Summary
- Invasion modes turn solo campaigns into tense, often brutal PvP interruptions that spike fear and bragging rights.
- Styles differ: one-on-one invasions, hunter roles, sniper duels, FOB raids, zombie predators, and hacker chases.
- Play these: Elden Ring, Deathloop, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Metal Gear Solid 5, Dying Light, Watch Dogs.
Every new generation of consoles introduces a new type of multiplayer game, made possible by evolving technology. There are hero shooters, Battle Royale games, extraction shooters, and so on. There are also more innocuous multiplayer modes that not many developers have tried, popularized primarily by the Soulslike genre: game invasions.
Players in games like Dark Souls can invade another campaign and kill that player for their benefit, making an already challenging game that much more brutal. Game invasion modes go beyond Soulslikes though, as there are other examples, specifically in open-world or sandbox environments. For those craving more invasion-type gameplay modes, these are the games to check out.
The Ways Elden Ring Surpassed The Open-World Genre
The ring may be ancient, but its world is still teeming with life, albeit in horrific forms.
Elden Ring
Pull My Bloody Finger
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Elden Ring is the evolutionary peak of FromSoftware’s Soulslike games, as it is their first open-world adventure. Similar to other Soulslikes, players in one world can randomly invade another through Bloody Fingers, which come in different varieties. Players will be notified when another player joins, and if the invader kills the target, they get the satisfaction of interrupting a session.
If the “hero” player wins, then they get bragging rights. Invaders can even appear when players are exploring the world in co-op, and just because there are two or more players, it doesn’t mean they can win automatically against an invader. Players bold enough to invade someone else’s world are often some of the best Elden Ring players around. It’s the one game that can truly induce fear in players when the invasion signal is broadcast in the sky.
Deathloop
Colt Versus Julianna
Deathloop
- Released
- September 14, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
Deathloop is another great example, as the entire game has a unique gameplay model. At its core, it can best be described as a time loop game, hence the title. Colt, the protagonist, suffers from amnesia, but he finds himself dying on repeat because a woman named Julianna wants him dead.
Open-World Games That Get Too Much Hate
Not every open-world game can be Breath of the Wild, and that’s okay. These games have their flaws, but can still be a joy for certain players.
In one small open-world setting, players will have to take out Julianna’s minions and enforcers all in one run to power up and defeat her by the end. The cool thing is that other players can play Julianna and hunt Colt. It’s a cat-and-mouse game wherein players, as Julianna, have way more of an advantage over Colt players.
Sniper Elite: Resistance
Beware Sniper Jager
Sniper Elite: Resistance
- Released
- January 30, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
Sniper Elite: Resistance is the latest entry in the series, depicting a lone sniper going after Nazis in World War 2. What makes the Sniper Elite games iconic are the brutal death animations, from skull explosions to kidney failure. It’s the Mortal Kombat of shooters, and fans cannot get enough. Introduced in Sniper Elite 5, players could invade someone else’s game as a rival sniper for the Nazi army.
Nicknamed Sniper Jager, which sounds like a Metal Gear villain, players can hunt their prey in the open-area levels and win once the hero was eliminated. The “hero” player can kill Sniper Jager to get rid of him, or they can finish the mission, which does the exact same thing. Either way, it made for some thrilling sniper battles in both Sniper Elite 5 and Sniper Elite: Resistance.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Invade FOBs
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
- Released
- September 1, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action, Open-World
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is the first open-world entry in the series, featuring several mini-biomes to explore as Venom Snake, Big Boss’ new codename. What made gameplay unique was that players could recruit enemies and take them home to Mother Base. Here, soldiers could be directed to different departments, like science teams, to create weapons.
Players could also create a separate, identical Mother Base for multiplayer purposes called a Forward Operating Base, or FOB. Once activated, other players could invade it and steal materials, including nuclear bombs. While FOBs are not technically open-world environments, they were included in an open-world game. Plus, the gameplay is unique enough that invasion fans will want to check it out.
Dying Light
Be The Zombie
Dying Light
- Released
- January 27, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Survival Horror
Dying Light is one of the most brutal zombie games around, as the game's enemies aren’t the low-energy shufflers like in Resident Evil. These infected humans and mutations will rip players apart if they aren’t careful. It’s part of why fans love the games, as it keeps them on their toes more than other horror titles.
Best Open-World Games For Feeling Like A Force Of Nature
Become one with the wind and destroy enemies in your wake in these open-world games.
There is a multiplayer mode called “Be the Zombie” wherein players can invade another’s world and become a supremely powerful mutant called a Night Hunter. The goal is to protect mutated nests and to kill the “hero” players, which can consist of four if the main player opts into co-op. Once the invasion starts, the map will reset and flash to night, letting the main player know they are about to walk into a nightmare.
Watch Dogs
Beware Of Hackers
Watch Dogs
- Released
- May 26, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature // Blood, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action, Adventure
Watch Dogs was set up to be a bigger game than it eventually was, although fans still enjoyed its take on the open-city gameplay found in Grand Theft Auto games. Players were a Batman-like vigilante, except without the costume, who was working against criminals and deep-pocketed corporations trying to overtake Chicago. Players could beat their foes with melee weapons or shoot them with guns, but it felt more clever to mess with their lives via hacking cars or other gadgets.
The hacking gameplay is what made the Watch Dog series unique, along with its invasion mode called “Online Hacking.” Players could invade another’s world, and it was up to the main player to track them down before they hacked and corrupted the game too much. The invader has a wide array of tools at their disposal, but they aren't superhuman. It's a cool hacker-against-hacker mode that makes for a thrilling chase every time.
There Are Almost No 10/10 Open-World Games, But These Masterpieces Come Close
These open-world games surpassed even the highest of expectations to reach near-perfection - a difficult thing to do in a genre that demands so much.