Best Open-World Racing Games

Open-world gaming has 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 like Sonic. Unfortunately, this has led to numerous lackluster releases that shoehorn in an underwhelming open world for 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 following open-world racing games all struck gold with excellent driving mechanics, interesting events, and tantalizing maps that are begging to be explored.

Updated November 15, 2024, 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 like
Euro Truck Simulator 2
have been left out since they are more driving than racing games. Still, they can be played like the latter if somebody wants.

17 Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3

Flawed But Unique Series That Produced A Couple Of Pretty Decent Entries

Genki’s Tokyo Xtreme Racer franchise 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’s Tokyo 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 Racer generally 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 3 is not necessarily the best game in the franchise (Zero and the Drift subseries 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).

16 Lego 2K Drive

Gorgeous Biomes, Solid Controls, & Deep Customization

Visual Concepts’ Lego 2K Drive came and went in 2023, garnering some attention but not leaving a significant impact in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately, Lego has 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-level open-world racer, Lego 2K Drive is 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.

15 The Crew Motorfest

Respectable Alternate To The Forza Horizon Franchise

Most people had assumed that Ubisoft had given up on The Crew, despite the understated brilliance of the second game. Thankfully, fans were proven wrong with the release of The 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, but The Crew Motorfest is a great title with solid racing mechanics that deserves all the praise it gets.

14 Fuel

Massive Map And Unrestrictive Free Roam

Fuel is 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 prototypical open-world racing game out 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, Fuel feels 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, Fuel is at its best when players throw caution to the wind and just roam.

13 Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller

An Oldie But A Goodie

Arcade driving games are all the rage, and Crazy Taxi 3 is 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.

12 SnowRunner

An Immersive Sim With A Lot Of Content & Replayvalue

SnowRunner is 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 of SnowRunner have made it such a surprise hit for the same reasons.

11 Need For Speed Unbound

Bland Story Aside, Unbound Controls Well & Looks Good

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 that Need for Speed Unbound has 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 in Need For Speed Unbound look 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 in Need for Speed Unbound is 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 Heat
could have taken this spot too, and an argument could be made that it has a better open-world than
Unbound
. Still, the difference between them is quite small.

10 Forza Horizon 3

Australia Makes For An Incredibly Playground

The Forza Horizon series 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 that Forza Horizon 3 justifies 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 of Forza Horizon 4 and 5, proves how many things this game got right.

9 Driver: San Francisco

Unique Take On The Open-World Driving Formula

It’s a shame that the Driver series hasn’t seen a major entry in quite some time. San Francisco is 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 Francisco is 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.

8 Midnight Club 3

A Relentlessly Cool Open-World Racer That Has Aged Gracefully

It’s a shame that Midnight Club is 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 of Midnight Club are 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.

7 BeamNG.drive

Ditches Accessibility For Realism & Depth

BeamNG.drive is a racing simulation game that is an absolute joy to play. Crashing a car in this game is more satisfying than frustrating because of how realistic and fun the damage mechanics of the car are. The user-made content ensures that players will be able to sink a ton of hours into this game.

BeamNG.drive might be one of the more hardcore sandbox racing games on the market, but players who get into this early access title will have a great time indeed. That said, the project has been in early access for roughly a decade and it is still not that close to completion (BeamNG released v0.32 in April 2024).

6 Test Drive Unlimited 2

Great Setting That Is Still A Blast To Explore

Test Drive Unlimited 2 featured a stunning open world for its era, which was based on the real-life island of Oahu, the third-largest Hawaiian Island, as well as the Spanish island of Ibiza. Along with the fantastic world design, Test Drive Unlimited 2 also impressed fans and critics with its wide range of vehicles on offer, with asphalt cars, off-road vehicles, classic cars, and motorcycles all available to drive.

The game features a simple but enjoyable campaign where the player is tasked with winning a range of tournaments, with the goal of earning the Solar Crown.

