Summary
- Slow combat adds strategy and realism to open-world games, enhancing player experience.
- Games like Shenmue and Mafia focus on methodical, weighty combat, contrasting fast-paced titles.
- Survival-centric games like The Long Dark prioritize environment challenges over fast-paced combat elements.
Speed does not make everything better. Faster songs are not better than slow songs and shorter movies are not necessarily better than longer movies. The same thing goes for video games. The open-world titles below come from different eras and go for different vibes, but their slow combat adds something to the game that would be missing if it was sped up.
3:58
Related
6 Best Open-World Games With A Focus On Realism, Ranked
When it comes to realism, it doesn’t get more life-like than these open-world games that take their environments and gameplay to the next level.
For some, the slow combat adds an element of strategy to the fights. For others, the slower pace is meant to add realism and weight to the world. Regardless of their intent, they are all great games.
8
Shenmue
Fighting Only Happens At Select Story Beats
- Released
-
December 29, 1999
- ESRB
-
t
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Fair
Shenmue is not about creating an open-world playground. The game puts players in Yokosuka, Japan in the 1980s. The small Japanese city feels lived in and active even when no one is playing. The game is not about running around and getting into fights to increase the player’s level.
The whole experience is purposefully methodical and slow to make one feel connected to the environment. The same goes for combat. In the debut entry, it takes a few hours to run into a single combat encounter.
The fighting is based on fighting game controls, but it is weighty and slow like every other aspect of the title. Newer gamers might be put off by this, but that’s just the feel and heart of Shenmue.
7
Mafia
The Whole Game Is Slow And Weighty, Including The Gunplay
Mafia (2002)
- Released
-
August 28, 2002
- Developer(s)
-
Illusion Softworks
- Publisher(s)
-
Gathering of Developers
This 2002 title aims high with its intent for realism. The driving emulates how cars of the time would feel so they are unwieldy and cumbersome. The same goes for the combat.
Guns of the time were a lot better than they were decades prior, but the game has a minimal hud, and reloading with bullets still in the magazine gets rid of all those excess bullets as they would in real life. Players do not face off against 30 cops in a bank robbery like Grand Theft Auto. Shootouts here are only between the player and a few rivals at a time. Adding more enemies would just be overwhelming.
6
The Long Dark
Survive The Harsh Environment
- Released
-
August 1, 2017
- ESRB
-
T For Teen due to Blood, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
-
Hinterland Studio
- Publisher(s)
-
Hinterland Studio
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Strong
The Long Dark is not about battling enemies in an open-world environment. The environment is the greatest opponent and ally all in one. Players must survive the harsh wilderness, making sure they have all they need to live through another day.
Related
8 Open-World Games With The Scariest Encounters, Ranked
Not all open-world games guarantee a player’s safety. Here are some examples that feature incredibly scary encounters.
Combat is restricted mostly to defending oneself from deadly creatures and is something best avoided if possible. Hunting a creature for food is difficult but comes with a big reward, much like hunting in real life. The game features a survival mode where the objective is simply to live as long as possible along with a story mode with a set narrative.
Every Swing Is Like Rolling A Die
- Released
-
May 1, 2002
- Developer(s)
-
Bethesda Game Studios
Fans of Oblivion and Skyrim will like Morrowind if they go back to it, but it takes some getting used to. The combat is harder and more reliant on stats than the more active fights of its sequels.
It is totally possible to swing at an enemy ten times and do little to no damage. Swings in Morrowind are more like die rolls to determine whether any damage is done at all let alone the amount. The combat speeds up a bit as the player’s stats improve, but it never becomes as hectic as it can in future games.
4
Red Dead Redemption 2
It Is Just The Guns Of The Time
- Released
-
October 26, 2018
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
Even though Red Dead Redemption is the sibling to Grand Theft Auto, the Wild West open-world series aims for realism and meditative gameplay instead of the wacky antics associated with Rockstar’s modern-day series.
Even if it was more of a bombastic game, the firearms of the time would not allow for fast combat. There are semi-automatic weapons, but most of them are short-range weapons. The rifles that can hit targets from afar are mostly single-shot or bolt-action. Even big shootouts are methodical, making players take one guy out at a time from behind cover.
3
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
A Realistic Open-World RPG With Tough Combat
- Released
-
February 4, 2025
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
-
Warhorse Studios
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 refines a lot of its predecessor’s systems while not sacrificing its dedication to realism. The game is a grounded look at 15th-century Bohemia. There are no fantasy elements or magic to be found here.
The combat also reflects this grounded take on epic RPGs. Though the protagonist, Henry, has more experience under his belt this time around, players still have to carefully consider every fight. One-on-one duels can still spell doom if players are careless. Like real life, even experienced fighters have to take every opponent seriously.
2
Shadow Of The Colossus
Every Hit Against The Colossi Is Its Own Battle
- Released
-
October 18, 2005
- ESRB
-
T For Teen // Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Publisher(s)
-
Sony Computer Entertainment
Shadow of the Colossus’s open world is huge, but there is not a lot to see or do. The gameplay loop involves destroying a series of giant beasts to eventually revive a mysterious girl named Mono.
Related
7 Best Stories In PS2 Open-World Games, Ranked
The PS2 was home to some truly revolutionary open-world experiences, some of which featured some of the industry’s most compelling stories.
Each beast is an epic boss battle where players climb to its weak spot and stab it with their sword. Getting just one hit is a huge process. There are no other enemies to fight except for innocent lizards that players can attack. Other than the bosses, there is reason to swing one’s sword.
1
STALKER 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
There Are No Easy Battles
- Released
-
November 20, 2024
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Fair
The long-awaited sequel in the Stalker series retains the hardcore survival gameplay fans of the cult classic love. This time, the game is set in a seamless open world instead of being separated by zones.
Players have to be properly prepared every time they enter the zone and weigh the pros and cons of the equipment they bring with them. Even bullets weigh players down, but having too few of them will put players in a pickle if they enter a firefight.
Even one monster out in the zone can kill players if they are taken by surprise. Shootouts with just a few enemies encourage careful aiming and use of cover since being out in the open is a death sentence. Success in the zone means treading carefully, approaching threats slowly, and making every bullet count.
More
8 Great Open-World Games That Are Immediately Fun
While some open-world games take a fair few hours for players to totally get into it, there are others that are fun from the boot-up screen.