Tom's Hardware Giveaway - Just Cause 3!

[giogi]

Far Cry 4 and gta 5, i had some friends that were playing those games. so i have begun to play the game with them and i begun to like them. but i liked the gta because i think it had more missions and more possibilities within the game

 

[SuperSpeed89]

My favorite open-world game has to be Saint's Row the Third There's so much fun to be had in that game, especially when playing co-op with a friend! The Farcry games (Mainly Blood Dragon) are awesome as well.

 

[theliltank4901]

The Crew Wild Run and Watch Dogs is coming to mind for me. I have GTA series but its not as original as it once was. I am a techy person myself so Watch Dog was a really good game even though the hype was a big let down when i got the actual game. I will need a good intense game like Just Cause 3 to test out my new asus strix gtx 970. I loved the game Just Cause 2. There is also Red Faction Guerrilla which is a game while your on the moon. I really want this game.

 

[Ravenwingsts]

Oblivion - it brought me back into CRPGs.

 

[VJ0]

I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing GTA2 back in the day. I never got bored of baiting cops into chases all across the map. It was still so new at the time, and it's relative simplicity is still charming.

The greatest for me, however, are probably the two Zelda games on N64. Even when I wasn't working on the actual quest, I would just ride Epona across the field for ages, to visit Lon Lon Ranch for a race, or to relax at the fishing pond, or just to watch the scenery roll by. That huge-feeling world, in full 3D, nearly 20 years ago now...it was staggering. It was a quantum leap, and little else has ever come close since.

 

[Michael_110]

WoW- Been playing it for years and still haven't explored the whole world. I am a big fan of the art style and playing with other people adds "life" to the game.

Witcher 3- This is probably the best game I have played in a long time. The graphics are beautiful and little touches like the wind sweeping through the grass make the world come to life.

Fallout 3/Skyrim- I was just blown away by the size of the games and the amount of stuff to do. They really let you off the leash and let you do whatever you want. I put hours into Skyrim just exploring and doing side quests. I didn't never even did the main quest. When the vault first opens in Fallout 3 I remember seeing the world and wondering "Where do I go now?" . It's not often I get that feeling in games.

 

[Raptor26]

My favorite has to be jak and daxter. My favorite part about it is probably the story and styling of the game. There really isn't any other game like it. It's one of those games where you play it for 5 minutes and you can't stop until you beat it.

 

[Joe Porter]

Zelda. If you are unfamiliar with the Zelda series I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with it. There are too many good ones to pick a specific open world GOD game as they are all in the god tier as far as I am concerned...

 

[Titillating]

I am mostly on time today! I make it a point to try to announce winners on time, if you folks haven't realized.

Anyway, you don't care about that! Let's get on with revealing our winners:

SinxarKnights
none12345
LLegoLLaS

Congrats to you three! You will receive a PM from me later today with instructions on how to claim the game.

As always, thank you everybody for participating and sharing your favorites! There are a few weeks left in the year (we'll be skipping Christmas week so that we can all just enjoy Christmas) so be sure to stick around as we wrap up the first year of our Weekly Steam Giveaways!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

[instyne]

Really late but the only open world game I've played besides Elder Scrolls was Darksiders 2, after opening different maps you could literally stop a fight and go somewhere else to get new weapons or skills or experience then go back and be Billy Badass. I need to find more like it after finishing my new build .

 

[nukemaster]

Congrats to SinxarKnights , none12345 and LLegoLLaS

 

[GObonzo]

...better late than never?

That is a very difficult choice. Those are and have always been my favorite types of games and as the generations of games have gone by the option for open-world exploration has just grown exponentially. I would say it depends on the mood for which would have to be my favorite at any given time.

The first 2 really 3D open world games I remember playing that totally blew me away were Ultima IX and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Ultima IX totally changed my idea of video games and really brought me back into the hobby after a few years away. Morrowind expanded on it in such a huge way with such smoother gameplay mechanics and exploration opportunities. Then finding Knights of The Old Republic very soon after and I was totally hooked back into video games with no reason to look back. But 3D styled graphics is not the end all of open-world games. With so many sprite based games through the years prior and so many wonderful isometric titles with simpler graphical design also being amazing open-world experiences. The original Diablo was probably my first isometric experience and was definitely more fun and excitement than I had anticipated. Then later that year I found Fallout 1. Those 2 are probably the reason I never got into console systems again.
Ever since my first few, the open-world RPG theme has been the only type and I can really get excited about, usually.

Of course there has been the exceptions to the open-world RPG genre being my main concentration. Crysis & Warhead being the exact thing I love about open-world but with the best first-person shooter mechanics and destruction using amazing ingame physics. Just Cause 2 was also along that same scenario but with more carnage options than I ever expected from a video game. Then Far Cry sequels...it really makes any new game, no matter what the genre, with more linear level design give me a cramped feeling anymore.

If I had to choose a few of my favorites of the open-world designed games of any genre:
Fallout 2
Diablo 2
Knights of The Old Republic 1/2
Neverwinter Nights 2
Titan Quest
Crysis
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition
Divinity - Original Sin
Grand Theft Auto 5
Fallout 4

That is about as far as I can narrow it down without feeling bad about it and I'm already leaving out at least 4-5 of my favorite games. All of these i could pick up today and still be impressed and enjoy every minute of the game. though when playing a bit of the Knights of The Old Republic games anymore I can't help but be saddened thinking how The Old Republic could have been a third edition to one of my favorite series instead of another MMO.

 

[ifIwasarichman]

I liked the farcry series

 

[LLegoLLaS]

Thank you guys! The game is awesome! T's H also

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Just Cause 2, no question.

In my opinion, the whole point of an open-world game is to go out there, cause mayhem and destruction and do utterly ridiculous things; in other words, have fun. A lot of open-world games are far too serious and that detracts from the fun entirely.

How many games let you hijack a military jet, flip it upside down and surf the nosecone whilst gunning down enemy soldiers? Fuckin' ace! 😀