Gaming is constantly reaching new heights when it comes to graphics and performance. But there are plenty of ‘oldies but goldies’ open-world games out there that will remain forever in the hearts of many fans for good reasons. I’m glad to have made a short list of such games, and I’m confident that you’ll find useful at least some of the titles mentioned.
You are free to disagree with my list and show me your own in the comment section! Here it goes:
Hitman Absolution (2012)
Hitman Absolution might not be an open-world title in the complete description of the category, but it still gives the player the opportunity to use the environment and different tools in a creative way to take down enemies. This game is all about being a hitman, and in order to get the job done in the perfect way, you must be as stealthy as possible. But if you’re in a romantic and everlasting relationship with the machine gun, nothing stops you from pulling it out and starting to shoot everything and everybody you see! Well, nothing except for those you want to shoot.
Mafia II (2010)
I firmly believe that Mafia 2 is one of the best games ever made. The graphics and attention to detail were fabulous for the time Mafia 2 was launched, not to mention that the game even works on systems that feature only 1.5GB of RAM.
The gun shooting sounds very realistic and piercing. The level of detail is mind-blowing, considering the facial expressions, the breaking of the windows, and a lot more. The soundtracks represent another strong reason to play Mafia II, as they’ll immediately get you into that long-forgotten era of a few decades ago. There’s a lot of old rock ‘n’ roll on those radio stations as soon as you start driving the car!
The action in Mafia II takes place in the ’40s and ’50s eras of New York. The player gets to be in the shoes of Vito Scaletta, who comes to Empire Bay (fictional New York) to escape WWII from Europe. But he’ll soon run into even more trouble than ever before.
GTA 4 (2008)
GTA 4 is often underestimated, and that’s a mystery to me. We’re talking about one of the best games in the series and surely the darkest one. In GTA 4, things are so grim that someone might kill your cousin at his own wedding. Revenge, killings, and shootings are lurking at every corner in this game, which is one of its most interesting aspects. Humor is there as well, and of course, dark humor. If someone asks the character you control if he always gets sentimental after killing people, for instance, it means that you’re playing GTA 4!
Rockstar could have worked more on the graphics part. But after all, this game was released 14 years ago, so what can you expect? GTA 4 compensates in other areas, such as the mechanics. This game did an impressive job at that time, as when NPCs got wounded, they would behave in a specific way depending on the body part affected.
GTA 5 (2013)
I’m sure everyone has heard about GTA 5, but I can’t possibly miss it for this list. This insanely-popular title is 9 years old, and even so, it remains a masterpiece of the open-world genre. Rockstar improved the series in so many ways with the release of GTA 5!
In GTA 5, you practically have everything a gamer could want when it comes to the open-world genre. You can drive various cars, motorcycles, tanks, boats, or even jump into a jet if that’s your wish. You can also interact with others as a pedestrian by doing all sorts of crazy stuff, including even good deeds such as catching and punishing bad guys.
That’s all for today, just a short list of four games. Feel free to leave a comment below!