love to see more from this team with these ideas in mind. Clean up the padding and add fast travel and this game could really be something special. Also, give me the option to zoom the camera out a little more, as it stands it feels a little too close to avoid oncoming traffic.

American Fugitive is fine if you can overlook its slew of flaws. From shaky AI to an overzealous crime detection system and spotty controls, there's enough here to make one quit the game rather quickly. It helps that the core aspect of the open-world gameplay and the small town setting are enough to keep some people interested. If you really want a throwback to the old GTA system, then this will do, but don't expect something as polished and varied as Retro City Rampage.

American Fugitive will probably strike a note with people wanting to play a solid old-old-school GTA impersonator with modern adornments, but those looking for a meaningful story and evolution in the gameplay won’t find much.