Dragon Age: The Inquisition. 10 video games with huge maps that were empty
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Dragon Age: Inquisition received very good reviews – it was praised for an interesting and engaging story campaign, well-written and interesting characters, as well as beautiful visuals. However, players quickly noticed that the impressions were somewhat spoiled by the open world design.
Inquisition allowed for almost unfettered exploration of large swaths of terrain. Unfortunately, I found that most of the side quests that could be found away from the main storyline worked along the lines of typical fetch quests. On top of that, while combing through some of the more interesting locations, there was nothing of importance waiting for us; not even items that would diversify the experience. It was possible to have a lot of fun in Inquisition by completing only the main storyline and almost completely skipping exploration, as it didn't add much to the overall experience anyway. Fans of the series are hoping that Dragon Age 4 will offer improvements in this aspect and be a complete game. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that to happen!
Mafia III
Mafia III may be the prime example of how you can't just fit any game with an open world. The production had a lot of technical problems at the beginning, and reviews indicated that we were dealing with merely an average title. To make matters worse, the open world, advertised before release as one of the game's greatest strengths, turned out to be a nightmarish disappointment.
First and foremost, Mafia III map offered no entertainment that would entice the player to spend time outside of the main storyline. Furthermore, the story sections that took place outside of mission area and consisted of moving around the city were basically pointless – they didn't lead to interesting consequences, intriguing twists, etc. Players also complained about the structure of the third installment of Mafia, which caused the campaign to lose momentum through a poorly paced narrative using open-world elements. Although it was a title with different characteristics, it did not avoid comparisons with the famous Grand Theft Auto series, which had long been the staple of vast, interesting maps vibrant with virtual life.
Rage 2
Avalanche Studios comes through this list extremely often, but unfortunately the facts are that these developers' games often struggle with world building. The collaboration with id Software resulted in a fantastic shooter and a very average map. Rage 2's biggest sin was probably that in between the great action sections, which equalled the best shooters out there, including Doom, monotonous stages set in an open world managed to kill off any entertainment.
These consisted mainly of searching for bandit camps (Mad Max' weakest element comes to mind) and essentially aimless, though quite enjoyable, driving around the desert. To make matters worse, the side quests you could find on the map turned out to be extremely derivative after a while. It was definitely not conductive to exploration of further parts of the area. Players have complained particularly strongly about the very small emphasis on vehicle battles, which, if well-designed, could make traversing subsequent miles much more interesting.
Rage 2's problem seems to be similar to that of Mafia III – it's a forced sandbox that could just as well be replaced by a more compact and linear structure.
Fuel
The last item on the list is somewhat of a paradox. Fuel's main strength was the huge open world of about 5500 square miles. It was impressive in 2009, especially since we're talking about some pretty diverse and nice looking terrain. However, once the initial excitement settled down, it became apparent that the developers didn't have much of an idea on how to encourage players to explore more nooks and crannies of the map.
Aside from the career and challenge modes, we were free to explore the entire board, but it offered nothing besides pleasing aesthetics and nice scenery. Traveling from one racing event to the next was kind of fun, but the biggest downside was that it didn't provide any benefits. What the game was missing was something to motivate you to keep driving (Forza Horizon series has been doing this brilliantly for a while, even rewarding you for things like ramming road signs or roadside walls).
And what do you think were the most boring open maps in games? We look forward to hearing from you in the comments.
