20 Most Underrated Open-World Video Games Of The Decade (So Far)

4. HITMAN (2016)

Despite it being fairly well-liked by critics, there's something of a lack of buzz around 2016's Hitman that was absolutely there back when Blood Money was doing the rounds in 2006. Granted, Absolution put people off to the degree that the series was always going to fight an uphill battle, but then IO Interactive announced Hitman would be released in episodic instalments and the majority of people gave up altogether.

And that's a crying shame, because this newest Hitman is by far - by far - the best entry in the franchise to date. Levels are intricate clockwork balancing acts of A.I. scripts and player agency, purpose-built to reward every instinctual action you take. Yes, you can load that cannon and blast your victim's plane out the sky. You can poison the soup and drown a target in his own barf...

Rig a heater and blow party guests to kingdom come, or an ejector seat to send someone flying to their doom. Snipe from across the map or go postal with a fire axe and fling it across the room.

Do all of that in the first few missions, and then wonder why the rest of the world isn't screaming from the rooftops. Hitman is f*cking ACE.