thoughts on Sandbox games

[skysc]

i like the style . as a nintendo generation kid who got back into gaming in 2007 ... grand theft auto san andreas was the best game that got me back into gaming .

since them i played all GTA ... still have to finish the V ... but great games .

red dead redemption was awesome

saint rows the third was cool too .


but Rockstar kick major B*tt when it come to great games .


on another note .. the batman were great .



godfather was great at ps2 too

 

[TheWelder]

If I had the time to play video games, I sure wouldn't play video games.

I love how this comment (or some variation of it) shows up on page one of every video game thread. People just love to go out of their way to put down video games and those that play them.

Nice post/review Mal. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of sandbox games - the only one I've ever finished all the way through is RDR (which I thought was incredible). I tend to prefer a more linear or objective based games. I picked up my first PS3 after being an xbox guy for the past decade and I've been playing The Last of Us - that game is outstanding and right up my alley but it isn't a sandbox.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

The Last of Us is art in a videogame medium, imo.

I mean there's games,...then there's The Last of Us. It just stands alone.

it's the only game that made me drop my controller in shock.....ever.

(**THE LAST OF US SPOILER!!!! Seriously don't read if you haven't finished the college level yet**)

Highlight to read

When Joel falls off the college balcony while fighting and lands on the re-bar? I was all and dropped my controller. I was literally dumbfounded I was so invested in the story and characters I couldn't believe what I'd just seen.

..and I spent the next mission playing as Ellie constantly worried about Joel.

I have never actually cared about what happened to a video game character before. I like some of them,...but it's just a game.

The Last of Us was something more, to me.

(**End of Spoilers**)


Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us are the closest I've really felt to watching a movie that I was controlling. There was no disconnect and I was fully invested in both stories. (I still think Uncharted 2 has one of the best and most dramatic game intro/first levels I've ever seen. Right away I was hooked by the story and had to keep playing to get to the next "chapter." )


Yeah,...video games aren't exactly kid stuff anymore. The days of Donkey Kong and 'the princess is in another castle' are over.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

Depends on the writing really.

GTA 5 had great writing and actors, and the ending is good. Definitely didn't fizzle.

I think a lot of people think that about sandbox games because when you beat the story missions the game doesn't end.

...and I've noticed some people get bored with these games that don't enjoy the more creative aspect of it. They want a beg/mid/end campaign.

...they're not the ones who spend an hour trying to land a car on the roof of a building,...just because they're curious to see if you can land a car on the roof of a building.

GTA V had great writing and performance and story... But after the story ends you keep playing the game, which is the same game (aka no big changes) you've been playing for hours and hours. At some point you run out of things to do and stop playing and so your last memory of the game isn't the great ending to the story, it's the game getting boring.

As for landing cars on roofs and stuff like that... Been there, done that. The series, in its modern (3D) incarnation, is 12 years old. I've done all that already countless times and it gets old.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

to each their own. That I can continue driving around, exploring and such after the story missions are over is part of what I like about the games.

I hate it when I finish a game, can't replay missions/levels, and if I want to play the game again I have to start over from the beginning.

Now that being said I don't mind starting over when you get to keep all the upgrades you just spent hours grinding to get. Sometimes it's more fun to run through a game the second time when you're maxed out and, "chopping mountains down with the edge of your hand."

But yeah when you win a game, get leveled up and finally unlock the super weapon,...just to have the game end and that's it,..it's over,....sort of blows.


I get your point though. Different strokes for different folks and all.

 

[Muttering Bill]

Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us are the closest I've really felt to watching a movie that I was controlling. There was no disconnect and I was fully invested in both stories. (I still think Uncharted 2 has one of the best and most dramatic game intro/first levels I've ever seen. Right away I was hooked by the story and had to keep playing to get to the next "chapter." )

Have you tried the new Tomb Raider? Similar experience to Uncharted only better. Haven't played TLoU yet, so I can't compare it to that.

