Near-Perfect Scores: When Critics Almost Give a 10
Earning a perfect review score is one of the rarest achievements in gaming. Across decades of releases, only a handful of titles have ever convinced every critic to hand out a flawless rating. But some open world games have come painfully close — landing in the mid-to-high 90s on aggregate sites like Metacritic and leaving reviewers scrambling to find anything meaningful to criticize. DualShockers recently rounded up ten of these almost-flawless giants, and it’s a who’s-who of the genre’s all-time greats.
Why Open World Games Dominate Review Charts
Open world design has become gaming’s most ambitious canvas. These titles offer dozens — sometimes hundreds — of hours of exploration, side quests, and emergent moments that linear games simply can’t match. When a studio nails the balance between scale and density, critics notice. That’s exactly why the highest-rated games of the modern era are so often open world epics.
The Heavy Hitters Critics Adored
Names that inevitably appear in any conversation about near-perfect open world games include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, whose reinvention of Nintendo‘s classic formula earned it a staggering 97 on Metacritic. Red Dead Redemption 2 matched that figure with its meticulously crafted depiction of the fading American frontier, while Grand Theft Auto V remains one of the best-selling and best-reviewed games ever made.
The New Generation Keeps the Streak Alive
The tradition didn’t stop with the last console generation. Elden Ring took FromSoftware’s punishing formula into a vast open world and walked away with a 96, while The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom proved that a sequel to a near-perfect game could soar just as high. Add timeless classics like Skyrim and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — the latter still winning awards nearly a decade after launch — and you have a list that doubles as a masterclass in world design.
What Keeps These Games From a Perfect 10?
Interestingly, the flaws that held these titles back from perfection were often minor: frame rate hiccups at launch, a repetitive side activity here, a slightly bloated menu system there. Reviewers frequently noted that their deductions felt like nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. That’s the paradox of near-perfect scores — a 97 or 96 often means “we couldn’t find a real problem, but nothing is technically perfect.”
It’s also worth noting that review aggregation has become stricter over time. As more outlets participate and scoring standards tighten, cracking the 95+ ceiling has become even harder, which makes the achievements of these open world titans all the more impressive.
Build Your Backlog of Masterpieces
If you haven’t experienced these critically adored open worlds yet, there’s never been a better time. Most of them are available across multiple platforms, often at discounted prices. You can grab game keys and digital gift cards at TURGAME.com to jump into these near-perfect adventures without breaking the bank — whether you’re hunting shrines in Hyrule or riding through the streets of Los Santos.
Final Thoughts
Perfection in game reviews may be functionally unattainable, but the games on this list prove you can get tantalizingly close. For players, that near-miss is irrelevant — these are the titles that define what open world gaming can be, and every one of them deserves a spot on your shelf.
Source: DualShockers – 10 Open World Games with Near-Perfect Scores
Source: DualShockers