GameCentral readers discuss their favourite open world video games, from Grand Theft Auto V to Zelda: Breath Of The Wild.
The subject for this weeks Hot Topic was suggested by reader Gilo, who wanted to know what you think makes a good open world game and which games use the concept the best in terms of design, interactivity, and new ideas.
Open worlds have been going for a long time now, and we had plenty of suggestions stretching from the 8-bit era to the recent Red Dead Redemption II. Grand Theft Auto got the most mentions in general, but no one was able to agree on which one exactly was the best…
Three for the price of one
I have to say that despite its age I think that San Andreas from GTA: San Andreas is still my favourite open world. At the time it was possibly the biggest open world game and it sure felt like it. What I think elevates it above GTA V is the variety in the map. There were three cities with their own distinct architecture and personality and then you had the forest, and mountain and desert areas. Not to mention the underwater sections. The game even has four airports!
Travelling across the map from one side the other felt like you had gone on a genuine road trip. In comparison, GTA V just has one city and large forest and desert areas. Its undoubtedly more beautiful but lacks the variety of San Andreas. I hope with the next GTA Rockstar go back to this style of map.
Angry_Kurt (Twitter)
Now playing: The Gardens Between Us (Switch), Wonder Boy (Switch), and Red Dead Redemption II (PS4)
Toaster edition
The open world Ive spent most time in, and still seem to find places Ive not been before, has got to be Skyrim. Ive had it on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR, and the various Game of The Year editions. Its just too good. Someone only has to say the word Skyrim and I get that itch to go back. Ive spent hundreds of hours just wondering around.
However, for some reason I do tend to go for the same set-up every time: the sword/bow and arrow combination, rather than the myriad of other options.
I just hope Elder Scrolls VI doesnt do a Fallout 4 and turn out to be bum wash.
The_Deleted
PS: Colour me excited for the big, dumb fun that is Just Cause 4, too.
Partially open
My favourite game with a fully open world is Grand Theft Auto V.
I am not that keen on fully open world games though, as I find them quite daunting and unstructured. Games like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and the Elder Scrolls series just let you explore the world and discover things. These can be quite rewarding but I always have a fear I have missed something and often struggle to engage with them. This leads to a very large risk of me abandoning them.
Rockstar, to be fair, do a pretty good job of offering plenty of story missions that lead you through the world and take you to new places. Despite this I played very little of Red Redemption II beyond the three-hour tutorial. After a quick trip into town and a hunting expedition I returned to the far more structured Octopath Traveler, which I had started just beforehand.
The world design that most suits me is the Metroidvania approach of interlocking linear sections that come together to form an entangled maze. I really enjoy the realisation of how everything fits together and this is a key reason why I enjoyed Hollow Knight and Dark Souls so much.
The spider approach used in the recent God Of War is another I really like, as it can use the benefits of linearity where sections of the story can be paced precisely by the developers and choreographed action sequences can also be used. But this structure also allows for exploration and discovery within the confides of fixed smaller areas.
There is also the gated open world approach of Horizon Zero Dawn, early Grand Theft Autos, early Assassins Creeds, and The Witcher 3. I find this design a little friendlier than true open world as I can get the feeling of completing an area before moving onto the next. This game structure seems to have become less popular of late though and has received large amounts of criticism in the past.
It is clear that open worlds are here to stay which is not really to my taste but the implementation of them does seem to be progressively improving.
PazJohnMitch
Advertisement
Advertisement
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
The big outdoors
It was a good game, rather than a great one, but I really liked the open world in Far Cry 5. With the dense woodland and winding rivers it felt like the real world a lot more than any other to me. I actually appreciated that it felt a little more empty than normal for this sort of thing, especially a Ubisoft game, as it made it feel more realistic and like you were really all alone in the wilderness.
Think about it for this Hot Topic I really think it was the best part of the game and compensated for a lot of the more mediocre elements, especially the story.
Its interesting because sometimes an open world can take away from a game (I really dont think NieR: Automata needed to be one) and sometimes its the making of it. Its not just the design of the map itself but the way it works with and complements the gameplay, and I think in that way Far Cry 5 worked.
Soldat
Night and day
Im not sure how many other people are going to think of this one but Forza Horizon 4 has an amazing open world, they all do really. Obviously its a racing game, so you cant get out an explore exactly, but its still a huge map thats really fun to drive around in and find all these secrets you didnt expect.
It also happens to have the best graphics Ive ever seen for an open world game, except maybe Red Dead Redemption II. But I can tell you I enjoyed burning round in my Aston Martin a lot more than I did my stupid nag of a horse.
The weather effects are also amazing and the whole seasons thing works perfectly. Id love to see that in more traditional open world games actually. Most have a night/day cycle but I dont remember seeing time pass into actual seasons before.
Gaffer
Forgotten Chronicles
One open world game that Im sure will get overlooked is Xenoblade Chronicles X, which I thought was absolutely stunning. The world is huge, its beautiful, and its super varied with lots to do. Because its a properly role-playing game though its not really like any other open world games and theres actually a lot to be done just exploring and level-grinding.
Despite all the Wii U ports on the Switch there doesnt seem to be any sign of it getting the same treatment, I suppose maybe because of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (which I thought was much less interesting). I hope it does happen though because its a sort of mix of a sci-fi Monster Hunter with a huge world and transforming robots. Its got everything!
Donald Duck
Advertisement
Advertisement
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Legendary world
This generation will probably be known as when the open-world-ification set in fully to big budget games, to the point where it might have been reasonable to describe open world games as a genre previously but now its such a broadly employed attribute that this doesnt really work.
The best one for me is still Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Ive seen some trying to insist that history wont look favourably on the game because of a handful of (largely agreed) flaws such as unwelcome rain, stingy stamina, breakable weapons, and unremarkable dungeons but thats to forget everything it knocks out the park as a first attempt at a modern open world game.
This includes the design of a world that, for a change, absolutely has to be open. The courage to trust players to figure things out for themselves without dumping a torrent of map markers on them, unparalleled interaction between a number of logic systems to encourage experimentation and the invisible nudge of properly considered game design to guide us to interesting and entertaining ideas at almost every turn and make us feel like we own that discovery. To have even a third of the 120 shrines feel novel and entertaining to complete, or even just to locate, is an incredible achievement but it manages much more than that.
Its ultimately about the work thats gone into filling every square yard of the game with something worthwhile. Sometimes that needs to be looked for, and Ive also seen people who say the world is too empty while going mad for games that are basically nice views filled with lots of uninteractive vacant real estate and big flashing arrows that might as well say fun this way.
A few times Ive heard Far Cry 2 had fire, Dark Souls had breakable weapons, Assassins Creed had climbing, so Breath Of The Wild cant be that revolutionary. I dont understand how anyone whos played it properly can meet it with a shrug like that but I suppose the aforementioned flaws must just be more of a dealbreaker for some.
There were concerns about the game when it was unveiled, as some asked what open world gaming could bring to the Zelda series but for me it was always about what Zelda could bring to open world gaming. The answer was simultaneously just what I expected and a complete surprise and I dont think itll be forgotten any time soon.
Panda
Advertisement
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
The small print
New Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
If you need quick access to the GameCentral channel page please use www.metro.co.uk/games and dont forget to follow us on Twitter.
Advertisement
Advertisement
