Ben-DutkaDICE doesn't mind butting heads with mega-blockbuster Call of Duty and in fact, they're looking forward to the challenge.
But they have some interesting things to say about other genres. After confirming to Edge that Battlefield 3 will be "a more focused, scripted experience," DICE executive producer Patrick Bach claimed that most sandbox games are really only for the hardcore and "tough to get into."
"I don’t see it as an absolute goal for all games to be sandbox games. We’ve been building sandbox games for quite some time and we’ve got pretty good at it, but I don’t see that as the only way of building games, because then we wouldn’t build campaigns at all.
In some cases they aren’t, but in most cases sandbox games are hardcore, boring, hard to get into and they are not very popular."
Battlefield 3 will undoubtedly clash with this year's Call of Duty – most assume it'll be Modern Warfare 3 – but let's not forget that Grand Theft Auto lurks in the distance. In fact, the analysts have weighed in by saying GTAV can benefit from the current shooter fascination , and Michael Pachter is predicting "massive" sales . That's sandbox, isn't it? And what about inFamous 2 ?
Well, to each his own. But before CoD ruled the universe, many accused GTA of being too "casual" and "mainstream," so sandbox games aren't necessarily "tough to get into." …are they?
Related Game(s): Battlefield 3
case in point mercinaries 2
Depends on the game. Infamous is pure gold.
Infamous is story heavy. It's sandbox, but you have a tight story driving you forwards.
Uh, GTA IV, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Infamous and Fallout 3 say hi 🙂
inFamous is the only game in that list I finished because its the only one that didnt bore me to death.
don't forget Assassin's Creed II; it was the first game that I got a Platinum trophy for because it was _that_ addictive and fun.
dont forget the assassins creed games, red dead redemption and a month from now LA Noire. throw in new vegas also.
burnout paradise could also qualify on this list of sandbox games that are great.
Last edited by frylock25 on 4/5/2011 10:32:43 PM
@nosmokingbandint
So I guess you'll be first in line for BF3!lol
except GTAIV elder scrolls and fallout 3 are some of the most boring repetitive games to ever grace the industry!
especially fallout 3, you get no sense of progression what so ever and every environment looks the same!
your constantly saying to yourself wait ive been here before.
its like they created one area, then cut and pasted it 1000 times!
had a decent story, great combat but was faaaaaaaar too repetitive!
Other way around for me Nosmokingbandit. But that doesn't mean the others didn't have their flaws either.
"Line man" underlined (ha!) a few.
Last edited by Lotusflow3r on 4/6/2011 6:10:26 AM
Would Final Fantasy count as sandbox? FFXIII was obviously more of a "scripted experience" and linear, and look how that turn out. I think FFX was also more linear, but that turn out pretty good.
It definitely depends how its executed. Whether its linear or not, it doesn't determine a game's success.
@daus26
I totally agree with what you're saying :), that's why I personally love both linear games (Uncharted and MGS4 anyone?) and non-linear games (*coughs* GTA IV and Fallout 3, like I said earlier).
Like many here, I'm a diverse gamer 🙂 (who has a very strong affection to RPGs of course…).
Personally I think linear games "can be" boring. The replay value suffers because you already know how your going to beat it. Even on the 1st playthrough it feels like someone is holding your hand the whole time. Telling you where to be when a predetermined enemy jumps out and charges you. Sandbox games are fun because there's just so many more options at your disposal. What do you think of that Patrick?
i am playing red dead redemption and loving it. i personally like having some freedom in my gameplay.
Well the point is, the option's run out… By end game you have already done all the options.
Sandbox game's can be fun… if you really have a FULL built game. Infamous and GTA4 I Completed, the other's where boring…
Last edited by Deathstriker on 4/5/2011 10:26:01 PM
It all depends on what the genre, and/or goals of the game in question is in my opinion. There are loads of sandbox games that I love to play due in part to the freedom element. Linear games are pretty good as well for the most part, but I do get tired of riding on rails through an entire game sometimes.
I like boring sandbox games. They're way more fun than boring first person shooters.
I like how you sad that…
I love a good sandbox game.
Some of my most fun times was doing marathons on FarCry2, GTA4, The Saboteur, & inFamous, just to name a few.
Sandbox > FPS any day of the week.
Infamous, RDR, Just Cause 2, The Saboteur, GTA(all of em), TW2, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, prototype. . . and etc, etc, etc…
Tons of popular sandbox, sure there are tons of popular FPS, agreed, but to say that sandbox is boring, what sandbox is he playing?
Just your regular- The Sandbox.
Sandboxes have a lot more to offer in general, but focus is important in alot of games. Personally I like my shooters focused, unless theres an rpg element to it like fallout, or something to be gained by searching things out.
I like sandbox games but I do kinda find some boring after awhile. I don't play RDR or Infamous as often as I use to because it does kinda feel like I do the same thing each time I play, but I still do like them very much. But I also feel the same way with most FPS aside from the HL games and Crysis 1-2.
If there's enough content that's interesting and makes you want to keep coming back then yes. But a game like Just Cause 2 where unless you create your own fun it just wears away in time. IMO Borderlands is one of the best sandbox games around.
For everyone saying most sandbox games aren't boring, I ask you this: How much time do you waste traveling from point A to point B?
Personally, I find it rather frustrating when I'm constantly harassed by random enemies in a field when all I'm interested in doing is getting to the next mission.
I understand what you mean, that is kinda of annoying.