 

[splatter]

when I was a kid we would play who can find the chewiest chocolate bar in the sand ........

Oh different sand box ........nevermind

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Have you tried the new Tomb Raider? Similar experience to Uncharted only better. Haven't played TLoU yet, so I can't compare it to that.

Played the demo. ...it didn't suck but didn't really grab me either.

 

[Muttering Bill]

I didn't even know there was a demo. It's a lot like Uncharted 2, only bigger. The action scenes were just more tense and exciting. It does take a couple of hours to pick up though.

It's cheap now, so if you run out of games, it's a good pickup for $15-20.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

that's my favorite price range for games.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

to each their own. That I can continue driving around, exploring and such after the story missions are over is part of what I like about the games.

I hate it when I finish a game, can't replay missions/levels, and if I want to play the game again I have to start over from the beginning.

Now that being said I don't mind starting over when you get to keep all the upgrades you just spent hours grinding to get. Sometimes it's more fun to run through a game the second time when you're maxed out and, "chopping mountains down with the edge of your hand."

But yeah when you win a game, get leveled up and finally unlock the super weapon,...just to have the game end and that's it,..it's over,....sort of blows.


I get your point though. Different strokes for different folks and all.

I like being able to play endlessly too, I just dislike the unfortunate side-effect it has (at least with me).

 

[Chilli]

Operation Flashpoint, played that one on 360, was too glitchy, when the baddies were able to shoot through the buildings at me, and see me in the dark round corners, I gave up. It was too late for any online stuff. Arma (II) on the pc was basically the same game, also too glitchy to be fun, but did have a sort of game constructing kit that was great, real sand box in that you made your own game with their huge map, and got to decide what spawned where and timings etc. Could have been the best military sim ever apart from the underdeveloped state. So much better than the run and gun stuff.
Skyrim and Fallout 3/New Vegas, also good big maps and you play it in a way that you choose.
I often find the missions as such are a bit boring and repetitive, sneak, combat run etc. But the exploring I never get tired of.

 

[Gin&Pentatonic]

The Last of Us is art in a videogame medium, imo.

I mean there's games,...then there's The Last of Us. It just stands alone.

it's the only game that made me drop my controller in shock.....ever.

(**THE LAST OF US SPOILER!!!! Seriously don't read if you haven't finished the college level yet**)

Highlight to read

When Joel falls off the college balcony while fighting and lands on the re-bar? I was all and dropped my controller. I was literally dumbfounded I was so invested in the story and characters I couldn't believe what I'd just seen.

..and I spent the next mission playing as Ellie constantly worried about Joel.

I have never actually cared about what happened to a video game character before. I like some of them,...but it's just a game.

The Last of Us was something more, to me.

(**End of Spoilers**)


Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us are the closest I've really felt to watching a movie that I was controlling. There was no disconnect and I was fully invested in both stories. (I still think Uncharted 2 has one of the best and most dramatic game intro/first levels I've ever seen. Right away I was hooked by the story and had to keep playing to get to the next "chapter." )


Yeah,...video games aren't exactly kid stuff anymore. The days of Donkey Kong and 'the princess is in another castle' are over.

The Last of Us is, IMO, the most incredible linear video game ever made. That game hit all the right notes, and a few extra as a bonus. The only way that game could be improved would be making it longer.

It was that good.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

But the exploring I never get tired of.

I hear ya

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiJ3j1nYuSE[/ame]

(as an addendum to my previous OP comment about the cars in Sleeping Dogs feeling too light and floaty,..I think I felt that way because I was just coming from playing GTA 4 where they feel heavy and sluggish. Going back to SD the driving feels fine. Similar to GTA V or the Saints Row games. Arcade style, basically.)

 

[twangydave]

I've been playing Eve Online since 2006. To me, it's the most immersive, unique and amazing computer game ever produced and also the ultimate sandbox.

