12 Hugely Underrated Open-World Games You Totally Missed

12. Mad Max

Despite being a frontrunner for Best Film of 2015, Mad Max's gaming equivalent got well n' truly buried under Metal Gear Solid V, thanks to releasing on exactly the same day. Quite possibly the perfect open-world title in everything from mission design to map structure, there's very little in the way of story other than "Go on... have fun!", but when that lets you pull a Shadow of Mordor and get stuck into a reactive world full of blood, guts n' visceral melee attacks, it's hardly worth complaining about. The core gameplay loop of 'spec car and unlock weapons, drive somewhere whilst shooting said weapons, beat the paste out of random people to unlock more and keep going' is a resoundingly fun one - an interlocking set of objectives whose mileage is entirely contingent on how much you adore the open-world setup in the first place. If you're up for getting lost in one of the best graphics engines on new hardware, coupled with fun Batman: Arkham-style combat that makes each and every hit connect with a meaty slam, Mad Max is one of the only games that presents a post-apocalypse waiting with open arms.