Open World Games That Are Giant Maps With Nothing To Do

Open world games are now a core part of the gaming experience, offering players huge areas to explore freely. While many developers focus on making these worlds incredibly large and diverse to feel immersive, some prioritize size over substance. This can result in games with vast landscapes that feel empty, lacking enough things to do or people to interact with. Players often find themselves spending a lot of time traveling between objectives across scenery that looks good but doesn’t offer much gameplay.

‘Fuel’ (2009)

Okay, so this racing game has a HUGE map – seriously, over five thousand square miles! You’re driving off-road vehicles through a post-apocalyptic world with all sorts of landscapes, like burnt-out forests and snowy mountains. It’s cool to explore, but honestly, it feels like a giant sandbox with not a ton to do. A lot of the time, you’re just driving long stretches between races, and the world around you feels pretty empty. There aren’t many side missions or interesting things to find out in the wilderness, which is a bit of a bummer.

‘Dynasty Warriors 9’ (2018)

This latest game in the series features a large, open world set in ancient China. However, the world mostly consists of flat landscapes and similar-looking forests, lacking many memorable places. Players will find themselves spending a lot of time traveling on horseback between battles, with little to see or do along the way. Compared to earlier games in the series, which were known for their detailed and intense combat areas, this new open world feels empty and spread out.

‘L.A. Noire’ (2011)

This detective thriller is set in a beautifully detailed recreation of 1940s Los Angeles. The city provides an authentic historical setting for the story and the way you investigate cases. While you can explore the streets and see famous locations, there isn’t much to do beyond the main cases. The world feels more like a backdrop for the narrative than a fully interactive place with lots of side activities or mini-games.

‘Mafia II’ (2010)

This game takes place in Empire Bay, a fictional city modeled after New York and Chicago. The detailed urban setting supports a dramatic story about a character climbing the ladder in the criminal underworld. While the city changes with the seasons, the game focuses on the main storyline and doesn’t include many of the usual open-world activities like buying property or completing lots of side quests. The city map primarily guides you through the main missions, rather than offering a completely open and free-roaming experience.

‘No Man’s Sky’ (2016)

This space exploration game began with a huge, randomly created universe filled with billions of different planets. Players could land on any planet to find materials and discover alien plants and animals. However, many players initially found that the long distances between interesting locations felt empty and lacked things to do. The game heavily emphasized surviving and collecting resources, which meant most planets didn’t have many buildings or characters to give you quests.

‘Starfield’ (2023)

Okay, so this RPG is HUGE – you can explore over a thousand planets in this star system. A lot of them are made on the fly, which is cool, and they’ve got tons of empty space meant for you to dig up resources. The main cities are packed with people and quests, but honestly, when you head out into the wilderness on most planets, there’s not a ton to do. I often find myself walking for ages between little bases or just interesting rocks, and it can feel a little empty, you know? Not much happens dynamically when you’re out exploring the wilds.

‘Forspoken’ (2023)

Athia is a vast world built for fast-paced, magical movement. Players will use elemental spells to quickly travel across canyons and climb cliffs. However, beyond the main city, the land feels empty and dangerous, filled mostly with enemies. This lack of settlements or people outside the city makes the huge world feel lonely and isolating.

‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’ (2015)

This action game lets you explore two expansive open-world maps: one set in Afghanistan and the other along the border of Angola and Zaire. These areas are perfect for playing stealthily and constructing bases. Beyond enemy locations, you’ll find mostly empty hills and deserts. Players will often cross these wide-open spaces to complete missions or gather supplies.

‘Rage 2’ (2019)

Okay, so this FPS is seriously action-packed, letting you run and gun while also driving around a really vibrant, but totally wrecked, world. The map is huge – you’ve got everything from swampy areas to scorching deserts, all filled with enemy bases. The shooting feels really good, super smooth and polished. But honestly, when I’m just driving between missions, the world feels a little empty. Most of the time, exploring just turns up small stashes of supplies instead of cool side quests or anything that really moves the story forward.

‘Just Cause 4’ (2018)

Solis is a large island with varied landscapes, including rainforests and mountains. Players explore using a wingsuit and grappling hook, creating spectacular crashes and destruction. While the map is expansive, much of it is untamed wilderness with limited missions or things to do. The game emphasizes realistic physics and allows players to use the environment for impressive stunts, rather than offering a world packed with content.

‘Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’ (2016)

This game focuses on parkour and is set in the City of Glass, a sleek, futuristic urban landscape. Players can freely run across rooftops and through buildings without any loading screens interrupting their flow. While moving around is the main feature, the city itself doesn’t offer much to do beyond the main missions. Most players stick to pre-defined routes to finish races or deliveries, leaving much of the surrounding city unexplored and inaccessible.

‘Driv3r’ (2004)

This action game lets you explore detailed recreations of Miami, Nice, and Istanbul, both on foot and in vehicles, as you complete secret missions. While the cities were expansive for their time, they lacked detailed interiors and much to do beyond the main missions. This, combined with relatively empty streets, can make exploring the game world feel a little lonely.

