Favorite Open-World Game?

Hey folks! I was wondering what duders around here think is the best open-world game. It doesn't have to be a straight up GTA style game, just anything with a world that you love to explore.

Personally it's Far Cry 3 for me. Something about that game is just so pleasant to run around in. In fact, it's the only game of its type that I came close to 100%-ing. (Fuck those statues though). Also, most recent Ubisoft are pretty high on my list. Black Flag and Watch_Dogs come to mind.

What about you guys?

Sleeping Dogs

Of course anything from Rockstar is gold. Saints Row The Third was amazing. Just Cause 2 was good, but got boring after a while.

Red Dead Redemption. I like open world games that feel lived in, even when you're not deliberately interacting with the world.

This goes a ways back, but Mercenaries for PS2 was the most fun I've ever had in an open-world game.

Easily Saints Row: The Third for me. I've never played anything quite like it, and yes that includes Saints Row IV.

Hmmm. I think based on time spent in a game, I would go with Crackdown followed by Saints Row The Third. I know that Saints Row is probably the better game overall, but I spent a ton of time with the original Crackdown and I still love it. There is nothing quite like scaling a building, shooting a gang boss with a rocket launcher, then kicking him to death as he explodes in a rainbow-colored cloud of orbs.

@jadegl: Oh my god, yes. Crackdown was so good. That cheat mode they added in later was great too. Hope the new one turns out okay.

Red Faction: Guerilla. Game was incredibly fun, the Geo Mod was amazing, and the mission design encouraged the best parts of the gameplay. So awesome.

Scarface: The World is Yours. Black Flag comes close but doesn't have the soundtrack/appeal of accumulating a shitload of cocaine.

Does Mount & Blade: Warband count as an open world game?

@fredchuckdave: Smuggling cocaine while watching out for border patrol and listening to push it to the limit was pretty fun. People don't really talk about that game sadly. I also remember making a pimp ass mansion with a fountain that spews out fucking cognac.

@rflx: If it does that might be my pick.

@exiledastronaut: Plus probably the best/most honest protagonist ever as far as open world games go.

Far Cry 3 is really up there for me as well, which is odd given that I actually don't like the way Ubisoft structures most of its open world games. Other than that, Saint's Row 3 and Sleeping Dogs were pretty great. Can't wait for far Cry 4 later this year.

This is my pick as well.

The best open world game I've played is Red Dead Redemption. The world was awesome in that game and overall it's one of my favorite games ever.

I feel like the way it pulls out of direct control makes it not one... great game though! I can't wait for the sequel.

@conmulligan: @rflx: Yup, anything with an open ended structure. I actually tried to get into that game a while back, the combat seemed pretty cool. But it was a bit too open for me haha

Vice City and Saints Row 2.

I would say Minecraft, but I guess that is cheating a little bit, still it is always really fun just exploring in a new direction and seeing what you come across.

But as for worlds that are actually built then I would say the Fallout games, the 1st and New Vegas to be more precise. Even though New Vegas is reliability a small land mass compared to other open world games, even Fallout 3. There is just sooooo much to do and explore and find in that world. I love it.

Fallout 3 and Red Dead Redemption, Far Cry 3 is up there too.

Fallout: New Vegas with mods for me. You could ride around to Mojave Wasteland with a functional motorcycle.

I played it like 5 or so times over due to the replay value from mods, and I don't even think I explored every nook and cranny yet! (I swear I'll play Caesar's Legion route one day)

Lightning Returns. It's not only my favorite open world game, but one of my favorite games just in general. Really fun to explore with a lot of fun things to discover, whether it be finding a route to a treasure sphere or just coming across an NPC kicking a busted vending machine. And the world is filled with some interesting, sometimes goofy, sometimes tragic personalities that really brings it to the odd sense of life that exists in the waning days of the world.

far cry 3.

Skyrim no contest. Far Cry 2, 3 and Blood Dragon were all pretty awesome too. I really like first person open world games.

Morrowind.

WoW.

If we aren't limited to city exploration games like GTA, my choices would be Elite II: Frontier, Wing Commander: Privateer and I-War II: Edge of Chaos. If we aren't talking quite that open worlds, it's probably Morrowind, Dragon's Dogma, Red Faction Guerrilla or Mercenaries.

