Evolution of Open World Games 1984-2023

Evolution of Open World Games 1984-2023
1984 Elite
1985 Mercenary
1986 Turbo Esprit
1987 Sid Meier's Pirates
1989 Vette
1990 Terminator
1991 Hunter
1993 Frontier: Elite II
1994 Quarantine
1996 The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
1997 Grand Theft Auto
1998 Mizzurna Falls
1999 Urban Chaos
2000 Shenmue
2001 Grand Theft Auto III
2002 Mafia
2003 Lineage II
2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2004 World of Warcraft
2005 Need for Speed: Most Wanted
2006 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007 S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV
2008 Fallout 3
2009 Prototype
2010 Just Cause 2
2010 Red Dead Redemption
2010 Mafia II
2011 Minecraft
2011 L.A. Noire
2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2012 Sleeping Dogs
2012 Far Cry 3
2013 Saints Row IV
2013 Grand Theft Auto V
2013 Assassins creed 4: Black Flag
2014 Infamous Second Son
2014 Sunset Overdrive
2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2015 Dying Light
2016 Tom Clancy's The Division
2016 No Man’s Sky
2016 Watch Dogs 2
2017 Horizon Zero Dawn
2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2017 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
2018 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
2018 Forza Horizon 4
2018 Red Dead Redemption 2
2019 Days Gone
2019 Death Stranding
2020 Ghost of Tsushima
2020 Microsoft Flight Simulator
2020 Cyberpunk 2077
2021 Riders Republic
2021 Forza Horizon 5
2022 Horizon Forbidden West
Special thanks to World of Longplays (longplays.org) and Joy Of Gaming (shorturl.at/yADE3) for providing the gameplay footage
Nixian Channel Description:
We’re lifelong video game enthusiasts with a passion for showing the world how our favorite hobby has grown with us, from individual series to industry-wide retrospectives.
We put significant time and creative effort into each one of our videos, including research, digging into archives, recording voiceovers, and editing. Every video takes as many as 10 hours to produce, because we strive to give our fans consistent, high-quality content.
Our popular “Evolution of...” series goes far beyond simply presenting gameplay footage. We take the time to show how a video game property - its gameplay, character designs, graphics, sound direction, etc. - have evolved over time. We include unique voiceover work on each video to enhance the viewing experience.
People have been playing video games for decades. In that time, we’ve gone from moving a white line up and down to block a moving pixel, to participating in full-fledged, painstakingly rendered real-time battles with people all over the world. We help older gamers look back on how these experiences have changed throughout their lives, and new gamers to understand the broader context of the series they’re playing for the first time today.
The video game medium never stops growing, and we’ll never stop chronicling its evolution.
Editing and voice-over were made by me.

[@dinamo7485]

I'm So Lucky I was born in the Generation of Video Games.

[@mastersavior4484]

True

[@jackgamer8961]

What if you were born in the 1800's?

[@Red-cx4ur]

Ur unlucky, it would be better if you were born in the 2050's when there would be mind blowing games.

[@MightGuySevereLeafHurricane]

@@Red-cx4ur the future of this world is destruction. Ww3 is closer than we think with all this nuclear power.

[@Elluffyxdddd]

Ñ

[@jingcyril3281]

GTA V was really a cutting-edge game in every aspects. Even with 8 yrs passing by, the difference between it and games coming out later makes it seem like they are still in the same generation in terms of evolution.

[@dotsinki1096]

well it was made by rockstar games

[@dxmoec]

@@dotsinki1096 omg 10 mins ago

[@Daniel-Rain-YT]

Lol no not really, you are making things up.

[@goblingas420]

GTA IV is still better

[@tayseer1288]

Not sure about GTA but RDR2 was a masterpiece!

[@zRm-84]

RDR2 is the Gold standard of open world gaming, its yet to be surpassed.

[@Parasiteband]

Yeah

[@abictor3312]

Rockstar gonna beat themselves with gta6

[@ItsBuuild]

Man rdr2 might still be better but who knows ​@abictor3312

[@williamredpath861]

I'd argue the open world in Assassins creed Odyssey is a more beautiful map. The acting and gameplay in GTA5 is better. RDR2 is a great game but I don't think it's the gold standard in certain aspects.

[@celesteorsa3918]

@@williamredpath861 and Zelda TOTK?

[@baverfjant]

Mafia was so fucking incredible for its time. Even today you'll struggle to find another game where for example the correct blinker on a car goes off when you're driving left/right, police will chase you down and give you a ticket if you're speeding, running a red light, driving on the wrong side of the road etc. If you walk in a puddle of blood your footsteps will leave a trail of blood behind them. There's so many details that I haven't seen since.

[@amitharavindpai3049]

Yeah...even I wish for a game like Mafia but game developers donot and will not implement those features anymore because many players do not like it. It slows the game down.

