Best open-world games?

Most of them suck and are more focused on how much there is to do per square mile rather than the quality of what there is to do. Yes, even TW3 is guilty of that to some extent but the ultimate sinner is AC Unity.

So, let's hear it.

STALKER Shadow of chernoboyl by far.

Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

Simply being in that open world was amazing fun. Other then the Arkham games, I can't think of a super hero game better than this one.

EDIT: Forgot about Mercenaries. That's actually the best open world game I've ever played. Hulk is still pretty cool though.

Sorry I don't agree with The Witcher 3...personally I thought every single side quest had some meaning, even the contracts had some contextual meaning since you're a monster slayer... You don't have to ride your horse, simply reach a fast travel point (although console players will be waiting a full minute just to fast travel). Witcher 3 for me was the perfect open world game...Hell it was the best game I've ever played

Yeah...except Skellige with the shitload of pointless Smuggler's Caches that added nothing to the game aside from more stuff per square inch. Monster Contracts also got quickly samey and repetitive. Not saying it's not a great game but it's definitely got an issue with trying to fill the map with a lot of pointless stuff to make the game longer than it really is.

Witcher 3 is borderline with the gathering stuff before it gets too much, DA:I and AC games go too far on that shit.

As much as people like to give Bethesda shit, their games actually make you want to explore the open world, GTA games are great on this too, same to a lesser extent Far Cry, this is totally missing from most open world games that are open world just for the sake of being open world. This games manage to make the game world feel alive as well, which is pretty nice given the size of em, compared to say MSGV where the world is well you know barren.

Imo good open world game is more than running around the map for collectives just for the sake of doing it and running from quest hub to another.

Yeah, Witcher 3's open world is good at simply stringing missions together. Actually exploring that world and being in it is is not all all that interesting or engaging.

Skyrim is the best open world game

The scale is impressive in TW3 but I never found that world fun to explore and they didn't give you any good reasons to. If that game world was smaller or easier to traverse it might not have been as bad.

If you enjoy bug-ridden games with two voice actors, emotionless NPC's and bottom-tier combat.

Btw speaking of Skyrim, everyone with it on PC should check out Enderal, a total conversion of Skyrim, made by SureAi a german group who also made Neherim for Oblivion. It's totally new world, almost as big as the original game itself, fully voice acted in both german and english.

Gaf thread for more info: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1263003

official site: http://enderal.com/

The best? Probably Dragon Age Inquisition for me. I just love the feel of the gameworld even if the character models are a bit naff, I sunk far too many hours into this game. Fallout 4 too, great weapon customisation and the places feel real with loads of stuff lying around to be used for upgrades. Witcher 3 has the best quests hands down but the world to me was just boring, every place feeling pretty much like the last and tbh I've had enough of Geralt now after three games and the limited armour and weapon choice is too restrictive for me. I fully expect a legion of W3 fanboys to come raging in to set me straight but to me it's a good game with excellent quests and a pretty boring world.

I get your point about pointless things to do being littered all over the place in these games but in the games I've mentioned (even W3) you really don't have to do everything and in fact that's a bad way to go about it. People always complain about this but they burn themselves out chasing every collectable and doing every pointless miniquest instead of just doing the stuff they like most.

The sillier the better:

Grand Theft Auto 2, Saint's Row 2 and Grand Theft Auto Vice City are among my favourite open world games because they don't take themselves serious.

Driving over people with an icecream truck with happy tunes coming out of the speakers ? Check
Throwing people into oncomming traffic ? Check
Mounting machine guns on the hood of your car ? Check

Also very much enjoying Dying Light at the moment.

Red Dead Redemption

I kinda agree. It was a blast for an open world game and i think is a serious candidate for one of the best open world games up to date. For my taste at least

GTA 5 / RDR / Skyrim / Fallout 3 / Witcher 3 / MGS5

Batman arkham city,origins and knight were very good.middle earth:shadow of mordor and gta vice city were nice too

Arma III

@ghosts4ever: How is that game? Saw it on gog and kind of thinking about purchasing it

its one of the best FPS ever. its very atmospheric, immersive sim.

