Superhero sandbox games

[Cosmic Humor]

I think powers are irrelevant to the quality. I mean sure, swinging as Spidey was awesome in the sandbox games, but how much ass would it kick to drive through Gotham City and the Batmobile and take down random thugs?

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Well, why not have both? Before you begin the game, you get to create your character (yes, one of those stupid character generators stolen from MMO X), and their proficiency. You could have something like Batman, who relies on Bat-things and brute strength, a stealth-tech character, or a Superman thing. To balance them all out, tech characters won't be quite as powerful, but all the superpowered guys will have some weakness a'la kryptonite. And to make it even better, you could forgo crimeighting in lieu of becoming a supervillain, but that's just me dreaming...

 

[Kollega]

I'm actually unsure on this one. "Gadgeteer hero" format is represented by such games as Just Cause 2 and Crackdown, "superpowered hero" format - by ones like inFamous and Prototype. Either can work. I can say that "gadgeteer hero" lends himself better to tense encounters against overwhelming odds (even if he does have super-strength or super-healing), while "superpowered hero" provides enjoyment by being so much more powerful and basically tearing through everything - he dosen't need a tank, a helicopter, or even a gun to destroy his enemies.

I can't choose between those two, so i won't try to do that. Both can be equally good, it depends on a game itself.

 

[NoSnowman]

Well, why not have both? Before you begin the game, you get to create your character (yes, one of those stupid character generators stolen from MMO X), and their proficiency. You could have something like Batman, who relies on Bat-things and brute strength, a stealth-tech character, or a Superman thing. To balance them all out, tech characters won't be quite as powerful, but all the superpowered guys will have some weakness a'la kryptonite. And to make it even better, you could forgo crimeighting in lieu of becoming a supervillain, but that's just me dreaming...

That's a nasty trap to fall into though. It's better to do one style incredibly well than spread yourself too thin.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Well, why not have both? Before you begin the game, you get to create your character (yes, one of those stupid character generators stolen from MMO X), and their proficiency. You could have something like Batman, who relies on Bat-things and brute strength, a stealth-tech character, or a Superman thing. To balance them all out, tech characters won't be quite as powerful, but all the superpowered guys will have some weakness a'la kryptonite. And to make it even better, you could forgo crimeighting in lieu of becoming a supervillain, but that's just me dreaming...

That's a nasty trap to fall into though. It's better to do one style incredibly well than spread yourself too thin.

Certainly, but two things: 1) this is more of a fantasy idea of mine, one that I doubt would ever be real, and 2) mods! Well, for the PC anyway...
Still, I'd love to see a sandbox game that attempts this sort of freedom, even if it ends up sucking

 

[AnAngryMoose]

Why not do both and play City of Heroes?

It's more of a MMORPG. But whatever you do, don't get Champions Online no matter how shiny the graphics are!