From a far-flung future sci-fi to an opportunity to relieve historic fiction in the ancient city of Baghdad, coming in fourth is Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Seeing as this is the award for best open-world game, it should come as no surprise to see yet another Ubisoft entry onto this list. It’s a thoughtfully designed open world and one of this year’s best. By placing an emphasis on treating wildlife with care and hunting responsibly, such as using a bow and arrow to take them down cleanly rather than messier, bullet-powered methods, it connects itself to the movies through more than just presentation. It’s not just how good it looks to run, shoot, and fly around in – thanks to your loyal flying banshee Ikran – but also how much you’re encouraged to respect and engage with Pandora’s natural world through gameplay. It takes the film’s explosive action and places you at the centre as you tussle with weird and wonderful beasts and mechanical metal monsters. Massive Entertainment brought to life James Cameron’s moon packed with big blue cat people and seemingly endless species of flowers in a stunning interpretation of the inherently cinematic setting.

First up is the most recent open world to bless our consoles in 2023 - Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Free to play good survival games