5 Midtown Madness 2

Drive Around London And San Francisco

The sequel to Midtown Madness was exactly what most people expected, tightening up the racing controls in a title that let players explore two detailed environments across a wealth of racing modes. This time, the cities that make the cut are London and San Francisco. Both areas are a blast to explore, making it clear why players love this classic racing game despite the title’s relevance being all but dead in modern times.

If players manage to get this game working on modern systems, they’ll be treated to a fun open-world racing game. Midtown Madness 2 doesn’t cut any corners, letting players enjoy the simple act of speeding around in these urban landscapes to their hearts’ content. To this day, wrecking cops and leaving them in the dust remains thrilling, no matter how dated the presentation may feel.

As timeless as this classic is,
Midtown Madness 2
can, unfortunately, be difficult to get running on modern systems. That said, it is still fun if it works.

4 Forza Horizon 4

Improving Upon Near-Perfection

Even with all the love that Forza Horizon 5 has received as one of the best open-world racing games ever made, many people feel like the previous game in the series was better. Forza Horizon 4 brought many welcome changes to the formula while tightening the racing gameplay to perfection.

The result is a fantastic racing game that lets players enjoy the lush environments of Great Britain, featuring a wealth of landmarks that look amazing as the seasons change. It’s one of the best open-world racing games that any fan should try if they want a spectacular, no-nonsense driving game where speed is king.

3 Burnout Paradise

A Relentless Thrill-Ride With A Perfectly Designed Map

Prior to Burnout Paradise‘s release, the Burnout series was synonymous with over-the-top, arcade-style street racing action. Consequently, when it was announced that 2008’s Burnout Paradise would be implementing an open world, many people were unhappy, as they felt like it was an unnecessary addition that would detract from the events.

However, it soon became clear that Criterion Games and Electronic Arts knew what they were doing, as post-release data showed that “90 percent of players didn’t even touch the races,” opting instead to “focus on the game’s social features and explore the big new world.” It’s not hard to understand why, as although the game’s events were still great, the joy of simply driving around the meticulously crafted world was an absolute delight and unlike anything else at the time. In many ways, its open-world driving was comparable to Grand Theft Auto 5, five years before Rockstar’s game was released.

Interestingly, this surprising revelation sparked a drastic shift in how AAA developers perceived and made open-world games, making Burnout Paradise one of the most influential open-world games of all time.

2 Need For Speed: Underground 2

While Dated, Underground 2 Is And Will Always Be A Classic

Need for Speed: Underground 2 was released back in 2004, which makes the game all the more impressive considering how rare open-world games were at the time, largely due to hardware limitations.

Along with its open world, EA’s Need for Speed: Underground 2 stood out with its stellar customization options, the story-driven campaign that was presented through comic strip-style cutscenes, and its memorable soundtrack. As for the racing itself, Need for Speed: Underground 2 had a great range of different game modes for players to choose from, including Drag Racing, Drifting, Circuit Race, and Street X mode, where four racers compete in tight, narrow tracks.

1 Forza Horizon 5

A Diverse Sandbox, Huge Roster Of Cars, Perfect Arcade-Style Controls, And Enough Content To Last Years

Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, offering a similar core gameplay experience to its predecessor, Forza Horizon 4, but with an entirely new map. Forza Horizon 5 is set in a fictional representation of Mexico on a wonderfully diverse map with a vast range of different biomes for players to explore. Forza Horizon 5 was a huge hit with fans and critics, exemplified by its 92 Critic score and 8.2 User score on Metacritic. The game also performed exceptionally well at end-of-year award shows, picking up numerous accolades, including Best Sports/Racing Game at The Game Awards.

Like all of its predecessors, Forza Horizon 5 is just fun. The arcade-style controls make for an immediately accessible experience, while the events tend to be a mix of over-the-top silliness and fairly classic races (or drifts/drags/battles/etc.). The season system ensures that change is always around the corner, and the different types of roads encourage players to build a robust garage that can cover most terrain.