5 Best Video Games Like Far Cry
By Sam StoneJuly 5, 2026 6:00 pm EST
One of Ubisoft’s biggest fan-favorite franchises is “Far Cry,” a first-person shooter series that began in 2004. The series quickly expanded its gameplay experience to be an open-world one, letting players clear out areas of enemies and complete side missions alongside the main story. Fans agree that the best “Far Cry” games combine open-world exploration in unique environments with engrossing stories and, of course, plenty of high-octane thrills. Since the franchise’s start, “Far Cry” has released six mainline entries to date plus spin-offs, even providing a VR experience for fans.
While we keep waiting for an eventual “Far Cry 7” to change the series forever, there are plenty of similar games to keep the explosive action coming. These titles are also shooter-heavy experiences with an open-world scope, albeit tonally and narratively distinct. Each fun in their own way, the games that we’re listing here should be on every “Far Cry” fan’s wishlist. These are the five best video games like “Far Cry,” each featuring variations on open-world shooter action
Fallout 4
Bethesda Softworks
Ever since Bethesda Softworks took the reins on the “Fallout” franchise, starting with 2008’s “Fallout 3,” the post-apocalyptic series has shifted to a first-person open-world experience. For the 2015 installment “Fallout 4,” the franchise relocated to Boston, following a survivor emerging from a fallout shelter to locate their missing son. With different factions fighting for control throughout the region, the survivor decides who to side with as they continue their search. The game maintains the series’ penchant for quirky, dark humor while providing players with interesting quests across New England.
Ranked highly among the “Fallout” games, “Fallout 4” is one of the more ambitious entries in the series. The environment is a particularly expansive and richly developed one, while the factions offer memorable dimensions to the story and world. The “Fallout 4” DLC makes it even better, adding a wealth of new features to the experience, including new companions and customization options for players’ bases. Another solid entry in the wider series, “Fallout 4” offers players a fresh and immersive approach to the familiar sci-fi franchise.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
Ubisoft
The only primarily third-person shooter that we’re including on this list, “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands” is the first in Ubisoft’s series to go open-world. Featuring a more contemporary and grounded premise than its immediate predecessors, “Wildlands” takes place in Bolivia in 2019. As drug cartels plunge the South American country into chaos, a Ghost Recon team goes undercover after an American embassy is bombed and a DEA agent is killed. After the infiltration, the team systematically dismantles the cartels’ operations throughout the region while uncovering evidence about the origins of their own deployment.
Compared to the 2019 bomb that was “Ghost Recon Breakpoint,” “Wildlands” is an ambitiously enjoyable new direction for the series. The shift to an open-world environment and progression provides players with an experience they can sink countless hours into and walk away with a solid sense of accomplishment. The game also received a wave of DLC to expand the content and features, including a mission placing “Ghost Recon” in the same universe as “Splinter Cell.” The last truly great “Ghost Recon” game to date, Ubisoft would do well to revisit the template set by “Wildlands.”
Halo Infinite
Xbox Game Studios
After historically providing fans with a linear campaign experience, the 2021 Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One game “Halo Infinite” brought the action open-world. The sequel continues Master Chief’s battle against the Banished, a splinter faction of the Covenant retaining open hostilities against humanity. In between story missions, Master Chief can open forward operating bases across the game’s sci-fi setting, taking back a Zeta Halo ring. Master Chief can also assassinate high-profile targets, assist human units under direct threat, and recover collectibles across the sprawling landscape.
Upon its release, critics agreed that “Halo Infinite” was a return to form for Xbox’s flagship franchise. The game really showcases what the Xbox Series X|S is capable of, with its impressive environments and frenetic gameplay. The franchise’s signature online multiplayer returns, of course, with a variety of modes to keep players coming back for more. A solid course-correction after the middling 2015 installment “Halo 5: Guardians,” “Halo Infinite” stands as one of the high points of the series.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
GSC Game World
In contrast to the military action and sci-fi shooters populating this list, the “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.” series goes full tilt on the horror genre. After starting in 2007, the franchise’s latest entry is “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl,” released in 2024 by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. Set in the exclusion zone caused by the Chernobyl meltdown decades prior, the game has protagonist Skif Martynenko battling monsters throughout the post-apocalyptic landscape. In addition to being beset by horrific enemies, Skif has to keep an eye on maintaining sustenance and sleep to stay alive.
Easily the scariest game on this list, “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl,” makes every major enemy encounter feel like a desperate struggle to survive. Even with its selection of weapons and first-person shooter gameplay, players don’t necessarily feel fully empowered against the threats that they face. That only fuels the suspense, of course, firmly positioning the title as a survival horror experience. For players looking for more of a horrific edge to their open-world shooter action, “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl” delivers on that score.
Dying Light: The Beast
Techland
Another horror-oriented open-world first-person shooter series is “Dying Light,” developed and published by the Polish studio Techland. The series began in 2015 and, after releasing a standalone sequel in 2022, returned to its narrative roots with 2025’s “Dying Light: The Beast.” Encoring protagonist Kyle Crane now has his DNA spliced with that of the volatile, zombie-esque monsters that have overwhelmed parts of the world. This gives Kyle special abilities as he hunts for the figure responsible for his extensive torture, who has sequestered himself in the Western Alps.
“Dying Light: The Beast” stands as the best installment in the series yet, providing a varied open-world environment and plenty of engaging side missions and tasks. The gene-splicing direction for the game gives Kyle a growing set of superhuman abilities, effectively distinguishing it from its predecessors. Even if you haven’t played the first two games in the series, Techland keeps “The Beast” accessible enough to newcomers with an exciting standalone experience. Mixing zombie-busting horror with a distinctly European rural setting, “Dying Light: The Beast” is the true sequel to the 2015 original game.
