Open-world games are best known for their high degree of freedom for players to explore and make their own stories. While some games place you in a dense concrete jungle, others might put you in a vast world with many different environments to discover during their adventures.
Biomes are the bread and butter for any non-linear game: from a whimsical forest to arid deserts and a dark dimension, these are practically staples in the open-world genre and give players a wide breadth of ambiance and enemies to experience. Open-world games with diverse biomes can often feel like separate worlds in and of themselves.
10 Open World Games Where You Conquer The Map
Take those zones. Victory demands it.
Biomes must have distinct identities that are told through visual language, enemy variety, and soundscapes.You could walk from a cacophonous jungle into a serene winter wonderland while hearing your character shiver in the cold.
9Horizon Forbidden West
Explore The Overgrown Americas
Horizon Forbidden West
One of the best things about theHorizonseriesis thejaw-droppingly beautiful viewsthat you can travel through as youhuntbeast-like machines in post-apocalyptic America.
With a robust photo mode, players can take advantage of the stunning vistas and show off their photography skills in this highly immersive world.
What makesHorizon Forbidden West’senvironments beautiful isthe juxtaposition between natural landscapes and high-tech machines roaming the earth.
Not only that, but you’ll even get to see how nature has taken over futuristic buildings and remnants of a once technologically advanced Earth.
Odin Awaits!
Drawing heavy inspiration from Norse mythology,Valheimis a survival open-world game with procedurally generated worlds where a group of playersmust band together to surviveagainst different biomes and their respective enemies.
As players eventually move away from the relatively peaceful Meadows, they’ll have to adapt and become stronger so thatthey can survivethe cruel beasts that lurk within the dangerous lands like theBlack Forestand Ashlands.
SinceValheim’sworlds are randomly generated by a seed code, players will have a different experience with each world, though most biomes have a linear progression as you expand your territory from the spawn area.
Despite its warlike Viking theme and emphasis on survival,Valheimis a surprisingly cozy gamewhere you can tend to your homestead at your own pace.
7Elden Ring
The Lands Between Is Merciless Yet Beautiful
Elden Ring
While not officially called biomes,Elden Ringboasts a wide range ofdifferent regionsthat offerunique challenges to any Tarnished brave enough to venture through their journey in search of the grace of the Erdtree.
As you fight through monsters and meet fellow Tarnished, you might wade through the wetlands of Liurnia to find an elite magical school, or you’ll trudge through the pus-filled, rotting lands of Caelid to endRadahn’s suffering.
Or you might even get called"maidenless"in the starting area of Limgrave, right under the bright glow of the Erdtree.
Elden Ring’sregions each have unique lore that you’ll have to dig up to really understand their origins. If you slow down and pay attention to what’s going on in the world of the Lands Between, you might uncover some fascinating secrets…
A Densely Packed Side-Scroller World
As a2D side-scroller, one might think it’s hard forTerrariato effectively portray the wide range of biomes that the world has to offer.
But the wayTerrariastructures its procedurally generatedpixelated worldsis in multiple layers, with surface and underground layers making up the main bulk, while the ocean and space biomes are on the outer edges of the 2D map.
Biomes are the name of the game forTerraria,as it boasts a wide range of environments, from naturally occurring forests and jungles to the otherworldly Corrupted and Crimson biomes. Tech-savvy players might even figure out a way to fly up to space and encountermythical and alien creaturesalike.
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Games like Metal Gear Solid 5 and Elden Ring are just too big to be contained by one map.
The game features “mini-biomes” that are extremely unique and niche for players to findwithin the larger main biomes. Nevertheless, they’re a rare treat to find, and offer both rewards and reprieve for any lucky player.
5No Man’s Sky
Gaming’s Best Comeback Story
No Man’s Sky
Despite its infamously disappointing game launches,No Man’s Skymade a huge comeback when the developer Hello Games decided tokeep working hard to improve the gameand make it into what was promised to the fans.
