10 Greatest Open World Games Of All Time
5. Far Cry 3
The game that would define Ubisoft's development formula for the next decade and counting, Far Cry 3 remains the best open-world game Ubisoft has made thus far.
The Rook Islands, where Jason Brody and his trust fund brat friends are terrorized by the psychotic Vaas and his merry band of bipedal murder monkeys, is one of the most interesting settings in Ubisoft's library. The islands are just big enough to make exploration fun and interesting, but also compact enough to make traveling from one interesting thing to another less of a slog. Something later Far Cry games can't attest to.
Far Cry 3 also perfected the main claim to fame of the series all the way back in the beginning: the fact that the environment is as active as you are, and the enemies and wildlife are always moving even when you're not around. You could be scoping out an enemy base, ready to make your move, only for a tiger to come in and attack the guards, throwing your entire plan out the window.
Because the Rook Islands are large but not TOO large, there was a real back and forth between you, the enemies, and the wildlife of the island. Which is why Far Cry 3 is, to this day, still the best Far Cry game.