20 Best Open-World Video Games Since 2000

18. Far Cry 4

It's easy to forget about Far Cry when so many other Ubisoft titles tend to command the spotlight - despite them being of varying quality upon release - and even though FC 3's Vaas was one of the most memorable villains in recent memory, he was completely under-utilised, giving the edge to 2014's release in every respect. Essentially it was more of the same - albeit with a gorgeous lick of paint coated over the top - but the setting of Kyrat and its Himalayan mountain ranges that both packed out the vistas behind you and doubled as some of the best places to engage in multiple firefights were the icing on the cake. Far Cry remains one of the only Ubi franchises that plays like a dream, knows exactly what it is and can offer in terms of free-roaming enemy encampment-thwarting gameplay - and when part four in particular has a stupidly fun villain in the aristocratic tendencies of Troy Baker's Pagan Min, it bolsters the main campaign in every way FC 3 fell down.
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Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.