I want meatier main stories in my openworld sandbox games

[BoringSupreez]

Just to be the voice of opposition, open world games do NOT need stories to be good.

Case and point: Crackdown 1 for Xbox 360.

It is the best open world game I've ever played, yet has the most minimal plot possible, because plot would simply get in the way.

GO play Crackdown and maybe it would change your mind.

Played it, fun for 30 minutes, boring as hell afterwards.

But Halo 3 beta!

[ZeroAX]

But Halo 3 beta!

I'm not sure if the beta pass was included in the PAL version. Plus Greece wasn't supported by xbox live till 2010.

[BoringSupreez]

But Halo 3 beta!

I'm not sure if the beta pass was included in the PAL version.

It was the main selling point of the US/Canada version. The 360's equivalent of Zone of Enders.

Plus Greece wasn't supported by xbox live till 2010.

So how did you guys play Xbox online before 2010?

[ZeroAX]

Plus Greece wasn't supported by xbox live till 2010.

So how did you guys play Xbox online before 2010?

I didn't actually owned an xbox, my cousin did. And we didn't. That's why people bought PS3s. Cause PSN was everywhere.

[BoringSupreez]

Plus Greece wasn't supported by xbox live till 2010.

So how did you guys play Xbox online before 2010?

I didn't actually owned an xbox, my cousin did. And we didn't. That's why people bought PS3s. Cause PSN was everywhere.

So Xbox games with a primarily online focus didn't come out in Greece, then? Such as Shadowrun?

[ZeroAX]

So Xbox games with a primarily online focus didn't come out in Greece, then? Such as Shadowrun?

Oh they came out. But nobody bought them. And it probably had a thing to do with why the xbox is the 3rd console in Europe, and no one in the mainland really prefers it over PS3 or the Wii.

[ice445]

I agree with what you're saying. It's nice for a sandbox game to have an actual back bone, so that it can stand and be good even without the random BS on the side.

The funny thing is Rockstar actually realized this and went in this direction with GTA 4. I'm not sure how you can have this opinion and not like that game. The Euphoria physics engine made random chaos the best in the entire series by far (and of all time actually), and there was still a great story holding the game up behind the scenes with well done characters and a compelling plot.

That's not to say the game didn't have it's failures though. There was far too much focus on the "social life" aspect of the game, and Niko's connection to certain characters or justification for certain actions wasn't explained with enough detail. But still, great game.

[ZeroAX]

I agree with what you're saying. It's nice for a sandbox game to have an actual back bone, so that it can stand and be good even without the random BS on the side.

The funny thing is Rockstar actually realized this and went in this direction with GTA 4. I'm not sure how you can have this opinion and not like that game. The Euphoria physics engine made random chaos the best in the entire series by far (and of all time actually), and there was still a great story holding the game up behind the scenes with well done characters and a compelling plot.

That's not to say the game didn't have it's failures though. There was far too much focus on the "social life" aspect of the game, and Niko's connection to certain characters or justification for certain actions wasn't explained with enough detail. But still, great game.

Because the missions were boring. GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas had so many memorable missions, I still remember them today (obviously not all, but many). I don't remember a single mission on GTA IV. Seriously. Not a single one. Oh except a shootout somewhere I guess, because I died so many times. But that's a bad reason for it to be the only mission I remember from that game. And I played that game much more recently than I did GTA3 or VC

[ice445]

I only really remember the outlandish GTA missions simply because of the fact they were outlandish. I mean they were certainly fun and memorable, but the meat and potatoes of every GTA game has been "drive here kill that". It's just how it's been. GTA 4 did have some cool missions (the crane one for example), and the Ballad of Gay Tony especially had some sweet missions (mostly because it was a grass roots type of expansion, you should play it if you haven't).

But yeah, overall GTA 4 has some pretty standard and repetitive missions. But that physics engine....oh man. I must have played 500 hours of that game just messing around. Cops N' Crooks online was also amazing, at least until everyone memorized the getaway vehicle spawn points.

[ZeroAX]

Nah sorry I just didn't enjoy the sandbox element in GTA IV at all. I couldn't drive fast without crushing, I couldn't do crazy stunts without dieing, and Liberty City was just too realistic to be fun.


By the way I did this side mission on GTA San Andreas the other day, and it made me think about what I mentioned:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N1W9rHBuss

Parts of the world map (like the canyons) were clearly designed with this specific side mission in mind, so flying through those tight areas was exciting (but also not frustrating). If this was, let's say Assasin's Creed and it being a race side mission, the buildings would probably be too close to each other to make it exciting, or too far for you to "just" make the jump, so you'd fall down and it would be annoying.

I still think Rockstar nailed the sandbox genre last gen, and this gen they have lost their direction (with the exception of Red Dead Redemption)