16 Essential Open-World Video Games Coming In 2017 & 2018

2. Red Dead Redemption 2

Sadly delayed into 2018 - though Rockstar are one of the only devs who actually get applauded for delaying, as it means the final product will definitely be phenomenal - RDR 2 is taking the action of Red Dead into the past.

As such, we're delving into both John and Abigail Marston's time with Dutch's Gang - the notorious bunch of law-dodgers you bring down in the first game. It's potentially volatile territory given the way the first game ends, and how that entire climax only resonates because we actually feel the loss of John Marston - something that could change, if it's revealed he was a pretty messed up guy.

Still, we know Rockstar are adding more varied wildlife, swimming and boats, dual revolvers and a story revolving to some degree, around the emerging oil industry of the time.

A morally gray story that serves as a black mirror to America's most engrained cultural values? That certainly sounds like Rockstar.