With open-world games, developers have the opportunity to get as creative as possible offering gamers multiple ways to approach their goals. This kind of freedom in a huge sandbox environment is exactly what attracts gamers to the open-world genre. Setting an action game in the open-world genre also has to offer the player enough flexibility to get creative when it comes to dispatching their enemies.

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Many open-world titles lack the focus of more linear action games like the Uncharted or Gears of War series because of the challenges developers face in making everything work together dynamically. When they do work, however, combat, whether it’s in the form of shootouts, hand-to-hand, or stealth, it can be very special indeed. Let’s take a look at open-world games with amazing combat.

10 Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Released in 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC, Just Cause 2 is widely considered to be the best in the series of four games. While the newer games on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have a technical advantage the second game is still the most fun with best combat mechanics.

While the gunplay and melee mechanics are loose and a little clumsy at best, it’s Just Cause 2s ballet of mayhem and chaos and the creative implementation of the grappling hook in combat that makes it the best game in the series. Besides any game that lets its players hook themselves on to a jet in mid-flight, commandeer it and turn it into a weapon is deserving of a mention on this list.

9 Days Gone

days gone 2 tease

When Days Gone released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 in 2019 it received something of a mixed response from the reviewers. Many were turned off by the game’s technical shortcomings at launch and somewhat unfairly compared it to the PS4’s large list of AAA exclusives like The Last of Us and even God of War.

When it comes to creativity in combat and the large scale intense battles that can happen at any moment then Days Gone is best compared to Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s not as polished as HZD but the ability to take on enemies by using stealth, setting up traps and even luring the horde into a camp of bandits Days Gone is fantastic fun.

8 Mad Max

Released in 2015 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and the PC, Mad Max is an open-world action game based on the movie franchise of the same name. It was developed by Avalanche the same studio behind the Just Cause series but the combat system is a step above in every way.

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The hand-to-hand combat isn’t pretty but it’s free-flowing, brutal, impactful, and incredibly satisfying using a counter system similar to the Batman: Arkham series. In addition to the melee combat, vehicular combat is just as entertaining using a Just Cause-style grappling hook of its own, flamethrowers and other weapons.

7 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear Solid v riding a horse hiding from soviet soldiers

Released in 2015 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was a divisive title because of its plot holes and unfinished storyline. Criticisms aside, Metal Gear Solid V has an amazing open world to explore and the best combat mechanics in the series.

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The combination of some of the best stealth gameplay seen this generation, the shooting mechanics and melee are the best in the series and flow beautifully. Players can even opt to fight enemies using non-lethal techniques like Jason Bourne-style takedowns or tranquilizer darts.

6 Far Cry 5

The player character with a sniper rifle in Far Cry 5

Released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the PC in 2018, Far Cry 5 is still one of the best looking open-world action games this generation. While not as bright or as colorful as its predecessors, the fictional region of Hope County is breathtaking in its exploration.

The game’s combat mechanics are equally as good whether the player opts for a stealthy approach or if they run in all guns blazing. Close quarters combat is better than ever before and there’s a wider range of melee weapons on offer. In addition to the new weapons, there are new takedowns and finishing moves that can be used.

5 God of War (2018)

The fourth entry in the God of War series took Kratos to a more open-world environment than its predecessors. Even though its developers made a lot of noise about the rebooted game’s new direction not being an open-world action game, players can travel anywhere they want at any time without any of the linear limitations of its predecessors.

The combat is radically different from the earlier titles too featuring an over the shoulder viewpoint and a more accessible but satisfying fighting system. Adding new moves to Kratos’ repertoire can make him feel near unstoppable in the later stages of the game, and that’s exactly the point. Kratos was always designed to allow players to act out their power fantasies in the body of a superhuman demi-god.

4 Red Dead Redemption 2

Released in 2018 on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in 2018 and the PC and Google Stadia in 2019, Red Dead Redemption 2 is arguably the most immersive open-world experience this generation. It’s as gritty and as character-driven as HBO’s Deadwood and features shootouts reminiscent of the excitement and tension of the movie Tombstone.

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The gunfights in Red Dead Redemption play and like an evolution of Grand Theft Auto V but the antiquated weapons of the wild west make the fights feel more involved and exciting. Whether it’s shooting from the hip, dual wielding, surviving from cover, or using Dead Eye to slow down time and going for headshots, the shootouts are always thrilling. Even getting into bar brawls in RDR2 is great fun when one gets used to the mechanics.

3 Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs was first released in 2012 on last-gen consoles and later remastered and released for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in 2014. It’s the spiritual successor to the True Crime series and places players in an open-world setting of Hong Kong.

The game features free-flowing and violent martial arts combat that works similarly to the Batman: Arkham series. It allows players to counter and string attacks together in a seamless manner using the environment as a weapon. Sleeping Dogs is a Hong Kong movie fan’s dream come true but the action doesn’t stop at the Kung Fu combat mechanics. There are slow-motion gunplay mechanics, intense hard-boiled cover shooting, and high-speed vehicular shootouts.

2 Horizon Zero Dawn

Released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn is a visually stunning open-world action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic future. It’s a future filled with small tribes of humans and overrun by dinosaur-like robots.

It’s the battles with those robots that make Horizon Zero Dawn so special. Fights with the bigger and harder robots play out like dynamically generated set-pieces putting even the most cinematically scripted moments in other games to shame. These battles reward the creative use of tripwires, rope guns, and special slingshots. Defeating human enemies, while not as spectacular as the robot fights are satisfying in their own right and the aspects of stealth using Aloy's bow or takedown moves are very well executed.

1 The Batman: Arkham Series

The free-flowing combat system of the Batman: Arkham series remains one of the best fighting systems in modern gaming. It’s perfectly suited to the superhero genre as well as games that take inspiration from martial arts movies.

The hand-to-hand combat system was the perfect fit for laying waste to gangs of bad guys on the open-world city streets featured in Batman: Arkham City, Arkham Knight, and the prequel Arkham Origins. In addition to the fistfights, Batman has an incredible arsenal of tools that can be seamlessly integrated into combat. The Arkham games also implement some of the best stealth mechanics seen in the genre and the stealth attacks can be transitioned into a full-frontal assault in a way that feels natural rather than clunky like so many other similar titles.

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