10 Open World Games That Shaped Modern Gaming

One thing I’ve always loved about video games is their ability to immerse me in a fantasy world. It’s probably one of the reasons I enjoy open world games so much. I can’t really explain why, but I’m one of those people who likes to explore every inch of the game world to get the best views or any secret spots I can find.

Maybe it’s the reason I finished every quest, side-quest and NCPD mission available in Cyberpunk 2077 recently. Another example of me getting too deep into the game world. What can I say, I just get a kick out of games that allow me to tell my story in my own way. And that’s why I’ve been playing open world games for as long as they’ve been around.

Yes, I’m old enough to have seen and played every generation of open world games the console and PC has to offer. Which means I’ve had a front row seat to see how they’ve grown and influenced each other over the years. Some have certainly risen above others to have a huge impact on the entire gaming space as a whole. These games and the worlds contained in them stand above all others as the most influential.

10

The Legend of Zelda

The Adventure Begins

In many ways, you can trace modern open-world gaming back to its 8-bit roots with The Legend of Zelda. The quintessential adventure game takes you to the empty world of Hyrule. And if you jump to the cave on the first tile of the map and grab the sword, you’ll have a really short journey. That’s my point though. Zelda needed players to find a way to play through exploration.

If you couldn’t get past the point because you needed a bomb or a raft, there may be a place you haven’t looked that hides your solution. The game is still a fun experience to this day and a must play if you are a fan of retro titles.

9

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Making new Frenemies

Perhaps the greatest Lord of the Rings video game ever made, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor may seem like your average open world at first glance, but its proprietary Nemesis system makes it something for the history books. As you attack Orc generals and attack their castles, they will remember your victories and defeats. Your enemies may rise by kicking you or be replaced by new leaders after you decapitate them.

The power of the Nemesis system ensures that Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor’s open world experiences constant change. Of course, you can imagine my surprise when I found out that there was a second location in the game after killing almost every Orc in my enemy tree. The watchman’s job is not done.

8

Far Cry 2

Burn it

While the Far Cry series may have felt sad, rinse, repeat at this point, when Far Cry 2 launched it was a revelation. The game boasted a large map inspired by the African savannahs and allowed for a new level of environmental interaction. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played shooters that have started brush fires that have been raging out of control in FC2.

The way you can use the environment to your advantage and face multiple combat situations from any angle imaginable has become a staple of many open-world games, especially when it comes to Ubisoft’s vast catalog of open-world titles. And much of that Ubisoft design style is from Far Cry 2.

7

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Monster Mash

I think The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has a few things going for it that have made it so influential over the years. For one thing, I think it benefited from the fact that there was a lot of material from the long-running series of Witcher novels before the series became a game. Having a well-developed world and main character in Geralt of Rivia meant more immersion for players.

It didn’t hurt that the Continent was a fun place full of giant monsters. Although it’s a third-person action RPG at its core, the combat feels different as it’s a combination of setting traps, using magic, and relying on your swordsmanship skills for victory. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes many of the elements of the first two games and makes them better and that makes it easy to see why it’s such a powerful title.

6

Fall: New Vegas

The House Always Wins

When the Fallout series went first-person with Fallout 3, it was a huge moment. But, if I’m real, I find its vast, bleak desert landscape dull and strange. Then Fallout: New Vegas came on the scene and silenced many of my issues with the 3 game gameplay. It was a brighter world that guided many of the RPG elements and gave us a lively, if not dangerous, world to play in.

Many fans still consider Fallout: New Vegas to be the best entry in the series and I would have to agree with them. If you haven’t played this amazing entry in the Fallout franchise, and you’re a fan, you owe it to yourself to give it a whirl.

Fus Ro Dah

On the other side of the coin from Fallout is the fantastic epic The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game puts you in a huge open world and lets you carve your own path and tell your own story. Such a big world with so much to do and so many ways to find your next quest. There is no wrong way to be a Dragonborn.

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In many ways, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the closest we’ve ever gotten to a first-person D&D game. Skyrim has also had a very long shelf life thanks to one of the most active MOD communities out there. The freedom that Skyrim allows has had a huge impact on modern open-world RPG designs.

4

Minecraft

Building Worlds

I think the reason Minecraft has had such an impact on open world gaming is that it’s digital LEGO meets the art of survival. You can spend your days building cool things with your friends on private servers or see if you have what it takes to survive in a world full of all kinds of players. Either way, Minecraft lets you tell your story through mining and exploration.

Players have been able to build all kinds of amazing things in Minecraft, such as scale models of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise or a working virtual computer. The openness of all Minecraft modes and its signature pixelated style have helped it remain influential since its launch.

3

Elden Ring

It’s hot out there

I’m not a big fan of games like Elden Ring that are tough as nails. They often kicked my butt, hard, but that didn’t stop me from trying. It was too good and interesting not to try, even if it meant getting crushed quickly on the beach by a giant tree monster. Yet that unforgiving, tough-as-nails gameplay is exactly what makes it impactful. It took the already challenging formula of games like Dark Souls and made it even more brutal by letting you roam in any direction you saw fit on the fly.

I’ve actually tried playing Elden Ring a few times just because I was fascinated by the world and its many amazingly designed monsters. While I find that I personally lack the skills needed to succeed in such a game, it’s easy to see why so many games take place in the Elden Ring these days.

2

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

You will find it

In many ways, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild starts off like its 8-bit ancestor by letting you roam the land of Hyrule to do as you see fit. Where it really becomes a creative and impactful topic, however, is how quickly you learn to survive just by playing the game. The rules of BotW are set up in such a way that you are expected to make certain mistakes and see them as you go along. Maybe that means breaking a sword in the middle of a battle, or it might mean trying different combinations of ingredients to make the best food possible.

And among all the hidden temples and Korok characters to be found, there is an almost endless amount of interesting exploration. It also sounds like a lot of games ended up using BotW’s stamina meter after it came out. The Zelda series was known for having some very open worlds to explore, but BotW really knocked it out of the park.

1

Grand Theft Auto 3

To be wasted

This is where the current generation of open world games began in many ways. Grand Theft Auto 3 was one of, if not the first game, to let players loose on the big city map and be a little chaotic. You can travel, sure, but most of the time playing the game with friends was everyone passing the controller trying to see how long they could survive with five moving stars.

There was nothing like GTA 3 before it came out. And since its launch, we’ve seen a proliferation of open-world third-person games that come in all shapes and sizes. Almost every genre you can think of has at least one open world title among its ranks and it all started here in many ways.

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