Open-world gaminghas become a powerful commercial force in the industry today, with many iconic IPs ditching their tried and tested gameplay formulas to try and get a piece of the success, including famously linear franchises likeSonic. Unfortunately, this has led to numerous lackluster releases that shoehorn in anunderwhelming open worldfor marketing and advertising purposes. Still, when an open-world game is done right, it can create a fantastic gameplay experience for the player that is hard to top.
When people think of open-world gaming, they tend to imagine action-adventure games and RPGs. Although these genres do indeed dominate the open-world market, there have also been a handful of fantastic racing games over the years taking take place in enormous game worlds that players are free to drive around and explore. The followingopen-world racing gamesall struck gold with excellent driving mechanics, interesting events, and tantalizing maps that are begging to be explored.
Updated June 06, 2025, Mark Sammut:Open-world racing games are simply not that common; for example, 2024 has not produced any new contenders, and 2025 does not appear likely to change this pattern during its early months. People can have modern open-world or racing games, but they can rarely enjoy both. To make up for this lack of modern releases, a more niche franchise has been added, with a PS2 game being selected as its representative.
Games likeEuro Truck Simulator 2have been left out since they are more driving than racing games. Still, they can be played like the latter if somebody wants.
Genki’sTokyo Xtreme Racerfranchise is relatively unknown, at least compared to other long-running racing series that have been around since the mid-90s. Part of that has to do with many of the early games being Japanese exclusives, although the series did eventually start to release in Western nations with 1996’sTokyo Highway Battle. More importantly, the games are quite niche, both in terms of appeal and gameplay. While latter entries expand on the concept,Tokyo Xtreme Racergenerally involves driving down a Japanese street in search of other racers who are looking for a match. Once found, a contest commences to see who will be the last one standing.
Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3is not necessarily the best game in the franchise (Zeroand theDriftsubseries are well-regarded), but it serves as a solid entry point. Having access to three locations, players can race through the main story mode, which generally just involves defeating rivals en route to taking on an area’s leader. While not containing too many cars nor any especially impressive environments, the game does have a charm to it, be it thanks to the decent controls or simply the Japanese setting (a rarity for racers).
Genki seems set to bring the franchise back in a big way in 2025.
Visual Concepts’Lego 2K Drivecame and went in 2023, garnering some attention but not leaving a significant impact in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately,Legohas been stretched thin as a property, and the brand is heavily marketed towards children, which might not be the greatest audience for racing games. Still, as an entry-levelopen-world racer,Lego 2K Driveis very competently made and features an impressive map split into biomes that all have a unique identity.
Playing essentially like a kart racer, the game controls well and has a pick-up-and-play quality to it.Lego 2K Drive’s most exciting feature is the ability to create vehicles, a section that garnered criticism for incorporating microtransactions. While unlocking everything is a grind, pieces are earned consistently enough that players should be able to unlock most options without much issue.
Most people had assumed that Ubisoft had given up onThe Crew, despitethe understated brilliance of the second game. Thankfully, fans were proven wrong with the release ofThe Crew Motorfest, which is a great title for fans of open-world racing games to check out.
Players explore the faithfully recreated Hawaiian island of Oʻahu, which makes for some exotic racing backdrops and beautiful visuals. It may not be groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, butThe Crew Motorfestis a great title with solid racing mechanics that deserves all the praise it gets.
Fuelis a somewhat weird game to recommend. On the one hand, its mechanics, controls, cars, and races are nothing special. In many ways, it is the most prototypicalopen-world racing gameout there, particularly in its map structure and events. The post-apocalyptic climate is neat and sets it apart from the urban racers that dominate the genre, but there is not much of a story to latch onto. As such, the setting primarily amounts to barren stretches of land that go on and on.
However,Fuelfeels endless. Even though more than a decade has passed since Asobo originally released this project, the open-world is still gigantic when compared to far more modern racers; more importantly, the sandbox is simply fun to drive in. Putting aside all the actual events,Fuelis at its best when players throw caution to the wind and just roam.
Arcade driving games are all the rage, andCrazy Taxi 3is easily the best game in the series that fans can go back to time and time again. This game is absolutely bonkers, using the simple premise of driving a passenger to their destination and turning it into something so incredibly enjoyable that players can find themselves lost in this game for hours and hours.
It helps that this title features many massive maps where players can get lost as they furiously drive passengers to their destinations. The areas of West Coast, Glitter Island, and Small Apple are all rife with detail and feature boundless opportunities for crazy stunts as players try to rack up the highest scores possible.
SnowRunneris a game that has taken the sim driving scene by storm, and many players are still baffled by how many fans this title has! Trucks are some of the slowest-moving vehicles of all time… and yet, any game that manages to nail their configurations and how they feel becomes so popular within a particular niche that other casual players just can’t understand this craze.
Of course, not everything needs to be dissected down to a T. Sometimes, games just need to scratch a particular itch to endear themselves to a particular section of passionate fans. The offroading shenanigans ofSnowRunnerhave made it such a surprise hit for the same reasons.
Many fans of racing video games feel that the genre has stagnated. It’s a fair criticism, as the genre features many games that look the same and don’t really bring anything new to the table. So, it’s refreshing to see thatNeed for Speed Unboundhas decided to integrate a unique look and style into the visuals. These help the game stand out and look fresh in a genre overpopulated with titles that all use similar aesthetics.
In fact, the cel-shaded visuals and 2D smoke trails inNeed For Speed Unboundlook so unique that some fans of the racing genre actually find this visual change to be jarring, which is a testament to how stagnant the racing genre has become in modern times. The racing inNeed for Speed Unboundis solid, and exploring the open world is a blast, even if the grind to get new cars can be a bit grating for some players.
Need for Speed Heatcould have taken this spot too, and an argument could be made that it has a better open-world thanUnbound. Still, the difference between them is quite small.
TheForza Horizonseries has churned out hit after hit, and this game is no exception. These titles feature massive open worlds that are full to the brim with races, challenges,car customization, and fun stories. There’s no denying thatForza Horizon 3justifies the inclusion of a sandbox, with Australia being gorgeous and packed to the brim with content that offers variety, exploration, and silliness.
Players love the idea of dropping into the game and just messing around with the car of their choice. The fact that some fans still consider this entry to be superior to its successors, despite the massive success ofForza Horizon 4and5,proves how many things this game got right.
It’s a shame that theDriverseries hasn’t seen a major entry in quite some time.San Franciscois a genuinely amazing title that makes players feel like an action hero behind the wheel. Players can do everything from serving as getaway drivers to straight-up taking over the bodies of other drivers to steer their cars.
Driver: San Franciscois one of the most high-octane driving games around, where players need to accomplish several objectives while going through several amazing set-pieces along the way. The Shift ability is easily the biggest highlight of this game, and it’s a shame that more developers haven’t tried to integrate this unique mechanic in their racing titles.
It’s a shame thatMidnight Clubis a series that never really stayed relevant in Rockstar’s library. Their attention shifted to open-world action games with an emphasis on driving instead of a game solely focused on the art of racing. Many fans ofMidnight Clubare sad that this approach has been taken since one of their most beloved racing franchises isn’t a part of the mainstream anymore.
Thankfully, there are enough games in this series that players can check out whenever they feel like they’re missing out on this brilliant series. The vibe of this title is unmatched, and players who check this game out will enjoy one of the finest racing games they’ve laid their hands on.
