Open-world games. Arguably, no other genre has defined modern gaming more than the expansive, experimental, and exciting places this genre has taken us to. Over the past 30 years, we’ve gone from grey, empty streets begging to be torn up in a blocky muscle car to glorious, colourful fantasy lands full of adventure and opportunity. But what are the games that have stood out the most, pushed the form forward, and ultimately led to GTA 6’s moment?
As part of IGN 30, I’m going to try to answer that question by walking you through five distinct flavours of open-world game before deciding on the greatest of them all. From web-swinging superheroes and sword-swinging monster hunters to bank heists and shrine raids, here are the 30 masterpieces of open-world game design.
00:00 - Intro
01:00 - City Living
09:10 - Superheroes
15:44 - RPGs
26:34 - Discovery and Experimentation
36:55 - Sim-like Escapism
43:30 - Overall Masterpiece
#GTA6 #OpenWorld #IGN