At some point during the late 2010s, open-world games started to lose their luster due to overexposure and overreliance on formulas. While a forever fixture in the gaming landscape, the genre doesn’t receive as many experimental mid-budget projects anymore, instead existing solely in the AAA or indie sphere. If you are like me and have a deep fondness for open-world games from yesteryear, then you should 100% dive into the gems that aren’t really talked about anymore.
A perfect game doesn’t exist, but that isn’t exactly what we are talking about. My definition of a “perfect” campaign is consistency; the game starts great, continues great, and ends great, with a few great distractions along the way. An open-world game that delivers a reliable 8/10 is better than a title that jumps between a 10/10 and a 5/10. These games understood that.
“Forgotten” is, obviously, hyperbole, as I’m sure plenty of folks remember these titles. However, they don’t really get discussed anymore and might be completely new names for younger gamers.
Sleeping Dogs Tells An Incredible Crime Story
A PS3-Era Open-World Masterpiece
- Perfect for approximately 20 hours.
- Pretty good DLC expansions, particularly Zodiac Tournament.
- Definitive Edition regularly goes on sale for just $2.99 on PC.
I’m always a bit hesitant to replay my favorite games from the PS2 and PS3 eras, as I’d rather leave the memories alone than spoil them with a subpar second run. However, Sleeping Dogs‘ PC version is permanently on sale for less than the price of a coffee, and I just couldn’t resist the urge to return to Hong Kong any longer.
Sadly, the combat didn’t quite live up to my rose-tinted recollection, as it is merely good rather than great; however, everything else is even better than I remember. Sleeping Dogs is one of the best open-world games of the 2010s, and one of the most complete. You get a fantastic story with a likable and complex protagonist, an impressive urban open world that is the perfect size, solid police mission side quests that add to the main plot, and rock-solid driving mechanics.
The main attraction is Wei Shen’s intense-as-heck descent into Hong Kong’s underworld, a narrative overflowing with suspense, twists, and memorable deaths. Sleeping Dogs is worth playing solely for the story, and everything else is a nice bonus.
The True Crime games deserve an honorary mention as well, although they haven’t aged as well as Sleeping Dogs.
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction Is Aggressively Fun
Sometimes You Just Want To Smash A City
- Perfect for approximately 12 hours.
- You smash buildings and cars. You know, Hulk things.
Full disclosure: I am a sucker for a Radical Entertainment open-world game. If I could justify it, I would include The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Scarface: The World is Yours, and Prototype in this article, with Prototype 2 earning an honorable mention. The developer had an amazing knack for creating games that embody chaos.
Prototype is my favorite game by Radical, but The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the most consistently brilliant, partly because it’s simpler. Hulk’s ability to jump over city blocks and sprint up buildings redefined open-world traversal at the time, and his skillset never, ever stops being fun.
The environments aren’t the most detailed or complex by any means, but they serve their purpose of supplying you with makeshift weapons, allowing Hulk to smash together cars like DUI boxing gloves. The campaign follows a fairly linear structure and avoids any padding; meanwhile, the gameplay’s creative tools and reliance on player-driven destruction keep things from feeling scripted.
Gravity Rush 2 Is Just An All-Around Masterpiece
The PlayStation Open-World Franchise That Should Have Become More
- Perfect for approximately 30 hours.
- Defying gravity.
They say “never say never,” but I’m ready to call it: Gravity Rush is dead. Perhaps because it was associated with a perpetually declining console, Japan Studio’s series struggled to make the jump from “beloved niche gem” to simply “beloved,” despite both games being highly regarded.
The first Gravity Rush is at least remembered as a marquee PS Vita title, but the much-improved sequel’s legacy is just that of a PS4 game that some people played. Nearly a decade after its release, Gravity Rush 2 has not lost a single shred of charm, with its cel-shaded visuals and vertical world-design aging extremely gracefully.
Jirga Para Lhao is a vibrant, distinct world designed perfectly to complement Kat’s gravity manipulation. Falling up toward a floating slum or dropping thousands of feet down through layer after layer of the atmosphere captures a sense of wander that few games can match.
Ultimate Spider-Man Is The Most “Comic Book” Superhero Game Ever
Spider-Man And Venom Are Here For A Fun Time, Not A Long Time
- Perfect for approximately 8 hours.
- Must-play for fans of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book.
My dream Spider-Man game would combine Insomniac’s gameplay with Ultimate Spider-Man‘s aesthetic and writing. While not the greatest superhero romp ever, Ultimate Spider-Man comes the closest to fully translating the comic book page into video game form, to the point of actually being semi-canonical.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, the story fit the Ultimate Spider-Man comic timeline pretty well during its initial release, and some of its ideas would be explored further in the “War of the Symbiotes” arc that would eventually follow. The game lets you control both Spidey and Venom, who have wildly different gameplay styles, with the symbiote being a proper brute designed to embrace chaos.
Look, Ultimate Spider-Man is way too short to be really described as a fantastic game, but it’s an absolute blast while it lasts. The combat is basic but solid, the web-swinging is good but not quite on Spider-Man 2‘s level, and the story is pretty great.
Lego City Undercover Is The Perfect GTA For Kids
Collect-A-Thon Done Right
- Perfect for approximately 20 hours.
- The second-best undercover cop story in this article, but it is closer than you would think.
Most open-world games are perfectly fine for children, but they are really designed with younger players in mind. As Grand Theft Auto is meant for older folks only (even if nobody sticks to that rule), the gaming world needs a family-friendly substitute that can prepare youngsters for San Andreas. Lego City Undercover is that game.
Honestly, labeling TT Fusion’s open-world adventure as a “children’s game” would be a disservice, as Lego City Undercover is for all ages. Everyone can enjoy its surprisingly gorgeous city, accessible puzzles, comedic tone, and unlockables. By the time it left the Wii U and debuted on popular systems, the game was very much old news, so it didn’t quite get its full moment in the sun.
