Open-world games have been offering large playgrounds to explore since SEGA’s Jet Rocket back in 1970. Some companies, such as Bethesda and Ubisoft, are known for their open-world experiences, developing series such as The Elder Scrolls and Assassin’s Creed. Open-world games offer players a chance to break free from traditional narrative and mission structures and forge their own paths.

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While there’s an open-world game out there for everybody, there are so many, and they’re so time-consuming, that knowing which one to pick up can be a daunting task. Let's take a look at some underrated open-world games that may have slipped under your radar.

Updated November 22, 2022, by Michael Llewellyn: The open-world genre has a lot to offer fans of gaming who love to get lost in a bit of escapism. The genre covers RPGs, survival, and action, so there's something for everyone. From a medieval backdrop to the streets of Hong Kong, this list has been updated to include more underrated but excellent open-world games.

13 Sleeping Dogs

Wei Shen fighting off assailants
  • Launched: 2012
  • Developer: United Front Games
  • Platform: macOS, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
  • Genre: Action-adventure

In the vein of GTA, Sleeping Dogs is an open-world love letter to the Hong Kong kung fu movie genre. It tells the story of an undercover Asian American cop named Wei Shen, whose job is to go undercover and infiltrate the Triads.

Unfortunately for Wei, this means betraying his childhood friends and lying to loved ones. The story is well-told, and the voice acting is provided by a stellar cast that includes Will Yun Lee, Emma Stone, Celina Jade, and Tom Wilkinson.

12 Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Large battle in Kingdom Come Deliverance
  • Launched: 2018
  • Developer: Warhorse Studios
  • Platform: Luna, PC, PS4, Xbox One. Switch version TBA.
  • Genre: RPG

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a hardcore medieval RPG experience with a historical setting during the early 1400s. On the surface, the war-torn Bohemian landscape looks similar to Skyrim. However, the focus is on historical realism and lore.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance includes life-sim mechanics where survival, hunger, and even cleanliness play a part. The world is beautiful, and the combat system is realistic, deep, and challenging.

11 Days Gone

a wide shot of Deacon St. John on his bike from Days Gone driving through tall grass with mountains and trees in the distance
  • Launched: 2019
  • Developer: Bend Studios
  • Platform: PC, PS4
  • Genre: Action-adventure and survival horror

Days Gone is a survival horror game set in one of the most beautiful open worlds available on the PS4. It was developed by the same studio that created the Syphon Filter series.

As a result, the focus on stealth and action is expertly handled in Days Gone. Exploring the world on the protagonist's motorbike is always a thrilling experience. The story and characters develop nicely, and the visuals and sound are every bit the AAA first-party title it was intended.

10 Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

Player character and three pawns fighting together against a giant cyclops monster in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
  • Launched: 2013
  • Developer: Capcom
  • Platform: PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One
  • Genre: Action RPG

Dark Arisen is a JRPG in the style of a Western RPG. It offers a unique take on the party system, requiring every player to create a companion who is then loaned out to other players. They then learn more about the world, which in turn aids the protagonist. This is a great, unique feature, but the combat in Dark Arisen is where the game truly shines.

Thanks to the ability to freely swap between nine different classes, you can nimbly scale large opponents to slash at their weak spots or summon devastating magical storms and meteors to vanquish hordes of foes. It could be argued that Dragon's Dogma is a better dragon game than Skyrim. It also has a Netflix anime that fans of the game will get a lot out of.

9 Destroy All Humans!

destroy all humans Disintegrator Ray
  • Launched: 2005 and 2020
  • Developer: Black Forest Games and Pandemic Studios
  • Platform: PC, PS2, PS4, Switch, Stadia, Xbox, Xbox One
  • Genre: Action-Adventure

This satirical take on 1950s U.S. politics and society is as relevant today as it ever was. You play as Crypto, an alien clone tasked with extracting ancient DNA from unwilling humans. Armed with an array of hilariously deadly alien technology, such as an anal probe and mind control powers, you can wreak havoc on the townspeople to your heart’s content.

Destroy All Humans! is silly in the best ways. Use your telekinetic powers to juggle people in the air before electrocuting them with the Zap-o-Matic. There’s even a remake available for those who don’t want to dig out their PS2, and here is a guide to get you started.

8 Risen

Risen real time combat against a human enemy
  • Launched: 2009
  • Developer: Pirahna Bytes
  • Platform: PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One
  • Genre: RPG

Risen takes the concept of player freedom and runs with it. Don’t want to talk to that woman who you wash up on a beach with? No problem, she won’t turn up again. Don’t want to get involved with the warring factions preventing you from entering a town? Just hop a wall instead.

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Risen is set on a Sicilian-inspired island that contains undead priests, sealed-away ancient titans, and deadly creatures. You should delve in and try to uncover the island’s mysteries, but be warned, this game is tough and not for the faint of heart.