Years later, we have one of thestrongest space exploration gameswith an amazing variety of environments to discover.
Every planet is unique and exciting, as there ispractically anendless numberof different possible combinationsofplanet types, weather patterns, and biome types.
As you travel through the universe searching for planetary resources to collect and alien creatures to name, attempt to exercise caution even on the peaceful planets, as you might encounter hostile Sentinels that might attack you.
4The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
A Trinity Of Hylian Layers
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
On top of the already massive map of Hyrule inBreath of the Wild, its sequelTears of the Kingdomtriples the area Link can explore as he journeys to recover the Master Sword andvanquish Ganondorf once again.
As well as the surface level,Tears of the Kingdomboastsa wide variety of regions, including newly discovered Depths, a dark cavernous section underneath Hyrule, and Sky Islands, a sparse archipelago of floating islands and temples.
While the Sky Islands mostly consist of Zonai shrines and puzzles too far to effectively explore without ahoverbikeor anyother aircraft, the underground portion of Hyrule is a terrifyingly dark, otherworldly unseen region of Hyrule, which you can eventually bring forth light via Lightroots.
With a separate map rivaling the overworld, the underground can only be accessed through gaping holes on the surface.If you’re not afraid ofdiving into oblivion, then exploring the Depths might be aworthy challenge.
The Wild, Wild West Is Unforgiving
Red Dead Redemption 2
Sometimes we take for granted just how massive the United States mainland is, andRed Dead Redemption 2’sfictionalized America is proportionately just as large.
Taking large historical inspirationfrom the declining Wild West, the game recreates its versions of real-life American cities and towns that Arthur Morgan and his gang must travel while surviving a variety of threats, both natural and societal.
Ranging frombustling townsfilled with horse-drawn carriages and trams to deep lush valleys that spawn for miles,Red Dead Redemption 2draws you in witha wide variety of localesthat you can explore as Arthur, immersing you into the immense American continent.
You don’t even have to playthe main story–if you want, you can justride your horse throughRed Dead’sAmerica, through the woodlands of New Hanover, the tundras of the Grizzlies, and the arid planes in New Austin, and take inthe beautiful sightsthat you’d otherwise see in a national park in real life.
2Subnautica
Hope You Don’t Have Thalassophobia
Subnautica
As you crash into the alien ocean world ofSubnautica, you discover that the only way toexplore and surviveis to dive deeper into the diverse underwater biomes populated by alien fish andterrifying Leviathan-class lifeforms.
While there are a couple of surface-level islands to explore, they are empty compared to therich, vibrant shallowsto the deep, dark depths of the trenches.Lit by bioluminescent flora and fauna (and your flashlight), you must avoid becoming a Reaper Leviathan’s next meal while making sure you don’t drown.
Subnauticais the thalassophobic’s biggest nightmare. With unknown threats all around and the ever-present fear of drowning, there’s barely any room for you to really appreciate just howbeautiful the ocean planet’s biomesreally are.
1Minecraft
The King Of Biomes
With over adecade lifespan (and counting),Minecraftis best known for itsimmensely diverse biomes in a procedurally-generated sandbox game, and it has been the game’s biggest strength since its launch.
Each biome is distinct from the rest. With different materials to collect and beautifully blocky landscapes to behold, its easy-to-understand mechanics areperfect for players of all levels.
Not only doesMinecrafthave biomes that are relatively peaceful and abundant in life like the Plains or Forests, its “Caves and Cliffs"updatein 2021 gave the game a much-needed overhaul to underground caverns, turning them into even more vast areas to explore.
ButMinecraft’sbiomes don’t stop in the Overworld. Dimensions away from the natural world are the End and Nether,both strange and hostileto the ill-prepared explorer.
Previously, those extradimensional planes didn’t have their diverse biomes, but the game has since updated and given them much more diverse regions.
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From Horizon: Forbidden West to No Man’s Sky, explore open-world games packed with endless post-campaign content to keep you hooked.
