Shooting, racing, slaying or just simply roaming around. Those are the kinds of freedom you get when playing an open world game. And if you want a recommendation of the best F2P open world games for PC, then you have come to the right place. You do not need to pay top dollars just to experience a large map with plenty of stuff to do because the games that we will show you are all completely free. Pretty cool, right? You can download all of them here on Games.lol.
Here are our top recommendations of the best F2P open world games for PC
Gangstar Vegas
While it has been plagued with its alias as a “GTA clone”, fans of the Gangstar series know that it is much different from Grand Theft Auto. It does get a lot of inspiration from the high-profile Rockstar game but it serves as a good free to play open world game. While it may have been released in 2013, Gangstar Vegas still gets regular updates to keep the game relevant for long-time fans and new players. It has received plenty of quality of life changes such as graphics, game optimization, better controls and new stories to play through.
It still does have its share of bugs but it was not like its messy 2013 version. Now, Gangstar Vegas is a buttery smooth experience that you can enjoy without even paying a single cent.
Honkai Odyssey (Honkai Impact 3)
This may seem like a cheat but Honkai Impact 3 is more than just an action RPG. It has 2 game modes: the main line which includes the story, events and level-based combat, and the open world mode. The best part about Honkai Impact 3 is that the open world mode is a different experience from its base game. Some would argue that the OW mode should have been the main focus of the game because of all the stuff you can do. While the maps are quite constricted and small, there’s plenty of side quests, enemies to kill and resources to collect throughout the 3 open world stories.
We recommend you go with Honkai Odyssey since it’s the most different game from the rest of the content. Odyssey also served as a sort of ground testing for Mihoyo to create the now-popular open world gacha game, Genshin Impact. The Odyssey is a great experience if you want to see the “early work” of how Mihoyo built its open world system. Also, the story is great too. In fact, all 3 open world stories are very gripping. Odyssey may not be canon but it has gameplay similar to Devil May Cry 5 and a good what-if plot that makes Honkai Impact 3’s universe all the more enticing.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Ah ****, here we go again. What can we say? GTA San Andreas is one of the most popular open world games of all time and the best-selling PS2 game ever. Even to this day, many people still play it because of how open-ended it is and how alive the whole American state of San Andreas feels. That does not stop the players from enjoying its glory even after 16 years since its release. If you never played San Andreas before, you got to experience it at least once. And now you can play it for free.
The less we talk about it, the better. There’s just so many amazing surprises this game offers.
A Brief History of Open World Games
Remember when The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask came out and it was a huge game (literally and figuratively) that nobody expected? It gave the player a sense of freedom to roam around Hyrule as Link was going to objectives. However, it was a linear game experience with a grand scale level design. But in 2001, a particular game would change the gaming industry forever.
Rockstar released GTA III – a crime simulator that was unlike any other. Instead of playing through stages or a single form of completing objects, GTA III was the first game where completing the objectives is optional. The formula worked and it became one of the best-selling games in 2002.
In 2003, Rockstar released GTA: Vice City – a game that improved the formula of GTA III and set in the 80s. Its rocking soundtrack, neon vibes and a story inspired by Scarface made Vice City an instant classic.
In 2004, the most anticipated Rockstar game finally arrived. GTA: San Andreas is, to this day, considered the best GTA in the franchise as it had the most freedom that neither its predecessors and successors would have. It later on became the best-selling PS2 game of all time.
It wasn’t until the release of San Andreas when the open world formula of the GTA series would become a source of a new breed of action games for other developers to copy from. And now, a lot of triple-A action games are set in an open world tone. Games like Assassin’s Creed, Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Skyrim would take heavy inspiration.
