If I were to pick my favorite genre of video games, then it’s got to be the open world games. I am sure I am not the only one who likes to get lost in the vastness of the world that an open world has to offer. I say that because the genre of open world games has exploded over the years. From simulated galaxies to post-apocalyptic wastelands, there are a ton of games out there waiting to be explored. 2020 is a great year for those who are looking to dip their toes and get a taste of open world games. Well, we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time playing a bunch of games to bring you a list of the 22 best open world games you can play in 2020.
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Minecraft
- The Witcher 3
- Grand Theft Auto V
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
- Forza Horizon 4
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Far Cry 5
- Just Cause 4
- Watch Dogs 2
- Middle Earth: Shadow of War
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Saints Row IV
- Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Mad Max
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
- No Man’s Sky
- Elite: Dangerous
- Death Stranding
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
What Is and Open World Game?
An open-world game is a game that offers a vast virtual world in the game that players are free to explore. They are also known as Roam games, and they are free of level-based gameplay. Players are free to explore the world and continue the main storyline at their pace. You can spend hundreds of hours doing nothing but traversing the world or doing side missions. The main idea is to provide players with autonomy as to how they want to approach the game.
When it comes to open world games, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the gold standard which most other games aspire to surpass. The game tells the story of Arthur Morgan, a gunslinger surviving the Wild West sometime in 1899. Your character is the part of a gang and the game starts with you and your gang trying to escape “Blackwater” after a heist. What follows is a story of epic proportion which will take countless hours to finish.
I played the game in 4K and every little detail of the world was just popping out of the screen. It is the best cinematic experience I have ever had while playing a game. Another great thing about this game is that it wants you to take part in little things like talking to strangers, grooming your character, accessorizing your horse and more.
If not ‘the most’ then at least one of the most famous games ever, Minecraft is a game that everyone has heard of. Showcasing a simple 8-bit graphic style, Minecraft actually has much more to it. It unleashes the creativity of one’s mind like no-one else. What sets this game apart from the crowd is just how simple, yet addictive this game is.
The objective is to continuously build the world around you, and fight off against monstrous enemies. While most open-world games focus on the concept of simply interacting with the world around you, Minecraft rather allows you to build the world around you to suit your liking.
The Witcher 3 is a product of Projekt RED’s superb development and EA’s financing. It is also one of the most intensive open-world ever made. The Witcher 3 is as dense and deep as the other two games in the series in terms of RPG mechanics, and the overwhelmingly massive open-world environment has at once made that depth more intimidating, and in the long run, more rewarding.
You are a Witcher, a warrior who has been trained to fight since childhood, subjected to mutations and trials that have transformed you. You interact with the world around you, exploring on quests and hunts, solving side-missions and getting lost in the countless hours of gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto V, the latest addition to the GTA franchise, is the fourth-most best selling game of all time. Rockstar Games’ crown jewel, the entire Grand Theft Auto series has been widely accredited for its superb storyline with an interactive open world gameplay. And GTA V has been their best product ever, driving through not just one, but three different players and their cross-over storyline.
The Elder Scrolls series has been at the top of the RPG scene for a very long time, and rightly so, with the game providing a perfect balance between narration, story, and gameplay. Compared to the legacy Elder Scrolls, in Skyrim, there’s no more moon-hopping between hilltops with a maxed out Acrobatics skill or Athletics. The Elder Scrolls V pairs down a number of skills and cuts out attributes like Endurance and Intelligence altogether.
While Skyrim hasn’t got the best narrative of any RPG, the best combat, the best magic system or even the best graphics, but it does have one of the biggest, richest and most completely immersive worlds you’ve ever seen. The open world environment of this game is truly something to be experienced first hand.
Konami might be the studio behind it, but Metal Gear Solid is the real hard work and brainchild of Hideo Kojima, one of the most talented game designers of our generation. Metal Gear is one of the best-selling and most beloved games of all times, especially in the action-adventure genre. The game is a perfect mixture of strategy along with intensive gameplay.
The story revolves around the game’s protagonist – Solid Snake. Metal Gear Solid V can be best described in the developer’s own words – “Tactical Espionage Excellence”. While everything in the game is something you can relate to the previous generations as well, the open world gameplay of The Phantom Pain really captivates the user’s attention to the core.
Forza Horizon 3 was already a great open-world racing game. However, Forza Horizon 4 is an even better title as it takes everything that was good about Forza Horizon 3 and makes it better. This is currently the latest entry in the “Forza” series and it is set in the land of the UK.
Much like the other games in the series, Forza Horizon 4 is all about racing with your peers, pulling stunts and just enjoy the open road, really. As a player, you’ll have the opportunity to buy in-game houses which unlock new items, cars, and game-play perks. The game also features a dynamic weather system that also depicts the change of seasons. The developers have also announced plans for two chapters of downloadable content for the game, so it’s never too late to pick up this title.
The Batman: Arkham series really raised the bars for superhero action games, and it is one series that really brought out the feel of taking control of the caped crusader. While there have been a lot of great Batman games, Batman: Arkham Knight is probably the best of the lot that gave users a complete mix of a great storyline, impressive gameplay and a truly interactive (and destructible) open world environment.
While the map is comparatively smaller as compared to the other games on this list, the overall gameplay combined with the storyline, and the backdrop of being able to live out your fantasy of being Batman is what makes this game a must recommend.
