Best Xbox Open World Games 2022

Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Xbox Series X|S)

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is one of the finest entries in the long-running series to date, sporting countless of hours of content and a stunningly detailed open world representation of ye olde England to explore.

Assuming the role of a bloodthirsty Viking this time around, combat here is satisfyingly stuff and the story is the best we've seen thus far from AC. However it's the world-building, the level of exhaustively researched detail on display, that really elevates Valhalla to the next level. This game isn't just big for the sake of being big, its open world is teeming with secrets, lore, historically accurate depictions of aspects of Viking life, well-written side-missions and amazing vistas that make every trip into the unknown a worthwhile adventure.

With generous DLC packs expanding the core experience and giving you entire new regions - including amazing representations of Ireland and Ragnarök - to explore, this is an essential, and thoroughly next-gen, open world experience.

• Xbox Game Pass? No

Dying Light 2 (Xbox Series X|S)

Techland's highly anticipated zombie sequel may not quite have hit the highs we had hoped it would in terms of its narrative and combat, but there's absolutely no denying that its open world is a stunning achievement to behold on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Villedor, the enormous Eastern European in which Dying Light 2's action is set, is an immaculately detailed creation, a huge space in which players are free to run amok and cause chaos. It's also an almost breathlessly vertical place, with as much opportunity to go straight up as there is to run flat out around its zombie-filled streets. Of course this one's all about the parkour and fast-paced combat and, if you find yourself gelling with it all, there's a vast and violent playground full of opportunities to show off your wall-running skills as you decapitate, shoot, stab and explode your foes. For all its shortcomings, there's still plenty for open world enthusiasts to explore and enjoy here.

• Xbox Game Pass? No

Elden Ring (Xbox Series X|S)

What happens when you take the incredible combat, intense dungeon-crawling and wonderfully twisted lore of the Dark Souls franchise and spread it all across a spectacular open world setting? Well, that'll be Elden Ring.

FromSoftware's latest feels like an instant classic and, even though we had every faith they could deliver another stellar experience with this one, we genuinely never expected they could nail their first foray into open worlds proper this hard. We're talking about a bonafide Breath of the Wild-beater here, people. The Lands Between are a truly breathtaking creation that provide almost endless opportunity for meaningful exploration and, when you've tired of blasting around on your double-jumping horse and taking in the mind-bending sights, there are all manner of hideous and foul beasts awaiting in the legacy dungeons that hide in every twisted corner of the game's ever-expanding map. It could be a good long while before we're treated to anything this special again, so get stuck in!

• Xbox Game Pass? No

Elite: Dangerous (Xbox One)

Space is mad innit, it's just like...pure massive and that, and Frontier Development's Elite Dangerous, perfectly captures just how pure massive it really, actually is. This is an open world game of truly spectacular scope; an endless, achingly beautiful recreation of our very own galaxy that stretches out before you and around you, beckoning you forth on endless adventure, exploration, economic dabbling and good old-fashioned blasting about and shooting stuff in cool spaceships. Pew pew pew!

There's a ton of depth here, unfathomable intricacy, endless possibility and the freedom to tear off into space and become whatever kind of intergalactic adventurer you fancy. Unfortunately, the elephant in the room is that the Odyssey update won't be coming to Xbox anymore - it's PC only - and that's definitely a disappointment.

Nevertheless, Elite Dangerous is still a great example of an open world game on Xbox One, and although it isn't optimised for next-gen, it gets a welcome performance boost on Xbox Series X and Series S.

• Xbox Game Pass? No

Fallout: New Vegas (Xbox 360)

Yes, Fallout 4 is newer and shinier, but we reckon if you're looking to step out into the open world wastelands it's Fallout: New Vegas that should be your first priority.

This spin-off took the supremely solid foundations laid down by Bethesda's first bite at the irradiated cherry, Fallout 3, and polished them to near perfection, resulting in an open world RPG with real depth that's full of excellent missions, meaningful choices, interesting factions, series-best narrative and a setting that's absolutely jam-packed full of ridiculous adventures to get mixed up in. It all looks and plays exceptionally well for a game of its vintage too so, if you're down for some post-apocalyptic open world shenanigans, get yourself onto Game Pass and grab this one pronto!

• Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Series X|S)

One of the most exquisite open world experiences currently available on any gaming platform, that also happens to be just about as good as arcade racing games get? Yeah, that'll be Forza Horizon 5.

