By their very natures, open-world games promise endless gameplay options and dozens of hours' worth of playtime. However, a surprising number of them can be beaten in a relatively short amount of time. Whether it's a significant lack of side quests and/or collectibles or a painfully short story, many open-world games promise a lot but fail to deliver in terms of quality content.
Of course, Rockstar makes it look easy, but if these games prove anything, it's that it is incredibly challenging to make a long, consistently-engaging open-world experience. These are ten open-world games that can be beaten surprisingly fast.
10 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
OK, you could spend countless hours toying around with Skyrim's immense open world. But there's no denying that the story is surprisingly short. You can complete the entire story in about 20 hours, which is really no longer than something like The Last of Us or Dark Souls.
Yeah, it's still a substantial amount of time, but when it comes to open-world games, especially an open-world game as massive and filled-with-content as Skyrim is, it certainly falls a bit on the short side. Still, quality over quantity and Skyrim has quality in spades.
9 The Outer Worlds
The Outer Worlds is the latest and greatest release from Obsidian Entertainment, the same team behind the endlessly replayable Fallout: New Vegas. Unlike that game, The Outer Worlds is a painfully short experience that is over before you know it.
Of course, a lot of that comes down to the smaller budget, and they just didn't have as much time and resources to put into this game as they did a massive brand like Fallout. The Outer Worlds' story can be completed in just ten hours, and most of its content entirely consumed in 30.
8 Infamous Second Son
Infamous Second Son was one of the first PS4 exclusives, and while it WAS a good game, it didn't promise much in terms of expansive content. Like The Outer Worlds, the entire story can be completed in about ten hours, making it on par with traditional on-rails shooters like Uncharted.
It also didn't contain much side content, and you could 100% the game in just 20 hours if you didn't stop to smell the roses. Once that 100% was displayed on the screen, we frankly couldn't believe it. "Wait, that's it!?" Yes, unfortunately, that was it.
7 Just Cause 4
Many people thought that Just Cause 4 was a bit of a disappointment, and some of that disappointment stemmed from the game's length. While the other games weren't super long, the fourth entry's story could be completed in just ten to fifteen hours.
Of course, the game's world is also littered with side content, but even most of that could be wiped up in another ten. When all is said and done, you will spend about twenty to twenty-five hours finishing Just Cause 4, which is certainly not enough considering the sheer size of the game's world.
6 Saints Row IV
When it comes to longevity, the Saints Row series certainly hasn't gone far. According to howlongtobeat.com, the first Saint's Row game could be completed in about fifteen to twenty hours. It's not a long time by any means, but it WAS released on the Xbox 360 in 2006.
Nearly ten years later, Saints Row IV was released, and it was...just as long. Which is frankly baffling, considering how far technology has come in that time. According to the same website, the story could be finished in just fifteen hours, and the whole game 100% completed in thirty to thirty-five.
5 Mass Effect: Andromeda
And while we're talking about a lack of progress, we may as well mention Mass Effect: Andromeda. The first Mass Effect game could be completed in about twenty hours, and its sequels even longer, ranging between twenty-five and thirty hours' worth of story. But then Andromeda came along, and the length dropped like a rock.
This game returned to series to Mass Effect 1 lengths, as it could be beaten in just fifteen hours, MAYBE twenty if you really took your time. Yeah, it was filled with side content that took ages to complete, but it's not like that side content was particularly engaging, and we can't think of anyone who actually played through it all...
4 Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Nowadays, the Assassin's Creed series is packed with a ridiculous amount of content, so much so that actually completing the game turns into a burden. But people tend to forget just how short the games used to be. Perhaps the shortest major entry in the series is Revelations, whose story could be beaten in about ten hours if you hustled.
Even taking all the side content into account, you can finish most of what the game has to offer in twenty hours. Compare that to something like Odyssey, whose story alone can take you upwards of fifty hours to complete!
3 Far Cry New Dawn
New Dawn served as a spin-off to the traditional Far Cry series, so we weren't expecting a major amount of content. That said, we weren't expecting it to be THIS short. The entire story could be wrapped up in just ten hours, and you could see and do literally everything that the game had to offer in twenty to twenty-five.
Luckily, Ubisoft was smart enough to release this game for a discounted price, so we can't be too upset. That said, for an open-world Far Cry experience, this was still a bit on the short side.
2 Fallout 3
Fallout 3 shares a lot in common with Skyrim. It has been played and enjoyed for so long, and it contains so much extra content, that people forget just how short the story actually is.
If you stick primarily to the storyline and don't explore or do any side content, you can complete the entire thing in just fifteen to twenty hours. Of course, once you add in all the exploration and side content, that number balloons up to the fifties and sixties, and even beyond.
1 Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption II was packed to the gill with content, and in order to 100% the game, you'll be looking at well over one hundred hours of content, maybe even venturing into the 150-hour range. That said, the original game was surprisingly short.
The story could be completed in just fifteen to twenty hours, and according to howlongtobeat.com, you could 100% the game in just forty-five to fifty hours. Quality over quantity? You be the judge.