Ubisoft’s Far Cry is also a franchise that needs no introduction, does it? If you thought Far Cary 3 and 4 were insane titles, then wait till you play Far Cry 5. The game takes place in Hope County, a fictional region of Montana, United States. The main story itself revolves around the Project at Eden’s Gate, a cult that rules the land under the guise of its charismatic leader named Joseph Seed.
Download Far Cry 5 ($59.99)
Ever since Just Cause 2 raised the bar of chaotic entertainment titles, it’s been an uphill road for the franchise. Much like the other titles in the series, Just Cause 4 also builds upon the concept of causing chaos everywhere. The game’s main protagonist Rico is just as awesome as he was before. In fact, he takes the iconic Just Cause action to insane new heights.
11. Watch Dogs 2
Watch Dogs was a game who’s concept was loved by everyone, but the overall gameplay had its debates. The sequel, Watch Dogs 2, can be considered an expansive form of the initial project with improved gameplay and new features, which most people, including me, consider a step in the right direction.
Download Watch Dogs 2 ($49.99)
Middle Earth: Shadow of War is the sequel to highly popular game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Based on the popular epic fantasy Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the game takes you back to the Middle Earth, which is the fantasy land the books are based on. In this game, you will go behind enemy lines and forge your army to dominate the Mordor from inside.
Download Middle Earth: Shadow of War ($49.99)
Every year, Ubisoft Games comes up with a new game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise and raises the bar of the open world titles. However, the studio has confirmed that there won’t be any new Assassin’s Creed game in 2019. But thankfully, the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a really good title, which is just as fresh as it was back when it launched.
Yes, the Fallout 4 is here and is easily shaping up to be one of the best in the series, with all credit going mainly to the modding community. That being said, Fallout: New Vegas is, in every aspect of the game, the best title of the series so far. Back in 2008, Fallout 3 was launched which was regarded as the best open-world game of its time. Two years later came its successor, the New Vegas, and the standards were raised so high that no other game of the series could even match them.
The central story is that you’re following the trail of the man who shot you, as it snakes across the Mojave through the major urban areas, drip-feeding you tasks that vary from sorting out a town’s escaped prisoner problem to a ghoul infestation with a brilliantly over the top ending.
15. Saints Row IV
Remember how I referred to Watch Dogs 2 as GTA with cheats of a hacker? Well, Saints Row is an entirely out of this world version of Grand Theft Auto. The Saints Row series combines elements of action, adventure, and vehicular gameplay. The player can freely roam the virtual open world on foot or by use of vehicles and make use of an array of weapon and mêlée based combat, but what sets it apart from the other games in this sandbox genre is the inclusion of crazy superpowers, that leave you untouchable.
Download Saints Row IV ($14.99)
One of the best games that you can purchase on Origin, Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of the best role-playing games ever made. While the entire Dragon Age series is great, Inquisition is a phenomenal sequel to its predecessors and lives up to the fame that was accredited to it even before the launch. The Dragon Age series focuses on the continent of Thedas and tells stories spanning multiple nations and various time periods.
Download Dragon Age: Inquisition ($19.99)
Remember the old Mad Max movies that we watched while growing up? It was a dream come true when we got to take control of Max, driving around in his Magnum Opus, while ruthlessly destroying enemies in our path, when in 2015, Avalanche Studios finally released the long awaited Mad Max video game.
While others, such as a grappling hook and sniper rifle, are used in conjunction with the vehicle by Chumbucket, Max’s assistant, or Max himself. Max’s Magnum Opus, with its V8 engine and powerful ramming ability, can destroy enemies’ vehicles and weaponry.
The oldest game on this list, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl still manages to give a strong competition to most of the open world games of this generation. The idea of fusing first-person shooter mechanics with an open world is a tantalizing one, and it is something that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. manages to pull off in great fashion. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes place in an area called “The Zone”, which is based on the real-life Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where the tragic 1986 Chernobyl disaster took place, and partly on the settings of the source novel and film.
No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure open-world survival game by the indie studio Hello Games. The game quickly gained popularity due to its open world experience. It’s tough to comprehend what the game has to offer without actually playing it as there’s an entire galaxy waiting to be explored.
Elite: Dangerous is a game for anyone who grew up looking up the stars, watching Star Trek or some variation thereof with their parents, and dreamt of being an astronaut and exploring the distant skies, or even galaxies. It’s one of the most enthralling and evocative space combat and trade sim games ever made.
21. Death Stranding
Apart from Last of Us Part II, if there’s one game that got the ire of the gaming community only to redeem itself as the time passed is Death Stranding. Create by Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding is a post-apocalyptic cargo delivery SIM that will test your patience. But if you don’t give up and keep on playing the game, it will be rewarding at the end.
Download Death Stranding ($59.99)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is one of the best games released in 2019. It has not only won the hearts of gamers but also won many awards across the spectrum. Made by the legendary gaming company FromSoftware (makers of games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne), Sekiro remains true to the company’s DNA.
Download Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ($59.99)
Q. Which open world game is best?
It’s hard to crown any game as the best open-world game as it depends on the player’s preference. For me, The Witcher 3 remains the best open world game of all time. Others may prefer GTA V or Sekiro or Red Dead Redemption 2.
Most of the open world games feature fantastical elements so it would be hard to find a realistic open world game. If you want an answer, I believe that GTA 5 displays the best representation of the city that the game is based in.
In gaming terminology, an open world gameplay refers to types of games where players are free to explore the virtual world and are not restricted by a linear gameplay mechanics.
Q. Is Metro 2033 open world?
No, Metro 2033 is a level-based game that can be quantified as a linear game.
