It is hard to argue with the fact that gamers simply love open-world video games. In recent years they have become a mainstay genre as many people enjoy the feeling of having a whole online world that they can escape into when they need to. There is no doubt that they give an overwhelming sense of freedom when players step into them. There is also the wonderful knowledge that players get when they access any open-world video game; this game is going to take ages to complete. Many people would identify with this feeling and call it a benefit, but some would say that this is harmful to the game and the industry as a whole.
There are many types of games that players can sink their time into. One only must look at examples like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and Grand Theft Auto to get an example of the kind of variation that is available to them. In GTA V, players can even visit an online casino and play casino games, something players can also do with these independent sites to play for real money. In a sea of different genre’s open-world stands as being one of the most popular and loved, but whether it is good or not for the gaming industry remains in the air.
There is no doubt that open-world games are great to play – some of them. When the mechanic was first invented, they were indeed a breath of fresh air that led many gamers to become instantly excited with the new technology that offered them several different possibilities, more than ever before. However, as the mechanic began to get used in many more games, it became less of a feature of a game, and more of a genre itself. Open world games now have certain features that are standard across the gaming industry which makes it easy to tell them apart from other genres.
However, the pure influx of open-world games we now have at this moment is arguably bad, not good. Time was that we could feasibly complete a game as long as we played a level or two every week or so. More linear games like that have a clear start and endpoint that could be completed comfortably as the natural pace and progression of the story can be seen. With the open-world games of today, there is simply too much content to work through in a reasonable amount of time. While those who may be in full-time education might disagree with this, those who work full-time will attest to the fact there is simply not enough time to play these kinds of massive games.
Some of the criticism that surrounds open-world games is that there is quantity over quality, whereas many might prefer a world that is smaller but has been lovingly crafted with a focus, instead of having that focus spread over a larger map. Only when studios stop trying to go bigger than before can open-world games innovate once again.
