10 Open-World Games Most Haven’t Played, But Definitely Should

The open-world genre has exploded in popularity over the past couple of decades, featuring diverse games like the smash-hit open-world RPG Skyrim and open-world driving games like Forza Horizon 5. Open-world games are extremely diverse, and while we all know about the industry giants that dominate every single discussion, there are so many more games out there that most of us have missed for one reason or another.

You may have heard of some of these games before, and you might not, but for one reason or another, each of these open-world games is worth playing if you get the chance!

10 ELEX

Magic, Laser Guns, and Jetpacks — What More Could You Ask For?

Elex Action RPG Open-World FX Wiki Wiki Released October 17, 2017 Developer(s) Piranha Bytes Publisher(s) THQ Nordic Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Genre(s) Action RPG, Open-World

ELEX is a game that I really enjoyed, although I'm well aware that many people haven't even heard of it. It's stuck in a kind of awkward place: it's not a huge AAA game, but it's not an innovative indie game. It's not perfect, but I found it pretty fun, and if you're looking for something new and slightly off the beaten track, it's a good choice.

Its developer, Piranha Bytes, traditionally focused on things like faction choices, branching quests, exploration and discovery, and a world you can figure out as you go along. They were responsible for Gothic and Risen way back when. This is all apparent in ELEX. And you get a jetpack! ELEX is a little unpolished, but it's a solid option from an ambitious studio working with limited resources.

9 Immortals Fenyx Rising

Assassin's Creed Odyssey Meets Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Immortals Fenyx Rising Action RPG Released December 3, 2020 Developer(s) Ubisoft Quebec Publisher(s) Ubisoft Franchise Immortals Fenyx Rising Platform(s) PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Stadia, Xbox One, PC, Switch Genre(s) Action RPG

Immortals Fenyx Rising is an interesting game, because it got a lot of marketing and hype around its release, but it didn't land quite the way Ubisoft wanted. That's a shame, since it's a pretty fun game that draws on numerous influences to create something I think is pretty cool. It's got climbing, gliding, environmental puzzles, big boss battles, lots of exploration, and challenges based on mythology.

If you like Breath of the Wild, Assassin's Creed, and Greek mythology, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a pretty good fit. It's accessible, fun to play, and scratches an itch — even if it doesn't redefine the entire genre. There are some creative puzzles, too.

8 Outward: Definitive Edition

An Open World That Doesn't Go Easy On You

Outward RPG Released March 26, 2019 Developer(s) Nine Dots Studio Publisher(s) Deep Silver Platform(s) PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Developer Nine Dots Genre(s) RPG

I've waxed lyrical about Outward before, but that's because I really enjoy it. It's not your standard open world RPG, because you're explicitly not the chosen one. You aren't a special hero. You're just a guy trying to survive in a hostile world. You have to deal with hunger, thirst, temperature, disease, various injuries, equipment durability, environmental hazards, hostile creatures, and even a hostile landscape.

Outward rewards players who plan for expeditions and keep going after failures. It's a very different approach from many more popular open-world RPGs, and that is part of why lots of people haven't played it. It's not a technical masterpiece, and it is rough around the edges, but I think it's well worth playing just for a very different open-world experience than you usually get.

7 LEGO City Undercover

Bsaically Grand Theft Auto, But It's LEGO

Lego City Undercover Action Platformer Fighting Released March 18, 2013 Developer(s) TT Games, TT Fusion Publisher(s) Nintendo, TT Games, Warner Bros. Games Franchise LEGO Platform(s) Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 4 Genre(s) Action, Platformer, Fighting

Who doesn't love LEGO? We all loved it as kids, and as adults, we can finally buy those high-priced franchise tie-ins we never could as kids, so it's no wonder LEGO is now an enduring multimedia phenomenon. There are many fantastic LEGO games, but LEGO City Undercover is pretty unique.

Imagine Grand Theft Auto, but LEGO. That's basically what LEGO City Undercover is. It's a family-friendly open-world crime game featuring an open city, vehicles, police chases and disguises, collectibles, side activities, exploration, and a huge amount of environmental interactions. What's cool about LEGO City Undercover is that it isn't a licensed property — it's the LEGO City itself. LEGO City Undercover is surprisingly good at what it sets out to do, from its humor to gameplay. Its reach suffered as a Wii U exclusive, but it's since been released on Switch and PC, so if you've got a kid who loves LEGO (or you're a kid at heart like me) and wants to get into open-world games, this is a criminally good option.

6 The Saboteur

A Unique WWII Experience

The Saboteur Action-Adventure Open-World Released December 8, 2009 Developer(s) Pandemic Studios Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Platform(s) PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre(s) Action-Adventure, Open-World

Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II is a particularly rich setting for an open-world game, and The Saboteur takes us there. It's got driving and shooting, melee combat, stealth, climbing and parkour mechanics, and all the typical open-world features we love. It also has a cool visual gimmick: Nazi-controlled areas are rendered in black and white, but when you liberate them as part of the resistance, the color comes back.