7 The Darkness

The Darkness Jackie with tenticales and guns
  • Launched: 2007
  • Developer: Starbreeze Studios
  • Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
  • Genre: FPS

The Darkness is a bloody, dark, gothic game that offers very little hand-holding to the player. Taking control of Jackie, a mobster possessed by demonic tentacles that feed on darkness and human hearts sounds edgy, and it is a bit. But, it’s also one of the weirder and more challenging open-world experiences available to gamers.

The Darkness does a great job of making you use the environment and navigate its compact but open levels. Think Deus Ex without the minimap. Using the tentacles is fun, as they each have a personality and upgradable powers to assist with the dual-wielding gunplay on offer.

6 Mad Max

Mad Max snaking around the Wasteland
  • Launched: 2015
  • Developer: Avalanche Studios
  • Platform: Linux, macOS, PC, PS4, Xbox One
  • Genre: Action-adventure

Games that tie in with films are rarely good, but Mad Max is certainly an exception. The core gameplay loop sees you constantly exploring and engaging in incredibly satisfying vehicular and hand-to-hand combat.

Upgrading your car and Max adds a real sense of progression to the game and gives you a reason to wander the wasteland. While the story isn’t great, the moment-to-moment gameplay and the stunning scenery are more than enough reasons to pick this game up. It even mocks players for getting into cars the wrong way.

5 Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Main character of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon played by 80s action star Michael Biehn
  • Launched: 2013
  • Developer: Ubisoft
  • Platform: PC, PS3, PS4, Stadia, Xbox 360, Xbox One
  • Genre: FPS

Far Cry 3’s Blood Dragon DLC adds an 80s-inspired action sci-fi theme to the tropical island of Rakyat. You play as Rex Power Colt, a cyber soldier, basically RoboCop on acid. The retro-futuristic style combined with guilty pleasure action cliches makes this a wonderfully wacky experience.

Blood Dragon went under the radar at launch. Available as a standalone DLC, there’s no excuse not to try the Blood Dragon DLC expansion.

4 Sunset Overdrive

Sunset Overdrive Cleaned Steam Poster Image
  • Launched: 2014
  • Developer: Insomniac Games
  • Platform: PC, Xbox One
  • Genre: Action-adventure

Before being bought by Sony, Insomniac looked to see if the grass was greener on the other side with the Xbox-exclusive Sunset Overdrive. It’s truly a shame that this game launched only on what was, at the time, the far less popular console, as it means many people missed the incredible experience on offer.

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Sunset Overdrive has bizarre weapons, a frenetic and fluid movement system, and a comic book art style to create an incredibly fun open world for players to traverse. A sequel needs to exist.

3 7 Days To Die

Aiming a gun at an enemy
  • Launched: 2013
  • Developer: The Fun Pimps
  • Platform: Linux, macOS, OS X, PC, PS4, Xbox One
  • Genre: Survival Horror

Far from being just another Minecraft rip-off, 7 Days To Die offers a great sandbox challenge for you and your friends. Team up to build a base and defend against the zombie hordes that attack every seven days. Players have to manage their character’s health by eating and drinking, avoiding illness, and wearing the proper clothing.

With many interesting biomes and places to fortify or erect your unique structure, 7 Days To Die is the perfect balance of simulator and classic survival game. The development of the console ports is uncertain at the moment, so if you want to try and survive the hordes, buy it on PC.

2 Red Faction: Guerrilla

Red Faction Guerilla - inhabitants escorted by soldiers
  • Launched: 2009
  • Developer: Volition
  • Platform: PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
  • Genre: Action-adventure

Red Faction: Guerrilla offers players the chance to explore a partially terraformed Mars as a member of a worker's resistance group, Red Faction, as they fight against the oppressive Earth Defence Force. The story never quite lives up to its potential, but it does provide an adequate backdrop for the core gameplay: blowing up everything in sight.

With the whole map available from the get-go, you can take your sledgehammer and explosive charges and liberate to your heart’s content. It’s worth picking up the hilariously named Re-Mars-tered edition for that pun alone. With the original developers now back in control of the game, it's hopeful that a sequel will happen soon.

1 The Technomancer

The Technomancer combat fighting hordes of enemies
  • Launched: 2016
  • Developer: Spiders
  • Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
  • Genre: RPG

The Technomancer was launched to mixed reviews and was pretty much unheard of shortly after it arrived on shelves. While far from perfect, this game offers a stunning dystopian sci-fi Martian world with several combat tress you can master and swap between mid-battle.

You fight people, mutants, and hybrid creatures that have run rampant throughout Mars. With an interesting story about wealth inequality, that you can address using your electrical powers, The Technomancer is a game worth trying out.

Next: The Best Open-World Games Of All Time, Officially Ranked