Summary
While there are manyopen-worldgames around nowadays, and the idea has become hugely popular over the last decade, not all of them make players feel integrated in a bustling world. While players can explore entire cities in many of the currently available open-world games, it is less common for gamers to be surrounded by NPCs throughout.
Sometimes, in MMO games with open worlds, players may feel surrounded by other players who are online. However, open-world games that are more single-player-based only rarely do a superb job of making players feel surrounded by a very alive city.
Updated June 10, 2025, by Chris Harkin:Although gaming has continued to advance over the last decade and more, some of the most fascinating cities featured in open-world games that manage to feel truly alive and bustling came out years ago. The ambition of gaming has slowed in certain ways, and while some new games have overachieved on many different levels, there are only a few major companies interested in providing players with the feeling one would get when wandering a bustling metropolis. Though the options are somewhat limited, some open-world titles genuinely go out of their way to provide realistic experiences like this.
TheGrand Theft Autogames, for many years, have been at the forefront of creating bustling cities that are filled with some truly bizarre NPCs.Grand Theft Auto 5was the absolute pinnacle of these ideas, and Los Santos is a city that is filled to the brim with a wide variety of people.
Plenty of fascinating characters fill the metropolis, and strange side missions abound around every corner as players wander around the city. There are quieter sections, such as restricted areas and the countryside, but the main city of Los Santos is always well-occupied by a huge number of characters, and it is one of thebest cities in the series.
Though there aremanyAssassin’s Creedgames, and all of them are open-world and set in various real-life cities, there are few that achieve such a memorable setting and world asAssassin’s Creed Syndicate. Following the Frye twins as they arrive in London and try to free it from Templar control,Syndicateis set in mid-19th century England during the Industrial Revolution, and it features many of the traditional quirks ofAssassin’s Creedcities while being as alive and different from those others as can be believed.
The major difference is simply the period chosen for the setting. After so many medieval and ancient civilizations were explored by the franchise, it was new for fans to see and experience anAssassin’s Creedgame so relatively close to modern times. This marvelous, alive version of London gained points with fans for feeling so raw and real, as well as having a wealth of side quests that made the open-world feel even more full of life.
Many great open-world games craft entirely new settings or, likeGrand Theft Auto, do a fictional take on an existing city. ButSleeping Dogswas one of the few games brave enough to be set in a major real-life city: Hong Kong. Following a Chinese-American cop working in Hong Kong to try and dismantle the Triad forces there,Sleeping Dogsgives players the sort of world feel and bustle that most are accustomed to only seeing in Rockstar Games.
A truly incredible experience in a unique part of the world,Sleeping Dogsgives players the opportunity to run, swim, drive and adventure in any other way they fancy around a beautifully designed version of Hong Kong that is split into four huge districts, all based on a real part of the city. WhileSleeping Dogsdefinitely doesn’t give a one-to-one recreation, it manages to fill the streets with bystanders and locals, making the city feel alive in a way few games accomplish.
From the very beginning of its conception,Cyberpunk 2077looked as if it would be similar in style totheGrand Theft Autogames. This more futuristic take on a massive, bustling metropolis in Night City made for an incredible experience once the initial fixes were made to the game following an unsteady first release.
Cyberpunk 2077has improved a lot since then. There is a constant sense of danger as players traverse the city, with there always being another potential mission or distraction along the way. It makes for a fascinating style of RPG. It’s completely different from most other busy cities that players are used to seeing, and it is alsoone of the largest.
Many things aboutThe Witchergames were improved upon and perfected withThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This game managed to make hugeWitcherfans out of many gamers, and part of the reason behind that is how it managed to easily immerse players in the world of the Continent.
Cities that appear throughoutThe Witcher 3are built in a uniquely bustling fashion for games set in fictional fantasy realms. There is constant street life in cities thatplayers visit such as Novigrad, making for a much more real experience. The game also provides side quests around every corner and plenty of strange NPCs to chat away with as Geralt continues his journey.
There are few games as beloved or memorable for theirhuge rosters of NPCsand incredibly built cities than those of Rockstar Games. Outside of theGrand Theft Autoseries, it is theRed Dead Redemptiongames that are their most loved, andRed Dead Redemption 2brought players into a wilderness like few games by the company have ever done.
Despite getting to adventure across the American Frontier on a map encompassing fictional versions of five different states,Red Dead Redemption 2also allowed players to visit larger cities like Saint Denis, based off Louisiana and New Orleans. This former French colony was a bustling cityscape that provided a wonderful contrast to the quiet of the wilderness, giving players the full cowboy experience in multiple ways across the huge open world.
Many of theAssassin’s Creedgames put a big focus on a faithful recreations of cities, and there are several of them that do a pretty good job at filling out those cities with characters. However, there is one that went above and beyond in this manner, and that game isAssassin’s Creed Unity.
Set in Paris, this entry in the franchise managed to put players in a positively beautiful version of the famous French metropolis, all while filling it with enough NPCs that players feel the real bustle of activity they’d expect as they run through or above the streets of such an place. Giving the impression of something truly alive, Ubisoft managed to make Paris into its own character inUnity, helping turn the title into one of thebest open-world stealth games ever.
TheYakuzafranchise is famed for great action-adventure games, butLike A Dragonchanged everything up by creating an open-world, turn-based RPG in which players were provided with a lot of freedom to run around the real-life city of Yokohama and create their own stories in asurprisingly mature-themed JRPG.
While the city is large and beautiful, it is separated into districts that each have a different feel to them. However, in all of them, there are a lot of people, providing players with a surreal sort of feeling despite it all taking place in a faithfully recreated version of a real-world city. Offering one of the best chances that gamers will get to see this beautiful part of Japan,Yakuza: Like A Dragonis well worth checking out.
Part of the major success ofMarvel’s Spider-Manwas in its ability to make players feel like they were truly this street-level hero. Instead of riding above it all like inMarvel’s Avengers, players were placed on the streets. They could encounter a huge number of people inNew York City, and they could also pursue a variety of side adventures.
The huge number of quests available (as well as the otherstorylines that came with the DLCs) allowed players the freedom to swing their way aimlessly around a bustling city and fight crime along the way. The New York City ofMarvel’s Spider-Manis home to countless NPCs, and their presence makes the world feel incredibly real and alive.
TheWatch Dogsgames have always prided themselves on bringing futuristic versions of cities to life in amazing recreations.Watch Dogs: Legionis the best example of this, turning eight of the boroughs of London into a sprawling map that players can navigate in several ways. Whether players prefer to take the underground, travel on foot, or parkour their way through the streets, this game allows them to live out their dreams.
Seeing London in such a beautifully designed shapeis unusual, particularly in a futuristic game, but feeling like there are plenty of people around and sensing the realism of the city is something that adds a lot of great world-building to the story thatWatch Dogs: Legionmanages to tell.
