We Need More Open World Games to Feature This Genre

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Open-world games have changed a lot in the last twenty years, growing from basic playgrounds into huge, detailed worlds with complex stories and real choices for players. They’ve become incredibly popular, but many still feel very similar. Most modern open-world games feature fantasy settings, medieval themes, and fighting with swords and other close-combat weapons. This repetition has made me realize there’s a real need for something different in the genre.

I’ve noticed that genuinely expansive open-world shooter games are surprisingly uncommon. Many games blend genres, and even popular titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 4 allow you to complete the game mostly using melee weapons, which detracts from the focus on shooting. While Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a beautiful example of the genre, it feels like there should be many more games like it. What I’m really hoping for is a large, role-playing game where guns are the central focus of everything – how you fight, how you improve, and even how your character is defined.

The State of Open World Games Feels Repetitive

Open-world games often prioritize close-quarters combat with swords and similar weapons because it’s simpler to manage in large, open spaces. This allows developers to easily control how players fight enemies, how difficult those encounters are, and how quickly or slowly the action unfolds. That’s why many fantasy and action role-playing games focus on melee combat, even if they include magic or ranged attacks. While this works well, it holds the open-world genre back from reaching its full potential. Building games around shooting is much more complex, requiring smarter enemy behavior, different level designs, and more challenging encounters. However, tackling these challenges is exactly what’s needed to push the genre forward.

As a big fan of open-world games, I often feel like shooters just aren’t reaching their full potential. It feels like they’re holding back! So many of them try to be everything at once, mixing in a lot of other stuff that ends up making the gunplay feel a little shallow. Take Cyberpunk 2077 – I found myself getting way more into melee builds because they were just more powerful thanks to how stats and cyberware worked together. And Fallout 4? You can basically play it as a sword-fighting game, which is cool, but it doesn’t really feel like a dedicated open-world shooter. I think these choices make the games fun and let you play how you want, but they also stop the genre from really diving into what a truly immersive, story-driven shooter could be.

An open-world shooter built from the start, focusing on gunplay, could offer truly unique experiences. Games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption 2 show how well this can work. Instead of trying to make gun-based games feel like sword-fighting games, developers could create something entirely new. Imagine an RPG that feels different from everything else out there – something that captures the scope of games like The Witcher 3 or Skyrim, but with a focus on firearms.

Hybrid Systems Work, But Not Well Enough

Even though not many games combine shooting with vast, open worlds, we can still learn a lot from the ones that try. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora does this particularly well. Its beautiful environments, the way the Na’vi characters move, and the lively animals all make the game feel incredibly immersive. While the shooting isn’t as intense as in some other games, the open world design gives players space to use ranged weapons effectively.

Like other games, Cyberpunk 2077 does a great job with its guns and how they fit into the role-playing aspects of the game. You can really customize your weapons with different parts and styles, something you don’t often see in big open-world fantasy games. Even though close combat is strong in some character builds, the game shows that shooting can work well in a large, story-focused world without making the game’s progression feel shallow. The game proves there’s a lot of potential in this area, but it could be pushed even further.

Fallout 4 excels at creating a believable world and letting players explore it. While you can often end up fighting with weapons up close, its VATS system and wide range of guns demonstrate how open-world shooters can successfully blend in RPG elements that truly matter. Games like this have already proven the concept. Now, we need a game that fully embraces these ideas, pushes them even further, and builds everything around them.

What a Fully Realized Open World Shooter Could Achieve

A truly great open-world shooter RPG wouldn’t just include guns – they’d be central to everything. Picture a world built for ranged combat: think ruined cities, vast deserts, strongholds, and thick forests, all influencing how players tackle challenges. Enemies would be intelligent, using clever tactics and responding realistically to what players do.

The game could let players improve their weapons by finding parts, building new gear, and customizing everything to fit their playstyle. Upgrades wouldn’t just make weapons more powerful; they’d unlock new ways to approach combat, encourage players to try different strategies, and improve things like movement or sneaking. Combining this detailed weapon system with the immersive worlds and compelling stories often found in RPGs would create a truly unique experience, blending the strengths of both shooter and RPG genres.

This genre has the potential to move beyond the typical open-world formula focused on close combat. While fantasy settings and sword fighting are still fun, they aren’t the only option anymore. It’s time for a new kind of open-world game – one that prioritizes shooting and builds a similarly detailed and immersive experience around it, just like traditional fantasy RPGs do with swords and magic.

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2026-03-01 20:42