10 Best Open World Video Games of All-Time

When discussing open world games most of the games talked about are recent games, most notably the Grand Theft Auto series, but open world games have actually been around for decades. The definition of an open world game is a video game with a virtual world in which they are free to roam and are not confined playing the game in a certain order. However, all open world games, even Grand Theft Auto, have some restrictions in certain areas that can not be reached until a certain criteria is met. According to this definition there are many open world games and these are the 10 best.

10) Shenmue
Grand Theft Auto gets a lot of credit for expanding the open world concept exponentially but Shenmue was probably the first game to greatly expand on the free-to-roam concept. Shenmue was one of the first games to have a virtual world that seemed realistic, complete with day and night cycles, weather and characters that went about their daily routine while you explored around them.

9) Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed is an interesting mix of half open world game and half stealth game. The open world element gives another whole level of coolness to the stealth aspect because players can come up with several different ways to meet their goals.

8) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
As stated before, older video games are not thought of as open world games because the worlds are not as advanced as they are today but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night did away with the level-by-level versions of Castlevania and provided players with RPG elements and an open world to wander in.

7) Red Dead Redemption
Westerns were sorely lacking in video games. Fans of western video games would have been happy with just a good action Western but Rockstar blew our minds with a Western game that was also an open world game.

6) Dragon Warrior III
The old school roleplaying games had some open world elements to them but the best example is the third installment of the Dragon Warrior (or Dragon Quest if you prefer) series. Dragon Warrior III expanded on the previous games and was the largest area to roam out of early roleplaying games.

5) Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Elder Scrolls IV was the first great Xbox 360 game and was a great open world experience for Microsoft users. In Oblivion the gamer could just skip the main quest and do whatever you want. Find some side-quests, kill monsters or build up your character for however long you want to.

4) Super Metroid
The Metroid series has been open world ever since the original game. There were areas that had to be unlocked at some point but that is no different than Grand Theft Auto. Some gamers may prefer Metroid Prime but I'll still take Super Metroid as the best game in the series so it comes in at number four.

3) Fallout 3
Fallout 3 wasn't exactly the first game set in a post-apocalyptic world but the addition of the open world element made Fallout 3 one of the best video games of the current generation.

2) Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda is another series that has been open world from the beginning of its inception. In the original Legend of Zelda Link could skip to later underworld levels if he so desired. He'd probably be killed, but it was possible. Again, there are many Zelda games that could be considered the best in the series but I still prefer the original.

1) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
There were many open world games before Grand Theft Auto but none of them did it as well or as big as Grand Theft Auto. In Grand Theft Auto the player could literally spend hours playing the game without even touching the main storyline.