Cyberpunk's world Night City is this futuristic neon dream, with so many things for the player to do it'll keep the players from playing the main missions. When the game was first announced by CD Projekt Red, fans hoped that the map size would be around the same size as Geralt's playground in The Witcher 3, which is credited as one of the biggest maps in gaming.
Since the game dropped, players are finding out that Night City is in fact smaller, while not bad as it seems it helps that Night City is so dense and is big in terms of what players can do. Much like Night City, these games are big for different reasons other than the map size.
10 Mirrors Edge Catalyst
This first-person free-running game doesn't have the biggest map on the list, but it's big because of its popularity. Ever since the first game launched back in 2008, fans have been begging DICE for a sequel, and they delivered. The sequel has an open world, which the first game didn't.
While it's not a big map, the denseness and being compact gives the game more life and allows it to be more believable. What also makes the game bigger than it is, is that players can only run which adds more time to travel from point to point.
9 Mad Max
The world of Mad Max seems huge because of the wasteland that the game is set when in reality, it's just over 8 km wide. The other thing that cuts down the feeling of having a big map is the driving, player can easily traverse the world.
Flying under the radar for many gamers, it's interesting seeing a world kind of empty but yet massive without it being a big world. Mad Max is also big just based on the fact of its legacy and movies, so it's massive in terms of the following rather than the game itself.
8 Sleeping Dogs
Running around in modern-day Honk Kong is pretty cool, running around in Honk Kong in a video game is better. The 2012 hit offers just that, this dense city with life within it makes the game seem bigger.
Even though it's not a full-fledge scale of the city, it's pretty close. Players can don't have to far to find the next mission or event, because the world isn't that big. Rather than running around in a desolate countryside in Sleeping Dogs, it's the opposite of that.
7 Far Cry Primal
The caveman's world in Orso is one of the smaller maps the Far Cry series has to offer, and it works. Most of the time players will be wandering through unclaimed forests and other areas which made it one of the most anticipated games of the year.
What makes this game "massive" is that eerie feeling players have when exploring this untamed land. The lack of humans shows how big a game can be even if it's small, and that's whats happens here. Without the hustle and bustle of a lively city, it does seem huge when it's not.
6 Rage 2
Much like the other games on this list, it's smaller, and because it's an apocalyptic setting it feels big. Going from settlement to settlement in this deserted wasteland feels like the world goes on forever.
However, it's the people and the characters the players meet throughout that expand the scope.Sadly while Rage 2 was a letdown, it's the world itself that stands out for being small enough to still be fun.
5 Saints Row
Some call Saints Row the Grand Theft Auto clone because of the similarities but they're different enough to have some distinctions. The big one the separates the two is the map especially in the newer games. In Saints Rows' case, it doesn't need a sprawling map, it's the wackiness that makes it.
It being self-aware of its size helps the game be more relatable. The unrealistic nature of the game makes up for the size, but makes it massive is it what it offers. From gravity-defying feats to bulky boss fights. It's big in its own way without having a larger than life map.
4 Spider-Man
The PlayStation exclusive works so well because of its limited map size because after all, Spider-Man manly resides in New York. Insomniac has done a pretty good job making the superhero experience 1 to 1, so map size is secondary.
Being the definitive superhero players spend more time swinging webs, doing pretty cool stunts, and beating up bad guys. When all these are put together, the map doesn't matter, the player is having fun being Spider-Man.
3 Forza Horizon 4
Traveling from point to point in a car can make the world seem small around the player. While most car games or racing games don't employ an open world, it can work if done right. In Forza Horizons case the open world can feel vast but isn't.
Set during a racing event in Great Britain that takes place all year round gives the player tons to do. The scope of the game relies on the events and activities because that's what the game is. It also helps being set during a whole year, the season changes this gives the game a different feel every time.
2 Watch Dogs 2
Much like Night City, the setting of Watch Dogs 2 takes place city of San Fransisco and much like Night City, it's dense. What makes this game stand out is how grand the game is in terms of the city. From the hacks to the fighting it's a pretty vibrant place.
Much like the other games on the list, it's not the map size it's what players can do. With the map size being small, the game justifies itself with length and more things. The game is a good example of filling it with stuff to do.
1 Assassin's Creed: Unity
Ubisoft is really good at making classic cities like Venice or London looking life-like, french revolution Paris is no different. Looking past the debacle at launch, the game is massive. Even though the game makes players relive Paris during the 19th century which isn't big as opposed to later games.
It's the people wandering the streets and the random things that happen that give the came huge feel. Buildings like Noter Damn are pretty big, exploring what Paris has to offer makes it better than going out of the way. It puts players in the action, in the heart of it all so it small map works here.