Open-world gaming has had a sharp rise in prominence over the last couple of decades. The genre has offered players levels of freedom that simply weren't possible in the past, immersing fans into the game world and letting them choose their own path.
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Like anything that's popular in the entertainment industry, open-world gaming is constantly being flooded with new entries trying to get a piece of the genre's success. Consequently, there are numerous open-world games that were notable at the time of their release but have since fallen through the cracks and slipped out of people's memory.
10 The Saboteur
The Saboteur was released by Electronic Arts in 2009 on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and even BlackBerry. The BlackBerry and 2010 iOS versions of the game were developed by Hands-On Mobile, while the PC and console versions were developed by Pandemic Studios, a team best known for shooters like the original Destroy All Humans! and Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005).
The Saboteur takes place during World War II in Nazi-occupied Paris and lets players explore the city and complete missions at will in a way that is similar to the Grand Theft Auto series.
9 Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins was released in 2013, two years after the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham City and two years before Batman: Arkham Knight. Considering how beloved the Arkham series is, Arkham Origins may seem like an odd choice for this list.
However, Batman: Arkham Origins is often forgotten when people reminisce about the franchise, with most people referring to the series as a trilogy. This is likely because the game wasn't developed by Rocksteady Studios and also because it was absent from Batman: Arkham Collection.
8 Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was developed by the same team as the aforementioned The Saboteur, Pandemic Studios. The game takes place in a fictional, war-torn iteration of Venezuela and tasks players with killing the country's president — a story that wasn't very well received in the country.
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Mercenaries 2: World in Flames has a few niggling issues, such as poor enemy AI, though its over-the-top, explosive gameplay offered simplistic fun that most fans enjoyed at the time.
7 Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Considering that Grand Theft Auto is the 13th highest-grossing video game franchise of all time, it may seem hard to believe that one of the series' games is often forgotten about.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars first hit stores in March 2009 on the Nintendo DS before coming to PSP and mobile devices in the months and years that followed. The game was well-received by critics, exemplified by its whopping 93 Metascore on DS, which is why it's such a surprise that the game is rarely discussed today.
6 Yakuza: Dead Souls
The Yakuza series has recently enjoyed a huge increase in interest, following the series' inclusion in Game Pass. The series' combination of hard-hitting storylines about life as a Yakuza and utterly ridiculous and hilarious side quests has encapsulated audiences all over the world.
Befitting of the franchise's nonsensical themes, Sega released the spin-off game Yakuza: Dead Souls to try and cash in on the zombie hype that had engulfed the entertainment industry at the time. The game offers an enjoyable 13-14 hour zombie-slaying adventure, though its non-canon story has made it a forgotten entry in the Yakuza franchise.
5 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction was initially released on PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox in 2005. The game was developed by Radical Entertainment, who were best known at the time for The Simpsons: Hit & Run.
An open-world game starring a comic book hero is a recipe for success today, though Marvel wasn't as prominent back in 2005. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction offered a thoroughly enjoyable beat 'em up adventure, though it struggled to gain much mainstream interest at the time and still doesn't get the attention that it deserves today.
4 Red Faction: Guerilla
Red Faction: Guerrilla was initially released in 2009 on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The sci-fi game takes players to the planet Mars and gives them a wide range of explosive weaponry which will bring the destructible environments crumbling down.
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Red Faction: Guerrilla has since been remastered on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, though it struggled to reach the same level of mainstream interest as when the game was first released.
3 Sleeping Dogs
Unfortunately for Square Enix and United Front Games, 2012's Sleeping Dogs is no stranger to featuring on lists about underrated, underappreciated, or forgotten games.
Sleeping Dogs is a spiritual successor of the True Crime series and takes players to a visually impressive rendition of Hong Kong. The game offers a similar experience to the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto franchise, but with an extra emphasis on hand-to-hand combat.
2 Prototype
Prototype was developed by the same studio as The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Radical Entertainment. The action-adventure game generated a ton of interest upon release, though the Prototype series would ultimately lead to Radical Entertainment's downfall.
This downfall was due to Prototype 2, which received such poor sales figures, that Activision decided to cancel the planned Prototype 3 and shut down Radical Entertainment altogether. Consequently, the series has been largely forgotten about, which is a shame as both games offer solid action experiences.
1 Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive was published by Microsoft Studios and developed by Insomniac Games, which may sound like an odd combination considering how synonymous the studio now is with PlayStation. Sony has since acquired Insomniac Games, which have released Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales exclusively on PlayStation consoles.
Sunset Overdrive doesn't concern itself with realism, offering an over-the-top action experience that puts all its emphasis on simply offering a fun time.