Now I'm just hoping the upcoming sequel Elite: Dangerous will be anywhere close to as good as this.

Just Cause 2 barely edges out Red Faction: Guerrilla because of some dodgy driving mechanics and missions in the latter. Saints Row the Third is up there somewhere as well.

Edit: Fuck! Forgot about Skyrim...

Fallout New Vegas, Followed by Saints Row 2

Not entirely sure but maybe Morrowind. The game may be flawed in several aspects but I put so many hours and had so much fun I guess I have to go with it.

Convenient. It's Red Dead Redemption. I just played it again, and it's still great, but the frame rate and visuals overall aren't quite as pleasing.

Grand Theft Auto IV. V is up there now.

Spider-Man 2

Saint's Row the Third

Assassin's Creed 4 or Brotherhood

Fallout 3, followed by Read Dead Redemption.

Skyrim without a doubt followed by Saints Row 3 and Crackdown. I've never been a big fan of the Rockstar stuff. San Andreas was the only one that really appealed to me so far. I didn't take to GTA4 or RDR. I've haven't played GTA5 yet but will give it a shot this fall when it hits PS4 or PC.

Saints Row 3 is up there, and Dragon's Dogma, from gameplay perspectives. They're just a joy to play, and their level design serves them perfectly. Los Santos is also one of my favourite open world maps, but like most Rockstar games, it falls down at the gameplay hurdle. Been enjoying Black Flag recently as well but Ubisoft's open world design is completely devoid of intrigue, charisma or character.

Morrowind for my RPG pick. I was a big fan of Call of Pripyat and Red Dead. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in those games. I'm not sure if this one counts but when I was younger I loved Tachyon: the Fringe so God damned much. Its a sort of open world space sim with the main character voiced by the great Bruce Campbell. The openness is kinda superficial because it didn't have an economy system but there was a few really interesting scripted moments that you can stumble on in certain sectors of the game.

I had the most fun exploring saints row 4s open world I think. It had the fun of finding orbs aal crackdown with much cooler powers. And you get to listen to riffraff while doing it.

Shout out to sleeping dogs though for making driving fun and not having the cops magically know you killed 4 people in an ally.

Red Dead Redemption and Far Cry 3.

I enjoy hunting animals more than urban settings.

Mercenaries 2: World In Flames, only because it's the most recent (and probably last, damn you EA) Mercenaries.

Skyrim, pretty easily.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Dat Big monster combat is wonderful, nothing like stumbling across a big Chimera or Cyclops in the darkest of night while desperately trying to make a destination.

Fallout 3, but New Vegas had survival mode... Does Fez count?. This is to hard!. I'm gonna go with New Vegas... I think?.

Fallout 3. The most fun I've had exploring a game world.

World O' Warcraft.

In my head I don't really think of it as an "Open-World Game" but of course it is. Doesn't really get much more open than that.

If WoW counts, that. But if not, I gotta say Fallout 3. So much to do, a lot of impact moves, everything has a story behind it. That game is one of the greatest games in history. I love love loved Scarface by the way!

Really enjoyed this game when it came out on the Wii but a one Mr. Gerstmann seems to have a differing opinion

I'd say Fallout 3 and New Vegas. The high-fantasy world of the Elder Scrolls games never seemed to capture my imagination as well as an alternate-timeline humanity rebuilding society after the apocalypse. Then I've never enjoyed fucking around in a GTA game as much as I did in San Andreas. Really liked Red Dead Redemption, but after I was done with the story I found myself getting pretty bored with the open world after seeing everything it had to offer repetitively.

so 1. fallout 3

2. new vegas

3. san andreas

4. rdr

5. scarface

Miasmata, but if I had to pick a GTA style-game I'd pick Sleeping Dogs

Vice City for me, even though its mechanics are dated as hell at this point

Test Drive Unlimited. Having an entire island to drive around and the fairly unique multiplayer for its time, there was an incredible amount to see in that game. I played like three or four days worth of that game and still never drove on every road, I was something like 80% complete when I stopped playing. The physics/AI were a little wonky in that game, but I just remember everything about that game being so good for just cruising around, with friends or strangers. TDU2 was alright, but it took so many steps back from the first game which was really disappointing. It did have another island though, and you got to travel back to the original island a few hours into the game.

FUEL was also great for just messing about, but the core game there was a lot less fun to play.