Unique mostly in that what many people would consider to be serious flaws or drawback of an 'entertainment' experience are what long term players like myself consider to be the key features:- dizzying complexity with little or no instruction, a learning curve like a cliff, a player base full of sociopaths and a supervising company that fully supports griefing, scamming, extortion and murder within the game.

The game is so unrelentingly tough that, by its very nature, it weeds out the sort of people/kids who ruin most online games. For many players it has become an integral part of their lives, real friendships that last years are forged through the game. The game is so massive that it's impossible to know everything, like real life everyone has their own specialities and that means groups knit together tightly against threats. There is no place for the lone wolf in the Eve universe, you must be equipped with the social skills that allow you to forge alliances with other players in order to survive and then prosper. If you prosper you can have access to enormous in game wealth and influences. Imagine having a fleet of 1000 human pilots under your control as you go into a battle. It happens in Eve.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZPCiqBLPM8]EVE Universe: Origins - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cns2fD2EGOQ]EVE: Starships, Sabotage & Mayhem - INFONAUT (Part 1) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgS7lvVagiY]EVE: Vile Rat & The Future of Gaming - INFONAUT (Part 2) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er8JL6vT6Tc]EVE: Benghazi, Espionage & MMOs - The Mittani Interview (Part 3) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Hairless_Ape]

I'm not a fan of sandbox games. I normally get bored to tears with them in a matter of hours - if that. However I did buy AC4 for the PS4 and am enjoying it so far. I think the last sandbox game I purchased before it was Fallout3.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

dizzying complexity with little or no instruction, a learning curve like a cliff, a player base full of sociopaths and a supervising company that fully supports griefing, scamming, extortion and murder within the game.

way to sell it!

 

[JCM900MkIII]

I hear ya

Sleeping dogs parkour montage - YouTube

(as an addendum to my previous OP comment about the cars in Sleeping Dogs feeling too light and floaty,..I think I felt that way because I was just coming from playing GTA 4 where they feel heavy and sluggish. Going back to SD the driving feels fine. Similar to GTA V or the Saints Row games. Arcade style, basically.)

Yeah, driving in Sleeping Dogs was even worse then GTA4's.


B.t.w. Malikon, if you like "dropping your controller" type of reactions. There is this one game that also gave me goosebumps on top of that.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (and the rest of the series, PC only though).
Although buggy and glitchy at the same time. Never had an experience like that in any other game.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Yeah, driving in Sleeping Dogs was even worse then GTA4's.

.

no freakin' way man.

Halfway through GTA 4 I was grabbing taxis all the time to do missions because the driving SUCKED SO F**KING BAD!!! It's the only game I've ever taken a taxi in, I prefer to drive. But driving in GTA 4 was just not fun,.....not at all,.......actually it sucked balls.

Sleeping Dogs kicks GTA 4's ass all up and down the block.

GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, GTA 5,....awesome games,...full kudos and credit...

GTA 4 sucks balls.

It's not "Terrible" ....but it's not exactly great either.

Sleeping Dogs was way more interesting.

Granted I'm a huge,...HUGE fan of Asian cinema,...but Sleeping Dogs was way better then GTA 4.

GTA 4 had prestige and quality programming,...but at the end of the day it just wasn't a great or fun game. It was an interesting story that fit in to the GTA Mythos,....but that's about it.

And halfway through the game I wanted to punch Roman in the face.

QUIT ASKING ME TO GO BOWLING ALL THE TIME YOU FAT F*CK!!!!

*ahem*.....yeah,...Sleeping Dogs was a fun game with better driving physics then GTA 4.


However the Saints Row and GTA 5 driving physics are superior.




...and by Superior I mean, "Fun" as opposed to realistic.

Realistic isn't fun. I have a car when I want realistic. When I want to drift around corners at 90mph I want a video game that allows that thrill.

 

[Chilli]

I've been playing Eve Online since 2006. To me, it's the most immersive, unique and amazing computer game ever produced and also the ultimate sandbox.


Sounds fun, is it expensive?