TOP 50 open world games. You will definitely have something to do

Open world games have long been the most popular genre in the industry. Almost every publisher has its own open world, designed for 40+ hours of completion. Among the games with hundreds of kilometers to explore, we have selected the 50 best.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is a great example of an open world game. If you decide to simply run from one corner of the map to another, you will see many events along the way that will show that Skyrim gets along just fine without you. Giants fight off bandits, a troll tries to defeat a dragon, and several brave warriors decide to fight a werewolf. In TES 5 you can see a lot of things even without completing quests. The world here lives its own life, and does not revolve around you. GSC Game World once tried to achieve this, but we will talk about them later.

As befits a good open world, the icons on the map at some point start to dazzle your eyes. A huge number of settlements, in which you can almost always take on several quests at once, kilometers of dungeons, dragon lairs and much more. In this world you want to explore every corner of it.

Even though you can complete the main story in the game in about 40 hours, the side quests will take you much longer. Even after 100 or 150 hours of playthrough, there will most likely be unfinished tasks. You should only take on the game if you have an extra month of free time. And if you play for an hour or two a day, then the passage may take more than one year.

In what other top could a 2D platformer be placed next to such mastodons as RDR 2 or The Witcher 3? Terraria is a unique game. Looking at the gameplay videos, you will most likely ask the question: «why does everyone like this so much?» Indeed, Terraria looks like the most ordinary third-tier indie, but as soon as you create a character in it and go wandering around the «flat» world, a tangible part of your real life will remain in it.

Even major representatives of the RPG genre can envy the depth of the game, both literally and figuratively. We explore the world in search of increasingly cool things that improve the hero's characteristics. On the way we meet huge bosses, and at night it's better to sit in a rebuilt house, since it is at this time of day that almost all the game's evil spirits come out for a walk. At first you will have to make your way to the mines, digging kilometers of earth. After all, as befits treasures, they are all located under a thick layer of soil. However, at first it is better not to aim for the bottom of the map, because real hell and deadly lava rivers await us there.

Size doesn't always matter. Sleeping Dogs, released in 2012, showed that a map with an area of several tens of kilometers may not be needed at all if the authors did a good job on the atmosphere and content of the game world.

Initially, Sleeping Dogs was conceived as a continuation of the already sunk into oblivion series True Crime, and the publisher was Activision. Later, the project was frozen, and Square Enix bought the developments. As a result, the name was changed to Sleeping Dogs.

Game failed to sell millions of copies, but it received recognition and love from players. The audience was attracted by the non-standard setting, which transported players from American surroundings to Hong Kong, full of neon signs.

In this collection it was impossible to avoid the legendary series S.T.A.L.K.E.R., in particular, its last part with the subtitle «Call of Pripyat». The Game World studio at one time made a small but detailed and atmospheric game, especially loved by residents of the CIS.

«Stalker» deserved such love in the post-Soviet space because of the setting that is close to us. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant became the largest man-made disaster of the 20th century. Many wanted to visit there and see with their own eyes the empty high-rise buildings and streets overgrown with vegetation. The developers wanted to recreate the atmosphere of devastation as accurately as possible. To do this, they even went to Pripyat and Chernobyl. Thanks to the team's dedication, players were able to see the famous Ferris wheel and the ill-fated fourth power unit with their own eyes.

In addition to a detailed atmosphere, the game is filled with various events and quests. Initially, the developers wanted to make the world so alive that some tasks could be completed by ordinary NPCs instead of you. But the team failed to properly optimize the ecosystem, so they abandoned the idea.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is similar in concept to Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Players create their own story and decide what to do in this world.

Once you start the game, just like in real life, you can start climbing the career ladder closer to the lords, or you can ride from city to city without achieving anything. No one will stop you from gathering your squad, ingratiating yourself with the local elite and overthrowing the king. At the same time, you can wander through villages and rob caravans throughout the game. You are free to do whatever you want. If you don't want to be constrained by the writers' imagination, but want to create your own story, Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is definitely worth a try.

Far Cry can easily be called one of the best (if not the best) first-person shooter in the open world. All parts of the franchise deserve a place on this list (except for the second, of course), but we decided to include the cult third part in this article. Why is Far Cry's open world so good?

Firstly, there is a huge number of side activities: from collecting items to clearing outposts. Secondly, the unusual settings, which have become the hallmark of the series, distinguish Ubisoft's creation from its peers in the genre. Thirdly, Far Cry is a large sandbox in which you can entertain yourself as you please. Even the notorious outposts are designed to give the player the opportunity to go through the same place in different ways. Shoot everyone with a sniper rifle, cut enemy throats using stealth, or cause madness with a hundred explosions while riding an elephant. You have the right to choose your own style of passage. Additionally, as with Red Dead Redemption 2, Far Cry has an ecosystem simulation that generates a lot of fun situations.

