The best open world games where you rise to power

Everyone loves an underdog. Playing a game where the underdog fights his way through the toughest challenges to come out on top is inspiring. Perhaps with enough determination and persistence, the player can also rise above their station in life as the game's protagonists open world games below.

Since the games mostly focus on violence, people should not take the actions of these characters as literal inspiration. However, there is still much to be learned from the stories. The underdog story also works so well for gaming, as the player's progress in the open world often goes hand-in-hand with how the character moves up the leaderboards.

7

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Find out who crossed you and become the king

Grand Theft Auto 3 is a tale of revenge San Andreas is about family and loyalty but Vice City it is purely about gaining power. The game begins with the protagonist, Tommy Vercetti, investigating who sabotaged the drug deal that opens the plot.

Once this mystery is solved, he decides to go into business and take over Vice City. Players use the mansion as their home base and slowly buy up various properties from there. After a certain number of businesses have been taken over, the ending branch of the mission will start.

Sonny, the gangster who sent Tommy to Vice City in the first place, shows up to try and get a piece of the empire the players have built. Tommy kills Sonny and the credits roll, marking the protagonist's rise from small muscle to king of Vice City.

Tommy Vercetti is played by Ray Liotta, known for his legendary turn as Henry Hill Friends.

6

Mount And Blade 2: Bannerlord

“The king is not satisfied until he rules everything” – Bruce Springsteen

The Mount and Blade games are about starting small and becoming the most powerful ruler in a fictional medieval setting. The players are basically nobody, but they slowly recruit soldiers and take over settlements before eventually taking over everything and going into the mountains.

Unlike many of the games on this list, the underdog story isn't told directly through narration. The entire structure is driven by gameplay. In fact, the game doesn't even have a definitive ending. It continues until the player decides to quit and play something else.

5

Scarface: The World is Yours

Rebuild Tony Montana's empire

People today have more faith in video game adaptations of movies. In 2006, few believed a Scar a video game would be something worth writing home about. The developers proved them wrong with a video game that took a lot of clues Grand Theft Auto.

Instead of covering the events of the movie, the game opts for a what-if scenario where Tony Montana survives the climactic raid on his mansion in the movie. He keeps losing the empire he built during the original story and is forced to start over.

This time, however, he realizes the tragic mistakes that caused his downfall. It's set in Miami and it's very similar Vice Citybut that can hardly be considered a bad thing. The game uses Al Pacino's likeness for Tony Montana, but the iconic character is played by a different actor.

It might be hard to see someone as ruthless as Tony Montana as an underdog, but at least he refuses to kill innocent women and children. This principle is also reflected in the game.

4

Cyberpunk 2077

Become a legend of the night city, albeit with a limited lifespan

Starting with Cyberpunk 2077, the protagonist V and their best friend Jackie dream big and want to be in the main mercenary league of Night City. Still a few hours Cyberpunk 2077 story, V and Jackie are chewed out and only V survives, albeit with a ticking bomb in his head with the personality construct of famous rocker boy terrorist Johnny Silverhand constantly causing him grief and potential friendship.

Silverhand slowly takes over V's consciousness and removing the chip kills them outright. The hero's plan to make his way in the Night City criminal underworld is hampered significantly. Despite the time limit of the V state, that doesn't stop them from earning street cred all over Night City to be recognized among the many fixies as a great trader who will earn more Eurodollars and save their own skin.

Depending on which ending players get, they can finish the story at the top of the world with a villa in Night City planning a big heist. V may still die any day, but they are the legend of Night City. Besides, having almost no choice but to live each day as if it were their last is in itself.

3

Fallout 4

Lead the faction into a new age in an unpredictable wasteland

The evolution of Bethesda Fallout with Fallout 4 it has several endings that make it a good fit for this list. The protagonist doesn't start the game looking for power and status because they just want to find their son Shaun in a world that has moved on from what they knew.

Once the truth is revealed that their son is an elderly man who runs a technologically advanced institute, the player can do one of several options. They can succeed their child and take control of technology and weapons much earlier than anything in the wasteland.

No matter what ending one chooses, at least one faction will be destroyed. For those who really want to feel powerful, all factions can be destroyed except for the Minutemen, and this shows that the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 can become a true power in the wasteland by controlling his own faction.

2

Godfather

By Street Thug Don Of New York City

The video game adaptation of the classic 1972 film opens with the protagonist witnessing his father's death as a child. When he grows up, he starts working for the Corleone family and completes missions that follow the events of the movie. Beating the story makes players the underboss.

Achieve 100% completion and the player becomes the Don of New York City. Players create a protagonist, but they are always named Aldo and must be male. The title is an open world adventure game, so completing every side quest and finding every collectible is no small task.

1

Saints Row

From bystander to leader of the saints

The Saints Row the series ends on such a bombastic note that it's easy to forget that it all started with a street-level conflict. The main character starts out as a nobody who ends up joining the titular 3rd Street Saints after being narrowly rescued by them.

Although they are a gang, the Saints in the first game are actually working to reduce street violence in video games, which means they take on all the rival gangs and end up on top. The game ends with the player in the middle of a huge yacht explosion, which leads to a sequel where they have to once again infiltrate the criminal underworld.