Are Open Worlds Really “Open-World”?

But is the term "open-world" just an illusion, a half-truth, or, at worse, a lie? Sure, we can play petty semantics. Even the widest environments from Grand Theft Auto V or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have their limitations, and players will eventually hit a wall, a mountain, or some impassible border that removes the sense of freedom that an open-world design is meant to invoke.

~ Nick Tan, GameRevolution