Summary
- Immaculate level design in open-world games is crucial for a captivating player experience.
- Games like Metro Exodus, Batman: Arkham City, and Elden Ring showcase the importance of carefully crafted environments.
- From seamless world-building to thrilling linear sections, developers must strive to create engaging and immersive locations.
Level design is something that open-world games must nail to keep players engaged throughout their journey. Sure, designing beautiful and engaging sandboxes is important, but contained areas, dangerous dungeons, and other such locations also need to be crafted with the same care.
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This is why fans love certain open-world games that go the extra mile with their level design. Players will love how immersive and riveting the locations in these titles are when developers pour their hearts into these environments.
8 Metro Exodus
The Combination Of Open-World And Linear Segments Is Handled Beautifully
Metro Exodus
- Released
- February 15, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- FPS
There was a time when fans were worried about Metro Exodus because of its sandbox approach. Little did they know that 4A Games had a very simple yet elegant solution in mind.
The sandbox was crafted with great care and featured numerous areas for players to get lost in, but it also featured linear segments that captured the vibes of previous games. The level design was immaculate here and ensured that players would think twice before turning every corner, in case a mutant ambush led to their equipment getting damaged.
7 Batman: Arkham City
The Predator Segments Are Brilliantly Designed
Batman: Arkham City
- Released
- October 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
All the Batman: Arkham games boast incredible level design in every fibre of their being. Arkham City showed the biggest leap, with the improvements made to everything from the game's world to its combat segments being in a class of their own.
A major highlight is the Predator segments, where players have numerous options to instill fear in the hearts of their enemies as they hunt them from the shadows. It helped that the AI wasn't completely stupid and blocked off certain routes that players were relying on for too long, but the immaculate level design ensured that players always had something to rely on to take out their enemies silently.
6 VVVVVV
A Fun And Challenging Platformer With Excellent Level Design And An Open-World Approach
VVVVVV
- Released
- September 7, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action, Platformer
One of the hardest and most innovative platformers fans can enjoy, VVVVVV features a gravity mechanic along with simple platformer mechanics that ended up being a great combination. It helped that the game takes place in a seamless world where players can tackle whatever challenge they set their minds to.
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The result is one of the best indie video games that more fans need to check out, especially since the excellent level design ensures that every stage is challenging without being too frustrating. The difficulty slowly ramps up until players are making some extremely hard jumps and gravity switches to reach their end goal, which feels satisfying after a player dies over and over again.
5 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
The Surface, Depths, And Sky Islands Are All Designed Immaculately
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Released
- May 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Action, Open-World
Tears of the Kingdom took the sandbox approach from Breath of the Wild and dialed it up to 100. The open world felt less empty, and the inclusion of both the Sky Islands and the Depths was magical to behold.
While the Sky Islands could've been more elaborate, the puzzles are always engaging and let players make the most of their unique powers. A few hours will make it clear that the level design of this game is in a class of its own and a huge step above its predecessor.
4 Fallout: New Vegas
Obsidian Took Inspiration From Bethesda's Work For This Title
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Fallout: New Vegas merges the best of old and new Fallout to make for an amazing open-world game. Every town in this game is great to explore and features iconic visual landmarks, while the vaults, abandoned buildings, and other such locations have also been crafted with tremendous care.
All of this combines to let players enjoy a fantastic open-world game that is full of things to do. The city of New Vegas itself shows Obsidian's stellar level design, with everything from the main city hub to Freeside being a treat to explore.
3 Outer Wilds
The Level Design Lets Players Organically Obtain Knowledge Via Exploration
Outer Wilds
- Released
- May 28, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Fantasy Violence, Alcohol Reference
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
Given that Outer Wilds needed to make exploration and puzzle-solving go hand-in-hand, it's easy to see why the level design for each planet needed to be in a class of its own. This was masterfully achieved by the developers, who ensured that players would have a blast uncovering the secrets of the universe and figuring out the secret behind the time loop.
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The magic of exploration is a huge part of what makes Outer Wilds so immersive. Players will love the simple joys of hopping from one planet to another and connecting the dots, using the knowledge they've attained to make everything fall into place in one of the greatest open-world indie games of all time.
2 Elden Ring
FromSoftware's Immaculate Level Design Shines In Their Open-World Adventure
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
FromSoftware is a master of level design, something that was evident from the release of Dark Souls. This makes it easy to see why this same design brilliance was carried over to Elden Ring.
The open world feels natural to explore, while the more linear sections highlight FromSoftware's old strengths that fans were aware of. A new area can house everything from enemy ambushes to valuable secrets, and it's a testament to FromSoftware's level design that fans will somehow love both elements in equal measure.
1 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
A Masterclass In Open-World Level Design
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
There's a reason why many people consider Skyrim to be one of the greatest open-world games ever made. The sandbox is full of beautiful locations to explore that still look jaw-droppingly good to this day, courtesy of the game's many re-releases and fan mods.
Skyrim is certainly guilty of sporting cave systems and other dungeons that may have a similar feel. However, these are offset by memorable locations like Eldergleam Sanctuary, Shimmermist Cave, and Frostflow Lighthouse, all of which look and feel amazing to explore and show Bethesda's level design at its very best.
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