This past week, the Queen Mother of all open-world games, Grand Theft Auto V, rerelased on current gen consoles as well as Far Cry 4. Open world games are becoming more and more frequent and in honor of this, we decided to get together and list some our favorites. This week is The Top 5: Open World Games!

John:

5. Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag is one of the best games in the series. Black Flag got rid of the crowded cities and open country of the previous games and replaced them with an absolutely beautiful Caribbean world to explore. More importantly, Black Flag replaced the uptight protagonists with one that was constantly drunk and searching for easy money. Edward Kenway was goofier than other characters, and he spent all of his time with famous pirates like Blackbeard.

Sure, Black Flag had a cool Pirate setting—which I loved—but the best part of the game was the pirate ship. Right from the beginning of the game, you had the ability to sail around the Caribbean and wreak havoc on colonies and other ships. Even better, some of the battles took place during humongous storms that could easily destroy your ship. Also, you could kill a white whale.

Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag had some of the most entertaining gameplay and one of the prettiest worlds to explore, and I loved it.

4. Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 should have been a terrible game. The main characters were stupid, the world was huge, and there was a Skrillex song constantly playing during one mission. This was a recipe for disaster, but Far Cry 3 ended up being an utterly insane game that was a hell of a good time. This game literally allowed you to blow up a Komodo Dragon with an explosive arrow before setting a dangerous animal free in a pirate-controlled camp. Afterwards, you could simply grab a hang glider and fly off to freedom. The wide-open world was spectacular, and the story was even pretty good (minus the weird villager drug sequences).

Far Cry 3 also offered some entertaining methods for killing folks. Regular guns were included, but I normally stuck with a combination of exploding arrows, a silenced pistol, and my knife. Not much was more fun than jumping off of a ledge and stabbing a dude in the face right before throwing a knife into another dude’s skull. Free roaming choice at its best.

Also, I died by jumping off of an exploding dock and landing in an alligator’s mouth. Where else can you get that experience?

3. The Saboteur

Look, I know The Saboteur isn’t a great game, but it’s one of my all-time favorites. I absolutely loved the World War II alternate history setting that played out in Paris. Plus, I can’t get enough of the color scheme that Pandemic (RIP) used to set their game apart from the crowd. The black and white, Nazi-controlled areas are super depressing, but the free areas and open countryside are brightly colored and picturesque. Hell, I even thought the story was interesting—although I am in the minority.

The Saboteur may have played like a weird mixture of Assassins Creed and Grand Theft Auto, but it had some unique qualities on display. For example, the protagonist, Sean, was a racecar driver who also happened to love explosives, so the majority of his time was spent traveling around a massive version of Paris while blowing up Nazi watchtowers. Plus, what other games gave you the option to smoke a cigarette every time an enemy was suspicious of you? Yes, The Saboteur was fairly dumb and had some glitches (you could smoke a rocket instead of a cigarette), but I didn’t care. I put over 100 hours into two separate playthroughs, and I completed literally every objective in the game both times.

On a final note, The Saboteur had two hidden areas where you could play Duck Hunt. It. Was. Awesome.

2. Red Dead Redemption

Silverado is the best movie ever made, and the discussion ends there. Why does Silverado matter to this discussion? Well, cowboys are great subjects for movies, but video games haven’t been able to recreate this awesomeness. Gun and Red Dead Revolver were decent enough, but Mad Dog McCree was downright terrible. Thankfully, Rockstar decided to create an epic cowboy adventure that took a man named John Marston across the Old West and Mexico.

Red Dead Redemption is a wide-open world that is amazingly realized, complete with bandits, stagecoaches, and saloons. Additionally, Red Dead Redemption was one of the first games to create unique events that would appear in the middle of the open world. For example, you would be riding a horse (that you captured or bought) across the plains when a random person would come running out of nowhere. This person could be a bandit setting you up for an attack, or they could be a helpless person trying to find a lost family member. Red Dead Redemption is an exceptionally written game with a fantastic story and a better protagonist. All of the wide-open hijinks, unique side characters, and little touches made Red Dead Redemption one of the best games of the last generation. Plus, you could cheat at poker and “win” by gunning down your accuser.

