There are a ton of open world games in the market, with more to come in the future. But when you stop to think about it, you’d realize that most of the open world titles fall under the umbrella of Rockstar Games!
Games like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are claiming the top charts for the most popular open world titles in the world and not only on PC and Console but you can download GTA San Andreas on your android device as well. These games have amassed millions of players and quite rightly so. But why are these open world games by Rockstar so popular? Well, here is what I think:
What makes a Good Open World game
Now in order for us to understand why Rockstar games are so popular, we need to understand what actually makes up a good open world game. And there are a ton of factors that go into making an open world game.
Some of the most common factors that make any open world game feel alive and gives players the true open world experience are environment, attention to details, freedom of exploration and life.
This Is Perfectly Executed In The Grand Theft Auto Series. The NPCs go about their daily routines with or without your existence. Planes fly around in the sky, trains traveling to their destinations, and everything seems to flow freely and realistically. The weather changes with time, days turn into nights, and everything just works well with the other.
And one of the things that I love the most about Rockstar games is that it doesn’t revolve around you as the player, like in other games where everything seems to be about the player, all the stuff happens when you are around. Whereas in Rockstar games, it doesn’t matter if you are there or not, the society still remains functional and everyone keeps doing what they are doing. Not only humans but there are random animals who happen to go about their own business which is quite intriguing.
Then there’s attention to details which will just blow your mind, you could be walking on edge of pavement and the player would actually change its stance depending on where you are standing, your character changes its walk style when climbing on the stairs or walking down them.
And how could we forget about the realistic environment and I am not even talking about the graphics here but the realistic settings that Rockstar has in all of its open world titles. You can see this first hand if you look at RDR 2. The whole map is divided into zones, with one zone seamlessly transitioning into the next. There is a nice variety of areas, which keeps the world from being monotonous. Also in RDR 2, everything in the world is set with the same Western look, from the flooring in the houses to the shady docks. It contributes to the overall life of the world and helps to keep the world’s feel consistent.
