Best sandbox game?

quarryman

I love sandbox games. Free roam stuff.

Games like Oblivion, GTA, Saints Row, Minecraft, Assassins Creed and Red Dead I've thoroughly enjoyed.

Shooters on rails like COD don't interest me. Similarly, RPGs like Fable where I'm stuck on a fixed path, can't climb every hill I see in the distance.

So what other similar titles am I missing out on?

edit: thought of a couple more there, the Fallout and Just Cause series that I've also enjoyed.

Maybe I should be looking at older titles...

DarkJager

quarryman wrote: »

I love sandbox games. Free roam stuff.

Games like Oblivion, GTA, Saints Row, Minecraft, Assassins Creed and Red Dead I've thoroughly enjoyed.

Shooters on rails like COD don't interest me. Similarly, RPGs like Fable where I'm stuck on a fixed path, can't climb every hill I see in the distance.

So what other similar titles am I missing out on?

You've pretty much covered all of them except Just Cause 2. Don't go near the first one, the sequel improved a lot on it. I've only played it for a bit but there is a good sandbox environment to play with (including the sky . The main story/missions supposedly get very repetetive but for mindless arsing about its quite good fun. Also, Fallout 3 or FNV if you haven't played them.

Think there are some Yakuza/Samurai themed ones out (I've seen these in GAME but can't remember the names of them). Wasn't overly impressed by the back of box synopsis so never picked them up.

Saying that, there isn't many sandbox games that can match GTA/RDR/Saints Row for fun.

Dave_The_Sheep

Fallout 3 and New Vegas, if you liked Oblivion, you'll probably like those two.

Far Cry 2 is ... kind of ... sandbox. Kind of. It's not as free form as you'd like, but it's still well worth a play.

DarkJager

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Fallout and New Vegas, if you liked Oblivion, you'll probably like those two.

Far Cry 2 is ... kind of ... sandbox. Kind of. It's not as free form as you'd like, but it's still well worth a play.

Far Cry 2 is one game I found highly disapointing after all the glowing previews of it. You're basically ****ed with Malaria for the start of the game and have to keep getting medicine for it. The fifth time you collapse from it in the middle of a fight sort of ruins the novelty of it. Plus, there was way too much distance between objectives ("go 20 minutes across the map to blow up a pump then come all the way back here").

And lets not even start on the voice acting in it. The actors obviously never heard of punctuation.

Dave_The_Sheep

DarkJager wrote: »

Far Cry 2 is one game I found highly disapointing after all the glowing previews of it. You're basically ****ed with Malaria for the start of the game and have to keep getting medicine for it. The fifth time you collapse from it in the middle of a fight sort of ruins the novelty of it. Plus, there was way too much distance between objectives ("go 20 minutes across the map to blow up a pump then come all the way back here").

And lets not even start on the voice acting in it. The actors obviously never heard of punctuation.

I can't disagree with any of that. It's good fun to play for a while, but it's not amazing, and it's quite repeditive. I'd personally give it about 75%. Add 10% to that if you don't mind the repetition.

Duggy747

And don't forget about all the respawns as soon as you got 10cm away from a road-stop. FarCry 2 was hugely disappointing, couldn't understand how people liked this game so much as it felt like it went back a couple of years in game design.

Oblivion would be my favourite (Hopefully Skyrim will nail the top-spot ) because I had so much fun playing it and pumped serious hours into it. GTA: San Andreas would be the next one, multiplayer is good craìc on it too.

PogMoThoin

Arma2 and Arrowhead, plus there are 1000's of mods, missions and maps

calex71

Crackdown is worth a look, Bully is an oldie but I enjoyed it a lot.

Prototype was ok as was Red Faction Guerrilla, I didn't like just cause 2 at all.

Spiderman : Web of Shadows deserves a mention picked it up for €5 there a while back.

IS borderlands sandbox? It kind of is if i recall.

quarryman

calex71 wrote: »

Crackdown is worth a look, Bully is an oldie but I enjoyed it a lot.

Ah forgot about that one. One of the few games I've completed. Brilliant game. I hear the 2nd isn't up to much.

calex71 wrote: »

IS borderlands sandbox? It kind of is if i recall

It is I guess. I didn't really enjoy it. The generic level-focused enemies made everything seem a little bit samey. Played a bit like an MMO for me, increase level to get weapon that has +1 damage etc. No soul man, no soul.

calex71

quarryman wrote: »

Ah forgot about that one. One of the few games I've completed. Brilliant game. I hear the 2nd isn't up to much.

