Ever since Todd Howard took to the stage and gave us the ‘go anywhere’ promise for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, gamers have been obsessed with exploring every inch of open world games. The freedom to explore vast terrains and discover every hidden secret a gaming world has to offer is an enticing prospect. Knowing which open worlds are worth your investment, though, is crucial.
Together, let’s explore 10 incredible open worlds worth exploring from the Xbox Game Pass library this year. From dragon-infested mountaintops to barren post-apocalyptic wastelands, there’s an open world or two on our list that is bound to capture your attention. Environmental storytelling, intergalactic traversal, ancient Egyptian lore and supernatural forests are but a button press away.
Fallout 4 (2015)
Wasteland want not
Freedom and player choice shine through in Fallout 4’s vast irradiated playground. Curiosity is often rewarded with loot, humor or just outright chaos. The map is littered with forgotten ruins, weird NPCs, underground vaults and abandoned derelict towns that each have a story to share. Exploring is never dull as you stumble upon mutant campsite or pre-war secrets buried beneath Boston’s streets.
The contrast between barren wastelands and the bustle of Diamond City make Fallout 4 feel truly unique to explore as an open world. And when you’re not exploring, you can shape the map yourself by building settlements. The factions you work with and the people you surround yourself in the Commonwealth make this feel like a living, breathing world that reacts to your choices.
Pacific Drive (2024)
Cars can be creepy, who knew?
Pacific Drive offers up an open world like no other. A surreal and supernatural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, distorted by anomalies and strange storms. The allowance of freedom here adds to the tension as the roads twist and warp, landscapes change and every journey in your car feels eerily unpredictable. The environments you travel through feel alive with hostile spirits and supernatural mysteries begging you to unravel them.
The open world blends together an ethereal, unpredictable environment with survival skills. Your car becomes not only your best friend but your lifeline as you try to explore radioactive zones, mires and blistering woods. Scavenge, repair, and upgrade your vehicle and navigate the distorted highways filled with otherworldly dangers. It’s an open world that may reward or punish your level of curiosity, which makes for an amazing gaming experience.
The Outer Worlds 2 (2025)
Like Fallout New Vegas, but not
The sequel took everything from the original game and dialed it up a notch. Deeper lore, larger planets to explore and more characters to interact with makes exploring outer space even more fun than before. The Outer Worlds 2 feels like a showcase in level design with their own unique color palettes and ecosystems. From derelict space colonies to lush biomes filled with alien creatures, every corner of the map offers something new.
The way the world reacts to your choices and your gameplay style also set it apart from others. Whether hunting for murals or engaging in combat, your decisions ripple through settlements with NPCs reacting to your reputation before even meeting you. It makes the open world feel alive and exploration often leads to rewards and a healthy dose of dark humor. The worlds you explore are filled with bright colors, dark humor, and moral choices around every corner.
Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017)
See where it all began
Ubisoft seemed to nail the balance between scale and diversity with Assassin’s Creed Origins. Ancient Egypt feels grand and sprawling for Bayek to explore. Taking down mythological monsters and uncovering the secrets of Ancient Egypt never feels dull. From the sun-soaked dunes of the Sahara Desert to the crowded dusty streets of Alexandria, Egypt has never felt more realized in digital form.
There is a real sense of authenticity to the open world with its dynamic day-night cycles, weather systems, roaming wildlife and reactionary NPCs. Throw in an intimate personal story about our hero Bayek and the world becomes more than just a backdrop. This is a living, breathing empire filled with historical mysteries and hidden treasures to find.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017)
Assassin’s Creed: Tolkien
Middle-earth: Shadow of War takes Tolkien’s lore and creates a chaotic war-torn sandbox for you to explore. Its regions are filled with hostile fortresses, volcanic wilderness, and dense forests crawling with orc tribes, each with their own unique personalities. The world evolves around every action taken, every fortress captured or foe felled leaves a mark on the landscape.
The Nemesis System also helps make this open world feel ever evolving and alive. Encounters feel personal as foes remember your battles. Your enemies will rise through the ranks based on choices you make and chance encounters feel natural and emergent. When not searching for the best weapons, you’ll be a part of epic battles and large-scale destruction in locations like Gondor and Seregost help to show the chaos and the struggle of war.
Sunset Overdrive (2014)
Spider-Man without Spider-Man
Before teaching us how to web swing in style across Manhattan, Insomniac Games introduced us to Sunset Overdrive. Its influence over Spider-Man is very apparent, too. This outrageous and totally unrestrained world is filled with bright-colored splashes of chaos, ooze, and most importantly, grinding rails! A playground in every sense of the word, Sunset Overdrive offers explosions, punk-rock and mutants at break neck speeds.
Traversal around Sunset City becomes an expression of your style as you grind the rails, run up walls, chain together jumps, and ultimately string together violent combos to best your foes. It’s loud, it’s wild, and it’s unashamedly fun to be immersed in Sunset City with all its wild characters, crazy sense of humor and bombastic action crammed into every inch of this glorious map.
Far Cry 5 (2018)
Welcome to America
Far Cry 5 drops you headfirst out of a helicopter into the ruggedly beautiful Hope County, Montana. At first glance, the deceptively beautiful landscapes feel organic with winding rivers, dense forests, and gorgeous lakeside vistas. Crawling between those trees though are deadly wildlife, psychotic cultists and plenty of mayhem. Freedom is key, as you can take down outposts, eliminate cult leaders or just blow it all off for fishing.
Hope County, Montana feels very much alive. Exploring leads to frequent random encounters including animal attacks, cults on patrol, civilians in need of rescuing, and more. The world’s lived-in environment and distinct regions make every firefight, explosion, or random NPC encounter feel very real and very American.
Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
I mean, you know this one
The open world map of Los Santos is a true masterclass in world design. Mimicking a sprawling, vibrant alternate version of modern America filled with satire and dark humor. There’s a reason it’s one of the best-selling games of all time. From the glittering, well-to-do skylines of Vinewood, to the dusty, decrepit trailer parks of Blaine County, every economic class is on full display in Grand Theft Auto V.
The city pulses with energy as you explore the map. NPCs react realistically, and the day-night cycles combined with changeable weather can transform the sun-soaked natural vistas into gloomy grey neon-lit scenes that completely transform the mood. Between heists, car chases, stunts and spontaneous carnage, the world feels bristling with energy. Los Santos is an endless playground that never sits still.
Minecraft (2009)
Block and roll
Minecraft has become the epitome of endless possibilities. Providing a procedurally generated sandbox, where the only goal is to let your imagination run loose. The very act of exploration becomes hypnotic as you carve, create, mine and construct your own vision of a world brick by brick. You can even input seeds to see other creations and secrets.
Minecraft’s hidden depths are what make it so appealing. One swing of your pickaxe, and suddenly you’ve gone from grasslands, to falling into a deep underground cavern filled with skeletons, bats, and exploding creepers. Biomes shift from tranquil forests to fiery nether realms, and it’s up to you how you choose to play. Are you an adventurer or do you simply want to build the city of your dreams? Anything is possible.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
One of the greatest of all time
Skyrim remains one of the most famous and revered open worlds in gaming history. A sprawling Nordic-inspired realm with mountain peaks, forest paths, ancient ruins, and icy caves all begging to be explored. The world thrives on discovery, and it’s one of the reasons the community have kept this slice of Tamril alive over the years with mods and remakes.
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