15 Amazing Semi-Open World Games

GEARS 5

After Gears of War 4, it had become clear that this was a franchise that needed to expand its horizons, which is quite literally what it did with Gears 5. You wouldn’t think that a series like Gears would be very well suited to open world gameplay, but the open world areas in Gears 5 worked surprisingly well. They could have been better, sure – maybe felt a bit less empty – but thanks to enjoyable traversal and the fact that you were always meaningfully rewarded for going off the beaten path and taking on its side activities, the game’s open world aspects ended up being a lot better than many had assumed they would be.