No it's not , very disappointed with it, you essentially do the same mission 20 times and game over, job done. It's fun just not very good story wise.

Sephiroth_dude

L.A noire is sandbox right?thats out in may and skyrim (sp?) in november,what else is on the way out?

deathrider

Brutal Legend was a bit of fun in this respect. Nothing amazing, but good craic nontheless.

tonydude

first sandbox game i played was urban chaos (ps1) well i think its a sandbox, good ol' game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToJDKem2v0w

Retr0gamer

I found Saints Row 2 to be so much better than GTA 4 which bored the arse off me. It was balls out silly and ridiculous but heaps of fun. I usually find the side missions in these games to be awful but in Saints Row 2 I went out to find and do all the side missions which were fantastic although the higher level ones were a little too tough. Got a little sick of the game after a while but that was after plowing in about 60 hours into it.

Of course there's always true sandbox games like Minecraft!

Jet Black

I think inFamous is. Its in my pile of games to play.

DarkJager

tonydude wrote: »

first sandbox game i played was urban chaos (ps1) well i think its a sandbox, good ol' game

Had that for the PC and loved it, story was quite good and it was out about a year before GTA 3. Training missions at the start (particularly the slalom driving course) were tough going, but it really took off after that. Would have loved a sequel to it, especially on todays consoles.

tonydude

DarkJager wrote: »

Had that for the PC and loved it, story was quite good and it was out about a year before GTA 3. Training missions at the start (particularly the slalom driving course) were tough going, but it really took off after that. Would have loved a sequel to it, especially on todays consoles.

It was a gem of a game, heard one of the best game quotes in my life in that game and still remember it, i was standing under a telephone line and a bird was perched on it and a homeless guy was beside me when he said

'' Damn that big ol' bird just sh#t on me from that wire up there, look at the ol' bastard up there'' lol

DarkJager

tonydude wrote: »

It was a gem of a game, heard one of the best game quotes in my life in that game and still remember it, i was standing under a telephone line and a bird was perched on it and a homeless guy was beside me when he said

'' Damn that big ol' bird just sh#t on me from that wire up there, look at the ol' bastard up there'' lol

It was the only sandbox game as well that did it from a police perspective, which was quite cool at the time. Think there was talk of a sequel with Roper as the lead but never heard anything more about it. Arresting random pedestrians was great fun

Skerries

The first sandbox game i ever played and is considered one of the first sandox games is an old Amiga game called Hunter
it was a basic 3d game but you could go anywhere in it

Magill

World Of Warcraft !

hal9000

man i remember being hooked on outcast for awhile back in 1999

Coriolanus

Mount and Blade: Warband.
EVE Online

Just Cause are pretty sandbox. Great crack to be had if a little arcadey.

Dylabaloo

There's an upcoming Rockstar game (Makers of GTA) called L.a Noire that looks damn good. A cop open world Sand-Box game where you work your way up the ranks by solving cases. More details here.

Sisko

Totally forgot about Urban Chaos, fair play for reminding me.

They really really really should do a new one.

T'was on the PC too you say? Might have to look it up.

sarumite

Burnout Paradise is a sandbox driving game.....not in the same vein as other sandbox perhaps, but certainly a lot of fun.

quarryman

I picked up X3: Terran Conflict last night. It's basically sandbox in space.... Spacebox

I played X2 years ago and really enjoyed it.

So far X3 is ok but VERY steep learning curve.

sarumite wrote: »

Burnout Paradise is a sandbox driving game.....not in the same vein as other sandbox perhaps, but certainly a lot of fun.

Thanks. Completely forgot about that one. LOVED Takedown.

Jonny7

Ultima underworld 1 and 2.. first person perspective dungeons roaming about.. hated linear games after that experience

Fanny Cradock

People have mentioned Far Cry 2 and Assassins Creed. Both are available in the Steam weekend deal.

FC2, AC, Call of Juarez and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 for €13

animaal

Elite.

Still haven't finished it.

eugeneious

Has to be GTA 3 for me simply because of the novelty of it at the time...

ShadowHearth

Minecraft, after that all sandbox will look line li ear coridor crap ))