Huge open video games that are basically empty

Open-World Games promises exploration and in-depth, but sometimes bigger is not always better. Games only get bigger and bigger today, but in a race to create spreading maps, many titles forget to actually fill these maps with meaningful content. Instead, you can only get a bunch of trees.

What you have left is a wonderful playground that is ultimately hollow. Each city and mountains begin to blur together, and the spark of exploration fogs rapidly. Whether it is due to a weak story or environments that feel like they were built just to be stared at, these games prove that size alone is not equal to the depth.

9

No man's heaven

When no man's sky was first released, it felt like a proof of concept rather than the giant space that promised. Sure, promise of 18 quintillion planets dropped jaw, but most of them looked like sad, foreign golf courses. The exploration was shallow, wildlife was copied and the endless universe felt somehow less the longer you played. Of course, the launch was disastrous.

This game has since improved a lot through updates, but the original edition is still a poster child for the “big but empty” problem that is common in so many open world games.

8

Fallout 76

The post-apocalyptic sandbox Fallout 76 promised was looked forward to by many. Instead, it gave us a spreading Appalachian -Featory where the only thing more empty than the map was the feeling of loneliness while we walked it. At the launch there were no NPCs, just some random audio logs. There was no emotional depth or story that the other games in the series had.

Bethesda has added content since, but the first impression still has a huge impact on how the game is seen today. In addition, many players still complain that it is incredibly empty.

7

Rage 2

Rage 2 is what happens when developers build an open world because they feel they have to, not because the game needs it. The battle is really fun and the driving is passable. But the world itself is a barren stretch of copy items and sand colored nothing. It is a post-apocalyptic map that in any way feels more artificial than any sci-fi landscape.

The side activities try to make the world a little more real, but they feel like fillers. There is little incentive to explore. It's not that the world is ugly; It's just that it is deeply uninteresting.

6

Mad Max

Visually, Mad Max nails the look with dust storms and dilapidated outposts that just scream post-apocalyptic. But after a few hours everything starts to look the same. The game leans hard on the checklist design and fills its huge map with repetitive goals and some variety. It doesn't take long to realize that you have already seen all the game has to offer.

That said, the battle is very funny. It is buried for hours of root that cleans in a sadly uninteresting world.

5

Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Ghost Recon Breakpoint had all the ingredients for a tactical open world hit. It took place on a massive island with great emphasis on stealth games. But the island quickly begins to feel like a copy pasta. Auroa is technically huge, but its zones blend in a haze of forests, stones and sterile military outposts. Instead of feeling like a dynamic battlefield, it feels like a giant multiplayer lobby dressed like an island.

While it was a game we wanted to love, when you have always added the online requirement and lots of microtransactions, it quickly becomes more frustrating than engrossing.

4

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Frontiers of Pandora looks amazing. Ubisoft nailed the bioluminic beauty in Pandora, but there is actually not much in the world. Despite the deep Lore in Avatar universe, the world rarely reacts to you, and it just doesn't feel as full as you expect.

The game asks to be explored, but it rarely rewards you for doing it. You can marvel at the beauty of plant life a couple of times, but it really is the whole world to offer. It is more a theme park than a living planet.

3

Generation zero

Generation Zero promised one of the most exciting settings in the latest memory, an alternative history Sweden where murderers robot pursues rural areas. While the concept is gold, the execution feels unfinished. The world is very moody and atmospheric, but it is also strangely static. You spend your time hiking through empty cities, where you rarely encounter anything more exciting than occasional patrol.

It is an open world full of mystery, but it doesn't give you much reason to explore deeper. With friends it can be fun, but if you play solo it becomes repetitive every fast.

2

Only cause 4

You would think that only for 4 would be the ultimate sandbox. After all, it has wings and explosions. What else can you ask for? Unfortunately, its massive map leaves much to be desired. Many of the cities are barebones, and side activities quickly become cake cutters. The most important assignments help a little, but they quickly become repetitive as well.

Once you have struggled with your 50th fuel tank, the news fades rapidly. It starts massively fun, but doing the same thing over and over can only keep your attention for so long.

Metal Gear Survive takes genius of Metal Gear Solid V's Sandbox and in some way makes it boring. The alternative dimension is a struck through lifeless zones of fog and repetitive base buildings. Instead of tactical espionage, you point zombies with a stick and handle hunger levels as if you are playing Oregon Trail. Everything feels a little confused and quickly becomes repetitive.

There is little to explore when you find the first outposts. It's the same. In the end, this game feels separate from the wealth we have expected from the series.