[@RadmanAbdollahi]

I haven't played the original one but the definitive edition is one of my favourite games

[@baverfjant]

@@amitharavindpai3049 They could include an option to have it turned on or off.

[@baverfjant]

@ArneyX True Rdr2 does replicate some of the features. Of course cars can't be in that game though :D Still, considering how long it's been since Mafia came out it's impressive it took this long for a comparable game to come out.

[@PlanetShlorpian]

You haven't seen any of those details since? Well then you haven't really been paying attention. Detailed games like Red Dead Redemption 2 have that level of detail and modern tech allows it to look even more realistic. Mafia was probably the first game if its kind to do that, not the last, as you are implying.

[@christoff130]

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the greatest game I have ever played. My friends kept bugging me to play it and I went in thinking I would not care for it but was blown away by every aspect of the game. I'm surprised they didn't mention Everquest. It was such a huge deal when I was in Highschool.

[@tuningsnow]

So fcking boring, it takes literally 20 minutes to performe an action like climbing into the horse

[@sx200n1]

I like RD2 but it didn't blow my mind. It didn't do anything that other open world games did. Just an interesting setting being in the old wild west

[@PRk958]

@@sx200n1everything great except combat gameplay like you cant die

[@ozgott1415]

It seems like he purposefully left out the MMORPGs - because my Evolution was Ultima Online, Everquest, DAOC, World of Warcraft, and now DayZ

[@Felix-on9dr]

​@@sx200n1Have you looked imto the details? And don't get me started on the story

[@AotBrown]

I know I'm late, but man, everyone forgets the legend - Gothic series is just so good that I'm still playing it. Gothic 3 has such a big open world.😢

[@tennode_khan3065]

Omg Gothic is my childhood❤

[@krzysztofwozny9742]

Gothic I was way ahead of its time. It took years for the big AAA companies to catch up. Skyrim 10 years later was the first game that could match it in terms of how alive the open world was.

[@user-cn7vv9vk9p]

Yeahh..gothic 3..orc shaman troll every mythical creatures.. totally loved it

[@wanderingwolf6604]

I still think about Gothic 1

[@Back4Fungame]

gothic II goated and blessed forever, spend countless hours playing as a kid

[@brannonhill4046]

Sleeping Dogs...criminally underrated game. A shame that it looks like we won't be getting a sequel. Mad Max was another one I really enjoyed that doesn't get enough love. If we're counting car games, Burnout Paradise and The Crew could've been in there

[@juanma_cello]

They could’ve made the Horizon Zero Down strategy, let the game for free after a while and then announce the trailer of a sequel

[@digitalvictory8266]

Love me some Wei Shen!

[@R__K]

True Crime NYC and LA also very good ones... much earlier on than Sleeping Dogs too.

[@NewAgeYOLO]

agree

[@devinchandula4245]

Don't forget Driver San Francisco

[@HakunaMatata25129]

Oblivion was mindblowing back in my time. My friend and i were playing the whole night when we had no school. the graphics, the machanics the world in general was amazing. the addons were also rly insane. i will never forget this time.

[@NathanielGarr0_96]

i lost 2 summer breaks in cyrodiil

[@Z0MBUSTER]

Ye weird, them tards didn't mention Morrowind before Oblivion ROFLMFAO

[@ИванДезигнер]

yeah but it had a pretty dead world though, comparing to Gothic for example

[@Pierre_Duel]

​@@ИванДезигнерв обле боты были на порядок живее с их распорядком дня, ты о чем?

[@UTubeis2]

If you as me games from the 90s were clearly Better,.. We played this game Extensively, Much more then today.. I don't have enough of good computing power but I remember having the first look on Morrowind, what was that 99/00?? Around the same time the Demo alfa-version of Doom 3 game was released . .and it was 'obviously' the same Hit at that time as Oblivion or Skyrim.... .. So it's Not True that old games are just because of the graphics .. ..

[@satriaptr]

I'm so glad you included Prototype. My childhood were fulfilled by that game.

[@shuddhasattwaguha5362]

This video really goes to show how iconic and groundbreaking the entire grand theft auto series really is

[@kiillabytez]

AND overrated too.

[@JaggedRecordsVa]

@@kiillabytezTo use overrated means there’s better games in that genre that beat it… name me 5

[@colefreeman4093]

@@JaggedRecordsVa I feel like it has gotten beat out in modern times though. Breath of the wild, rdr2 (still by rockstar tho), ghost of Tsushima, horizon, Skyrim, metro exodus, outer wilds, Spider-Man ps4, Arkham city, Mario odyssey.

