Summary
Open-world games have become all the rage in modern titles, with many major games trying their hardest to make the most of huge sandbox worlds that are brimming with content. It’s easy for developers to fail while creating these games since the genre is moving at such a breakneck pace that some open-world titles may feel dated from the very moment they are released. This makes it important for games to perfect every gameplay loop and load them up with content to ensure that it grabs a player’s attention.
One of the best waysopen-world games can make themselves feel uniqueis by ensuring a greater focus on traversal, making the act of exploring the world more active than just pressing up on a keyboard or pushing the analog stick. With the right set of controls, movement in these games can feel like a core gameplay mechanic that players will love to master.
There’s no denying thatForspokenhas many issues that turned it into one of Square Enix’s most dated games. The poor visuals and dated writing made this game an easy punching bag in the eyes of many, and it didn’t help that the combat took way too long to open up. This caused many people to drop it instead of playing it to completion, which is a shame since a lot of players missed out on the amazing traversal mechanics that makethe act of exploring Athia a blast.
Getting used to Flow, combining it with Rush, and slowly unlocking the other magical parkour abilities Frey can get her hands on makes for a great time. As players unlock this vast suite of movement abilities, the combat starts opening up too, meaning that players can enjoy exploring Athia more and more as they slowly warm up to this experience. Ziplining across the world, running up vertical surfaces, gliding across water bodies, and chaining speed boosts make for a parkour system that deserves a lot more credit.
It was a shame thatAssassin’s Creed Syndicatedidn’t live up to Ubisoft’s sales expectations. The poor reception to Unity’s technical state meant that a lot of people were iffy about checking out the next game in the series, which was unfair to Jacob and Evie’s adventures as they formed their gang and slowly took over the boroughs of London. A huge part ofwhat makesSyndicatesuch a satisfying gameis its excellent traversal mechanics.
With dedicated buttons for free running up and down, players will avoid any untimely deaths that plagued the parkour systems of previousAssassin’s Creedgames. The grappling hook was looked down on by many fans, which is a shame since it added to the dynamic range of the player’s traversal options and made it smoother to move from one place to the other without losing momentum or having to undo a lot of the climbing work players put into scaling large buildings.
Spider-Mangames are known for featuring some of the best traversal systems that players can mess around with, andthese movement mechanics are perfected inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2. Both Miles and Peter may not be all that unique to control when zooming across New York, but players won’t mind as long as they get to swing and glide across the city with great finesse. The excellent movement mechanics from the first game have been improved considerably to ensure that players don’t find traversal to be stale at any moment.
The web wings are an excellent addition that lets players switch between swinging and gliding on the fly. Along with this, players can unlock two special rechargeable moves that help them enjoy a vertical or horizontal boost while exploring the world. Slingshotting, building momentum, and using wind tunnels are just a few of the many ways that players can build up speed in the game, and the PS5’s ultra-powerful SSD ensures that Spider-Man moves through the city faster than ever before.
It’s a shame that theInfamousseries has seemingly been forgotten, even if the masses have hailed Sucker Punch’s work onGhost of Tsushima. Cole MacGrath is a gritty and engaging protagonist who serves as the heart of the first game in more ways than players might assume. With the threat of the Beast looming over America, it’s up to Cole to get stronger to face this apocalyptic threat in the second game and save the world. His electrical powers play a huge role here, and players can also opt for fire or ice powers based on Cole’s morality.
Regardless of which powers players opt for, the traversal of this game hinges on Cole’s grasp over his electrical powers. Players can use power lines to zoom across the map, glide to reach elevated surfaces, and use anAssassin’s Creed-esque parkour system to scale buildings. It’s a simple yet refined movement system that feels great to this day, and fans would love a modernInfamousgame that builds upon these movement mechanics to make something special.
BeforeBatman: Arkham Asylum, superhero games had attained somewhat of a poor reputation as cash grabs meant to capitalize on the release of movies and the like. This was dispelled with Rocksteady’s incredible game featuring the Dark Knight, withArkham Cityserving as the perfect sequel that improved on almost every mechanic from the first game. While some people foundArkham Knightto be less spectacular of an improvement in comparison, it succeeded in giving players more traversal options to experience.
Gliding and grappling aroundthe city of Gothamfeels better than ever, with Batman moving swiftly and efficiently. Along with this, the addition of the Batmobile lets players enjoy a vehicle that can destroy almost everything in its path and feels super satisfying to control. Drifting around corners before shooting out of the Batmobile to glide around the world of Gotham is immensely gratifying and shows whyArkham Knightis still a massive achievement despite some questionable design choices.
