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By the basic measures that the phrase 'open world' suggests are most important, the battle between the competing playgrounds of inFamous: Second Son and Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes ought to be no contest. In one camp we have the entirety of Seattle, recreated so that you can pilot yourself superheroically around it, while the other is literally just a camp - a few tents and admin buildings scattered around on a rock in the sea.But as players will discover for themselves this weekend, it's the Kojima Productions game that feels more open. Despite its slender (speed) running time, Ground Zeroes' range of possibilities is wider and more interesting, with many of them only emerging over multiple playthroughs, nudged gently in new directions by unlockable Side Ops. inFamous: Second Son is a perfectly good open-world game, but while Seattle itself is expansive, the ageing routines of following people from rooftops and getting into punch-ups narrow the wide angles the skyline implies into something rather more claustrophobic.
Ground Zeroes is deceptively big and interesting, then, but it's also the latest signal that open-world games are rediscovering the sandbox mentality through which they forged their reputations. Two years ago Far Cry 3 showed us the way, refining the series' systems so players could tangle them up in unpredictable and entertaining ways rather than just tracing the outline of standard gameplay loops. Some of the best moments in Grand Theft Auto 5, meanwhile, were to be had in the actual sandbox of Blaine County, like Chris Donlan's legendary attempt to get a dog to chase him from one side of the map to the other.
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