[@falloutmania4855]

​@@colefreeman4093but the last gta is 10 years old, not fair comparing it with more recent games

[@parkout95]

@@JaggedRecordsVaFr, we are at an age where the most recent open world games (new Saints Row and Gotham Knight) looks worse than older games GTA V hold its own even today, and RDR 2 is in a league no other game will come close to replace it

[@mariadelmarharonaves2612]

1984 - Elite 1985 - Mercenary 1986 - Turbo Esprit 1987 - Sid Meier's Pirates 1989 - Vette 1990 - Terminator 1991 - Hunter 1993 - Frontier: Elite II 1994 - Quarantine 1996 - The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall 1997 - Grand Theft Auto 1998 - Mizzurna Falls 1999 - Urban Chaos 2000 - Shenmue 2001 - Grand Theft Auto III 2002 - Mafia 2003 - Lineage 2 2004 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2004 - World of Warcraft 2005 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2006 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2007 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl 2008 - Grand Theft Auto IV 2008 - Fallout 3 2009 - Prototype 2010 - Just Cause 2 2010 - Red Dead Redemption 2010 - Mafia II 2011 - Minecraft 2011 - L.A. Noire 2011 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 2012 - Sleeping Dogs 2012 - Far Cry 3 2013 - Saints Row IV 2013 - Grand Theft Auto V 2013 - Assasin's Creed 4: Black Flag 2014 - Infamous Second Son 2014 - Sunset Overdrive 2015 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2015 - Dying Light 2016 - Tom Clancy's: The Division 2016 - No Man's Sky 2016 - Watch Dogs 2 2017 - Horizon Zero Dawn 2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2017 - Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands 2018 - Assasin's Creed Odyssey 2018 - Forza Horizon 4 2018 - Red Dead Redemption 2 2019 - Days Gone 2019 - Death Stranding 2020 - Ghost of Tsushima 2020 - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 - Cyberpunk 2077 2021 - Riders Republic 2021 - Forza Horizon 5 2022 - Horizon Forbidden West

[@floppus9960]

Where is the genshin impact🤓

[@Josh098]

U just copied the description

[@dovahkiinslayer752]

Where is The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind?

[@flashpunk7333]

@@Josh098 Or did the description copy him?

[@BadassKenway535]

gracias

[@grease_monke6780]

The generation that grew up with the development of games and saw how games improved over the years is a golden age and the new generation will not appreciate games as much as we do now

[@kozzztya]

All my life passed in a single video. It's so cool to remember what was happened in my life during playing these games

[@warriorlife5101]

Lol same here

[@Seenshadow]

its crazy isnt it? :(

[@CraigSteelyard]

LA Noire was amazing for its age. Also the getaway from 2001 is really underrated

[@Trenasist]

Yes the Getaway!

[@sakazakivolnutt]

love the getaway 2 black monday

[@Khnshfkt.rockstargamesindia]

Our 2000's was phenomenal

[@mrfarmilkin33]

The era is already passing

[@Soul._.Seeker]

Its amazing how technology has come so far nowadays open world games look so realistic i just can't believe it how did they even make these types of games amazing!

[@fantasticspiderman8157]

In future games will look more realistic than real life

[@axencounterstrike]

@@fantasticspiderman8157 xd

[@Okan2004]

That is amazing

[@munyuoo]

@@fantasticspiderman8157 I think I will die before game will be realistic than real life

[@Daniel-Rain-YT]

Lol "realistic" and SHALLOW with nothing to offer besides the graphics.

[@VouDormirAteJa]

Skyrim was remarkable in my life when I was young. I was 15 at the time and didn't have a very good TV to play on, yet those landscapes always enchanted me. All these years later, I still play Skyrim without mods and still feel the magic of the first time I played and of course I have a much better tv now 😁

[@johnlittle3430]

I'm so glad I had Link to the Past at 15 and was able to grow up with the medium. I can't even begin to imagine what today's children think of "retro games" that make what we have today possible.

[@MaxstallfishDenton]

TV...lol We haven't good PC for that. All playing with lags & 10 FPS max.

[@lukeborne3253]

@@johnlittle3430I’m 20 and I got an Atari because I love retro been trying to find a n64 but they expensive

[@Peter_File69]

Hello pls help what race should i pick

[@johnlittle3430]

@@Peter_File69 White

[@Hazfb]

It starts getting good after 2000

[@dreadlock17]

Damn, I still remember the first time I fired up Witcher 3 on my trusty old gaming PC. Didn't disappoint. The Witcher 3 is one of those games that you feel like you don't mind that part of memory get wiped clean just to experience it for "the first time" again.

[@Kanal7Indonesia]

Nothing can top RDR 2. Great job, R* Games!

[@Kanal7Indonesia]

Btw, where is The Sims 3?

[@Kanal7Indonesia]

I can't believe u showed Minecraft instead

[@ajd1696]

he didnt include fallout 4 and the rest of the games in the fallout series. only fallout 3 was mentioned

[@cptspeedy6358]

Witcher 3 tops it but rdr2 is a close second

[@ForceInEvHorizon]

@@cptspeedy6358 i disagree but i respect your opinion since Witcher 3 is probably one of the best game i played

[@alinzzzzz]

I can't wait for "Evolution of Open World Games 2020-2050"

[@mitingant]

It's unbelievable how amazing Mafia looked at its time.