Any part of Assassin's Creed could have been on this list, but we settled on Black Flag. Yes, such a decision can easily cause bewilderment, because the same «Origins» or «Odyssey» are much larger and more intense. So, let's take it in order, why Black Flag was in the top of the best open world games.

Firstly, there is an excellent pirate setting, thanks to which all the boring elements of Assassin's Creed feel completely different. Most of the map is seas and oceans, which are a real pleasure to navigate. In addition, treasures may be hidden in the local depths. It would seem that they are ordinary boxes that we have seen more than once or twice, but these are pirate treasures!

Secondly, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, despite its mythology, is still an «assassin». There is everything that we love the series for: the enmity between the Templars and the assassins, hidden blades that are not for show, but for normal stealth, as well as a direct plot connection with previous parts.

The top best games in the open world could not do without Grand Theft Auto 5. Rockstar's masterpiece was released 11 years ago and during this time it fell in love with over a hundred million players around the world. The large and diverse Los Santos instantly immerses you and doesn't let go until the credits roll. However, the completion of the plot does not mean the end of the entire game. After it, you can go online and spend another couple of hundred hours there.

GTA 5 is packed to the brim with all sorts of activities and doesn't let you get bored for a minute. Here you can play golf, tennis, tune cars, go to nightclubs, or, like the good old days, cause mayhem in the city in an attempt to get those same 5 stars. If you haven't played GTA 5 yet, hurry up and do so! «Great Car Theft» is a one-off product and similar games are released extremely rarely.

The third Dragon Age consists of a dozen separate locations, independent from each other. Each of them is a chamber open world in which you can find a lot of resources, side quests and even dragons, the most powerful monsters in the game.

Are there still people who haven't read the third The Witcher? If you're one of them, then head to Velen as soon as possible to see for yourself what open world gaming should look like. After all, it's not because of the beautiful witcher's eyes that Geralt's adventures became iconic.

The developers from CD Projekt Red were able to maintain a balance between the size of the map and its content. In the vast expanses, something is happening here and there. Somewhere, ghouls are eating up slain knights, in the forest a pack of wolves attacked a hunter, and in the thicket a goblin wanders, terrifying the locals. In addition to such small events, the map is full of those same «questions» that show interesting places. Sometimes these locations become the starting point of a side quest, sometimes we find chests with equipment or a lair with monsters there.

It's amazing how alive the world is. Geese are running around the villages, children are shouting rhymes, blacksmiths are working in the workshop. It would seem that this is the case in all games, so how then does The Witcher differ from the rest? This may sound corny, but in The Witcher 3 everything is done with soul.

Against the background of the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, many players remembered the previous project of Rocksteady Studios called Batman: Arkham Knight. This is a great Dark Knight game with the ability to drive around Gotham in the Batmobile. As you explore the city, you will find additional quests that involve famous villains, as well as many puzzles from the Riddler.

In the fifth part of Metal Gear Solid a full-fledged open world appeared. On the territory of Afghanistan and Angola, you will have to solve specific combat missions using a variety of means, from knives and pistols with a silencer to heavy armored vehicles. And allies will come to the rescue. For example, Silent One can provide support with accurate shots from a sniper rifle.

This game is imbued with the spirit of the movie Mad Max: Fury Road. In it you will find a thick atmosphere of a desert post-apocalypse, the need to survive in conditions of scarcity of food and water, as well as frantic chases using a variety of weapons. Gas burners, spikes and well-aimed shots from an allied sniper are used. While exploring the local open world, you will complete secondary tasks and find valuable resources that will allow you to install new upgrades on your car. If you're looking forward to the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga movie, we highly recommend checking out the Mad Max game.

Dying Light is similar in many ways to the Far Cry series. Techland's creation also boasts an unusual setting in the form of the fictional eastern city of Harran, the architecture of which clearly references Turkey. Unfortunately, the villain here cannot be compared even with Joseph Seed from Far Cry 5, but the writers at least tried to give the antagonist some kind of charisma. The towers are also in place. But, in addition to all the similarities, «Dying Light» has two important differences that set it apart from its competitors: zombies and parkour.

In the original Dying Light there was no transport at all, but it was not needed, because it is much more pleasant to move around on the rooftops. The parkour here immediately reminds us of both Assassin's Creed and Mirror's Edge. The main character can cling to almost any ledge, as in the Ubisoft creation, but the first-person view allows you to better feel the character's movements. In addition, in Dying Light it is possible to jump not only on the roofs of buildings, but also on the heads of zombies.

