Open-World Games Where The Terrain Is Your Enemy

There is a host of compelling open-world titles that gamers can check out, and while such a broad genre is bound to have games of wildly different difficulties and subgenres, a good deal of the greatest open-world titles known today do not pull any punches with the challenges they send players' way.

But what is the best way to make an open-world title difficult? Increasing the volume of enemies is one potential solution, especially when it comes to zombie-focused titles. However, if the very environment the player is immersed in has turned against them, then there's really nowhere for them to turn. For gamers looking to experience an environment as hostile as any foe, here are some open-world titles to keep an eye on.

5 Subnautica: Below Zero

Immersing Players In Treacherous Terrain

There is no terrain or environment in Subnautica: Below Zero that does not want to sap the player of their body heat and/or oxygen. Players exploring the frigid wastes above or the abyssal depths below will need to be prepared for a perilously hostile environment, one that can induce extreme levels of cold in an instant. The sheer pressure of the otherworldly ocean in Below Zero will prevent non-optimized vessels from progressing to deep, but even in the upper levels of the sea, there is a host of geothermal vents to burn players or opportunities for frigid ice water to freeze them solid.

The beginner-friendly base building may lead players to believe that this game's exploration will be of a similar difficulty, but it won't take long to see that the environment in Below Zero is anything but friendly.

4 Elden Ring

A Dark Souls Staple Meets New Terrain Challenges

There are a plethora of areas in Elden Ring that showcase a Dark Souls staple - that being the much beloved and much celebrated toxic swamps, a feature since 2009's Demon's Souls. Between the poisonous swamps and the various areas with the even worse poisonous swamps that inflict scarlet rot, there is a great deal of hostile terrain that makes it a main priority to hamper the player's ability to get from one area to another.

No overpowered Elden Ring build will be able to stop the relentless tide of debuffs that areas like the Lake of Rot will afflict the player with, and coupled with even minor enemies, these can be some of the most challenging areas in the game.

3 Fallout 4

Few Things Are Safe From Rads

While many streamlines from earlier titles were seen as a detraction from the Fallout series, Fallout 4's simplified radiation poisoning mechanic makes for a dangerous, straightforward, and tangible threat to the player. Simply put, radiation eats away at a player's HP. The more rads they have, the less HP they have. If rads eat away enough of a player's HP, the bite of a radroach might be all it takes to finish them off.

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Some may wonder: Where does a player get rads from? The answer is simple. It's in the water, from any still-running reactors, various craters and active bombsites, and, for those with the misfortune to find themselves in the Glowing Sea, everywhere and all the time. Fallout 4's environment does not waste any time in making itself one of the main enemies for players to overcome. To make matters worse, some of the best Fallout 4 gear is hidden within these irradiated areas.

2 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Anomalies And Radiation Make For Hostile Environs

Based on a novel by the incredible Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Shadow of Chernobyl features a heavily irradiated environment for players to try and survive as they search for mysterious anomalies - alien artifacts with properties that choose not to adhere to any of the laws of science as humans know them. Every aspect of this warped Chernobyl is hostile against the player in ways they may not be able to understand.

A remastered trilogy of these older S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Titles is soon coming to the Switch for those looking to experience the horrors of the Zone for themselves, but surviving said environments is much easier said than done.

1 Kenshi

There Are Literally Beams Of Fire Descending From The Sky

There is a reason why securing a settlement is one of the first orders of business for players new to Kenshi. The entire continent has such a pervasively hostile environment that it can be actively lethal to any unprepared players almost instantly.

The choking bogs of the Swamp are host to hazards that will slow players to a crawl as they are dowsed in acid rain, and for those thinking the barren badlands of Venge allow them to see any oncoming threats, the orbital beams of fire that constantly puncture the area will make them rethink their strategy.

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