[@flashpunk7333]

Mafia 2 was amazing at that time. The main reason I loved it was the melee combat. I mean that is the most realistic fighting I've seen to this day.

[@holabuenastardes7258]

​@@flashpunk7333It was even more impressive what Mafia 1 did in its time. Between the release of GTA 3 and Mafia there is only one year, but if you compare the cinematics, you will notice a huge difference in the modeling of faces and quality of graphics.

[@glueyporchtreatments]

Give me the visual beauty & attention to detail of RDR2, the vastness & depth of Witcher 3 and the mechanics of MGSV.

[@amuroray9115]

Agreed

[@FarhanHakim-m2c]

MGSV? Metal Gear Solid V?

[@theQuietShow584]

Early 2000 games were such a vibe back than. No modern day UHD quality can beat those feeling

[@Karotu007]

brooo prototype was waaay ahead of its time, literal parkour and flying. the consuming and being able to disguise as people is something a lot of games dont have

[@alexsky88749]

You r!try Prototype 2: even better!

[@RD-tu1td]

Look at all the games leading up to Skyrim, and then all the games after. It was really the turning point of open world capabilities

[@alexsky88749]

I agree. I played countless hours on Skyrim until today...

[@biscuitandbailey]

I fell bad for whoever died during 1984 Edit: thanks for one like who was me

[@ItsMeMayur007]

One like from me😊

[@MoonSarito]

Hunter and Elite 2 are pretty impressive for the time, I think they're the first games to really invest well in the open world genre.

[@zanozzz]

Yeah they look really good for 90’s games

[@f.faucon6681]

I feel like the list could have included Elite: Dangerous, EVE Online and Star Citizen, to showcase the evolution in this genre of games. Maybe X3 and/or C4 too.

[@MrMycotic]

@@f.faucon6681star citizen is a stretch as it’s not fully released yet

[@seancrowe3353]

​@@f.faucon6681elite dangerous was so limited though due to how it was developed. No planetary landing for example.. Elite 2 had that from day 1

[@JaymeSplendid]

No, if anything, they where the first 3D games to do that but between 1983 and 1993, 2D RPG's and even some non-RPGS of the 1980s had the open world game style going down pretty well. Even down to the world "Living" and doing things with or without you influencing it.

[@tomie4456]

Can't believe The Witcher 3 is 6 years old already. It still looks and feels great and no less impressive than Cyberpunk

[@pyrox4549]

I just completed my 4th run in witcher 3 last month this tume using mods ( spend 4 days just to correctly install all mods so they run compatible) and its was worth my every effort ..

[@ArthurShotgun]

No way you showed Horizon over Elden Ring in 2022 lmaoo. That's like skipping Witcher 3, Zelda BOTW, Skyrim, GTAV, RDR2 etc in their respective years just cuz some other game had pretty graphics. If pretty graphics is all it took to make an open world game better than others then this list would be very different & people's standard for open world games would also be very different. Graphics is literally just one aspect of gaming. What about other aspects? Like Minecraft is the best example for this. It's literally just pixels but why do people like it so much?

[@JohnyGun69]

most impressive game ever, RDR2

[@Daniel-Rain-YT]

Yeah but only in your dreams.

[@bedrock5067]

@@Daniel-Rain-YT In a fanboys dreams these ppl are blind and only know the games made by rockstar

[@Rizzdice]

Graphically the best I've experienced. I just wish the gameplay wasn't so clunky. Horizon Zero Dawn is the perfect balance between impressive graphics and smooth, intuitive gameplay.

[@Rizzdice]

@@Daniel-Rain-YT Is there anything you actually like or are you just here to tell everyone that you don't like video games? 🤔

[@amuroray9115]

@@Daniel-Rain-YT Horizon shits on FO4 😂 FO4 has a terrible story and no RPG mechanics with god awful quests. “There’s a settlement that needs your help!” X400000 times. Every open world game is better than that shallow Game. It’s graphics aren’t even good. All it has is power armor. Your standards low, genius

[@TypicallyUniqueOfficial]

GTA3 was the game that blew me away. That game changed gaming as we know it today.

[@JADES-GS-z13-0]

Minecraft and RDR2: First and second love of my life

[@gamermanofficial]

My top 5 is; Rdr 2 - Witcher 3 - Mafia 1 - Rdr 1 - Gta San Andreas. Have huge respect for others too ofc. Played almost all in this video. It's extremely difficult to be a ''good'' open world game.

[@kensei3656]

which is better rdr 2 or the witcher 3

[@dhiman1021]

@@kensei3656 RDR 2

[@gamermanofficial]

@@kensei3656Technically Rdr2 by far. Rdr2 also has like limitless in-game details. I still discover new things after 700+ hours of gameplay time on steam. But Witcher 3 has better side quests, a little better soundtrack, and also more replayable due the rpg elements/choices/dlcs etc. For me Rdr2 and Witcher 3 are two best games ever made. I can't easily say which one is #1 but if i still have to give them a score Rdr2 would be 99.5/100 and Witcher 3 would be 99/100 cos Roach sucks :d

[@Ulloin]

@@kensei3656 no

[@Bliviate]

have you tried breath of the wild?

