Palworld

Metacritic Score: N/A (Still In Early Access)

A lot of people think that Palworld is just Pokémon with guns, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, Palworld does a good job of combining different types of games. Since it is still in Early Access, bigger and better things are on the way for it when it comes out as a full version.

There are some parts of Palworld that aren't very good, but the gunplay is great. It takes a while to get used to shooting cute animals, but Palworld's shooting techniques keep people interested without making things too violent.

Mad Max

Metacritic Score: 69

In the past, there were a lot of games that were based on movies. As with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and most kids' movies, game companies would often try to cash in on the popularity of movies by making a 6–8-hour adventure based on them. But these kinds of games haven't been made for a while now because makers had to meet often ridiculously short deadlines for them, which meant that the games weren't very good.

Some movies and properties, like the Mad Max series, are just begging to be turned into video games, even though many gamers are skeptical of movie-based games in general. Mad Max came out not long after Mad Max: Fury Road, but it's not a straight sequel. This is probably why Mad Max was a hit: the makers didn't have to base their game on a 90- to 160-minute movie, which is what most tie-in games have to do.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

Metacritic Score: 70

In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, two interesting and controversial changes were made to the Ghost Recon name. For one thing, it was the first game in the series to have an open world. Also, it takes place in the present day instead of the future like Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter did.

Although fans have different opinions on the two changes, there is no denying how beautiful the open world is. It makes the game fun to look at and explore. A steady stream of updates and fixes has made a lot of people change their minds and now think that Ghost Recon Wildlands is one of the best games in the series.

Days Gone

Metacritic Score: 71

The game Days Gone was made by Bend Studio and came out first on PlayStation 4 in April 2019. Like many new PlayStation games, it later came out on PC in May 2021. There were some problems and bugs when the game first came out, but now it's pretty stable on both systems for people who want to play it.

The action-adventure game takes place in a world after the end of the world. It follows bounty hunter Deacon St. John as he looks for his wife and completes many side tasks along the way. However, both fans and reviewers had different thoughts on the game. It did win a few awards, including PlayStation Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.

Mercenaries 2: World In Flames

Metacritic Score: 72

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was made by Pandemic Studios. It is a crazy action game that is a lot of fun to play and has a lot of weapons and cars to use, like the Just Cause games. More people who like action-packed first-person shooter games set in an open world should check this game out.

Due to its story, the action game became a surprising source of political problems in 2008. The game is set in a made-up war-torn country called Venezuela, and the goal is to eliminate the president of that country. As you might expect, this didn't go over very well in the country, and the game was accused of being propaganda.

The Saboteur

Metacritic Score: 73

Like The Mercenaries 2, The Saboteur was made by Pandemic Studios and released by Electronic Arts, a big name in the gaming business. The Saboteur is set in Paris during World War II, when the Nazis were in charge. The game has an interesting art style that ties in with the gameplay. For example, places that are mostly controlled by Nazi forces are shown in black and white, with only a few things in color, like blood and certain symbols.

Taking out Nazi forces and destroying their base of operations is how this game's gameplay is pretty unique. Players have to bring color and life back to Paris's different neighborhoods. Each area is filled with happiness when it is freed, and the dull black-and-white art style is replaced with a splash of color that feels very good.

Mafia 2

Metacritic Score: 74

Mafia 2 is a fun and dramatic game set in the 1940s and 1950s that does a lot of good things with that time period. The story of the game is about Vito Scaletta, a young Italian-American man who joins the criminal underground to support his family.

The world of the game is very detailed and immersive, and there are a lot of vehicles, weapons, and cinematic tasks. Many fans thought it was by far the best game in the series because of how interesting the story was and how memorable the characters were. The open world can feel dull and dead at times, but that's the only bad thing about an otherwise great experience.

Mafia: Definitive Edition

Metacritic Score: 78

Mafia is one of the most interesting open-world games that came out around the same time as Grand Theft Auto. Many people didn't like how the open world didn't react, but Mafia's story more than made up for its weakness in the sandbox area.

Players were glad that Mafia: Definitive Edition fixed the problems with the original game because it was already getting old. There is more beauty in the world than ever before, and the shooting skills are great. Players can have a great time and really feel like they are part of the Mafia.

Gun

Metacritic Score: 79

There's no way that a game called Gun would appeal to everyone, which is why a lot of people haven't heard of this open-world third-person shooter from 2005. The rather dull name of the game does Gun a huge disservice because it has great shooting action and a great Western-themed story.