‘Superman Returns’ (2006)

The game takes place in a massive, 80-square-mile city. Players can fly around at incredible speeds to respond to emergencies and fight crime. However, despite the large open world, there isn’t much to do beyond fighting. The city feels lifeless, as people don’t react much to what’s happening, and buildings can’t be damaged.

‘Elite Dangerous’ (2014)

This space simulator accurately recreates the entire Milky Way galaxy at its actual size. Players can fly spaceships between billions of star systems, choosing to trade, explore, or fight. Most of these systems are empty, consisting only of stars and planets. This dedication to realism means players often spend a lot of time traveling without seeing other ships or space stations.

‘The Crew’ (2014)

As a racing game fan, I’m really blown away by the map in this title – it’s basically a miniature version of the entire US! You can truly drive across the country, hitting up all the famous cities and seeing tons of different scenery. While it’s amazing they managed to create a map this big, I’ve noticed that the areas between the cities aren’t packed with stuff to do. It really feels like the game is more about the long drive and enjoying the experience of being behind the wheel, rather than having tons of challenges in the countryside.

‘Mad Max’ (2015)

The game takes place in a harsh, empty wasteland where water and fuel are incredibly precious. Players drive across a vast desert, customizing their vehicles to destroy enemy bases and collect materials. The world is deliberately barren and unwelcoming to capture the feel of a post-apocalyptic setting, meaning long, desolate stretches of sand and rock separate key areas.

‘Sniper Ghost Warrior 3’ (2017)

This installment moved the series to an open-world design, taking place in Georgia. Players explore large environments, finding sniper positions and eliminating important targets. However, the areas between these locations can feel empty, lacking activity or people. Getting to objectives often means driving through similar-looking forests with not much to see or interact with.

‘Two Worlds’ (2007)

This fantasy role-playing game takes place on a huge continent that players can travel across by foot or on horseback. The world is filled with towns, dangerous dungeons, and wild areas teeming with monsters. While expansive, many outdoor areas are quite empty, mainly featuring wandering enemies and simple treasure. The game focuses on creating a sense of immense distance and scale rather than detailed landscapes or bustling quest locations.

‘The Day Before’ (2023)

This survival game takes place in a large city that players can explore. While the streets look detailed with things like abandoned cars, there aren’t many buildings you can actually enter or interact with. You’ll find a limited number of enemies and other people as you explore, and most of the city mainly serves as a visual setting for finding items.

‘Ghost Recon Breakpoint’ (2019)

The game is set on Auroa, a technologically advanced island chain owned by a powerful corporation. The island is huge and offers a diverse range of environments, including snowy mountains and lush jungles. Players will explore these landscapes extensively, searching for military bases and supplies. Outside of specific missions, much of the island feels deserted and lacks civilian presence.

‘Biomutant’ (2021)

This action RPG takes place in a vibrant world where nature has overtaken the remnants of cities. Players can explore a varied landscape using special mutant powers and different vehicles. While the game has a distinctive look, some areas feel empty and don’t offer much to do. The side quests can become repetitive, which makes the long distances between them feel even more noticeable.

‘Crackdown 3’ (2019)

In this game, you play as a powerful agent navigating the vibrant, neon-drenched city of New Providence. Gameplay centers around fast-paced, vertical movement and intense fights against powerful corporations. While the city is expansive, it lacks detailed environmental storytelling and engaging side activities. The map mostly functions as a space for the core gameplay – jumping and shooting – without offering much to explore in terms of its surroundings.

‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’ (2017)

In this game, you drive a rover across huge planets in the Andromeda galaxy. Each planet has a main goal: to make it habitable and build colonies. Between these key areas, you’ll find large, empty landscapes of desert, ice, or rock. While you can discover a few hidden items, most of the planets are open space meant for exploration and driving.

‘Saints Row’ (2022)

The game takes place in Santo Ileso, a city inspired by the American Southwest. Players can explore a diverse map featuring both city streets and the surrounding deserts and mountains. However, the game world doesn’t always feel very dynamic, and large parts of the desert feel empty, giving players little incentive to explore off the main roads.

‘Assassin’s Creed’ (2007)

The original game features a large, open world called the Kingdom, connecting the main cities. Players ride horses to travel between locations like Damascus, Jerusalem, and Acre. While expansive with hills and villages, the Kingdom doesn’t offer much to do in terms of gameplay. It mostly functions as a way to get from place to place, and doesn’t have the detailed activities and side quests that were added in later games.

‘Sea of Thieves’ (2018)

This pirate game lets you explore a huge ocean dotted with islands. You’ll captain your ship, searching for treasure and battling legendary sea monsters. When the game first launched, the ocean felt quite empty – there was a lot of open water between islands with little to do. It really depended on players interacting with each other to create excitement, as the world itself wasn’t very lively.