[@tomoakley760]

Shenmue was so ahead of its time when you look at the average open world game just a year or two prior. And then GTAIII only a year later. What a way to begin the golden age of open world games.

[@ryangoslingim]

2004 is best

[@iainqblank]

for me Shenmue and GTA 3 were the two games that changed everything.

[@TheTrueNecRoHeaD]

I’m impressed you mentioned prototype most people seem to forget about it such a masterpiece

[@tranilator]

It's criminal that you didn't even mention the Ultima series, one of the forefathers of emergent open world games.

[@SkullSlugger69]

and EQ

[@sx200n1]

Playing and experiencing a good open world game makes it hard, really hard, to enjoy non open world games now. The sheer scale and freedom to do what you want is so good.

[@denberzfan5759]

nahhh. Most open world games are empty trash. Play souls games, thats where gaming is today.

[@jumpehumpe]

​@@denberzfan5759 dude. Do you know what genre the latest souls game is? Open world.

[@denberzfan5759]

@@jumpehumpe I've played every souls game bud. Elden Ring was pretty good but still copy and pasted so many enemies kinda turned me off. LIterally less 50% less enemies in ER compared to linear dark souls 3 lol. Dumb

[@calebhitchcock3365]

@@denberzfan5759Bait used to be believable

[@denberzfan5759]

@@calebhitchcock3365 you're saying open world games aren't empty? Bait used to be believable. Also yes souls games are literally like being the most played genre as of today lmao

[@elijah694]

I was waiting for GTA VIce City and Assassin's Creed, they were just mind-blowing back there

[@aledorta3796]

Todos los Grand Theft Auto

[@mr.rt..3808]

3:46 Our Childhood legend 🔥❤️..

[@sergioperezio5523]

I had no idea open world games go back to the mid 1980's. Thanks for the history lesson.

[@wolfheart5408]

Skyrim, the goat

[@arunallen1277]

Glad to see STALKER in there. Got that game in 2010 after I did my final A-Level exam, and I loved it. Played and completed the two sequels. Anomalies will continue to be a large part of my life! :D

[@grayfarron5077]

Too bad its not open world.

[@tkdcoastskater9809]

@@grayfarron5077 yeah but i mean anomaly is so

[@prezentoappr1171]

​@@tkdcoastskater9809 how about metro?

[@kimjongunvevo]

RDR 2 and GTA 5 are probably the top among the modern games imo. And apart from the bugs, Cyberpunk does look really good.

[@VictorHugo-dj1vx]

The Witcher 3?

[@ShaqsCheeks]

Cyberpunk was terrible

[@_Yombo]

No Man's Sky

[@AnimeRenegades]

TW3 was the greatest game I've ever played. Sure, the combat was a bit bland but everything else was just too beautiful. One of a kind

[@Based1889]

@@AnimeRenegades rdr2 and witcher is on par.

[@ice_cream_cake5539]

Horizon Zero Dawn made me love open world games, the story line was soo good! ❤

[@darkwest8028]

Joa

[@FakeAdirTV]

Open world was trash

[@storminghades6664]

The last game was like a dream wonder after 10 years from now what graphics we would be seeing I think we almost reached the realistics in terms of graphics how far we accomplished cheers to mankind

[@totaldomination7269]

I’ve spent majority of my childhood playing GTA 5 and Skyrim. Those are the two best games of all time in my opinion.

[@exodusday8761]

RDR 2, The Witcher 3: are you gay?

[@earth-oe5le]

How can u say that if u have not played any other games lmao kids these days are so spoiled and dumb

[@KarimJovian]

This was bad. You skipped so many games. Where was GTA: Vice City? The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind? Spiderman 2? Mercenaries? Yakuza? Smugglers Run? Fallout: New Vegas? Assassins Creed: Origins? Watchdogs 1? Man…at least you had Shenmue in there.

[@djordjespasic2179]

You are one of the rare youtubers to give the credit to Urban Chaos before GTA3! Good video.

