Summary
People play video games for plenty of reasons, but one of the biggest has to be as a form of escapism. Open-world games, in particular, let players explore strange new lands and empower them to do the kind of things they can only dream of in real life. In many ofthe best-ever open-world games, the player starts as a mere mortal before gradually becoming an unstoppable killing machine.
This process has a name: power creep. If fans had every tool, skill, power, and upgrade at the beginning of a game, it would be fun for a little bit, but things would get boring quickly. However, when developers drip-feed their players upgrades throughout the game, it leads to a satisfying degree of empowerment. Who doesn’t like returning to early-game areas to curb stomp enemies who once made their lives miserable? The games below have been chosen according totheir overall quality combined with how satisfying their power creep is. In the case of franchises with similar progression systems, the game with the most enjoyable power creep was chosen.
Any of the three mainInfamousgames could be included, butSecond Sonis highlighted thanks to the sheer variety of powers the game offers. It’s a direct sequel toInfamous 2and follows new protagonist Delsin Rowe, one of the few surviving conduits following the events of the second game. Delsin starts with fairly lame smoke-based powers, but throughout the game, adds Neon, Video, and Concrete to his repertoire.
At ten years old,Second Sonis still one ofthe best open-world superhero games. That’s largely down to the game’s power creep. In theArkhamorMarvel’s Spider-Mangames, fans start the game with a fairly competent version of Batman or Spider-Man. But at the beginning ofSecond Son, Delsin is squishy and weak. Until the player starts unlocking new powers, it’s often better to run than fight and Delsin is easily overwhelmed. In contrast, by the end of the game, he’s almost unstoppable, especially when fighting normal grunt enemies. The power creep is enhanced if players choose the evil progression path for their powers, which emphasizes sheer firepower while the good path focuses on restraint.
As one ofthe best open-world FPS games in gaming history,Far Cry 3remains one of the best examples of power creep done right. Its protagonist, Jason Brody, starts the game as the ultimate annoying gap-year student. He and his pals are visiting the Rook Islands as part of the ultimate thrill-seeking trip when they get captured by psychotic pirates. Faced with death and most likely torture, Jason manages to escape from a pirate camp, starting his hero’s journey.
His first kill is brutal and desperate and is one of the first times in a video game that fans see a protagonist respond realistically to taking a life. It doesn’t take long for Jason to transform into a remorseless killing machine, but it does take a while for him to unlock the skills he needs. Jason starts with a basic stealth kill move, a machete, and a lousy pistol to take on one island full of pirates and another full of mercenaries. By the end of the game,he’s capable of almost superhuman feats of agility, can glide like Batman, and has an arsenal that would make the U.S. military blush. Even more impressive,Far Cry 3ties this power creep into its story, asking if Jason is the same good person at the end of the game that he was in the beginning, or if his powers have changed him into something much darker.
Skyrim’sprogression systems are so simple to cheese and the game is so full of exploits that it’s easy to forget how useless the Dragonborn is in the beginning. The player starts as a blank slate with their head literally on the chopping block. After escaping thanks to Alduin, the player only has access to the crummiest weapons and armor, and anything more powerful than a lone wolf can spell death.
But theElder Scrollsis one ofthe longest-running open-world franchises, so of course Bethesda knows how to handle power creep. As the player starts to take on quests, they’ll begin gradually unlocking better gear. At the same time, leveling up will make them less squishy and unlock handy perks. Those wise enough to focus on the main story early on will quickly unlock their first dragon shouts. From there, it becomes increasingly easy to turn the tables onSkyrim’svarious monsters.
Soon the bears, trolls and Saber Cats that were once the stuff of nightmares aren’t such a worry. Eventually, the dragons that once sent players running are nothing more than a nuisance. Played without exploits,Skyrim’s power creep starts slowly but picks up the pace quickly and the player will finish the game nothing short of a demi-god.
Power creep is hard to get right because if it happens too quickly the game becomes a cakewalk. Being overpowered tends to get old fast. FromSoftware’sDark Soulsseries has always had power creep, but their games' brutal difficulty keeps players in check. A high-level player can still get wrecked in early areas if they get too cocky because enemies never stop hitting hard. Getting this balance right inElden Ring, one ofthe best RPGs for exploration, wasn’t easy, but the developers nailed it.
After leaving the tutorial dungeons, players are free to go pretty much anywhere they like and tackle the game’s many dungeons and regions in whatever order they wish. Most players, though, will want to spend their first few hours in Limgrave leveling up and hunting down better gear that suits their playstyle. Get some decent gear and dump some points into the right stats andElden Ringstarts to become a little easier. Being a FromSoftware game, it’s never downright easy, but it is possible to feel much more powerful than in the traditionalDark Soulsgames.
In particular, with the right spell-based builds it’s possible to become truly overpowered, capable of one-shotting the game’s toughest bosses with enough preparation. At some point, every player returns to Limgrave so they can massacre the enemies that used to give them so much trouble.
