5. You Could Meet Leatherface & Bigfoot In GTA: San Andreas
Although GTA III was the first proper open-world game and Vice City nailed its time period to the wall with a pink neon-feathered arrow, it was San Andreas' gargantuan size that (coupled with its modicum of RPG stat-tracking) allowed people to start 'living' for huge chunks of time within its world. It was only a matter of time before ghost stories and the like trickled out, as with such a huge map to play with and so many potential factors hinging on triggering the things people were describing, it gave playground liars carte blanche to make up any old toss. We had everything from UFOs to Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface rumoured to be wandering the deserted expanses between cities, but the biggest of the lot (and one that ended up as a side mission in GTA V) was Bigfoot himself. Some players to this day still swear if you stood in just the right place at just the right time and looked to just the right spot (occasionally with the right set of clothing on depending on who you talked to), you could see him. However, like in real life, it was all a wild (hairy) goose chase.