[@Dutch.van.der.Linde.-]

2:46 why is this scene not a meme XD

[@mostlikedplaylist]

Assassins Creed 3 0:27 Alan Awakes: American Nightmare 0:42 Alien Rage: Unlimit 0:58 All American Racing 1:13 Batman Arkram Origins 1:28 Battlefield bad company 2 1:43 Beach buggy racing 2 1:59 Binary Domain 2:14 Bionic Commando 2:32 Bioshock 2:44 Blur 3:00 Borderlands 2 3:15 Brink 3:30 Bulletstorm 3:45 Burnout Paridise 4:00 Call of Duty Modern warfare 3 4:16 Call of Juarez: The cartel 4:31 Crisys warhead 4:46 Deadfall adventures 5:02 deep Black 5:15 DMC 5:32 Dirt 3 5:47 Dishonered 6:03 Dragon ball: fighter Z 6:18 Enemy Front 6:33 Enslaved: Odyssey to the West 6:48 FarCry 3 7:03 Dead Island 7:18 F.E.A.R 3 7:33 Fireburst 7:49 Fuel 8:03 Deadpool 8:19 Just Cause 2 8:32 Kane & Lynch: Dog Days 8:49 Lost Planet 3 9:05 Mad Riders 9:20 Mafia 2 9:35 Marlow Briggs 9:50 Marvel VS Capcom 3 10:06 Mirrors Edge 10:21 Mist Hunter 10:36 Dead Space 3 10:52 Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 11:06 Need For Speed: Most Wanted 2012 11:22 Ori and the Blind Forest 11:37 Gears of War 11:52 Grid 2 12:06 GTA 4 12:22 Hard Reset Redux 12:37 Hitman: Absolution 12:51 Sniper Elite: Zombi Army Trilogy 13:08 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood 13:23 Batman: Arkham City 13:39 Borderlands: Pre Sequel 13:54 Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood 14:08 Call of duty: Black Ops 14:24 Devil May Cry 4 14:40 Dirt: Showdown 14:57 Flatout: Total Insanity 15:09 Assassin's Creed: Liberation 15:25 Little Nightmares 15:41 Mad Max 15:57 My Hero: One's Justice 16:10 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 16:26 One Piece: Burning Blood 16:41 Prototype 16:57 Red Faction: Guerrilla 17:11 Saint's Row: Gate out of Hell 17:28 Tomb Raider: Underworld 17:42 Crysis 2 17:58 Inside 18:30 Inversion 18:28 Pay day 18:43 Prince Of Persia 2008 18:59 Prototype 2 19:14 Race Driver Grid 19:29 Red Faction: Armageddon 19:44 Immortal Redneck 19:59 Remember Me 20:15 Resident Evil: Revelation's 20:29 Ridge Racer: Unbounded

[@chandler1473]

🤨 what the fuck is this. Are you okay

[@inflatable2]

Sid Meier's Pirates!! OMG, I was so addicted to that game back in those days.. One of my most played games on the C64..

[@metsrus]

the realization you've been playing the same game over and over again just with different graphics and stories

[@thecruelfool12]

15:31 bro almost recreated a certain event

[@gonnaknowmyname]

Used to be a thing in those games, changed after 2001 but I’m not sure why

[@JudeMarley3135]

@@gonnaknowmynamenever forgetti. RIP in peace all those that perished in 7/11

[@tomie4456]

I started playing Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition recently and oh my, I'm so impressed by how alive and big the world is. Like??? How come I've lived so many years of being a gamer girl and never heard about this game until a year ago or something? Fighting feels kinda awkward on a PC, but overall a great game that is truly underrated.

[@mjl11]

One of my friends had it on xbox 360 and he got annoyed that we only talked about gta or AC when it came to open world. So he invited all of us at his home to play it. That christmas (2013) i begged my mom for the game and luckily got it.

[@The_Chess_GM]

Wait till bro finds rdr2

[@tomie4456]

@@The_Chess_GM the point is that Sleeping Dogs is an old ass game, egghead

[@CJNG_1]

@@The_Chess_GM rdr2 is boring and slow gameplay its more like movie than games .... rdr2 is like sitting and watching rather than to play !!! but sleeping dogs has intresting gameplay and you have to note that rdr2 came out in 2018 !!!

[@The_Chess_GM]

@@CJNG_1 yeah you definitely did not play the game

[@darth_yoda]

Fun fact Elder Scrolls 2 STILL holds the Guinness world record as the largest game EVER made. With an ingame map two times the size of the UK 15.000 towns and over 750.000 NPC's Witcher 3 is still my all time favorite open world RPG.

[@than0zZ]

Some true legends right there. Personally i'd add the Gothic/Risen series

[@TiagoLopesMenezes]

nice video, i just missed elite dangerouns in the list in 2014 because you added the older elite games, nice content bro

[@letteracura]

Great video thanks brother. Also, as someone else pointed out, great thing to be born in thi era of videogames

[@SubZyYT]

the graphics that we have all dreamed of are finally here. Next step is to get it into VR and make the VR headsets as thin as sunglasses, that's when we will really be in for a show.

[@madmax_4917]

in a way it is also sad cuz once that happens, so many of us will lose the sense of reality and humanity. Maybe would want to live in the vr world because we will atleast have control majority of the time there.

[@Crea_TV]

@@madmax_4917 Till ya don't, i.e microtransaction etc leading to zero content unless you got millions in your real wallet, placing you back into reality, "I need money."

[@notprosperBEATS]

pls no

[@bikun71]

it will be good for the body...if we do some running and fighting motions...