Playground Games' latest may not do anything particularly new for the franchise, but it doesn't really need to, this is their open world racer's exquisite gameplay loops honed to absolute perfection and plonked down in the very best setting that the series has seen so far. An endless array of wonderfully flashy sports cars, tons of events, seamless online functionality and constant, almost overwhelming, bells, whistles and unlockables see every moment you spend with this game feel like some sort of crazy, car-based sugar rush.

• Xbox Game Pass? Yes

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Grand Theft Auto V Next Gen Update (Xbox Series X|S)

Rockstar's finest GTA to date, Grand Theft Auto V is a monumental open world game on Xbox that's still going strong all these years after it first released - and now it's got that next-gen sheen!

This really is a towering achievement in game design, with San Andreas and Los Santos still putting most open world efforts to shame nine whole years after we first got stuck into exploring them. There's a level of detail and meticulous world-building here that only Rockstar provide, with convincing NPC and traffic routines - something that other, more recent games, (we're looking at you, Cyberpunk 2077) can't seem to match - that bring this fictional world to life in a way that makes digging into its missions an absolute joy.

Buy a massive house, fill your garage with exotic sports cars, get a haircut, load your wardrobe up with designer clothes, get out there and rule the streets...it's stuff many open world games attempt, but only GTA has really managed to perfect, and this fifth entry in the series is the pinnacle of the franchise thus far. This one's a no-brainer for open world addicts, whether it's on Xbox One, Series X or Series S.

• Xbox Game Pass? No

Halo Infinite (Xbox Series X|S)

We honestly weren't entirely sure what to expect from 343 Industries' open world Halo effort in the run up to its release. Could the developer manage to retain what's so very special about the sci-fi franchise whilst incorporating Zeta Halo into the mix? Of course they could!

Halo Infinite turned out to be a triumphant return for the Master Chief, a game that manages to serve up an enormous world to explore whilst keeping the series' trademark super-tight combat front and centre. Zeta Halo may err on the more old-school/traditional side of the open world spectrum, but it absolutely delivers in terms of its action with a map that's stuffed full of great big shooty-bang bang encounters to get stuck into against enemies who've never put up a better fight. The combat here is polished to perfection and the AI ensures that every encounter is an absolute delight to get stuck into. With tons of vehicles to zoom around in, secrets and challenges hidden around every corner and a fantastic narrative holding the whole thing together, Halo Infinite is an absolute joy and one of our favourite open world Xbox adventures of recent times.

• Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Immortals Fenyx Rising (Xbox Series X|S)

Immortals Fenyx Rising is an open world game that cribs heavily, unashamedly, from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. From its puzzle shrines and stamina-based climbing, to its huge freewheeling setting and core narrative structure, it's a title that owes a huge amount to 2017's mighty Hylian masterpiece. Of course, if you're going to draw heavily from a game that's so beloved by so many, you're gonna need to do a stand-up job or suffer the consequences and, thankfully, in this regard Ubisoft Quebec has mostly come up trumps.

This is an excellent adventure that puts enough of its own spin on proceedings, with a strong personality and sense of humour sat alongside some brilliantly designed puzzles, flashy combat and a huge world full of secrets, treasures and Ancient Greek mythology to discover. Yes, it may falter slightly in the final stretch by wrestling away player freedom and funnelling you through an overly long endgame, but this is still a hugely entertaining, technically impressive open world romp that's well worth experiencing.

• Xbox Game Pass? No

Lost Judgment (Xbox Series X|S)

Detective Takayuki Yagami returns in Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio's sublime sequel, a Yakuza spin-off that serves up a cracking thrill-ride set in a typically brilliant, and lovingly crafted, recreation of both Tokyo's Kamurocho and Yokohama's Isezaki Ijincho districts.

Anyone who's familiar with the Yakuza series will know exactly what to expect in Lost Judgment, with a bustling and vibrant open world that's stuffed full of kooky side quests, collectibles and surprises to discover as you go about your detective duties. There's a stunning level of detail here and the development team's intimate knowledge of the areas they incorporate into their game is plain to see, with an atmosphere that manages to get amazingly close to the real thing. With a ton of crazy activities, street brawls and silliness to get stuck into, this is one of our favourite open world Xbox games of recent years.

• Xbox Game Pass? No