BothDying Lightgames feature respectable levels of power creep, but the original’s was arguably more satisfying. At the beginning of the firstDying Light, Kyle Crane is pretty useless. He’s OK at basic parkour but runs out of breath quickly and his combat skills leave a lot to be desired. Thankfully,Dying Lightfeatures excellent skill trees that allow the player to hone Crane’s combat and parkour skills. At the same time, the game drip-feeds the player new weapon types and tools that transform both parkour and combat.
What that means is that in the early game,Dying Lightfeels very much like survival horror. It’s almost always better to run and hide than fight and the player will be very conscious of the setting sun. Things are very different once the player reaches the final few upgrades in the skill trees though. By this point, Crane’s parkour skills are ninja-level and only the strongest volatiles remain a threat in combat. Crane can even disguise himself in guts and take out entire hordes by snapping zombie necks one at a time without a care in the world.
Let’s not beat around the bush. Henry startsKingdom Come: Deliveranceas a total weakling. He can barely defend himself from the weakest enemies, and the player will spend a fair amount of the game’s early hours running away. The game’s survival mechanics only add to this, making Henry feel like a baby who needs near-constant nursing. If the player is too ambitious and rushes too far into the main quest line, they’ll find themselves facing heavily armored Cumans they have no hope of defeating.
The secret to success inKingdom Come: Deliveranceis training Henry. This is one ofthe most realistic open-world gamesaround and the player needs to teach Henry how to fight. That means spending a fair amount of time sparring with NPCs who not only teach the player the ins and outs of combat, but Henry too. With a bit of training, Henry is no longer a total wimp and can start taking on some side quests to earn money and some decent gear. It’s a slow and methodical process, but with time, Henry can become a powerful knight capable of cutting his way through the Cuman camps singlehandedly.Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s more realistic approach means he rarely feels god-like, but becoming overpowered is certainly possible.
The originalPrototypeis the kind of game that a lot of people overlooked at release but has gained a cult following since. Despite the franchise being long dormant at this point, the original is fondly remembered as one ofthe best mature-rated superhero gamesever made. The game follows Alex Mercer, a researcher turned amnesiac anti-hero as he fights against his former employees to stop a virus he helped to create.
After being exposed to the Blacklight virus, Alex begins to develop fearsome superhuman abilities. He starts with fairly standard powers like enhanced strength, agility, and regeneration, but gains powerful new abilities as he learns to control his biomass and absorb that of others. Soon, Alex can wipe out whole squads of enemies with ease and the game makes sure that his power scaling is always slightly ahead of that of his enemies.
The first time a tank shows up, it’s a big problem, but then Alex learns how to hijack them or cut them to pieces with his Blade Arm, and all of a sudden they’re not so scary.Prototypeis a game built around power creep. Alex has become a biological weapon, and the stronger he becomes, the more he struggles internally with the virus and his humanity. A struggle that fans of the sequel know he loses.
Cyberpunk’sV is never what one would call a pushover, but there’s no hiding the fact they go through some substantial changes throughout the game. Power creep has always been a central pillar ofCyberpunk 2077’sgameplay but after years of updates, it feels better balanced now than ever before.
As the player goes around completing quests, side activities, and killing enemies, V earns XP, Street Cred, and Eddies. All of these contribute to making V gradually more powerful. Cyberware from ripperdocs can increase V’s stats and unlock new abilities, while the skills trees can make V a silent assassin, walking tank, master hacker, or whatever the player feels like. With the right build, V becomes unstoppable, with only monsters like Adam Smasher being capable of giving the player any real trouble.
Power creep has been a big part of theAssassin’s Creedfranchise ever sinceAssassin’s Creed 2.Each game has followed a similar formula. Give the player a starting assassin with next to no skills, weapons, or abilities, and level them up until they’re a total beast, either in the shadows or in combat.Assassin’s Creed Odysseyis arguably the pinnacle of the franchise’s power creep formula as, bit by bit, it takes the player from being a lowly warrior to a legendary Spartan hero.
The player is almost constantly fed new weapons and abilities that make Kassandra/Alexios increasingly deadly. The powerful mercenary mini-bosses who roam the massive open world go from massive threats to afterthoughts. Enemy camps that the player once spent ten minutes sneaking around can now be wiped out in a couple of minutes of brutal combat. Never is the power creep more on show, though, than during regional battles.
The first couple of these battles are pretty tough as the player faces almost overwhelming odds but evolve into chances for players to show off as they turn the tide of battle almost singlehandedly.Assassin’s Creed Valhallatried something similar with its power creep but was too generous with the skill points, meaning Eivor became too powerful too quickly.
TheSaints Rowfranchise started as a more groundedGrand Theft Autoknockoff. The first game did OK, but the developers soon realized that gamers liked the outlandishness ofGTA. With each newSaints Row, the gameplay became crazier and crazier until the team completely jumped the shark withSaints Row 4. This game isn’t centered around power creep so much as it is a power sprint aimed at making the protagonist as insanely overpowered as possible.
The player gets their first simulation-breaking superpower very early on inSaints Row 4and from there they come thick and fast. The player will also unlock a string of increasingly OP weapons, there’s just never much of a reason to use them. The gameplay tries to balance things out by sending more powerful enemies to take down the player, but it’s almost always too little too late. By the end of the game, the player can unlock immunity to pretty much all forms of damage and wields the powers of half the Justice League.
