Summary
The open-world sub-genre has become one of the most prevalent in the gaming industry. Improvements in console hardware and game engines have allowed developers to create enormous maps that are filled to the brim with loot to discover, side quests to complete, and NPCs to interact with. The acclaim and commercial success has, unsurprisingly, meant that numerous companieshave tried to shoehorn open worlds into their games, often with lackluster results. Thankfully, there have been more than enough fantastic open-world games released over the last few years, many of which will appeal to fans of third-person shooters.
These open-world games need to keep fans engaged at all times with a combination of great exploration, memorable stories, lovable characters, and engaging combat. This can be a tricky combination to pull off, and it’s easy to see why some people feel like these games bite off more than they can chew. However, there are times when certain titles absolutely nail this combination, leading to a compelling game that fans can find downright un-put-downable at times.
Updated Jun 16, 2025, by Hamza Haq:Where first-person shooters have made the competitive multiplayer space their home by virtue of titles like Counter Strike, Valorant, and Call of Duty, third-person shooters are much more likely to be seen in a single-player setting, but only rarely in an open-world. The scope of creating a fully fleshed-out open world that’s not just empty space but a land that feels lived-in with stuff to do and missions to accomplish is challenging to say the least.
It’s easy for people to write offPalworldas a version ofPokemonwith guns when this couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is thatPalworld’s mix of genres is done pretty well, and the fact that this game is in Early Access means that bigger and better things are in store for this title when a 1.0 release hits store shelves.
Some aspects ofPalworldcan be clunky, but this can’t be said for the gunplay. It takes a while to get used to the idea of shooting up cute critters, butPalworldmanages to engage players with its shooting mechanics without making things more visceral than they need to.
There was once a time when movie tie-in games flooded the gaming industry. FromHarry PotterandLord of the Ringsto just about every children’s movie, game publishers would often look to cash in on the success of popular films with a6 to 8-hour adventure. Such games have died out in recent years, however, as the often ridiculously short schedules that developers had to adhere to with tie-in games would, unsurprisingly, result in lackluster products.
Despite the skepticism that players now have of movie tie-in games, there are some films and properties that are just crying out to be given the gaming treatment, including theMad Maxfranchise.Mad Maxwas released just a few months afterMad Max: Fury Road,though the game isn’t a direct tie-in. This is likely whyMad Maxproved to be a success, as the developers didn’t have the constraints of basing their game on a 90 to 160-minute film as most tie-in games do.
Saints Row: The Thirdmerges third-person shooter gameplay with an open-world setting and generously sprinkles its unique brand of absurdity and over-the-top humor to make it stand out in all the right ways. There is a lot of debate among fans about whichSaints Rowis the best in the series, andSaints Row: The Thirdconsistently ranks among the top two if not the best one of all time.
Graduating from the slums of Stilwater from the first two games, players venture into a brand new city with gang wars to interfere in, new characters to customize, and citizens to harass. The gunplay inSaints Rowhas never been simply about pointing and shooting but about using increasingly game-breaking weapons and abilities to toss enemies around like ragdolls, and that hasn’t changed in the third installation of the series.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlandsmade two very interesting and very divisive changes to theGhost Reconfranchise. For starters, it was the first game in the series to implement an open world, and second, it reverts to a modern setting, rather than a futuristic setting like the one thatGhost Recon Advanced Warfighterintroduced.
The two changes have divided fans, but one aspect that can’t be denied is how impressive the open world is, withbreathtaking visualsthat make the game a joy to look at and explore. With a steady stream of updates and fixes, many people have done a 180 on their opinion, consideringGhost Recon Wildlandsto be one of the better games in the series.
Days Gonewas developed by Bend Studio and first released exclusively on PlayStation 4 in April 2019, before, like many PlayStation games lately, arriving on PC a couple of years later in May 2021. The game was released with its fair share of issues and bugs, but players who check out this game now will enjoy a pretty stable experience on both platforms.