Setting Gun in a real place takes things to a whole new level and makes the whole game a blast to play. Gun is a great game for classic shooting fans who don't mind the old-school graphics. They'll have a great time eliminating waves of enemies and finding out a great story.

Infamous: Second Son

Metacritic Score: 80

Fans of the PS4 needed it to come out with a bang, and a new Infamous game that changed things up a lot was the best thing for fans to get their teeth into. People may not remember much about Second Son's story, but fans loved the game's great graphics and gameplay.

But Infamous: Second Son really shines when it comes to presentation, graphics, and gameplay. The open-world activities and morality system may not have held up that well over time. The new skills Delsin has are fun to play around with, and having a lot of choices is always nice.

Just Cause 2

Metacritic Score: 81

This game, Just Cause 2, is good for people who just want to have fun, no matter how silly or unrealistic the events are. In a way similar to Saints Row, the second game in the Just Cause series took the extreme features to a whole new level. The gameplay became even more explosive.

The action in Just Cause 2 was a big hit, and it quickly became one of the most beloved games in the series. For fans who just want to blow up everything in the game world, it has a lot of damage and explosive goodness. The grappling hook was also just as fun as ever.

Sunset Overdrive

Metacritic Score: 81

This is another crazy open-world shooter called Sunset Overdrive, which came out in 2014 from Microsoft Studios. Insomniac Games made the game. They are best known for making the Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man games.

Like Saints Row 4, Sunset Overdrive gives up reality for crazy and fun action, all to make Doodle Jump as fun as possible. Since the game came out, fans have been eagerly waiting for news of a sequel, but there hasn't been much else to go on yet.

Watch Dogs 2

Metacritic Score: 82

It's easy to forget how much people were looking forward to the first Watch Dogs game before it came out in 2014. Like the previous game, Mass Effect: Andromeda, this one got a lot of bad reviews when it came out because it didn't live up to standards. However, players are now starting to enjoy it for what it was. Watch Dogs 2 came out a little more than two years after the first game and tried to fix many of the problems with the first game, like the boring open world.

Watch Dogs 2 from Ubisoft, like the first two games in the series, feels like it could have been so much more. However, it is still a good open-world game. Not taking itself too seriously was one of the best changes from the first game. Players take control of a member of a hacker group who has a lot of fun with his friends and enjoys trying to fight back against the dystopian system that is stealing everyone's privacy.

The Division 2

Metacritic Score: 82

In Tom Clancy's The Division 2, you play as an action-RPG in Washington, D.C. of games where teams of up to four people can fight. Not long after the game came out, Ubisoft said that it had not sold as well as they had hoped. But thanks to word of mouth and good reviews from some of its players, The Division 2 has now sold more than 10 million copies.

The Division 2 sold a lot of copies and got good reviews from reviewers. It got an 84 on Metacritic and was nominated for the Best Action/Adventure award at The Game Awards 2018.

Crackdown

Metacritic Score: 83

Realtime Worlds made this 2007 Xbox 360-only game called Crackdown, and its playing demo got a lot of attention. The over-the-top fun of the game, which was influenced by Grand Theft Auto, made it a blast to just pick up and play. Missions were kind of a bonus for players because they enjoyed exploring and causing chaos so much.

There have been two follow-ups to Crackdown, but neither one could quite match the magic of the first one. That's too bad, because gamers would have liked to see this series continue with more great games that might have made Crackdown a major brand. Fans can still play the first game in the series if they want to try a unique open-world game that is still fun to play on its own, even if the title can feel a little out of date at times.

Fallout: New Vegas

Metacritic Score: 84

Fallout: New Vegas is one of a kind on this list because it lets players switch between first-person and third-person views without any problems. The usual view of the game is first-person, but many people like to play it in third-person instead. A lot of gamers didn't like Fallout: New Vegas at first because it looked like nothing more than fancy Fallout 3 DLC.

But after playing the game, those people were quickly shown to be wrong. It quickly became known as one of the best action RPGs of all time, thanks in large part to the fact that players have so much freedom in it, which makes it a great example of the role-playing genre. Why do so many people keep raving about this game? The writing is so good, there are so many interesting groups, the combat is fun, and the story is one of the best ever written for a Fallout game.

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Metacritic Score: 85

This is a science fiction game called Red Faction: Guerrilla. It takes place on Mars. In 2009, the game stood out because of its destructible settings. This may not seem like a big deal now, but it was a big deal at the time, and many players liked just shooting buildings and watching them fall.