[@Kanal7Indonesia]

Consider this : *the real life*

[@chocoblin5887]

2023 in title 💀

[@djaxe32]

man I cant believe RDR2 is already 5 years old, it feels like it came out just yesterday

[@bisvizstudio1242]

that 1999 game was revolutionary.

[@Jigen32]

Shenmue was so ahead of it's time back in 1999.

[@maxrocans2668]

Well it was kind of boring. They tried to make you do things like you do in real life😂 Also you have meaningless conversations with people.

[@JibplayzYT]

It is actually insane how we went from barely being able to render 3D models, to realtime ray tracing, shadows, particle effects, advanced textures, smooth animations and more.

[@Vsprivate]

My jaw dropped when Horizon Forbidden West came up, damn that game looks impressive!

[@eusou8932]

1986 there was Legend of Zelda. You could have added it, considering how iconic it was

[@heins9185]

simply because this list is bullshit. This guy only shows games that are considered GTA-like regardless of whether the game he listed is open world or not. I guess this guy is a fan of R*

[@nixxxon18]

There are quite a few Zelda games missing. ALTTP is a masterpiece that should have been added too, although its maybe not so much open world as other games.

[@raverecage]

RDR2. The peak of evolution if you ask me.

[@_Yombo]

No Man's Sky

[@Based1889]

@@_Yombo nowhere near the graphics of rdr2.

[@cptspeedy6358]

Witcher 3 clears

[@Based1889]

@@cptspeedy6358 witcher 3s graphics sucks ass wth are u talking about even assassins creed unity(2014) has wayy better graphics than witcher 3, not everything has to be good in the witcher there are a lot of flaws in the game and unlike rdr2 it never felt real and geralt was a bland idiot.

[@_Yombo]

@@Based1889 I mean't the open space

[@JudhaztKASKUS]

You missed Gothic 2001. It was great game

[@akatoshmorgul9367]

They really didn't put Dying Light 2. That game is hands down the best sequel upgrade any game has ever had nit to mentio it has the best graphics and graphic setting in any game I've ever played.

[@TayRich93]

Dying light series is my shhi fasho 🔥🔥

[@Abderrahmane_CHIKH]

In my opinion I think that red dead redemption II is the best open world game between all those games.

[@SoundTrackJ]

@Shaheen Shad Even GTA San Andreas can't beat Red Dead Redemption 2. But they're both timeless masterpieces.

[@SoundTrackJ]

@HUNGRY DOG Tbh, after you complete the compedium (Idk how to say it in english) you finish all side missions, and you complete the story it gets kinda boring.

[@juanpabloherreranarvaez1278]

I think the same partner

[@juanpabloherreranarvaez1278]

@@SoundTrackJ when I finished it I went to hunt the legendary beasts look for the treasures and all that but mainly to create chaos in all the towns

[@SoundTrackJ]

@@juanpabloherreranarvaez1278 Creating chaos is freaking wild! It's much better than in any GTA game.

[@zebrasbean2385]

PlayStation exclusives are literally the best , red dead redemption, horizon zero dawn , ghost of Tsushima , nothing can top theese

[@jaym5118]

Aside from games like Breath Of The Wild, I'd have to agree.

[@averagevideoconsumer7345]

@@jaym5118 and Witcher 3

[@ayushkumarjha9921]

There are many games which can top these actually.

[@zebrasbean2385]

@@ayushkumarjha9921 name them please

[@virgilcol]

For anyone watching this that was not born in the 80s or prior, I wish you could experience the feeling of that first open world game after you’ve been playing video games for 20ish years. My first was Morrowind TES 3. It hooked me from the beginning. I’d get off work and play this until I had only enough time for the absolute bare minimum of sleep for work the next day. 6hrs of straight playing lol. One day I passed up getting laid to play it 😂. These games set a new standard for what I thought was “getting your moneys worth” from a video game.

[@TheMargateMan]

Crazy how you didn't use Zelda Ocarina Of Time for 1998. That really defined Open World games and the distance they'd come for me.

[@idkidk8278]

Very crazy considering it was the first real open world on console... Forgetting it makes this list actually really bad...

[@donaldwebb]

Most influential open world game ever made & not on the list

[@legendalt123]

I was surprised too

[@nixxxon18]

Yep, early 3D Nintendo games are SO missing here. Zelda and Mario.

[@gyurmagyuri6440]

13:53 ahhhhhhh, waited for that 😁

[@gyurmagyuri6440]

@Paulo Ricardo SL awesome game :)

[@j.w.r3730]

Oh my,remember every one of these,spent days exploring them,it was so new. To see where things have taken us....

