I would say wait on Hard Reset Redux, as it will probably be on sale sometime over the summer. I've made that mistake with buying games from the PS Store when they first come out, only having them show up on a flash sale or on the free games for the month within the next 2-3 months.

Borderlands series, although it's an RPG lite--more like openworld first person shooter with skill trees and quests. But, it has a post apocalyptic feel to it and some decent humor. Also, the Handsome Jack Collection on the consoles is 2 games with all of their expansions which is a great value for the money. As far as Fallout 4, I like the new mechanics introduced, but the quests don't have the choices/morally grey situations that New Vegas had--Bethesda doesn't seem to be nearly as good at storytelling as Obsidian. Also, if you like their work, try Alpha Protocol, the reviewers were harsh on it, but it's a good game. They didn't seem to understand the combat was based on your stats and dice rolling behind the scenes and thought is was a 3rd person shooter.

What SoNin360 said, but I would also add the other Assassin's creed games Unity and Syndicate as well as Far Cry Primal. Dead Island is good bang for the buck as it's 2 games and it's like 40bucks new if you didn't play it on the previous generation consoles. Also, Darksiders 2 is open world. Borderlands Handsome Jack Collection is worth it as well.

I have both and honestly, it depends on what you want to do. I barely played about 2 hours of Far Cry Primal and about 25 hours so far with the Division. The new Far Cry has made some changes to the formula, with more resource gathering and crafting than the previous games. The Caveman setting is different too. Going through the missions lists, there's only about 13 main story missions. I do know that you have to build up your settlement by rescuing people and stuff like that. Otherwise, it feels like a Far Cry game, but with primitive weapons. I liked Far Cry 4, but had more fun with Far Cry 3.

The Division is a 3rd person RPG/Shooter. It is structured kind of like an MMO--you have main missions and you unlock safe houses in each sector of Manhattan. This in turn opens up side missions, which are simplistic--go to this point and defend the supplies, disrupt the arms deal, etc. There's a lot of collectibles to find. The main missions are way better--not sure how many of them there are. You also have a main headquarters that you upgrade. I've only completed about 40% of the sectors so far. You do level up, gain skills and perks etc. The game can be played COOP--up to 4 people over the internet (not split-screen) or solo. The mechanics are more like Gears of War/Mass Effect, with the cover system, enemies are RPG--they have health bars and can be bullet sponges. The loot is more like Borderlands and MMOs. It also has a large Multiplayer zone where its a free for all, with its own leveling up system, but it is integrated into the game map. So unlike games like COD, it is not a separate game mode.

I would say, figure out if you want a First Person game or a third person game and if you prefer a modern setting or not as both games should be pretty lengthy.

I have played about 25 hours so far and have only explored maybe 40% of the game map. I have played in the Dark Zone a couple of times. To me, I would compare the game to an open world Gears of War/Mass Effect 2 rather than Destiny or COD, as the mechanics of cover and bullet sponginess--feels a lot more like Gears. However, this game is an RPG first, shooter second--similar to Borderlands. Some of the enemies are bullet sponges, but head shots and shooting weak spots on bosses work pretty well. With a marksmanship rifle, you can kill a normal enemy with 1-2 headshots. Also, if you use your skills correctly, it makes combat easier--ie if you use the radar/scan skill, you get a high % of critical shots. Also, use your special ammo on tougher enemies. One thing with the game, each area is rated for a certain level. If you're using low level weapons in a high level area, expect to not damage the enemies very much. The biggest thing that you have un-learn from COD and normal shooters is don't get attached to a particular weapon. For example, you have a level 4 M4 rifle, but you are currently level 8 and you find a level 8 SCAR or ACR. You can take the weapons mods off and switch put them on the new weapon as it will be doing more damage--at that level, could be up to 100 damage per shot. The game does make comparing stats easy. One other thing--as you complete side missions, you do get blueprints and can craft weapons, so you don't have to wait to find them or buy them from the vendors.

I'm playing the campaign solo (Non DZ can be played COOP with up to 4 players) and DZ solo. The DZ can be fun, as you don't know if other players will back you up or shoot you--I've had a few people shoot me and take the stuff I had found, but for the most part, I usually see people work together to secure the extraction points and I've been healed/revived by random players before. Once you attack another player, you get a bounty and show up on the minimap. You also gain more money/exp for taking out rogue agents, so sometimes it can be worthwhile to go after them, as well as possibly getting your stuff back.

Overall, I am enjoying the game. Is it the greatest game ever?--no, but I'm getting my money's worth. Nothing is worse than spending $60 and getting a 4-5 hour campaign. The game being always online is not a big deal in this game for people that want to play solo, as you only see other players at the safe-houses or if you're in the Dark Zone.

The only game on the list I didn't finish was GTAV. To me, GTA are cool games, but I've only finished Vice City out of all of them. I liked SR4 a lot. To me the Saint's Row games are a great counter to GTA. They (3 and 4) don't take themselves nearly as serious, and the juvenile humor is pretty over the top. It was some of the smaller things in the game that had me laughing hard--the romance companion options (making fun of Mass Effect) to the music in the Game--You've Got the Touch was awesome at the final battle. Then again, I also liked SR3. Bioshock was a great game, but definitely not open world. As for Watch Dogs, I finished it, but it felt like Assassin's Creed in the Modern World. I didn't feel let down by it, since I had only seen 1 trailer prior to the game coming out.

The Standard HDDs are too small on all the systems. I put a 2TB in the PS4 and I already have to delete games now on it. I'm not a big fan of constantly deleting and reinstalling games as it will fragment the hard drive. I put a 3TB external on the XBOX and that has plenty of space. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of problems since the November system update and it fails to recognize my external HDD half the time now. Now that games are anywhere between 30-60GB, 500GB is definitely too small.

Other good games ----Darksiders 1 and 2 (similar to Zelda); Ninja Gaiden series, Devil May Cry series, Resident Evil 4, The Evil Within---these games are linear in that you progress level by level, but you gain abilities and upgrades as you progress.

Similar to LA Noire, Mafia II was open world but linear in terms of progression. It's been a long time since I played it, but I don't think there were any side missions.

@dizonelloshar: Did you try the other Conflict games--Conflict Global Terror, or Desert Storm II?