10 Open World Video Games That Mock You For Exploring
These open-world games laughed at the thought of you exploring.
What's the one word that most folks associate with open world games? Bloat? Ubisoft?
No, it's "exploration," because what is the point of open world games if they don't grant the player the opportunity to freely explore their beautiful, expansive world as they see fit?
It's precisely why the genre became so popular in the first place, and yet, not all games are entirely cool with you just walking around wherever the hell you want like you own the place.
In fact, some games will even punish or straight-up mock those who get a little overzealous with their wandering, making it clear beyond any doubt that the game really, really doesn't want you to do what you're trying to.
Invisible walls are one way to keep players contained inside a set area, yet these 10 games didn't merely settle for boring, context-devoid restrictions - they made it abundantly clear within the game itself that you were doing something "wrong," or at least betraying the design of the world itself.
Above all else, these games confirm just how difficult it is for developers to craft worlds that feel truly open...
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The bread and butter of the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been the appeal of giving players a massive open world sandbox and letting them just tear it up however they see fit.
Except, in San Andreas, Rockstar had an odd, slightly hilarious punishment for anyone who got a little over-ambitious and attempted to access areas of the game world which hadn't yet been unlocked through the story.
If you're playing the game as Rockstar intends, you need to complete 27 missions in Los Santos before accessing San Fierro, and 64 before unlocking Las Venturas, but that doesn't mean you can't just swim to these places before that.
However, doing so will result in you instantly receiving a four-star wanted level, ensuring the near-full might of the San Andreas Police Department (SAPD) quickly comes crashing down on you.
Granted, cops Tenpenny and Hernandez tell you not to leave Los Santos in the early stages of the game for good reason, but when Rockstar dropped players in the middle of such a rich, gorgeous world, did they really expect them to patient wait for it all to open up organically?