It's not for everyone, but if you like it, you love it. :P

Maybe not THE best, but Sunset Overdrive is a blast.

@lamprey263: Red Dead was really fun. It had great atmosphere and activities. The only issue was it lacked huge Native American and Chinese immigrant presence. John Marston was great.

To answer the OP in Open Worlds, Zelda and GTA are kings of the hill. They are why the genre even exist.

Ultima 7, EVE Online, Dwarf Fortress, X3: Terran Conflict.

The New Zelda looks extremely promising too.

RDR, Assassin's Creed 4, GTA V, Arkham City and Mad Max.

*runs into hiding*

Disclaimer: Have not played TW3.

The best open world role playing game is Gothic 2: Gold. The Witcher series was heavily influenced by the Gothic series, but it's still not there yet. Overall, my favorite has got to be GTA V.

One of the greatest games ever made, and the most atmospheric from the trilogy (S.T.A.L.K.E.R is a trilogy, the first one is Shadow of Chernobyl, second one is Clear Sky and the last one is Call of Pripyat). But it's also not for everyone, it's a very hard game, basically the 'Dark Souls' of first person shooters and it does not appeal to the mainstream.

If you decide to give it a go, you'll need a couple of mods. The Zone Reclamation Project bug fix patch and the Absolute Texture packs for better graphics. There's a configurable menu that comes with Zone Reclamation Project, click here to check out its features. I recommend reducing the Head Bobbing effect, it was nauseating for me personally.

What to expect -

Also, you'll hear some recommendations regarding the Complete mods if you get into the series. Don't bother with them, they're incredibly outdated, there are far better alternatives, and they introduce numerous other bugs that weren't even in the original games.

The prototype games are up there

Saints Row IV, Sleeping Dogs, GTA San Andreas.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is one of the best ive ever played.

..samey and repetitive yet it's only the skellige part of the game that bothered you.

GTA V, RDR, Witcher 3

Witcher 3

Stalker series

When fully modded, yes.

But that in and of itself is about 20-25 hours of work.

Yep, agreed. I hear people all the time complain that there's too much meaningless sh** to do in TW3, but I totally agree with you... 99% of it is just plain awesome!

Gta V, Fallout new vegas, Saints row 3

Shadow of Chernobyl, otherwise it would be Arkham City. Otherwise I usually don't care for many games in this space outside stuff like The Witcher 3, New Vegas, Saints Row 3 and 4.

DD: Dark Arisen if it hasnt already been mentioned. Would have been best game of all time if they had been allowed to finish it.

MGS5 is the right answer. It's the rare open world game that successfully

1) allows you to play how you want

2) has a balanced difficulty

3) is open world, but also has intricate gameplay mechanics that feel like a linear single-player game.

Games like GTA and Fallout are great, but they're basic and simple. MGS is refined and complex.

Skyrim on PC with a couple of mods is very good, a good open world game is one that's enjoyable to explore outside of mission and take in the world

Skyrim is excellent at this I thought.

GTA5 has to be up there as well, I spent a good fee hours exploring the world in that game before getting stuck into the core game or online mode

@thehig1: GTAV is another good one. The worst thing about that open world is that I wish there was more to do because I just want to stay there

@mems_1224: I know, although in comparison to other open world games there's plenty to do, but I want more lol

That game suffered so badly from its Open World design.

The game was much better under more closed environments as Bitterblack Isle proved.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

Witcher 3

GTA5

Arkham City

Hulk UD

I loved AC: Unity, I thought it was a lot of fun and immensly detailed.

The Order 1886.

@iandizion713: on that game you play on full open world planet right? With access to the entire planet surface?

@Coolyfett: Yeah, you can go anywhere you want, but have to be careful cause high level stuff. Also the game has a high ceiling if you know what i mean. You can go to a spot, but youll need your Mech (skell) to fly up or at some places.

Also, no loading places like Witcher 3 and others. Its a true open world.

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is one of my favorites too. Just so many different ways to f*ck shit up, whether it was artillery/air strikes, vehicles, or just conventional weapons.

I even enjoyed Mercenaries 2 for all its flaws. It's a shame Pandemic went under and doubt EA could do anything with the license.