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Best Open World Racing Games

Open world racing games are exciting racing games that allow you to choose racing courses in different parts of the world. You can drive various cars and motorcycles that you can customize to your heart’s desire. 

There are many games out there; you can play some on different gaming consoles, while others are exclusive to certain platforms. Whether you own one or many gaming devices, there is a wide variety of games for you to choose from.

The following list is the top open world racing games based on our research. We checked out a few lists created by experienced gamers and narrowed down the list to the five most mentioned games on more than one of the lists we reviewed. 

Here are the top five open world racing games, based on vehicle selection, courses offered, and if they offered any other goodies with the game to keep things interesting. The following games are in alphabetical order and not a specific ranking of any kind.

Click on the game name for more details.

Burnout Paradise Remastered

If you like fast cars, but love the idea of having motorcycles to choose from as well, then you’ll enjoy Burnout Paradise. This game has 100 cars and 50 bikes to choose from. You also have a selection of 10 different tracks, as well as extra challenges.

Burnout Paradise has eight major DLC (downloadable content) add-ons. The add-ons include Cops and Robbers, Cagney, Big Surf Island, Burnout Bikes, Burnout Paradise Toys, Burnout Paradise Party, and Boost Specials.

If you played the original Burnout Paradise, you’ll be happy to hear that they have increased the frame rate cap to 60 FPS. This remastered edition of Burnout Paradise has the original types of races and select modes along with the original open map. You can play this game on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. 

You’ll get a Spotify playlist of 180 songs to keep you entertained while you race the different courses; who wouldn’t enjoy a soundtrack while you’re experiencing this open world racing game?

Forza Horizon 4

Forza Horizon 4 is another excellent open world racing game. It comes with a series 30 update, which gives you six new reward cars. You also get Horizon Super7, which is a game mode that deals you seven arbitrary challenge cards. If you beat all seven, you get an exclusive reward.

Forza Horizon 4 comes with a Blueprint Builder. You discover props and scenery that you can add to the courses to make them more challenging. You’ll want to keep an eye out for walls, jumps, and wait for it – dinosaur teeth!

In this game, the livery, tune, and car determine each challenge, and they are used to build the route. The car you used to create the challenge will be the car everyone else will drive. You can share the card for each challenge you make via the map, the Creative Hub, or the Share Code.

If you like classic cars, you’ll love the selection of exclusive cars included in Forza Horizon 4. You can choose from the Alfa Romeo 155 Q4, Fiat X1/9, Hoonigan Bronco, Koenigsegg Jesko, Hoonigan Takeover, Triumph TR7, and Austin Seven. 

You get to check out two more cars in Series 34, where you get access to a Porsche 356 Outlaw RSR by Emory Motorsports and a 1968 Pontiac Firebird.

As far as the courses are concerned, you get an expansion that gives you Fortune Island, a location with danger and mystery, and Lego Speed Champions.

Players can enjoy Forza 4 on Xbox and Windows 10.

Need for Speed Heat

If you like crazy colors, racing stripes, and a large selection of high-performance options, then you’re going to love Need for Speed Heat! You can complement your driving style by customizing your car the way you want. There’s a Need for Speed Heat Studio mobile app, where you can customize your cars straight from your phone.

You experience a different world in Palm City depending on the time of day you’re driving in Need for Speed Heat. In the daytime, it’s a bright, sunny, urban environment, and it’s the complete opposite at night, where you’re in a dangerous playing field.

The environment isn’t the only thing that changes with the time of day. The demeanor of the police is different in the day when compared to nighttime. 

During the day, the cops are controlled and professional; however, they will do whatever it takes to stop you if you take things too far. When the sun sets, you’re dealing with a task force that doesn’t follow the rules, and they’re on the hunt for you and your ride.

Need for Speed keeps it interesting by changing the courses depending on the time of day as well. When you race during the day, you’ll find the tracks organized and laid out clearly. At nighttime, you’re participating in illegal street races while being chased by the police.

If you don’t want the heat from the cops, you’ll want to stay out of trouble! Word on the street is that the pressure increases when you break the law. The bigger the risks you take, the harder the cops will come after you.

Need for Speed Heat is an excellent open world racing game for the racer who likes to trick out their cars and enjoys different levels of danger depending on the time of day. This game was EA’s first title with cross-platform multiplayer. You can play this game on PS4 and Xbox One. For PC gamers, the game is available on either Steam or Origin.

Need for Speed Payback

Need for Speed Payback is the second entry from the Need for Speed Franchise, which has built its reputation around creating open world racing games. In this iteration of the game, you explore the Fortune Valley region, where you do races in Silver Rock, Liberty Desert, and Silver Canyon.

It’s all about three’s in this version of Need for Speed. The Payback edition has three crew members, three primary players, and the three racing areas mentioned above. In this game, the Police AI has improved significantly, which means the cops are more hostile than before, so be careful!

You can buy the Deluxe Edition of this game, which comes with some pretty cool content. This edition includes extras such as the Story Mission Pack and the Exclusive Deluxe Edition NOS color, which you can use on up to five cars. You also get the Exclusive Edition License Plate, Exclusive Leaderboard Icon, and 5 Shipments.

In addition to the goodies mentioned above, you also receive a 5% Rep Bonus and a 10% discount on in-game purchases. 

Of course, the Deluxe Edition wouldn’t be meaningful without a few cars to add to the mix. You get the Platinum Car Pack which includes a Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport 2016, Nissan 350Z 2008, Ford F-150 Raptor 2016, Dodge Charger R/T 1969, and the Chevrolet Camaro SS 1967.

You can play this game on Steam, Xbox One, PS4, and Origin.

The Crew 2

The Crew 2 is an open world racing game that has 86 fast cars, bikes, and speedboats for you to choose from. In addition to a selection of vehicles to race, you also have four maps to choose from: the East Coast, the South, the Midwest, and the West.

The great thing about this game is that you can play with up to eight players in PVP (player/s versus player/s). There are four divisions of PVP leagues: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Each victory and loss impact your standing in the league. See how you stack up against the competition!

There are four motor families in The Crew 2; off-road, freestyle, pro racing, and street racing. The map you choose to race determines the family you join.

If you enjoy races where your car takes a beating, you’ll love the smash-‘em-up discipline that adds a new element of destruction, with 10 new events and five fully destructible new vehicles that you can tear apart on your PVP, co-op, or solo battlefield missions.

To take advantage of the multiplayer feature in The Crew 2, you will need an Xbox Live Gold or PS+ membership.

Conclusion

Whatever type of open world racing games you like, you’re bound to find one you enjoy based on the list above. This list only covered five of the hundreds of games that are out there. You just have to find the one that you enjoy the most. Happy Racing!

 

Last Updated on April 26, 2021