[@stephanieharrison2972]

14:09 Red Dead Redemption 2

[@lezbonyyy]

I think it's so crazy how back in the day, those graphics would have been insane for what we knew at the time, and now we see them and think "this looks so trash" haha. Makes me wonder how much further we can possibly go, and if 10/15 years down the track, we'll look at Horizon Zero Dawn gameplay and think "this look so trash" 😂

[@sirthomas2181]

Thats a good thought, although I couldn't imagine Horizon Zero Dawn being having "trash" graphics unless we somehow put REALITY in a game lol.

[@flatlineoptimism2600]

Check out that new motorcycle racing game for PS5. It's shocking how good the graphics are. You can't really tell it's a video game real easily.

[@sicorange3]

Everything will probably attach itself into the virtual world. I'm looking at getting one, myself eventually..... It'll be almost like putting your true self into a situation from a movie like 'Brainscan' or even 'Total Recall'

[@Daniel-Rain-YT]

Speak for yourself, when i look at an old game i don't think "this looks so trash", only the casuals do, videogames aren't movies nor real life, the super graphics doesn't make a good videogame.

[@sirthomas2181]

@@Daniel-Rain-YT whoa bad day mate?

[@screwthenet]

Missing a lotta games like Ultima Online, The Realm, other MuDs, The first Summoner game, etc. So many games but perhaps too many to cover. A nice enough vid though. ^~^ GJ!

[@remylemaire6910]

2013... What a year for gaming

[@sam9708]

Frontier elite 2 actually looks great and the music really adds to the atmosphere

[@TheCryron]

It is a horrible horrible game and bad graphics even back then. I know because I bougth it back then :)

[@bogris6785]

Man... This video made me realize how old I am, I still remember when GTA San Andreas was lunched and it was like 20 yrs ago...

[@luisvazquez6192]

What I like the most about a video game is exploring the map and free roam

[@allyouwant7684]

You have missed to include the legendary game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City"

[@aksimtaioreunin5385]

Thumbnail image from which game?

[@Clydecancook5000]

Idk either just here to remind you and tell me once you know

[@mineraalwater]

who else was thinking the same thing 1:09 💀

[@estud6411]

Unfortunately all of us.

[@NoNameX_X0]

damn ☠️

[@russellthorburn9297]

Being a huge open world fan, I was surprised how many were on the list that I'd never heard of. Well done. I was, however, disappointed with a few of the video clips which appeared to be captured with the game at very low settings (e.g. MFS 2020).

[@MaxxieGD]

3:46 The best game

[@PigDaddy2020]

While perhaps not as acclaimed as other titles, Outer Wilds has the most advanced open world I've ever seen. While other games have mostly static environments, OW has a scale size solar system in which the entirety of it is in constant & perpetual motion relative to everything else. Also has no load screens & every asset is kept loaded in memory continuously.

[@luckyyy6510]

Imagine playing 2050's Games

[@arcadeshift5071]

Those old enough to have played Shenmue when it came out know how ahead of its time it was. It jumped about 10 steps in terms of freedom, NPCs/interaction, story, etc. There was nothing like it at the time, and for a brief window before the PS2 came out, the Dreamcast was so much more powerful than any other console hardware out there. A classic.

[@aminogamer860]

2050 GTA VI

[@theraven-officalchannel6561]

9999 gta vı

[@fernando-vd2cn]

The Witcher 3 looks better than other more new games.

[@Based1889]

Doesn't come close to rdr2.

[@dinand28]

@@Based1889 bro really hating on Witcher 3 💀😹

[@Based1889]

@@dinand28 yeah I am, Gonna cry me a river about it?

[@dinand28]

@@Based1889 nah, it just funny for me

[@L20Nardi]

No mention of Zelda: Oot, Mm, Twilight P, no mention of any of the Mass Effect series...not the most inclusive list, but ok..

[@albogypsy2842]

terrible list.

[@jitin785]

It's a great nostalgia, knowing we'd come a long way. It took me back to the days I used to wait for holidays to get access to computes to play for an hour or 2. Now when I have access to advanced gaming rig, I don't have time to play. Days go by so quick.

[@a6himanyu]

Everyone: We have come so far in terms of graphics... Me: Had someone even noticed the glitch at 3:21 ??

[@kevinpubg-tg4tb]

poor man

[@euX222X]

And in 2023 with Starthirty we regress to 1990's...

[@SteveBonario]

Been around for all of this. I played "Boot Hill" on an arcade machine in 1977 when just the idea of having a video game with playable "cowboys" was fun. Never imagined back then what would come along 40 years later in terms of "old west" video games with the likes of RDR2. Around 2000, when 3D games were really taking off, I thought about how far we'd come since 1980 and really believed that 20 years later (i.e. 2020) we'd have more fully immersive VR games. Kinda sad that VR really hasn't delivered yet. It hasn't given us a leap that makes playing 3D games on a flat screen seem as old tech as playing PacMan in an arcade.

[@norivaljunior6117]

Red Dead 2 will be the best one for a long time!

[@bibeksah4546]

Seeing the introduction of Grand Theft Auto in the late 90s brought a nostalgic smile to my face.