Top 10 Open World PC Games
These days, open world can be considered its own genre. You can find accurate depictions of real-life cities or countries, huge fictional expanses with their own landmarks, complete worlds to check out – or even entire galaxies, depending on where you want to go on your next open-world gaming adventure. The cool thing about the best open-world games is that they can come in various forms: the important feature is that they allow you to explore freely. As such, our list of top open-world story based games features everything from the FPS To RPG. So without wasting any time lets get started.
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
While its world is broken up into a series of miniature open-world regions, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt fills each one with enough detail and character that they feel like one cohesive world. Whether you’re tracking beasts across the battle-scarred plains of Velen, exploring the cobbled streets of Novigrad, or skulking through ancient woodlands, CD Project Red has crafted a world that feels authentic and fantastical in equal measure. And your exploration through these rugged locales is constantly rewarded with new quests, characters, beasts, and encounters. In The Witcher 3 you never want fast travel around the map for fear of missing out on a new and exciting adventure, and what higher praise could there be for an open-world game?
FALLOUT 4
You can sink a lot of hours into Fallout 4. From traversing the dusty post-apocalyptic plains to scavenging hidden resources to build a base and survive this new, uncertain future. The retro-futuristic wasteland of Boston, MA is brimming with adventures, memorable characters, and more locations than you could visit over the course of a 100-hour playthrough. Whether you’re battling through the mutant-infested streets of downtown Boston, braving the heavily irradiated Glowing Sea, or taking a tour of the Salem Witch Museum, Fallout 4’s gigantic open world never feels empty. Before you set off in your hazmat suit to explore the wastes, be sure to check out our beginner’s guide to Fallout 4, or if you’re ahead of the curve (the game was of course released in 2015) then see our guides to all the best Fallout 4 mods and Fallout 4 console commands to tweak the experience further.
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
In RDR2, you’ll play as Arthur Morgan, a wanted outlaw and part of the Van der Linde gang, led by the infamous and duplicitous, Dutch. Even though the gang’s fate is sealed, hope is an involuntary reaction that will carry you through this melancholy love letter to the Old West. But it’s Rockstar’s immensely detailed open world that makes Red Dead Redemption 2 so special. The diverse landscape changes from frozen lakes and snowy mountain edges, to dusty plains, and murky swamp waters. NPCs are responsive to your character’s honor bar, and will react to your presence in town, depending on how well behaved you’ve been. If a bounty is out for you, you’ll need to visit the local post office to pay it off before you can enter freely into ‘wanted’ territory or risk being hunted down by bounty hunters
GRAND THEFT AUTO 5
While Grand Theft Auto 3 basically pioneered the 3D open-world game, GTA 5 is the culmination of everything Rockstar wanted to achieve with that innovative experience. The ridiculously large area of San Andreas is your playground, including the LA-inspired city of Los Santos, and it’s one of the most detailed open-world regions seen before or since in a game. There are eastern eggs, stores, sports, and countless side missions to occupy you wherever you end up.
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT
“Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman” should be the mantra for all open-world games. Rocksteady’s third and final foray into the world of the Dark Knight boasts a near-complete recreation of Gotham City, and while it’s a smaller play area than most other open-world games – few are as painstakingly detailed and littered with fan service as in this superhero game. Every square meter of Gotham has something of interest to catch your attention, whether it’s a dastardly murder, an interesting encounter, an intriguing riddle, a gang of ne’er-do-wells to beat up, or a billboard advertisement that you should really take another look at after you’re doused with Scarecrow juice. Getting around the city is a lot of fun, too, from the satisfying grapple-glides to barreling through the streets in the Batmobile.
ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is where the series finally transitioned from stealth game to full-blown open-world RPG. And like all of the best open-world RPGs, it’s full of character moments, major decisions to make, and clumsy horse riding mechanics. Odyssey also boasts the largest and most absurd Assassin’s Creed map in the series, covering the entire Ancient Greek world, from Cephalonia to Crete. Despite the vast playing area, Ubisoft has managed to pack an incredible amount of detail into this gorgeous open world – with cities, towns, temples, hidden caves, outposts, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey tombs to explore. The studio’s even taken a leaf out of Nintendo’s recent open-world classic The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by introducing Exploration mode, where map markers don’t exist, allowing you to immerse yourself in the Greek countryside properly.
WATCH DOGS 2
In a world where Grand Theft Auto 5 exists, it can be difficult to release another modern, open-world city-based game. But Ubisoft found a way to freshen up the formula by adding hacking, Dark Souls-like game invasions, and sharper social and political commentary. Watch Dogs 2 does all that in a slightly condensed, caricatured, but believable recreation of San Francisco. And it’s brilliants. The troubles of main character Marcus and the misfit hacker group Dede make for a far more satisfying and friendly backdrop than that of the first game. The sequel was finally allowed to take the (frankly hilarious) hacking mechanic and have fun a bit of fun with it. Anything can be hacked, from smartphones and traffic lights to vehicles and security cameras, and with various drones along for the ride, the moment-to-moment gameplay is action-packed, varied, and surprisingly funny. Nothing beats hacking a parked car and using it to play bowling with any nearby security guards.
FAR CRY 5
The latest chapter in the Far Cry series takes players to the US and still manages to feel like a far cry from civilization. Hope County, Montana, is the gorgeous open-world players get to explore this time around, but you’ll have to share the experience with murderous cultists and deadly wildlife like bears, mountain lions, and wolverines on your way to your particular Far Cry 5 ending's. Most open-world games see you journeying from Point A to B to get anything done, but Far Cry 5 packs an incredible amount of excitement between those points courtesy of random encounters. Expect to be distracted by enemy jeeps, bears, VIP soldiers, roadblocks, hostage situations, car chases, or aerial bombardments – often all at once. Far Cry 5 does its damnedest to keep players in a constant state of distraction, making it very easy to lose yourself in big sky country. To top it all off, while it doesn’t work as well as a co-op game where missions are concerned, it does work brilliantly when just screwing around in the open world. So join a friend, pick a place to go to, and wait for the fireworks to start. You won’t be waiting long in Far Cry 5.
FORZA HORIZON 4
As open-world racing games become more common, it takes a truly special title to stand out from the pack. Packed with detail, while the latest Forza’s take on the British Isles is a highly truncated form of the UK, it’s still a vast area to explore – taking in the Scottish Highlands, parts of Oxford shire and Cambria, and down to Cheshire. The hills, forests, sleepy villages, and towns all provide a sense of character to the game’s map – our Forza Horizon 4 review found that it’s wonderful just to drive around and explore, even before you start talking about the beautiful visuals and the seasonal weather changes.
SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER
Experience Lara Croft’s defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara must master a deadly jungle, overcome terrifying tombs, and persevere through her darkest hour. As she races to save the world from a Maya apocalypse, Lara must become the Tomb Raider she is destined to be. Survive and Thrive: Master the jungle to survive. Explore underwater environments filled with crevasses and deep tunnel systems. Become One With the Jungle: Lara must use the jungle to her advantage to strike suddenly and disappear like a jaguar, instilling fear in her enemies. Discover Brutal Tombs: Terrifying tombs, filled with deadly puzzles, require advanced traversal techniques to be accessed. Uncover Living History: Discover a hidden city and explore the biggest Tomb Raider hub ever.
