The 50 Best Open World Games for PC in 2017: Page 8 of 10

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36. The Forest

A plane crashes on a deserted, forested island.  Cannibals appear and are seen taking the player’s son away from them.

Survive in the forest by creating shelter, building weapons, and crafting other survival tools.  On the island are a tribe of cannibalistic mutants that dwell deep within the caves beneath the island.  Only at night do they come out to hunt.  Not all of the creatures are hostile, but more usual than not they are aggressive.

While vicious creatures, they are also tactically intelligent, choosing to surround the player and hide behind cover to protect themselves.  They are also afraid of fire, and will not approach if a campfire is lit.  The game features a day and night cycle, where the player will build a shelter and traps, hunt animals and collect supplies during the day.  At night you must defend yourself against the cannibalistic mutants.

The mutants are after you, but don’t be reckless

37. Project Zomboid

The government has quarantined Knox County due to an infestation of zombies.  Trapped inside the undead-zone, it is up to you to survive.

In this open world game, players must struggle with every real world problem a human would face in a zombie apocalypse.  Hunger, fatigue, pain, and mental stability are all factors they must manage in order to stave off the undead hordes.  Scavenge through the county for supplies to live another day, while avoiding zombies.  Luckily, the horde is comprised of the slow moving creatures inspired by Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.

The game is made up of two modes.  In survival mode, players must cling to life as long as possible by keeping their strength up.  Try as they might, death will be inevitable as supplies dwindle, and eventually deplete in the quarantined zone.  The other mode is called sandbox mode, where players get the chance to change different gameplay mechanics.  For instance, they have the choice of changing the speed and number of zombies inhabiting the game world.  Other mechanics that can be altered are weather conditions and item availability.

When starting a new game, players get the chance to create a character with its own “profession”.  Each profession has its own benefits.  A forest ranger has better chances of foraging for supplies, whereas a police officer is a better shot with the guns available.  Players will also be given trait points that can be assigned to different skills.  Skills are numerous, from first aid to accuracy.  Having positive values in a skill means the character is proficient in that skill, where negative values show that they are not.

The game is currently in early access.  Several setbacks including code theft have delayed the game.  It is still being developed.

Give your house a fresh coat of paint.  Zombie Blood is all the rage

38. Eve Online

A sci-fi experience where every experience causes a ripple effect across a massive online universe.  Team up with your friends in order to compete with over 500,000 players in epic starship battles.  Or wage economic warfare on the player-controlled market.

Join one of many different factions as one of the four races of EVE.  Enter large-scale faction conflicts where you will battle against thousands of other pilots in a battle for supremacy of the stars.  Obtain the best equipment by utilizing the online market manufactured and traded by the players.  Buy and sell the many tools available to players and carve your way to an industrial empire.  Become a savvy entrepreneur or fall in line with many of the pre-existing corporations.

When it is time to finally take on the cosmos, EVE offers a diverse range of paths for a player to travel.  Many careers are offered without limitation.  Advance your character as an industrialist, or perhaps a politician, or even play the role of a spy.  Hundreds of trainable skills are available to help players define the role they want to play.  And with the Passive Skill Gain System, players will never have to “grind” for levels, as the character improves even when offline.

Engage in epic galactic battles.

39. Minecraft

Minecraft is a dream come true for everyone who love Legos.  Join in on the open world game that has no specific goals, granting players the freedom to play as they see fit.  And while there is an achievement system to give them incentives, it is truly up to the player to explore, craft, and create. Freely roam across the world and encounter the non-playable characters known as mobs.  Mobs consist of friendly villagers, different animals, and hostile creatures.  While the first two are generally friendly, the creatures like skeletons, spiders, and zombies will appear during the night or in dark areas to attack the player.

The game world operates on a system clock, which usually cycles every twenty minutes between day and night unless altered by the player.  In order to survive the onslaught of nighttime creatures like the nefarious Creeper, players must craft their way to survival.  Collect wood from trees, mine for stone and even diamonds to construct gear like swords and armor.  Building materials like wood and stone can be placed like bricks, allowing players to construct nearly anything their hearts desire.  From a simple house to a fully functional rollercoaster, the only limit is imagination and having enough material.

While most of the game world appears to be endless forests and mountains, there are two alternate dimensions a player can access via portals.  The first of the Nether, a hellish landscape that contains unique resources not available in the normal realm.  Monsters roam freely in the Nether, making it a constant danger.  Meanwhile, the End is a terrible, barren wasteland where the creature known as the Ender Dragon resides.  The great beast is considered an “end boss” that if defeated unlocks an achievement.

Modifications to the game are also available, allowing players even more creative freedom.  Items like steam engines and zeppelins are possible to craft with these mods.

The only limitation to creativity is one’s own imagination.

40. Lord of the Rings Online

Start simultaneously with Frodo and company as they leave the Shire.  Each region across Middle-Earth has been suspended in time, seemingly frozen at a certain point from The Lord of the Rings story.  Like in the classic tale, players must join together to face the evil forces of Sauron.

Fans of the famous trilogy will finally have their dreams come true by delving into Middle-Earth in this massive multiplayer online game.  When creating a character, players have the ability to equip traits that give different bonuses and abilities.  Traits can be changed by visiting bards which are found in most towns.  Certain traits like Virtue increases a player’s stats and certain powers like regeneration, which can help in combat.  Other traits like Legendary offer rare bonuses to the player and can only be obtained through completing a series of class-specific quests.

Once your character has been forged, it is time to join the Fellowship.  The Fellowship is a band of up to six characters to help complete quests, and are an integral part of the game.  It is necessary to band together to engage in difficult instances a player may encounter, like a powerful enemy that may appear while on a quest.

And once you have delved into much of the online story game with your Fellowship, players will start to build a reputation for themselves.  Reputation measures how well acquainted a player is with a specific faction of NPCs.  Players with high enough reputation with a specific faction may purchase items from the faction vendors.  There is also the Crafting Guild, where players must gain reputation to utilize the crafting system offered by the guild.

Join Middle-Earth and fight many creatures from the books.

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Gamer Since: 1995
Favorite Genre: RPG
Top 3 Favorite Games:Outlast, Rocket League, Five Nights at Freddys


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