If the traveling is fun then I don't mind. It was pretty fun wondering around on horse back in Red Dead. It was a lot of fun just running around Empire City. Assasin's Creed is the only sandbox game I got extremely board with traveling.
Traveling in Just Cause 2 and Infamous is just as much fun to me as anything else. A lot of sandbox games have a quick travel system though, so it usually isn't an issue.
Yes, your general sandbox games are indeed boring. However, inFamous proved otherwise. Every second of the game was pure enjoyment.
GTA's, RDR, Infamous, Fallout 3/New Vegas, Assassin Creed, Red Faction Guerilla, Dragon Age, Demons Souls, etc. Sandbox games aren't boring, they are just repetitive…just like FPS's. They all repeat the same mechanic in new enviroments. FPS's are even more repetitive because you do the same thing over and over…shoot moving targets. KZ2/3, BF2, CoD…the multiplayer hides the repetition of the core game really.
Seriously, after hearing them say this…I hope their campaign rivals the unpredictability and freshness of Uncharted 1 and 2. Really, I feel that comment was very ignorant or just purely subejctive material they should have kept to them selves. Now I want to see them fail and reproduce the same repetitive material FPS's offer.
And how aren't sandbox games popular?…if anything they kept me interested in gaming, not FPS's. The only FPS I truly loved was Bioshock.
Now sandbox game that suck include Saints Row, Just Cause 2, and Borderlands (not so much, but up there). All these games featured little to no story. Just Cause 2 was jsut horrible.
I can't name any FPS's that have blew me away outside of Half Life, Bioshock and KZ2. Sandbox…well you know the rest…
Last edited by FM23 on 4/5/2011 11:10:28 PM
Well to be honest, Just Cause 2 wasn't ever meant to have a moving story. The whole thing was just meant to be fun. I personally found the story to be quite funny.
The gameplay was just flat out fun.
What Kray said. JC2 was the most fun sandbox game i have played. It was known from the start that fun and non-seriousness was it's game.
Why does everything have to be serious and realistically story driven? It's exactly what's over flooded our industry. We need the fun factor back.
Last edited by Lotusflow3r on 4/6/2011 6:17:57 AM
I would rather have a high quality fun game than a low quality one like JC2. Plus, JC2 gets incredibly repetitive if you don't try to mix it up at all. The devs didn't throw any variety in, its up to the player to do that, and if you're playing a game for fun you don't want to have to screw around with making the game fun. That's just my take on it, but still.
What sandbox game did DICE make?
Their multiplayer modes are kind of sandboxish in Bad Company 2. Some of the maps are HUGE. I often call Bad Company 2 a sandbox first person shooter.
I guess it depends on what they call a sandbox game or define one as…
I'm trying to think of one and can't. Unless they consider the older battlefield games sandbox style. They are rather large maps in the older battlefields. Even as jawknee mentioned above for BFBC2. BF1943 has a large map as well lots to do for an online mp. I don't know…
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 4/5/2011 11:46:27 PM
If a large Mp map makes it sandbox, then mag must be one heck of a sandbox game in the eyes of Dice.
The older battlefield games on PC and even the map(s) in battlefield 1943 are as large if not larger than some maps in MAG. But in BF you also can fly planes, among driving vehicles and boats making the gameplay much broader with being able to use a boat in the ocean and take to the skies in a plane. I still can't answer that question, but make of it what you will…
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 4/6/2011 10:19:10 AM
I could say the same for FPS games.
I could say a lot worse for FPS games. lol
you could say that for allot of games, not only shooters.
i could literally count the number of non boring games released this gen on 2 hands!
most are just too serious, too repetitive, too restrictive, or all of the above!
i miss the days where games were tong in cheek.
constantly making fun at themselves, i mean why do you think duke nukem is so famous and enjoyable!?
even after the ridiculously long development time even the king himself is joking about the ridiculously long development time!
i mean, come on, you will NEVER see a trailer announcing a delay funner then DNFs latest one!
because, of course, duke never comes early!
😉
dude there are still some bloody good fps games out there
I guess that all just depends. I think it's about pacing. You can't throw the character or player in too quick because that could cause a high amount of difficulty. But if it takes too long for it to pick up and things to start happening sure they can get real boring and very tiresome. So if the pacing is right and there is a story there to back it then sand box games can be a huge treat! Look at RDR, or infamous, both very good examples of sand box games that are not boring nor hard to get into.
He must have been referring to MMOs when he said "hardcore, boring, hard to get into.." the "not very popular" line looks more like a line of jealously. Sandbox games are awesome, hilariously cool at times, and easy to play.
If he was talking MMO's he is off his rocker. Wow alone has over 10 million players and there are a ton of other MMO's with millions. It seems to me that if you take purchase price, monthly fees and all that, MMO's are the big money making genre.
I love sandbox games. In most FPS games you just follow the story, do this, do that, and ride the rails until the game is over. With sandbox games you can put the story on hold almost any time you like and just go explore the game and whatever fun/weird/creepy stuff the devs have hidden all over the place. Fallout 3 is the best example I can think of. You can follow the mission and beat the game rather quickly, but going out and exploring is very rewarding, and can add many, many hours of fun to the game.
Not to mention those FPS story lines tend to be shorter than a bathroom break.
If sandbox games are boring than I don't want to know what fun is. Besides didn't Dice copy cod? moh feels like a generic version of cod. I know moh has been out longer but that game felt too much like cod.
For some reason I think Dice will copy gta eventually.
DICE didn't do MoH. Well, they did the multiplayer, but the SP was done by Danger Close. DICE does Battlefield.
so in other words GTAIV!