It's an intriguing game that sits somewhere between GTA, Assassin's Creed, classic WWII movies, and pulpy spy fiction. It's not perfect, but it's unique. Its developer, Pandemic Studios (an unfortunate name these days, but they long predated The Event), shut down shortly after the game's release, and the game never really got the attention it deserved. You can still play it, though, and its Steam price is more than reasonable.

5 Red Faction: Guerrilla

Blow Stuff Up — Even The Stuff You Usually Can't

Red Faction: Guerilla Third-Person Shooter Released June 2, 2009 Developer(s) Volition, Reactor Zero, Kaiko Games Publisher(s) THQ, THQ Nordic Platform(s) PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Genre(s) Third-Person Shooter

You know how when you play most open-world games you can end up thinking, "I wish I could blow that building up"? Well, in Red Faction: Guerrilla, you can. You can smash through walls, destroy support structures and bridges, use your vehicles as a battering ram, and demolish enemy infrastructure. It's the type of open-world game that's perfect for people who get frustrated by hard-to-access doors or annoying walls in a typical open-world game.

The game sold reasonably well, so it's not a totally obscure title, but most people won't have played this one as the franchise just wasn't a major one. It was one of THQ's last major games before it collapsed. Fortunately, if you're looking to blow stuff up, you can buy a remastered version, Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered. There was a sequel, Red Faction: Armageddon, but it was pretty poorly received, so if you're interested, Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered is the better option.

4 Sunset Overdrive

Fun On Rails — In The Most Literal Way Possible

Sunset Overdrive Third-Person Shooter Open-World Released October 28, 2014 Developer(s) Insomniac Games Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios Platform(s) Xbox One, PC Genre(s) Third-Person Shooter, Open-World

Sunset Overdrive has a weird gimmick: you're not supposed to stay on the ground. You can use grind rails, ziplines, parkour, acrobatics, and water traversal to navigate the world in a game inspired by Tony Hawk, Prince of Persia, and open-world shooters. Fun, chaotic navigation is the entire point of Sunset Overdrive, and it does it really well. It's not grimdark and serious; it's funny and fun.

The game apparently made very limited profit for Insomniac Games, despite its universally good reviews. This is partly because it was an Xbox One exclusive that didn't get a PC release until 2018, four years after its initial launch. A massive number of people who might have loved it simply never got to play it. I think this game brings something new to the genre, and it's available on Steam for a very reasonable price!

3 Eastshade

An Open World Experience With No Combat

Eastshade Adventure Open-World Released February 13, 2019 Developer(s) Eastshade Studios Publisher(s) Eastshade Studios Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Genre(s) Adventure, Open-World

Combat and combat systems are a massive draw for many open-world games. A really satisfying combat system can be amazing in the right open world. I absolutely loved the combat in Dragon's Dogma II, for example — I spent hours killing things as a Mystic Spearhand. But what if an open-world game didn't have combat? Would that be interesting at all?

Eastshade tries to answer that question with an emphatic "yes." You play as a traveling painter exploring an island full of anthropomorphic animals. You don't kill enemies. Instead, you meet people and solve their problems, explore and discover locations, paint landscapes, and complete quests. If you enjoy exploration and questing but not combat, Eastshade is a fantastic option. It's not for everyone, but it does go a long way to show that you don't need combat in an open-world game if you've got engaging systems outside that.

2 Gravity Rush 2

Bend Gravity and Have Fun Doing It

Gravity Rush 2 Action Adventure Released January 20, 2017 Developer(s) JapanStudio Publisher(s) Sony Franchise Gravity Rush Platform(s) PlayStation 4 Genre(s) Action, Adventure

Gravity Rush 2 is a fascinating game where you can change the direction of gravity. That means you can fall upwards — basically, fly. You can run along walls, launch yourself between buildings, fight while changing the direction of gravity, and explore the city from weird angles.

This makes movement into Gravity Rush 2's central concept. It's an interesting 3D approach that turns the conventional open-world design on its head, side, and back all at once. Unfortunately, Gravity Rush 2 was a PS4 exclusive sequel to a PS Vita game, so it wasn't the most famous game even during its launch. But that's unfortunate, because it's unique and offers something pretty cool among a sea of very similar open-world games.

1 Kenshi

A Vast Open World That Doesn't Care About You One Bit

Kenshi RPG Open-World Survival Released December 6, 2018 Developer(s) Lo-Fi Games Publisher(s) Lo-Fi Games Platform(s) PC Genre(s) RPG, Open-World, Survival

Kenshi is a conceptually interesting open-world game where you start as a completely ordinary person in a hostile world. It's an open sandbox world where you can do basically anything you want. You can recruit characters, build a squad, establish settlements, trade, become a criminal or mercenary, join factions, create factions, take over locations... the list of things to do is pretty massive.

The game is also quite punishing, and its main draw is the simulation that is itself a major source of its difficulty. As an indie PC exclusive, it doesn't have a massive reach, and its niche appeal only shrinks it further. That said, I love Kenshi despite not being very good at it. It has an enormous game world that absolutely does not care for the player at all, and if you're looking for an unscripted emergent experience set in a wide world, Kenshi will deliver.