Many open-world games are set in America, ranging from theGrand Theft Autoseries satirizing US culture and the idea of the American dream to titles likeFar Cry 5emulating the landscapes of various areas in the US. As a result, it’s a shame that very few games give Europe the due diligence it deserves.
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Europe is full of different cultures and mesmerizing architecture that would be great to explore in a video game given today’s physics and graphics. But as the popularity of open-world games continues to grow, few of them look for influence across the pond, favoring fictional worlds or the East or west coast of North America. However, though the options are scarce, there are sandbox games that take advantage of Europe’s aesthetics.
Updated on June 17, 2025, by Ritwik Mitra:Many people love the beauty of Europe, full to the brim with lovely and diverse locales that have made every country in this wondrous continent an alluring place to explore. People can witness a slice of culture no matter where they go here, making it easy to see why players would love to explore these areas via the medium of video games.
Obviously enough, the best way to explore these virtual, detailed worlds to the fullest is via a title that promotes an open world, and players are definitely spoiled for choice when it comes to open-world games that either model a smaller, compact version of Europe or feature an original world that is heavily inspired by the locales within this continent.
13Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Bohemia
For a first attempt at an open-world game, it’s genuinely impressive what Warhorse Studios has achieved withKingdom Come Deliverance. The game’s story is easily its saving grace, with the narrative being emotional and building up nicely before delivering several payoffs that are more than worth it.
There’s no denying that the game suffers from a somewhat lifeless open-world designand wonky combat, but those are minor complaints in what is otherwise a brilliant game. Players can easily invest hundreds of hours in this title, with Henry’s character development being the stuff of legends.
12Forza Horizon 4 - Great Britain
TheForzagames have pushed the boundaries of racing to new heights over and over again, even if some fans feel like the games always have hit-or-miss moments. However, many people felt thatForza Horizon 4was a step in the right direction.
It helped that roaming around the beautiful landscapes of Britain is quite enthralling, with the locations being recreated to a T. There are obvious liberties taken here given the nature ofForza Horizon 4as a racing game, but the world is still a blast to explore.
11The Witcher 3 - A Fictional World Inspired By Medieval Europe
CD Projekt Red truly poured its heart and soul into creating one of the most beautiful and immersive worlds in gaming history.The Witcher 3: Wind Huntis a mix of many inspirations from Europe during medieval times with a generous heap of dark fantasy added to the mix.
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If that wasn’t good enough, thenBlood & Wineadds another landscape that is inspired by France. There are many reasons why players loveThe Witcher 3with all their hearts, and the amazing open world is one of them.
10Grand Theft Auto - London
GTAmight be themost popular Rockstar series there is, but there are some older entries that players might not have heard of.GTAwas the series that started it all, and though the game was top-down and the series hadn’t reached the three-dimensional worlds at this point, London was as rendered as well as it ever could.
The game was based in the 1960s and though it was met with a mixed reception from critics, the game won a BAFTA, which is almost certainly due to players seeing new countries represented in video games.
9The Getaway - London
The Getawaywas one of the few successful imitations ofGrand Theft Auto, as instead of creating another American metropolitan or putting their eggs in different baskets by featuring several different cities, Team Soho decided to focus on London only and relish the cockney slang and winding streets.
As far asGTAclones go,The Getaway(and its sequel) was one of the best of its generation and remains great to this day. It’s a shame that more people don’t talk about this masterpiece.
8Assassin’s Creed: Unity - Paris
It seems likeAssassin’s Creedis the only AAA series that doffs its cap to Europe, and the rest of the world, as almost every game in the entry features a huge European city to explore.
Whether it’s walking over cobbled stones in Victorian England, battling Vikings in Norway, or taking down the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople, the Ubisoft series is synonymous with open-world maps in Europe.Assassin’s Creed: Unityis the best example of this thanks to its dense exploration of Paris.
7Midnight Club 2 - Paris
Though EAjumped on the popularity ofThe Fast and the Furiousfranchise quickly by releasingNeed For Speed Underground,an arcade-style racer with souped-up Japanese imports,Midnight Clubwas doing it long before that.Midnight Clubcould be seen as thePro Evolution Soccerof arcade racers, as the popularity ofNeed for Speeddwarfed the series, just likeFIFAdid toPES, andMidnight Clubdidn’t have any licensed cars, just like PES didn’t have licensed kits.
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But despite this,Midnight Clubwas the ultimate game of the two racers due to having the ability to free roam and allowing players to make their route to each checkpoint. Better still, the series went overseas, with the best example of this being in Paris. Additionally, if players had a car with good enough acceleration, they could drive up the Louvre in Paris, which has had fanswishing the series would be brought back.
6The Italian Job - Italy
There are no awards for guessing which open worldThe Italian Jobdabbles in. The game features a fun interpretation of Turin (and London too), and though it was released over thirty years after the release of one of the most classic movies ever made, the game is surprisingly faithful to the movie and played fairly smoothly.
The chase sequence at the end of the film has been recreated inGTA 5, showing just how influential this piece of cinema is. Fans who love this iconic movie will be more than surprised by how great this tie-in video game feels to play!
5Wheelman - Barcelona
Wheelmanmay have been nothing more than a failed experiment in which Vin Diesel tried to dominate game consoles just like the box office. It’s safe to say thatWheelmanperformed as well as theawfulFast and Furioustie-in games, butWheelman’sgameplay was handled surprisingly well.
Better yet, the game is based in a fully open Barcelona that was littered with destructible objects and Catalonia’s criminal underworld. It’s now the most mind-blowing game around, but Wheelman is pretty decent if players want to switch their brains off and play an action-heavy open-world game.
4Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 - Barcelona
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2was the most polarizing entry in the entireTony Hawkseries, as it was seen as jumping the shark to some fans, but also seen as expanding the brand’s horizons to others, who arebegging for a remake.
But one thing that the game did best was expanding the globe-trotting locations the series became known for into gigantic maps and making them completely interactive. Barcelona is many fans’ favorite, not only in the game but the entire series!