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Rockstar Games has been cranking out solid gold for the past two console generations. They made open world games an important part of the video game industry with Grand Theft Auto III, continued the trend with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and created a showstopper with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Obviously, Rockstar created fancier versions of GTA with Grand Theft Auto IV and V, but San Andreas was the best game in the series for multiple reasons. I mean, what other games included Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Penn as dirty cops and Peter Fonda as a crazy, drug-dealing hippie?

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the first game in the series that went absolutely crazy with customization options. You could make CJ as fat or ripped as you wanted, and you could dress him up in ridiculous outfits. More importantly, San Andreas let you customize almost any car to your heart’s content, including hydraulic systems and blinged-out rims. San Andreas was also the first Grand Theft Auto to take you across multiple cities and desert areas in your quest to avoid dirty cops and save your hood. To top it all off, San Andreas featured one of the coolest series of missions that ended in a casino robbery in Las Vegas, complete with a parachute escape.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas may not be technologically advanced now, but it was one of the most impressive games on the PlayStation 2. The PC version was even better because you could install mods that changed random cars into the General Lee or the A-Team ­van.

Bryan:

5. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind had an open world was beautiful and groundbreaking. It allowed for nearly total freedom, letting players find creative spell/enchantment combinations to break the game. Nothing was quite as awesome as levitating through the countryside sniping guards with arrows except for when you happen upon some super jump scrolls(or potions, I forget which) which along with a slow fall spell let you jump for miles Tons of randomly found items and quests made exploring worthwhile. While the main questline of the game is definitely the weakest part the sheer volume of quests and dungeons thrust upon you make the game memorable and worth playing for any fan of open world titles.

4. Red Dead Redemption

Quite a few open world games suffer from lack of plot, but Red Dead Redemption is not one of those games. The fantastic story is accompanied by a vast map of Texas and Mexico to explore. The open-world is accompanied by a solid reward system, which allows you improve by hunting the animals spread throughout the countryside. John Marston is also able to hunt down wanted criminals and engage in duels, which are all quite fun. The wide world of Red Dead Redemption is most easily traversed by horse, and Marston is able to find and break faster and better horses to make travel easy. There is even an achievement for dropping someone onto the railroad tracks and waiting for a train to hit them. Red Dead Redemption gives you so much to do, and it’s why it was one of the best open world games of the last generation.

3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is one of the most memorable games I’ve ever played on the PS2. As an eighties child, revisiting the decade that I came into was a treat. Great music and a story that was excellent (even if it was just a ripoff of Scarface). All the characters were interesting and were developed well enough throughout the game. Tommy Vercetti was able to buy property throughout Vice City to increase his wealth and give him a proper crime lord feel. While it’s just fun to go crazy around the city, there are also side-missions that range from taxiing people throughout the city to dishing out vigilante justice behind the wheel of a police car. Speaking of cars, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City managed to nearly double the amount of vehicles you could steal and drive. Vice City is just purely fun and is one of the most amazing games that ever came out for the PS2.

2. Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is one of the best games ever made, pure and simple, but the sheer scope of the world is one its most positive points. Fighting through 1940’s DC in the year 2277 is made simpler due to the unique VATS system which lets the player pick out individual body parts to attack and eventually cripple. Dungeons in the form of buildings are different than the standard RPG fare and are a refreshing treat. Hidden amongst the world are one unique weapon for each type and bobble heads that offer permanent stat increases for the player.

While the story of Fallout 3 is pretty well crafted, the game never forces you to tackle it in any particular order. The player is even able to skip the first half of the main quests if he so chooses. Side-quests are all intriguing and offer amazing rewards. One of my favorites is the Canterbury Commons quest which puts the player in the middle of a fight between a superhero and a super villain. The player can even obtain these costumes for himself after beating the quest. Other side-quests even offer perks that permanently enhance the player character offering adequate rewards for searching every nook and cranny of the massive world. Fallout 3 is simply a must-play, in fact, it’s a game I play through every year. The sheer amount of content is what helps it be one of the best open-world games that has ever been made.

1. Far Cry 3

I was hesitant to pick up Far Cry 3 after being disappointed by the second title in the franchise. I’m happy to say that my concerns were quickly put to rest. Far Cry 3 was THE best title that came out back in 2012. A well crafted story was accompanied by characters that felt real.

