15 Open World Games That Didn’t Fully Utilized Their Potential

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

To be clear, the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is superb and offers so many options for a stealth sandbox experience that it’s absurd. Despite how the story eventually ends up, the Missions are well-designed and memorable. The open world looks gorgeous, but the Side Ops in it could have used some love.

After all, with the tools that the game gives you, having 15 “Eliminate the Wandering Puppets”, 12 “Eliminate the Tank Unit” and a whopping 20 “Prisoner Extraction” Side Ops just feels boring after the first few. Some Side Ops, like “Secure Quiet”, are set-ups to actual Missions, which is fine, but there could have been so much more given the sheer scope and reactiveness of the world.