What’s The Future For Open-World Games?

If the gaming world taught us anything during the last ten years, it’s that the open-world genre is head and shoulders above all others. The giant in the genre is, of course, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto. However, closely following is Ubisoft’s Far Cry series. Both have gone through a very similar growth pattern which is useful for any other developers that wish to get involved in this particular type of game.

The future is therefore not as difficult to predict as one may be led to believe. The open-world genre gives players something that no other kind of game can. You are free to roam, explore and do anything you can possibly think of. With games like Just Cause taking this to a new level. Incoming mega-games will show the gaming world that purpose-built technology is going to make their experience in future open-world series, a whole lot more fun. But what does the next decade have in store for this kind of gaming?

Back to the future

The single-most anticipated game for this year is Cyberpunk 2077. Set for release in mid-April, this is a game that has gamers drooling over it. From what we’ve seen from the online trailers and short amounts of gameplay footage, it’s truly a ‘back to the future’ kind of game. It has many stylistic references from the 80s. It’s a new retro wave kind of theme, mixed in with a bit of Terminator. Human beings have merged with machines, most if not everyone is a cyborg.

This is a very clear attempt to gauge the fan’s minds with regards to the current question of, how will humanity change if and or when we merge with computers? Cyberpunk 2077 is trying to answer this question, but since it’s an open-world game, it does so with hacking other cyborgs, gunplay and upgrading our senses like sight and hearing.

What this game hopes to bring to the contemporary gaming world, is first-person experiences. With second-generation virtual reality headsets being developed and sold, we can now hope to transport ourselves into the game’s location of Night City in California. A sunny climate during the day is offset by dark gritty mean streets at night. This game is going to be a blockbuster, with some even saying it will beat Grand Theft Auto V’s sales figures. That’s an incredible challenge to meet, but with what we have seen so far, you should take this possibility seriously.

The story matters more now

Many open-world games rely on the things the player can do, to sell copies. Some, however, may not hit the mark in terms of exploration and variety in activities, but they have an excellent story. The king of the latter is the Far Cry series. Far Cry 1 and 2, didn’t have much of a story and relied on gameplay alone.

However, players were unattached from the characters and the narrative, which made the large open-world maps meaningless. If there’s one thing that we can all agree on, it’s that a good story will keep you coming back over and over. Thankfully Ubisoft Canada learned its lesson and created the entirely unique Far Cry 3, which arguably had the best story line of any game ever.

Far Cry 4 used the same engine as 3, Dunia 2. The story was mysterious and psychotic but not as extreme or as captivating as the previous installment. Far Cry 5 on the other hand, had neither amazing gameplay or story. For many of the series’ most loyal fans, it was a step back. The world didn’t get more detailed, the animations were lacking and the quality of the characters was a letdown. So, Far Cry 6 is already in development and it seems like it will be released between April 2020 and March 2021.

The challenge for this next installment will be to make the map even larger and more detailed but crucially, muster the same kind of amazing story writing minds that Far Cry 3 had. The gameplay of open-world games does not compensate for a poor story line, that’s the take away from the previous game in the series.

The return of the king

When GTA III was released, all hell broke loose. The gaming world has never before seen such amazing gameplay. You were free to roam around Liberty City, stealing cars, giving beatings, having shootouts with the police and even fly a propeller-driven plane. Vice City was the successor that proved lightning could strike twice. It was amazing to hark back to the chaotic 80s. You could choose to drive speed boats while chasing drug lords, rocking out with bands, and thundering across the beach in a dune buggy.

GTA San Andreas spelled out where the series was headed. It focussed on making the map larger and giving the player more to do, but the story was boring and drawn out. Although it sold well, the story line wasn’t anything to write home about, nor were the graphics and the gameplay sluggish. Sadly things didn’t improve, GTA IV was not as great as it could have been either. It introduced mass interiors, giving players more building to walk into and interact with but just wasn’t as fast and chaotic as fans would have liked.

GTA V literally changed the gaming landscape. It has sold over 120 million copies and is still heavily played online. The reason for all of this? No, it wasn’t the fact that you could play three different characters or the fact that the map was huge and gorgeous. It was because the storyline made you care about the city, the characters and the whole reason for being in the GTA universe. GTA 6 is set to blow your socks off. Although the feature to play different characters is gone, you will be able to play in different countries.

Right now, within Rockstar studios it’s called ‘Project Americas’. As you can tell by the name, it’s due to be set in both North and Sound America. Apparently, you will mainly be in Vice City or a city of a similar nature. However, the time is set during the rise of the cartels and the drug-running black market that was created from it.

Explore your way out of boredom

Open world games are inherently large and that’s why you always get the best games for PC. The PC can handle a large amount of data that graphics cards need to handle and can have almost limitless amounts of RAM. However, for a few years now, smartphones have offered viable open world games that aren’t just working in progress. You can actually have fun exploring a land of fantasy with games like Oceanhorn 2: Knights of The Lost Realm. Released just last year in September, you play as a young warrior, trying to find out what happened to your father. It’s a time where sword and shield are your best weapons to fight off attacks from the creatures that stand in your way.

The open-world you have online hosts puzzles, jumps, battles, and races. The downside to playing open-world games on your smartphone is, you need a network that offers you large amounts of data with no drawbacks. The smarty phone unlimited package is £20 a month but you get unlimited data, along with free calls and texts. There are other plans like 50GB for £15 a month. This is exactly the type of network that you need to look for if you want to enjoy open-world exploration using your smartphone while waiting for the train or for your flight.

Still in Alpha, but…

The mother of all open-world games is still in production. Now in Alpha 3.8, Star Citizen has over 2.5 million players worldwide. This game has been given $250 million by donors from around the globe. That is a Hollywood blockbuster level of cash. So what do you get if you sign up and become a paying member of this game?

You get to explore a crafted galaxy, totally unique from ours. That’s right, the developers are trying to create a complete galaxy from the ground up, allowing players to buy ships and explore different planets. What do you do? Well, that’s totally up to you. If you want to become a miner, you can latch onto meteoroids and bore them out for materials. If you want to land on a baron planet to find a new resource that’s up to you.

Perhaps you have an evil streak, you can attack and rob merchants along trading routes, becoming a space pirate. There truly isn’t a limit to what you can do in this game, you just need to put up with bugs and crashes from time to time. But hey, it’s in the alpha stages, so don’t expect smooth gameplay all the time.

Open world games have a bright future ahead of them. The catch is, developers can no longer rely on gameplay alone to satisfy customers. A great story is needed if you want players to care about the environments and characters they are placed among.