The Sandbox/free roam genre

[Horrorfan]

I have noticed a lot of people bash the sand box/ free roaming genre. People are saying its been over used, blah blah blah. But I also notice no one bashes rpgs, or fps or whatever for being in their own genre.


People tend to call them gta clones. Thats fair, in a way....but thats because GTA was being the first to do so. It would be like saying Lost Boys is a rip off of Nosferatu, as that was the first movie (or one of) to use vampires.

Of course sand box games are popular. It equals freedom and fun, and allows you to pursue the main game at your own pace and it equals hours of fun. Sure, GTA came first, but does that mean only the innovator can use its own innovation?

Mercenaries was a fantastic free roam war game, Hulk and Spiderman were free roamers that merged superheroes with a genre that fit them like a glove. Just Cause also looks amazing, as does The Outsider. Other games like Dead Rising too look to add great spins on the free roam genre.

And for all it's faults, TCNY was a perfect replica of New York and one of the only game worlds that truly felt alive, much like san andreas but on a smaller scale.

I put it to you then, because GTA opened the door, it doesnt mean they are the only ones who can walk through it. It's not like free roamers are the only games you are getting, we are getting lots of good looking games from every genre. . but to hear people complain, you would think thats all we get.

Discuss.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Free Roaming games are the future, i see a world where EVERY game is free roaming.

 

[Trigger]

I'm a lazy lil' goddess, so I'm going to split this argument up seperately.

I have noticed a lot of people bash the sand box/ free roaming genre. People are saying its been over used, blah blah blah. But I also notice no one bashes rpgs, or fps or whatever for being in their own genre.

Not true. I've seen many people bash Halo for the lack of innovation in it's sequels. Final Fantasy get's ripped by everyone who isn't a fan of it. God knows how many critics have pointed out the lack of change in it's character archetypes. People bash games like True Crime and Saint's Row, not because it's being true to it's genre, but because it's not doing anything that any other game hasn't done. Nor are they even deviating from the formula, and when you have series like the MGS and FF who are now trying something new, it stands out even more.

People tend to call them gta clones. Thats fair, in a way....but thats because GTA was being the first to do so. It would be like saying Lost Boys is a rip off of Nosferatu, as that was the first movie (or one of) to use vampires.

However, if Lost Boys had the same basic plot line as Nosferatu, then that's a fair argument to make. Again, many GTA clones rarely feature a story aside from the "new guy beats the crap outta crime lords" formula.

Of course sand box games are popular. It equals freedom and fun, and allows you to pursue the main game at your own pace and it equals hours of fun. Sure, GTA came first, but does that mean only the innovator can use its own innovation?

No, but when that's all the competition offers than what's the point? Most free-roamers offer us the same thing. For every Spider-Man 2, we get a Saint's Row.

Mercenaries was a fantastic free roam war game, Hulk and Spiderman were free roamers that merged superheroes with a genre that fit them like a glove. Just Cause also looks amazing, as does The Outsider. Other games like Dead Rising too look to add great spins on the free roam genre.

Agreed. Most of the free-roamers that get bashed are the ones that are heavily-urbanized and feature "gangsta characters". I have no problem with Hulk/Spidey/Mercenaries because there aren't twelve games with the same concept.

And for all it's faults, TCNY was a perfect replica of New York and one of the only game worlds that truly felt alive, much like san andreas but on a smaller scale.

I'll say this about True Crime, it does at least try to do something other than give us all of GTA's features +1 new thing. They also tend to have very high class voice acting. It's definitely improving.

I put it to you then, because GTA opened the door, it doesnt mean they are the only ones who can walk through it. It's not like free roamers are the only games you are getting, we are getting lots of good looking games from every genre. . but to hear people complain, you would think thats all we get.

Discuss.

We're being flooded with have a**ed attempts at stealing GTA's thunder. People bash those games because we've seen better and expect more. Beating up ****es looses it's appeal after awhile.

 

[Axid]

Free-roaming....Tetris?

 

[WhatsHisFace]

I have noticed a lot of people bash the sand box/ free roaming genre. People are saying its been over used, blah blah blah. But I also notice no one bashes rpgs, or fps or whatever for being in their own genre.


People tend to call them gta clones. Thats fair, in a way....but thats because GTA was being the first to do so. It would be like saying Lost Boys is a rip off of Nosferatu, as that was the first movie (or one of) to use vampires.

Of course sand box games are popular. It equals freedom and fun, and allows you to pursue the main game at your own pace and it equals hours of fun. Sure, GTA came first, but does that mean only the innovator can use its own innovation?

Mercenaries was a fantastic free roam war game, Hulk and Spiderman were free roamers that merged superheroes with a genre that fit them like a glove. Just Cause also looks amazing, as does The Outsider. Other games like Dead Rising too look to add great spins on the free roam genre.

And for all it's faults, TCNY was a perfect replica of New York and one of the only game worlds that truly felt alive, much like san andreas but on a smaller scale.

I put it to you then, because GTA opened the door, it doesnt mean they are the only ones who can walk through it. It's not like free roamers are the only games you are getting, we are getting lots of good looking games from every genre. . but to hear people complain, you would think thats all we get.

Discuss.

Superhero Freeroaming games work, because you have many different gameplay variations from each other. Spider-man webswings as gracefully as you want him to, solving random crimes. The Hulk jumps across the city smashing things to smitherines and surfing on buses.

All other freeroaming games are just you, with guns, and you steal cars.

At least the FPS, RPG and other genres evolve over time. These games all play exactly the same, control scheme differences aside.