‘Atlas’ (2018)

This survival game lets thousands of players explore a huge world made up of many islands. The ocean is vast, so traveling between areas takes a long time by boat. While many islands exist, they’re often randomly created and don’t have special features or challenging enemies. Players can find themselves sailing for hours without seeing other players or land.

‘Deadly Premonition’ (2010)

The game is set in Greenvale, a small town players can drive around in different vehicles. The game world features a complete day-night cycle, and the town’s residents stick to their routines. However, Greenvale is quite spread out, so getting from place to place can take a while. The main thing to do while driving between locations is listen to the main character talk, as there isn’t much else happening on the roads.

‘True Crime: New York City’ (2005)

The game aimed to realistically recreate Manhattan, letting players explore the borough on foot or in vehicles. Players take on the role of a police officer, responding to everyday crimes and solving different cases. Although the game world was expansive for its time, many buildings and streets looked the same and didn’t offer much to do. The city feels more like a setting for the story than a lively, interactive place.

‘ELEX’ (2017)

Magalan is a vast, open world that mixes sci-fi and fantasy. Players can travel through forests, volcanoes, and ancient ruins, using a jetpack to reach higher areas. While the world is dangerous, with many creatures to watch out for, towns and quests are spread out. This means a lot of time is spent traveling through stunning, but often empty, landscapes to find the next place with activity.

‘Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising’ (2009)

This military simulator is set on Skira, a large island inspired by real-world landscapes. It emphasizes realistic battles and requires players to strategically move across vast distances. To maintain a focus on simulation, the island is largely uninhabited wilderness, meaning players can travel for miles without encountering enemies or anything else.

‘Mercenaries 2: World in Flames’ (2008)

This game takes place in a made-up version of Venezuela and features a huge open world where players can create chaos. The world is split into territories controlled by different groups, and players can earn money by helping or working against them. Although the game world is large, many of the countryside areas feel empty and lack detail. The game emphasizes destroying things – buildings and vehicles – more than it does creating a realistic, immersive world to explore.

‘Homefront: The Revolution’ (2016)

Okay, so this game takes place in a Philadelphia that’s been taken over by another country’s army, but it’s not the Philly we know. The city’s broken up into different areas – some are completely destroyed, while others are super locked down. As a player, you’re part of the resistance, fighting a guerrilla war and trying to take back important locations to start a rebellion. Honestly though, while the idea is cool, some of the city areas feel a bit samey and empty. You don’t really see many normal people just going about their lives, mostly just stuff that’s planned for the story.

‘Sonic Frontiers’ (2022)

This game introduced expansive, open areas to the series, letting players explore several large islands with freedom. These environments feature floating platforms and rails designed for fast-paced platforming. Though puzzles and enemies are present, the scenery often feels empty, serving mostly as space between challenges. The game’s realistic visuals stand out against the more abstract gameplay and the generally barren world.

‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ (2014)

Players explore a vast, open-world version of Manhattan in this game, complete with the ability to swing between buildings and battle criminals. However, despite the fun of swinging, the city feels lifeless and doesn’t quite capture the energy of other superhero titles. Most side missions involve either repeating the same fights or finding basic collectibles. The streets themselves are quite empty, offering little incentive to explore outside of swinging from building to building.

‘Riders Republic’ (2021)

This action sports game lets you bike and ski across a huge map inspired by America’s national parks. You’ll explore massive mountains and deep canyons in a wide-open world. While the landscape is perfect for racing and performing stunts, the game mostly focuses on organized events. The beautiful wilderness feels more like a scenic route than a place to truly explore.

‘Far Cry 6’ (2021)

Yara is a sprawling island with beautiful jungles and a vibrant capital city. Players take on the role of a rebel fighting to overthrow a cruel dictator. While the game world looks amazing, many areas feel repetitive, filled with similar outposts and plants, and lack memorable events. Getting between important locations often means traversing large, empty spaces with little to do.

‘Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’ (2024)

This racing game lets you explore a detailed, life-sized version of Hong Kong Island, with hundreds of kilometers of roads to drive on. You’ll experience luxury cars speeding through both the city and the countryside, focusing on the thrill of collecting cars and enjoying the realistic world. However, unlike some other open-world games, the map itself doesn’t have many interactive elements beyond driving and social areas.

‘Death Stranding’ (2019)

You play as a delivery person in a unique version of the United States. The game world is a large, wild landscape that you explore on foot or with simple vehicles. It’s a deliberately empty place, with few people or buildings, to highlight feelings of loneliness and the importance of connection. A lot of the game involves carefully managing your balance and energy as you travel through these quiet areas.

‘Shenmue III’ (2019)

This game takes place in the Chinese countryside during the late 1980s and features large, open environments. Players will journey through villages and fields, learning martial arts and gathering clues. While the game world is richly detailed, movement feels deliberate and the pace is slow. Expect a lot of walking through peaceful landscapes, as distances between key locations and events can be quite long.

Tell us which of these massive open worlds felt the emptiest to you in the comments.

2026-02-07 07:57