Best Open-World Games About Being A Bounty Hunter

Summary

Few open-world games put bounty hunting front and center, but Starfield offers a space western bounty hunting experience.
Gun captures the spirit of frontier bounty hunting, providing players with arcade-style gameplay.
Red Dead Online turns bounty hunting into a full profession with new missions, gear, and rewards, including player-hunting.

Is there any image more captivating than that of a bounty hunter? Clad in a mask, hat, and carrying an arsenal of weapons, these independent fugitive pursuers use lethal force to neutralize the relentless and cunning, while employing sophisticated gadgets to catch the elusive. Bounty hunters make for naturally cool characters, perfectly fitting for expansive worlds designed for exploration, navigation, and problem-solving in a sandbox style. The “survive or be defeated” principle is fundamental to game design.

Instead, bounty hunting offers an unique twist on the idea by requiring proficiency in chase, planning, and self-control. It’s essentially the skill of locating a human target, capturing them, and returning them (or a distinct part of them) for remuneration, often with the condition that they are brought back alive. While it may appear thrilling on screen, very few open-world games focus on bounty hunting as a main feature. However, those that do excel at it, each offering their own interpretation of life as a hired tracker.

6. Starfield

Space Western Justice At A Stellar Scale

As a devoted admirer, I can’t help but share my excitement about Bethesda’s cosmic RPG that features an intriguing faction known as the Freestar Rangers – essentially, these are space-faring cowboys who wear badges! This game isn’t just about bounty hunting; it provides a platform for players to immerse themselves in the life of a seasoned tracker. The job boards, randomly generated targets, and multiple morality options ensure that the pursuit can continue as long as desired. In essence, it offers an engaging experience for those who wish to live the life of a professional space ranger!

Living this lifestyle often includes battling in spacecraft and zero-gravity skirmishes. The advantage and disadvantage of bounty hunting in Starfield is that each bounty is a mission randomly generated, which results in an endless supply of contracts, but targets may seem impersonal and indistinguishable. However, those who seek more depth will discover enough structure to appreciate the pursuit of interstellar fugitives.

5. Gun

An Old-Timey Bountyhunting Adventure

In 2005, this open-world game, although somewhat aged, is sometimes overlooked in favor of the Red Dead series. However, it laid the groundwork for games like Red Dead Redemption to thrive. The story follows Colton “Cole” White, who initially lives a simple life as a hunter amidst the lush wilderness of old America. A series of events, including a shady transaction and a corrupt preacher on a ship destined for Dodge City, lead him unwittingly into a world of smuggling, mining, and most significantly, bounty hunting.

The game, named ‘Gun’, swiftly immerses you in its world with no lengthy dialogues or complex moral frameworks; instead, it offers a poster, a character, and a destination. Bounties can be pursued on horseback or foot, and they often feature gunfights in canyons, ambushes in camps, or showdowns amidst barren landscapes. This classic open-world game from the mid-2000s beautifully encapsulates the essence of frontier bounty hunting with raw authenticity and panache, as its straightforward, arcade-style gameplay offers an engaging experience without unnecessary distractions.

4. Elite Dangerous

Track or Be Tracked in a Ruthless Galaxy

In the game Elite Dangerous, you step into the shoes of a rookie space pilot, voyaging freely across the vast Milky Way galaxy. You decide your own journey, whether it’s commerce, piracy, exploration, or initially, bounty hunting. Bounty hunting in this game is player-led. You can acquire contracts from diverse factions or find them by scanning for wanted ships in lawless regions, and then you redeem your bounty vouchers with the parties or factions that assigned the tasks.

Navigating towards the correct prey, enduring intense aerial combat, and claiming rewards for the takedown can seem simple in theory, but it’s far from easy, especially when your opponents are equally equipped and vigilant. The cosmos of Elite is unforgiving and indifferent, filled with targets to pursue, yet many bounties merely represent names on a list and ships to dismantle for spare parts.

3. Red Dead Online

Realizing The Bounty Hunter Role In The Closing Frontier

Red Dead Online essentially makes bounty hunting a career right off the bat. Once you buy the Bounty Hunter License, you’ll have an entire career path at your disposal, filled with fresh missions, equipment, and incentives. Your targets can vary from common outlaws to notorious criminals, with legendary bounties featuring thrilling chase sequences and dramatic showdowns.

Bounty hunting refers to the pursuit of an individual over various jurisdictions or apprehending an elusive fugitive on the brink of escaping into a body of water. Additionally, bounty hunters are equipped with the ability to render a target unconscious instead of fatal force, for additional compensation from law enforcement. They also possess the tools and resources to carry out these tasks in a believable and engaging manner. As players progress, they can opt to hunt other players across the expansive game world, if desired.

2. Mercenaries: Playground Of Destruction

Stacking The Deck (With Explosions) And Playing For Keeps

In an alternate timeline of North Korea, the video game titled “Mercenaries: Playground Of Destruction” places players as a hired gun working for various clients. The objective is to capture or eliminate a deck of 52 high-value individuals known as “Deck of 52.” Each target presents unique challenges, such as their heavily armed bodyguards, unpredictable civilian presence, or robust defenses.

In an authentic open-world style, the player has the liberty to tackle the mission using stealth, brute force, or even aerial bombardments. It’s usually more rewarding to bring targets back alive, but it’s significantly more challenging. Although it may not be one of the most iconic classic open-world games from yesteryears, Mercenaries managed to create dedicated hardcore fans who eagerly await a revival, even after all these years since its 2005 release.

1. Red Dead Redemption

Dead Or Alive In The Fading Wild West

In Red Dead Redemption, tracking down the former associates of John Marston’s old gang forms the main storyline, but the bounty missions are exceptionally engaging, rich in rewards, and offer a lot of diversity. Some may argue that its successor surpasses it in almost every aspect on a larger scale, but the original undeniably delivers some of the finest bounty hunting experiences and mechanics for any aspiring outlaw wrangler, even exceeding those found in the sequel.

Wanted posters adorn the interior walls of sheriff’s offices, each depicting a fugitive with a reward for capture. However, capturing them alive offers a greater payout but also presents more danger, as it necessitates approaching without being gunned down from one’s horse. The game, “Red Dead Redemption,” empowers players to choose Marston’s true nature as a hunter, whether he captures, kills, or chooses not to pursue his targets.

2025-07-20 13:34