We need less sandbox games

[GonzoGamer]

We don't need less sandbox games, we need sandbox games with a reason to explore them. .

Sorry to cut off your wall of text but that says it perfectly right there.

I actually like most of the sandbox games I've played but the ones that fail tend to fail horribly.

I thought many of the sandboxes from this year were quite good like Prototype & Infamous. Those games gave you entertaining things to do while running around.

It's a bad choice when they shoehorn it into a game that doesn't need a sandbox like Burnout Paradise and No More Heroes. In Burnout P all the sandbox did was make the race events (which were the most common) frustrating for anyone who didn't memorize the entire map. In No More Heroes the sandbox was just completely unnecessary it was just there to force you to waste time with boring minigames so the boss battles/levels seemed more interesting.

I don't think it's time to write them off just yet. This generation has come up with a couple of the most compelling sandbox games ever like Saints Row 2 and Fallout 3.

Yes, I agree. For me though the first Sandbox game was Fallout. Fallout 2 was quite excellent as well, and later on I played GTA 3.

So I do love sandbox games, we just need less ones that try to tack it on without trying.

I really enjoyed Saints Row 2.

Oh. An old school rpg sandbox fan. Yes the first two Fallouts were very cool too but I can't say I got as into them as I did with Fallout 3. The added amount of detail made the whole thing much more engrossing to me; but I can see how some feel differently. I guess I would have to say my first sandbox game was Phantasy Star 1 for the SMS. Or Dragon Warrior for the NES.
Which came first?

And yes Saints Row 2 Rocked. I didn't like it as much as San Andreas but I definitely liked it more than gta4.

 

[Jonny49]

Are you just saying that because Yatzhee said it?

 

[CrysisMcGee]

I think the problem with sandbox games is you have to make the landscape interesting and inviting. Something that it seems game designers struggle with. A good example would be Oblivion, a great game, but really the landscape was boring as hell, beautiful yes, but not the least bit memorable or captivating. This is something that needs to work. Theres no point having a huge world just for the sake of having a huge world.

I agree, though I love green fields and sunny skies in my game.

I don't like dark and dreary very much, though it has its place.

I hated Night time in Fallout 3 because it was so bland and boring, compared to daytime.

 

[CrysisMcGee]

Are you just saying that because Yatzhee said it?

Uhhh..did you even read the beginning? Please go back and do so, and you question will be answered.

 

[Woodsey]

yes less sandbox games, how about hl2 ep3, where the hell is that?

Funnily enough, Valve are waiting for Hell to freeze.

 

[geon106]

Personally I want more sandbox games. But, only certain ones.

For example, GTA. I want more GTA games and i love the formula of the games and I enjoy the extra small lil things that make the game more interesting. Like being able to surf the in game internet and go play pool or use arcade machines etc, they don't really add to the story, but they are nice detailed touches that i love. Don't fix something thats not broken.

Oblivion style sandbox games are fantastic as well, although only if they are polished and have a lot of content. I think if you put fallout 3 and Oblivion together, you'd have the perfect example.

I don't think we shouldn't have anymore sandbox games, but i think they should raise the bar a bit and not put sandbox elements into games that don't need it, sometimes linear shooters are better than sandbox ones, with an exception of Far Cry/Crysis which are too linear for their own good IMHO.

 

[end_boss]

I have nothing against sandbox games. I have nothing against more linear games either, but I still appreciate being able to do things at my own pace, as well. Things only went awry when Burnout tried to be more sandbox.

 

[CrysisMcGee]

Personally I want more sandbox games. But, only certain ones.

For example, GTA. I want more GTA games and i love the formula of the games and I enjoy the extra small lil things that make the game more interesting. Like being able to surf the in game internet and go play pool or use arcade machines etc, they don't really add to the story, but they are nice detailed touches that i love. Don't fix something thats not broken.

Oblivion style sandbox games are fantastic as well, although only if they are polished and have a lot of content. I think if you put fallout 3 and Oblivion together, you'd have the perfect example.

I don't think we shouldn't have anymore sandbox games, but i think they should raise the bar a bit and not put sandbox elements into games that don't need it, sometimes linear shooters are better than sandbox ones, with an exception of Far Cry/Crysis which are too linear for their own good IMHO.

A word on being Linear. I've been playing Linear games a long time, started with Mario. And I still love them as well. Also I love Non-Linear games. Due to playing Fallout back in 98.