There are several types of living dead in the game: ordinary zombies, which pose a threat only in crowds, and truly dangerous monsters, encounters with which are best avoided. During the day you can chop cannon fodder with impunity, but at night hunters take to the streets — nimble creatures capable of killing the main character with literally one touch. You can only escape from them in shelters.

The game skillfully combines fun and horror. Such a successful genre cocktail does not let you get bored for a minute. Don't forget about the standard elements of open world games, such as side quests, notes from survivors, chests and much more.

Another Bethesda game, which, although it did not receive the same recognition as Skyrim, was still liked by a huge number of players. Fallout 4 inherited almost all the advantages of The Elder Scrolls 5: a large world full of interesting places and events, a varied bestiary of monsters, hundreds of characters and side quests. Preserving the content, Bethesda transferred it all to the world of post-apocalypse, and instead of magic and swords, it gave the main character a cannon.

In all of the studio's games, the most important element was the sense of exploration. When you first leave the bunker and find yourself on the surface, you immediately get lost and don't know where to go. Over there is a destroyed bridge, and on the other side you can see a huge city. Whatever route you choose, a whole series of adventures will await you along the way. Robots are shooting at mutants, bandits show up at a local waitress demanding that they pay off a debt, and the Brotherhood of Steel is going on another raid. You can also take part in all these events.

All games in the Yakuza series, with the exception of the Like a Dragon duology, are three-dimensional beat'em ups. In addition to the main and side missions, you are invited to take part in many mini-games. These include karaoke, chatting with girls, darts, feeding cats, baseball and much more. It is suggested to search for activities in the open world. The action of the sixth part takes place in two cities at once, Tokyo and Onomichi.

At the development stage, No Man's Sky was presented as a game about exploring star systems with a huge world accessible for travel. However, the release version of the project was disappointing. Many announced modes, such as multiplayer, did not appear in the final version, and wandering around hundreds of planets of the same type was simply boring.

But the developers from Hello Games did not despair, but systematically brought No Man's Sky to mind. The updates added not only new content, but also additional features, from building your own bases to multiplayer play. As a result, it really became similar to the project that was promised to us. If you are interested in space exploration, you can try it.

The first Watch Dogs was Ubisoft's attempt to release their GTA. But the French company failed to defeat Rockstar on its field. Therefore, in the second part, the developers did not try to surpass Grand Theft Auto, but relied on hacking. Most of the time we use drones and hack into anything that contains electronics. This fits the plot, because the main characters of the game are real hooligans who challenged the system in sunny San Francisco. Exploring this city and interacting with the local ctOS that manages its infrastructure is a pleasure.

Each numbered Final Fantasy title offers a journey through an open world. In fifteenth it is proposed to move around the expanses of the kingdom of Lucis in a luxury car. And after installing a certain upgrade, you will be able not only to drive, but also to fly, like in science fiction films. We talked about unusual cars in video games in separate article.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the living embodiment of the term «variability.» The journey itself here is many times more interesting than its end point. The game has many different mechanics that can be combined as you please. The open world constantly surprises you, but not with monumental buildings or other objects, but with new opportunities.

No one tells you which routes to take to your goal. The world is completely in your hands, for example, if you wish, you can fight the final boss of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at the very beginning of the game. The variety and freedom is what makes this Nintendo exclusive so significant for the entire industry.

Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War take place in the Lord of the Rings universe. Their distinctive feature is the Nemesis system. It randomly generates orc commanders. Moreover, their meetings with the main character Talion have consequences. Even if Sauron's servant was defeated, after a while he will return and be much stronger and more aggressive. Repeated encounters can happen completely unexpectedly, so exploring the open world of Middle-earth contains an element of unpredictability.

Before the release of Baldur's Gate 3, Larian studio was known for the Divinity series. Its latest part, called Original Sin 2, plays perfectly even today. The open world in this project is not as spacious as in Skyrim or in the latest parts of The Legend of Zelda. But you can go explore the nearby territories, take on a few quests along the way, start solving local puzzles and forget about the main storyline for a long time.

Horizon Zero Dawn is similar in structure to the third Witcher, but there are several important differences, the main one being the setting. Everything seems to be familiar: forests, fields and villages are in place, but at the same time, in the midst of all this primitive life, robots are scurrying around.

The motive to quickly find out why humanity came to the primitive system forces you to study every nook and cranny, complete all quests and other side tasks. How are these cars charged? Why do people treat them calmly? Why has humanity fallen back so much in its development? These questions will literally make you run through all the corresponding icons on the world map. But let's not forget about other aspects of the game.

Firstly, Horizon Zero Dawn has a detailed and memorable image. Secondly, the combat system is capable of challenging the player, which makes fighting iron monsters much more interesting. Thirdly, not only the main plot is interesting here, but also the personal stories of many of the characters.