The action-adventure game is set in a post-apocalyptic world and follows bounty hunter Deacon St. John as he searches for his wife and completes numerous side quests along the way. The game split opinion among fans and critics, but picked up a handful of awards, including PlayStation Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.
23Mercenaries 2: World In Flames
A Hidden Gem of Explosive Proportions
Mercenaries 2: World in Flameswas developed by Pandemic Studios and offers an over-the-top action game that is a blast to play, with tons of weapons and vehicles to use, much like theJust Causeseries. It’s a wildly underrated game that more fans of explosive open-world TPS titles should check out.
Interestingly, the action gamewas a surprising source of political issues in 2008 due to its narrative. The game takes place in Venezuela, which is a fictional war-torn state, and tasks players with killing the country’s president. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go down too well in the country, withaccusations of propaganda being directed toward the game.
Just likeThe Mercenaries 2, 2009’sThe Saboteurwas developed by Pandemic Studios and published by industry giants Electronic Arts. Instead of Venezuela,The Saboteurtakes place in Nazi-occupied Paris back in World War 2. The game features an interesting art design thatintertwines with the gameplay, as areas that are significantly controlled by Nazi forces are displayed in black and white, with only a small handful of features being in color, such as certain symbols and blood.
The gameplay of this title is pretty unique, with players having to bring color and life back into Paris' various boroughs by taking out Nazi forces and dismantling their base of operations. Liberating each district fills it with happiness, replacing the drab black-and-white art style of the series with a splash of color that feels quite rewarding indeed.
21Sleeping Dogs
Martial Arts Meets Mystery
Sleeping Dogsis one of the most underrated open-world action games, and may have flown under the radar of many players over the years. Its story may be not as gripping as some other titles, but the world-building, combat, and the sheer amount of stuff to do more than make up for it.
Sleeping Dogsbrings the Yakuza fantasy to the open-world setting. A police officer/detective goes deep undercover in the local gang, hoping to dismantle it from the inside, but in the process gets accused of going rogue. The premise of thegame is reminiscent ofLike a Dragonbut without the comedic undertones, with a lot more focus on action combat and, of course, guns. The melee portion of the combat takes up the bulk of what the protagonist can do, but there is an option to whip out a powerful firearm and engage in something called gun-fu, kung-fu, but with guns.
Outridersis a class-based Sci-Fi third-person shooter where players venture into a hostile alien world and gun down anything that looks remotely threatening. The gunfighting is hectic, engaging, and plain fun, capturing the essence of what great shooters are all about. The game also has co-op mode, and the shared experience is incredibly rewarding, especially when doing sick combos with multiple over-the-top superpowers stacking on top of each other in a hectic skirmish.
The super abilities unlock through progression, which allows it to remain meaningful, rather than just ‘X type of gun now deals X% more damage.’ The campaign lasts roughly 30 hours, but there is some end-game content that gives players more things to do if they’re interested. That said,Outridersis best enjoyed as a single-player experience, and by the time players reach the end game, they’ll likely have seen everything worth seeing.
Just Cause 3is the direct sequel toJust Cause 2, set six years after the events of the previous game. Players take up the role of Rico Rodriguez and are tasked with freeing a region from a local despot the best way he knows how: guns blazing. The charm of the Just Cause universe has always been the over-the-top set pieces and the ability to role-play as anadrenaline junkie on steroids with guns.
JC3is a step up fromJC2in almost every way, with much better graphics, improved gunplay, and an overall smoother experience to enjoy. Players can use the grappling hook to tether to any object imaginable, including active missiles, moving cars, and the tallest skyscrapers in existence. Combined with Parachute and the Gliding Suit, this makes traversal across thevast open world feel closer to a Spiderman gamethan a GTA one. Vehicles ranging from a simple bike to a commercial airplane are all on offer. Almost all environmental elements are destructible, which allows for things like shooting a bazooka into a gas station and watching it blow sky-high.
