The open world in video games has become synonymous with freedom. Unlike linear projects, where there is only one right path to the goal, open-world games imply the passage with complete freedom of action. Yet, the developers not always can realize an interesting, content-filled universe. That’s why we have prepared the top open-world games for you to know what is worth spending time on, and what is better to avoid. We also recommend reading guides on how to play games, for example, how to start gta online tutorial. They will also help you to know the game and its features better.
We have prepared a separate article for multiplayer games that provide the freedom of action and space for creativity. However, let’s not get distracted and move on to the best open-world games for PC.
Grand Theft Auto V
We can’t help but mention GTA in our compilation of the best open-world games. Here the players are allowed to do everything. Some respectfully perform tasks, go with friends to bowling and movies, and drive, observing the traffic rules. Others attack old ladies and fight with the police.
Each series of Grand Theft Auto contains interesting activities. In GTA IV, you can spend hours on the Internet, going to bars with Roman, and driving around Liberty City listening to pop songs. Grand Theft Auto V has more protagonists and an expanded list of jobs. In addition to completing the exciting story and secondary missions, the player can take part in street races, trade in the stock market, watch TV shows, look for parts of UFOs, explore the underwater world, take lost travelers to the local sect, hunt animals, and so on. Here it is interesting just to observe the behavior of ordinary characters – the world in GTA V is unusually rich and alive.
State of Decay 2
This game made it to our top for its original gameplay and constant updates, although three years have passed since its release.
The developer of this game is Undead Labs LLC. Judging from the name, the main and only focus of the company is the development of games about zombie apocalypses. It was founded back in 2009, and only 2 years later became an internal studio of Microsoft Game Studios.
At the moment, Undead Labs has only two games in its portfolio – State of Decay and State of Decay 2. At first glance, this looks pretty depressing, but if you look at the games themselves, it instantly becomes clear why the no-name company quickly found an influential patron in the form of Microsoft.
Both games, of course, are about human survival in a zombie apocalypse in an open world and are implemented on a very decent level. The developers from Undead Labs saddled the whole genre of zombie horror games and managed to create a fascinating RPG concept with elements of survival in the open world, which becomes more and more elaborated and fascinating with each iteration.
Modern open-world MMORPGs on PC have multiplayer features – and State of Decay 2 is no exception. You can play it with 1-2 friends, which makes the entry threshold for newcomers more comfortable. Also, keep in mind that the project has a flexible difficulty setting system, which allows you to satisfy both casual and hardcore players.
Disco Elysium
This game will definitely never get on the top MMORPG games with an open world, but it does not need it! This is a single-player RPG from the third person and isometrics rules here! The meme “Harold hiding the pain” is the best way to describe this game.
First of all, it is important to note – this game is not for everyone. It got to our top for its interesting gameplay and the possibility to understand yourself as a person and look into your inner world by means of computer games.
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
This project is well known to the Russian-speaking gaming audience as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This game is the development of the Polish game company CD Projekt Red, which has found worldwide fame thanks to the Witcher.
As can be seen from the name of the game, this is the third part in the series, and they were all developed by CD Projekt Red. As the game is based on the book series of novels in the fantasy genre (the author of the books is the Polish writer Andrej Sapkowski) – the main emphasis is placed on the development of the plot and narrative. Despite the fact that the world of The Witcher is completely fictional, the books and games on it have a distinctly Slavic flavor. They impose their own mark on the world, its characters, and what happens in it. The game has been warmly received by gamers around the world and received numerous gaming industry awards.
Gameplay-wise, The Witcher 3 is a third-person action RPG. As in previous parts of the series, players are invited to take on the role of a witch named Geralt of Rivia, whose craft is to kill various dangerous monsters for a cash reward. Geralt’s activity unfolds during an acute confrontation between different kingdoms and races that inhabit this fictional world.
When setting the game difficulty to maximum, killing monsters and game progress as a whole becomes a very difficult task. As the battles in the game take place in real-time, they become very tense, and the player must plan all his or her actions in advance, learn the features of enemies, the mechanics of combat, and making potions.
With additional content, The Witcher 3 requires 50 to 200 hours to pass, which, as many players think, makes the story too long. Yet, this is not the limit. There are those who manage to spend more than 1800 hours in the game.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Is there anyone who doesn’t know the famous fantasy universe The Elder Scrolls? There is hardly anyone who hasn’t counted the number of hours spent in Skyrim. Do you still remember the main quest, that is, going to explore the Dwemer caves and fight with giants? TES games can take more than a month of your life, opening huge worlds filled with exciting adventures. It is also possible to use different mods, for example, Skyrim realistic death physics.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you can literally live: buy a family, set up a house, learn the crafts, join all the guilds, become a favorite character and slay a dragon.