Open-world gaming has had a sharp rise in prominence over the last couple of decades. The genre has offered players levels of freedom that simply weren't possible in the past, immersing fans into the game world and letting them choose their own path.
Like anything that's popular in the entertainment industry, open-world gaming is constantly being flooded with new entries trying to get a piece of the genre's success. Consequently, there are numerous open-world games that were notable at the time of their release but have since fallen through the cracks and slipped out of people's memory.
Updated October 28, 2021, by Jack Pursey: Thanks to the constant stream of open-world games released every month, the genre is constantly providing players with exciting new adventures to embark on. As mentioned before, this can lead to many interesting games falling through the cracks. Therefore, there is no shortage of forgotten open-world games to discuss, so we've expanded this list by another five entries.
The quality of the new and pre-existing entries on this list certainly doesn't compare to household names like Grand Theft Auto 5 or Skyrim, hence why they have been largely forgotten about. However, they have been chosen for this list as they all offer worthwhile experiences for those who like the sound of their concept, even though they will likely suffer from a handful of shortcomings.
15 The Godfather 2
Considering that it's based on one of the most highly-regarded films of all time, it may be a surprise to see The Godfather 2 on this list. However, any hype for EA's game soon went away when critics posted their reviews, which resoundingly highlighted the game's poor technical performance and A.I.
Although these points are justified, The Godfather 2 still provides a thoroughly enjoyable experience for those who are willing to look past its deficiencies. Sure, there are plenty of better open-world games out there, though The Godfather 2 provides a form of simplistic fun that can be deceivingly hard to find in the open-world genre.
The Godfather 2 won't blow anyone away, though its gameplay loop of recruiting crew members, using their special abilities to take over rackets, and watching the crime empire expand, is enjoyable.
14 Infamous
When Infamous was initially released in May 2009, there were many people who thought that the series would become one of PlayStation's flagship franchises. This was certainly something that Sony needed at the time, as it's easy to forget now, but PlayStation was losing considerable ground to Microsoft and its Xbox 360.
PlayStation has, of course, recovered since then, but Sucker Punch Productions' Infamous is not high up on the reasons as to why. This perception is unfortunate, as although Infamous wasn't the game to turn PlayStation's fortunes around, it was still a fantastic action-adventure game in its own right. Infamous stood out with its range of gameplay mechanics centered around the protagonist's powers, along with the karma system that gave players the chance to be either good or evil.
13 Retro City Rampage
"Open World. Action. Parody. Steal The Wheel." Were the words of choice for Retro City Rampage's cover, which also featured an on the nose Back to the Future reference. Vblank Entertainment were making it clear that their game was a Grand Theft Auto clone with even more eccentric pop culture references, and that's exactly what the company delivered.
Unlike most GTA clones, Retro City Rampage takes players back to the top-down days of the franchise. The game was initially released exclusively on PC, PS3, and PS Vita, though it soon came to almost every system under the sun in the mid-2010s, many of which were the DX enhanced version that hit stores in 2014 on the 3DS.
12 Anarchy Reigns
When most people think of the beat 'em up genre, they associate it with the 2D side-scrolling gameplay on retro consoles or arcade machines. One thing it is rarely associated with is the open-world genre. PlatinumGames' Anarchy Reigns looked to change that by combing the open-world and beat 'em up genres to create a unique experience for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The game featured two campaigns, "White Side" and "Black Side," which both led to a combined "Red Side" finale. Along with the campaigns, the game featured a range of multiplayer modes for players to test out their beat 'em up skills against other people, including Battle Royale, Survival, and the classic Capture the Flag.
11 Fuel
Fuel raised a considerable amount of eyebrows in the late 2000s when details about the game's huge map size were revealed. The game features an enormous 5,560 square miles open-world that players are free to traverse in a range of different vehicle types.
Not only was the game's map size impressive, but its impressive loading feature, or lack of loading feature to be more accurate, also defied belief, as the players could drive around the entire game-world without triggering any load times.
Unfortunately, Fuel's gameplay struggled to live up to its technical achievements, which resulted in the game slipping out of peoples' attention.
10 The Saboteur
The Saboteur was released by Electronic Arts in 2009 on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and even BlackBerry. The BlackBerry and 2010 iOS versions of the game were developed by Hands-On Mobile, while the PC and console versions were developed by Pandemic Studios, a team best known for shooters like the original Destroy All Humans! And Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005).
The Saboteur takes place during World War 2 in Nazi-occupied Paris and lets players explore the city and complete missions at will in a way that is similar to the Grand Theft Auto series.
9 Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins was released in 2013, two years after the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham City and two years before Batman: Arkham Knight. Considering how beloved the Arkham series is, Arkham Origins may seem like an odd choice for this list.
However, Batman: Arkham Origins is often forgotten when people reminisce about the franchise, with most people referring to the series as a trilogy. This is likely because the game wasn't developed by Rocksteady Studios and also because it was absent from Batman: Arkham Collection.
8 Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was developed by the same team as the aforementioned The Saboteur, Pandemic Studios. The game takes place in a fictional, war-torn iteration of Venezuela and tasks players with killing the country's president — a story that wasn't very well received in the country.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames has a few niggling issues, such as poor enemy AI, though its over-the-top, explosive gameplay offered simplistic fun that most fans enjoyed at the time.
7 Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Considering that Grand Theft Auto is the 13th highest-grossing video game franchise of all time, it may seem hard to believe that one of the series' games is often forgotten about.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars first hit stores in March 2009 on the Nintendo DS before coming to PSP and mobile devices in the months and years that followed. The game was well-received by critics, exemplified by its whopping 93 Metascore on DS, which is why it's such a surprise that the game is rarely discussed today.
6 Yakuza: Dead Souls
The Yakuza series has recently enjoyed a huge increase in interest, following the series' inclusion in Game Pass. The series' combination of hard-hitting storylines about life as a Yakuza and utterly ridiculous and hilarious side quests has encapsulated audiences all over the world.
Befitting of the franchise's nonsensical themes, Sega released the spin-off game Yakuza: Dead Souls to try and cash in on the zombie hype that had engulfed the entertainment industry at the time. The game offers an enjoyable 13-14 hour zombie-slaying adventure, though its non-canon story has made it a forgotten entry in the Yakuza franchise.