The world was filled with tons of wild animals that were generally aggressive. Tigers, Crocodiles, Komodo Dragons, and more are hunting you nearly as much as you were hunting them. Hunting and killing rare versions of animals is one of the many things the game allows you to do aside from the main missions, and allows you upgrade your character with more storage space and other bonuses. One of the most exhilarating things in Far Cry 3 was the hang glider. There was nothing like running off the top of a mountain and soaring across nearly half the play area.

Other than hunting animals, there were tons of other things to occupy your time with. Conquering outposts in each area made the surrounding environment safer. Additionally you’d gain experience that will grow your tattoo, and by proxy increase your abilities. Finding your way to the tops of the radio towers throughout the island lets you access shops, buy and ultimately be given items. The fantastic story worth multiple playthroughs and the the huge island teeming with tons of life (both figurative and literal) make it the best open-world game that I’ve ever played.

Ryan:

5. Mass Effect

Ok so I know Mass Effect isn’t “Open World” in the tradiontal sense but it’s my favorite series of all time so it’s going on this list. I could ramble on about how great Mass Effect is for ages so we’ll keep it to a strictly open world perspective.  The giant open areas in Mass Effect offer so much I often found myself devoting entire playthroughs to running back and forth completing side missions on the citadel without ever leaving to one of the giant open planets. Between talking to NPCs, taking side missions and just knocking a few back at your favorite night club the open worlds of Mass Effect were filled with expansive fun things to do. It might not be “see that mountain, you can go to it!” But Mass Effects giant open worlds immerse you in the universe and keep you entertained for hours on end.

4. Grand Theft Auto III

This game had everything going for it. It broke the mold of what we expected a GTA game to be (I remember playing GTA3 with the top down view cause it was comfortable for a short while) it was such a graphical and map sized leap into the next generation my friends and mine young minds couldn’t handle it. Much of what I’ll remember about GTA3 will be being entirely too young to be playing it. Held up in my buddies basement with the volume turned down with someone manning the door incase a parent started coming down the steps. Taking turns seeing how far we could hold out against the cops and military when you finally got that 5 star rating then handing the controller off. Good times, I’ve never been able to have the same feeling from a GTA game like I did this one.

3. Batman Arkham City

What many consider to be the “best super hero game ever” also happens to be one of the best open world games ever as well. Its Map size isn’t the biggest but your freaking batman and can do whatever you want! After playing Arkham Asylum people fell in love with the grit and aesthetic this iteration of the Bats brought to the table and the concept of being free to glide around as we please was enough to get anyone excited. The game delivered with the same feel and combat of its predecessor but included a dense world of mysteries and side missions that made the small walled of prison city feel alive. Throw in Mark Hammil’s final run as the Joker and an excellent storyline and you have a classic. Here’s hoping Arkham Night represents the next big leap for the franchise in the open world.

 2. Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead left its marks in numerous ways, its stunning visuals, excellent score; it’s more mature tone for Rockstar but what stood out was the world. It was so delightfully full but barren at the same time. Most open world games struggle with leaving to much empty “fluff” space in the world that just increase the map size but Red Dead worked it perfectly. Even the most desolate areas featured unique rock formations and beautiful vistas, I was never opposed to just stroll with my horse and enjoy the sunset and music, just a man and his horse. Still stands as my least used fast travel open world game ever which says something. Throw on top the varying locales from snow capped mountains, to scorching desserts, to rolling country side and its evident Read Dead makes excellent use of all of its locations with abundant wildlife and roaming gangs and criminals. I can still almost hear that rampaging Bear coming up behind me.

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I’m sure I won’t be the only one to include this on my list. Skyrim was such a unique game that was on such a higher level than anything else that had come out at the time. The insane detail, the visuals, the freedom. There were nights I would think about popping it in and I had to think if I was up for all the work and dedication it would take, “one does not simply sit down and play a little Skyrim“. For me the defining characteristic that set this game apart    was the insane amount and freedom of missions. People would play 100+ hours and still not have completed the main story arch. Even beyond that it seemed the way they came and played out was so organic you would get together with friends and share a unique story and they would look at you like your crazy, they had never experienced that or seen that mission before. And this could happen day in and day out! That defining ability is what sets Skyrim apart for me in the open world genre.

I wonder how many square miles we’ve traveled in all of the various open world games we’ve played. What about you? What open world is your favorite to spend time in? Let us know in the comments and on our Facebook page!