Summary
As video game technology continues to advance, developers have found new ways to increase immersion in the games they create. These days, no detail is too small to be faithfully recreated in digital form to help bring a fictional world to life.
One of the most striking examples of this attention to detail is in theweather. While some games treat weather systems as little more than decorative set-dressing, others go above and beyond,making the weather a living, breathing partof the world, just like it is in real life. This can be seen often inopen-world games, which simulate entire ecosystems for players to explore. Here are some of thebest dynamic weather systems in the open-world genre.
The weather system inElden Ringis subtle, but very impactful. InThe Lands Between, weather tends to closely match the biome it’s seen in. The desolate wastes of Caelid remain blighted by scorching sun, while the Consecrated Snowfield is blanketed in frost and fog. But there are two very important weather patterns to look out for while traversing this vast realm.
A light rain might seem like no more than an aesthetic change, but inElden Ring,it can cause some serious tactical considerations.Fire magic is slightly weakerwhile it’s raining, since the water in the air dampens it and limits its spread. Conversely, lightning magic gets a boost in the rain. Savvy Tarnished should also keep an eye out for golden leaves falling from the sky. This mysterious weather event seems to originate from the Erdtree itself, and causes a small but substantial increase in Golden Runes acquired from enemies.
TheMad Maxseries is characterized by the inhospitable wasteland where it takes place, rich with overwhelming heat and brutal sandstorms. In extreme circumstances, the weather can be just as deadly as the crazed savages and their jury-rigged death machines.
The2015Mad Maxvideo gameemulates this very well. As Max travels the wasteland in search of the parts he needs for his Magnum Opus, he’ll have to contend with dynamic weather that shifts as he drives from region to region. Even if he’s cautiouse, sandstorms will occasionally descend to wreak havoc on even the sturdiest of vehicles.
As any sailor will confirm, it’s always important to pay attention to the weather while out on the sea. This is no less true inSea of Thievesthan it is in real life, as the virtual pirate’s paradise has more than its fair share of dynamic weather events to test the safety and stability of any seafaring vessel.
Pirates inSea of Thievesmust contend with heavy rainfall threatening to sink their ship, as well as lightning storms that can strike and even kill unwary crewmates. Even tamer weather patterns like fog can severely limit visibility and lead to dangerous crashes with other players and sandbars.
Before it came out,No Man’s Sky’sbiggest claim to fame was the promise of a whole galaxy’s worth offully-explorable procedurally generated planets. Throughout its long and difficult development cycle, the sheer volume of different landscapes and locales players can visit remains one of the most remarkable things about the game.
One of the key factors making each planet stand out is its unique weather system. Players can find planets wracked by intense heat or cold, or even worlds where the atmosphere itself is dangerously radioactive. Then there are extreme planets which yield particularly rare resources for anyone brave enough to risk death in their inhospitable biomes. In addition to ambient weather conditions, players must contend with dynamic events like rainfall, lightning, and even meteor showers.
The chaotic sandbox antics ofJust Cause 4are a hallmark of this open-world action game. The title is engineered for maximum disruption, and that’s especially clear in its weather systems.
The game’s setting, the fictional country of Solís, is known for its extreme weather patterns, which manifest in intense storms and tornadoes.Just Cause 4includes a robust gameplay system for determining the effects of these harsh storms on planes and other airborne vehicles, adding a level of physical realism to the chaotic destruction.
TheForza Horizongames have always offered rich open worlds loaded with racetracks and roads for players to freely explore.Forza Horizon 4,which takes place in Great Britain, takes the series' open-world philosophy to another level by being the first game in the franchise to fully-simulated seasons across the entire map.
The game’s weather is deeply impacted by this seasonal cycle. Common events like rain showers and heat waves will be more common in their appropriate season, for instance. The seasons have a more direct impact on the map, though; during winter, some bodies of water will freeze over completely, allowing players to drive across the ice and access areas of the map that are unavailable in the heat of summer.
Red Dead Redemption 2is famous for its overwhelmingdedication to realism, detail, and historical accuracy. Every aspect of the game’s frontier setting has been perfectly modeled, down to individual details on guns, horses, and even clothing.
Of course, this attention to detail extends to the weather as well. Weather is dependent on time and location, so players will be more likely to run into a sandstorm in the desert and snow flurries in the mountains of Grizzlies West. The game expects players to follow this rigorous attention to detail, of course; if Arthur Morgan doesn’t dress appropriately for the climate, he’ll have less health due to the strain on his body.
InGhost of Tsushima, the dynamic weather system comes with a twist. The climate of the island of Tsushima is actually tied to the actions of the main character, Jin Sakai, and the line he walks between being an honorable samurai or a dishonorable ghost.
Players who favor stealth and reject Jin’s samurai teachings will find the climate of the island changing in reaction to their dark deeds. Rainfalls and overcast weather will occur much more frequently. This not only simulates the internal turmoil of the fallen samurai, but it also makes stealth even easier, as the rain will muffle Jin’s movements and the darkness will inhibit visibility.
Tears of the Kingdom,and its predecessorBreath of the Wild,are both well known for their dynamic weather systems. As Link journeys throughout Hyrule, he’ll be confronted with a wide range of weather patterns that all demand different tactics and equipment. The blistering heat of the Gerudo Desert will sap Link’s health quickly if he doesn’t dress light, while the frigid cold of the Rito mountains requires much thicker clothing.
Of course, the most infamous weather systems in these games are rain and lightning. Rain makes it all but impossible to climb sheer surfaces or start a fire, while lightning can make even a single piece of metal gear adeath sentence, for both Link and his enemies. Success inTears of the Kingdomrequires constant creativity and invention, and the game’s extreme weather events push these skills to the limit.
The legendaryMicrosoft Flight Simulatoris exactly the sort of game that would benefit most from an immersive and dynamic weather system. Players can freely customize the weather for their flights through the game’s simulation of Earth, tweaking precipitation, cloud cover, and even things like temperature, snow depth, and lightning.
For players who are truly dedicated to realism,Microsoft Flight Simulatoralso features a live weather system which simulates up-to-date weather conditions around the world. This impressive feature has implications even beyond video game enjoyment. For instance, in 2021, players used thelive weather system to track Hurricane Idafrom the safety of their own homes.Microsoft Flight Simulator’s uniquely lifelike nature allows it to set what is possibly the gold standard for realistic weather in video games.