So saying something is too linear is almost redundant. Same goes for Non-Linear.

Remember Half-Life? About as Linear as they get.

Crysis has multiple ways to complete objectives, and is fairly non-linear in that regard.

Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

I'm just saying that I enjoy both to the fullest.

 

[ethaninja]

Fully. I miss the GOOD sandbox games. Not ones that throw you in a limited open ended area with very little to do half the time, or TOO much to do etc. So yes, we need to remove the mainstream ones and replace them with GOOD ones. (Battlefield series, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being more sandy, what would you class that?)

 

[geon106]

Personally I want more sandbox games. But, only certain ones.

For example, GTA. I want more GTA games and i love the formula of the games and I enjoy the extra small lil things that make the game more interesting. Like being able to surf the in game internet and go play pool or use arcade machines etc, they don't really add to the story, but they are nice detailed touches that i love. Don't fix something thats not broken.

Oblivion style sandbox games are fantastic as well, although only if they are polished and have a lot of content. I think if you put fallout 3 and Oblivion together, you'd have the perfect example.

I don't think we shouldn't have anymore sandbox games, but i think they should raise the bar a bit and not put sandbox elements into games that don't need it, sometimes linear shooters are better than sandbox ones, with an exception of Far Cry/Crysis which are too linear for their own good IMHO.

A word on being Linear. I've been playing Linear games a long time, started with Mario. And I still love them as well. Also I love Non-Linear games. Due to playing Fallout back in 98.

So saying something is too linear is almost redundant. Same goes for Non-Linear.

Remember Half-Life? About as Linear as they get.

Crysis has multiple ways to complete objectives, and is fairly non-linear in that regard.

Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

I'm just saying that I enjoy both to the fullest.

Don't get me wrong, i agree with you. But even Crysis isn't exactly free form sandbox.

You still go to 1 objective, then to another one, then to the next one usually having a fairly set path. If you play it again and again you'll probs walk the same places. You can't just walk off in a random direction and go off exploring.

Yeah and HL, Quake etc are all fantastic games and show how linear can be good, but some games are too linear for their own good

 

[Diablini]

What about creation sandbox games? When you say sandbox, the first things that come to mind are Gmod, Spore and Sim city.

 

[JDviewer]

I agree with this. I played the latest Call of Juarez game and there were two small sections that claimed to be sandbox sections. Then they make it so that you can't go back to them and keep up with the linear plot. I would have enjoyed a linear plot entirely, but don't stick in something just for the sake of being able to declare it on release.

 

[oranger]

one day, there'll be a real mmorpg called 'the world' (or a variant, but you get the point), and it wont be a crappy spoof of other mmorpgs, it'll be much bigger and more complex than anything we've seen, perhaps even expanding past our ability to perceive the game as a whole, and this is the first step. the proliferation of sandbox type games is a good thing: it means many groups are doing lots of R&D, creating new IP and ideas, and eventually the next big thing will come out.

 

[badgersprite]

As much as I love sandbox games, there are only really certain games that can truly achieve the sandbox game status, and trying to force open-worldness into other games just doesn't work. In essence, sandbox games only really work if there's an incentive to go around the world doing what you always do outside of a mission. In Prototype, the incentives are the side-missions/events, the web of intrigue and causing wanton destruction. In Oblivion & Fallout 3, the incentive is leveling up, exploration, finding side-quests and finding loot.

Even though the open-world appealed to me, and I enjoyed being able to freely run around, to be honest, I don't know how well Assassin's Creed actually benefited from trying to be a sandbox. The Kingdom was easily the most boring part of the game, and, because there was a focus on free-roaming around the cities, it meant the assassination missions were poorly-structured and came entirely through cutscenes. Also, why try to be a sandbox when you spend most of the game blocking off parts of the world so as not to screw up the linear story?

I think we can agree that sandboxes offer a certain type of experience to a player and put them in a certain mindset. Unless that's the experience they're trying to create, game developers can't have their sandbox cake and eat it too. Like Red Faction: Guerrilla. The thing that annoyed me about that game was that they came in with the guise of giving me explosives and a world and letting me do whatever I wanted, but it became abundantly clear that they were expecting me to play in a certain way, and they wanted me to do this, this, this and this. Plus, it gets really annoying in a sandbox if they constantly try to call you away from it to make you chase down a bloody convoy halfway across the map. <_<