Worldbuilding is one of the main building blocks of any great video game. But open-world games especially rely on it in order to make their extremely large worldspace worth exploring. One of the biggest complaints players often have about the open-world format is that more often than notthe world feels empty and lifeless. Massive open worlds impress nobody if there is nothing interesting about them.
Some open-world games overcome their flaws by crafting a world so compelling, it draws players in regardless of outdated visuals or repetitive gameplay. When the world itself sparks curiosity, those shortcomings fade into the background.
STALKER 2builds upon the foundation of the first game, inviting players to explore a massive open-world map just as post-apocalyptic but with double the content. Despite its many performance and bug-related issues,STALKER 2managed to deliver what many thought impossible:a worthy successor to a cult classic that resonated with fans.
TheSTALKERuniverse has a distinct grounded nuclear apocalypse horror vibe that’s the basis of its identity. It’s not grimdark for the sake of it—the bleakness is justified by the world’s lore and history. The gameplay itself might not be all that impressive, but it’s the haunting, hostile world that leaves an impression.
Horizon: Zero Dawnfuses futuristic sci-fi with a tribal,post-apocalyptic world, exploring how a low-tech society might interpret remnants of advanced technology through their unique worldview. It’s a compelling”what-if?” premise that bothZero Dawnand its sequel,Forbidden Westdive deep into.
Though the characters can feel a bit too optimistic to be entirely believable, the game excels at delivering a satisfying sense of discovery. Unearthing ancient ruins, decoding the fall of human civilization, and peeling back the layers of a centuries-old conspiracy are all concepts that rely on worldbuilding to do the heavy lifting.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorasuffers from gameplay that feels too reminiscent ofFar Cry—particularly its repetitive outpost mechanics. But its stunning visuals, fun aerial traversal, and expansive fantasy setting more than make up for it.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandoratakes the concept of James Cameron’sAvataruniverse and reimagines it from the perspective of a true blue Na’vi, expanding upon existing lore by introducing new tribes, Na’vi rituals, conflicts between tribes, and much more. The world is the main character in this game, as the main overarching goal is to save it, cherish it, and help it grow.
The Long Darkis aharsh open-world survival gamewhere players constantly fight against natural elements, wildlife, and unseen terrors while trying to keep their character alive through a wintery apocalypse.
It’s a slow, deliberate trek through a wintery hellscape, with no one but solitude for company. The glacial pace is an incredibly potent immersion method that allows players to truly feel that they’re a part of the game world. The struggle for survival is visceral at times, methodical at others, but never boring. Tidbits of information, a torn letter here, a last note there, slowly reveal what happened to cause the weather to turn into a perpetual snowstorm.
Without its world, its setting, and the intrigue it evokes,Death Strandingwould likely be crowned the blandest AAA game ever made. At a base level, the game tasks players to take on the role of a courier responsible for transferring batches of materials packed in boxes between settlements. There is some complexity to it, sure. Navigating the terrain requires a bit of skill and load management; tools can be used to make bridges or zip lines to make traversal easier, and other factors as well.
At the end of the day, however, it’sDeath Stranding’s imperceptibly alien worldthat’s the star of the show. Teetering on the edge of the uncanny valley, the worldbuilding in this game props up the gameplay in a way very few titles have managed to do.
InKenshi, the world treats the players as if they’re a part of it. There are no exposition dumps to explain what’s going on, no direct confrontations where a racist explains why he is so, and no codex entries neatly organizing the lore. The only way to learn aboutKenshiis to travel the land, meet the people, and glean the truth about conflicts between races and factions from the contextual clues gathered along the way.
Worldbuilding in games is about making the world feel like a real place and not something that feels manufactured. Evil factions aren’t evil just because they feel like it but because they have genuine motivations for their actions. The most impressive thing aboutKenshi’s worldbuilding is that it’s genuinely believable in a way very few game worlds are. It’s the game’s biggest strength and what allows it to maintain a cult classic status among fans.
No Man’s Skyis one of the most controversial games in recent memory, promising players a truly infinitesci-fi open worldthat relies on procedural generation to remain in a perpetually expanding state but falls short when it matters. However,No Man’s Skyhas come a long way since its initial rocky release, with content updates that have massively overhauled and fixed a lot of what was plaguing the game in its launch state. Even still, the heart of the game is in its exploration and sense of discovery every time players set foot on a planet no one has seen but them.
But what’s even more impressive is thatNo Man’s Skyhas managed to take the inherently formulaic concept of procedurally generated worlds and added in-depth, coherent lore on top of it. Who the player is, where they come from, what’s the purpose of everything they’re doing is. All this and more is information players can unearth via exploration. And considering how the game is still growing, expanding, and adding new content, there will be a lot more to come in the future.