Red Faction: Guerrilla just got an updated version, which was cleverly called Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered. The game just came out in June 2018, which is a great reason to play it again.

Saints Row 4

Metacritic Score: 86

Some years ago, people thought that the Saints Row series was more serious than the Grand Theft Auto series. That time seems like a long time ago now. Now it's the exact opposite; Saints Row 4 embraces the franchise's new identity as a Grand Theft Auto-like game with all mods and cheats turned on.

Reviews were positive when Saints Row 4 came out. The PC version got an excellent 86 on Metacritic. Like its predecessor, this game puts fun above all else, and players who want to get caught up in a whirlpool of chaos and destruction will have a great time with it. Fans may be sad that their favorite open-world series is pretty much over since the Saints Row reboot was a huge failure, but Saints Row 4 and the other games in this over-the-top series can still be played today and are a great reminder of what Volition did as a studio before they went out of business.

L.A. Noire

Metacritic Score: 89

L.A. Noire is the first Rockstar game to come up in this conversation, but it won't be the last. Noire made a lot of waves in 2011 with its unique way of investigating crime scenes. Someone did say some bad things about the game, and the face animations don't look great now, but L.A. Noire is still a great choice for gamers who want to fully experience being a detective in the 1940s.

A lot of L.A. Some problems with Noire were fixed in the recent remastering. For example, the choices that were "Truth," "Doubt," and "Lie" were changed to "Good Cop," "Bad Cop," and "Accuse." This is a simple but great change that makes more reasons for people to play this game.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

Metacritic Score: 93

In open-world games, stealth parts don't get a lot of attention. As a result, there were some doubters when gamers heard that the latest game in the famous Metal Gear Solid series would have an open world. For the most part, Kojima Productions did a great job with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. The developers not only did a great job adding stealth to the game's huge map, but they also made one of the most beautiful open worlds ever.

It was crazy how many different ways there were to complete a mission. This helped make the game feel unique and interesting, even though players could spend hours on a task. The game was fun because it was silly, which made doing each task a blast. Even though it's a shame that Kojima wasn't able to finish the game the way he wanted to before being quietly fired, the trip that led up to the disappointing ending is full of some of the best moments in video games.

Red Dead Redemption

Metacritic Score: 95

Red Dead Redemption is an open world game that takes place in the early 1900s in the American Old West. People play as John Marston, a former criminal who has to work for the government to keep his family safe. This takes players through a huge open world with lots of different lands and animals, as well as many tasks and side activities.

The story is very interesting because it has a lot of different parts and characters that make it interesting. Marston has to locate and eliminate members of the criminal gang he used to be in. It was a huge hit at the time, and it's still one of the most famous Western games today, thanks in large part to its beautiful graphics.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Metacritic Score: 95

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an open-world game released in 2004. Players take control of CJ, a former gang member who goes back home to help his family after his mother dies and quickly becomes a big figure in the criminal underworld. Many people still think this is one of Rockstar's best games, even though it takes place in a made-up version of California in the 1990s.

After all these years, players are still amazed by how much Rockstar packed into this game. It has a huge open world and unique sim features that make the experience more immersive. Rockstar was way ahead of its time, and this achievement shows it. To this day, this company still sets the standard for what an open-world game can do.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Metacritic Score: 97

One of the best games ever made is Rockstar's follow up to their famous Western Red Dead Redemption. When it came out in 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 raised the bar for open-world realism with its amazing map that had some of the most realistic weather effects and wildlife features ever seen in a video game.

A lot of people were also surprised by how powerful the story was in Rockstar's Western. It gave gamers a new anti-hero to love in Arthur Morgan. It's hard to see the main character respect Dutch's charm and charismatic personality only to lose faith in him after the gang goes through some traumatic events. This gives a lot of background to what happened in the first game.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Metacritic Score: 97

All three of these games, Grand Theft Auto 4, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, were very good, but the most current GTA game wins. Ever since Grand Theft Auto 5 came out in 2013, a lot of games have tried to copy its huge success, but none of them have been able to beat Rockstar's modern classic.

Even now, there's something amazing about discovering Los Santos' huge world and enjoying the wonderful and unpredictable nature of this open world. It's possible that Rockstar's task design is a bit out of date and needs to be updated to match the chaos that can happen in their sandboxes at any time, but that's really the only thing that could be said against a game that is so great in almost every other way.