Poll: Open worlds: Bethesda or Rockstar?

[MrGalactus]

Well, Rockstar. They sort of invented it, no? The point of a Rockstar game tends to be you living and surviving in a big city. The place is pretty much the most important thing in a Rockstar game, but in a Bethsesda games, the place is not as important as the story or characters, the place just provides somewhere for the people to be.
The genre of a Rockstar open world game is an open world sandbox. The genre of an open world Bethesda game, more often than not, is an RPG that happens to have an open world.

 

[Elliott Curtiss]

I'm going with Bethesda. they've some how have turned the "one more turn" effect into "one more minute". With their environments be rich & full and every time I go into one of their games, it feels like I'm reading from a very good book

 

[Iwata]

Rockstar, here's why:

In Bethesda worlds, committing a crime or generally doing wrong has one consequence: death.

Rockstar worlds tend to grade you on your actions and respond accordingly.

I'm not so sure about that... In Fallout 3 you're pretty much free to do as you will, and taking the evil path actually seems to make the game easier, whereas in Red Dead Redemption, committing crimes is a fast way to get blown to bits.

 

[fragmaster09]

from the GTA's i h

Rockstar, here's why:

In Bethesda worlds, committing a crime or generally doing wrong has one consequence: death.

Rockstar worlds tend to grade you on your actions and respond accordingly.

from the 2 GTA's i played and the 2 hours or so of RDR:

1 star - death/busted/wasted
2 star - quicker death/busted/wasted
3 star - even QUICKER death/busted/wasted
4 star - heli's, you're doomed to die/be busted/get wasted
5 star - i can't even get this by spawning a tank and rampaging through the whole of GTA: Vice city

 

[Sebster 105]

Bethesda, but that's probably because I think Oblivion is the best game ever

 

[Sigma Van Lockheart]

Well let?s take a look I have played GTA:4 for around 50-60 hours not to bad yet I have played TES: oblivion for over 3000 hours yea I think I know who I prefer.

 

[theultimateend]

Bethesda, I suppose. Because Volition wasn't a choice and I'm getting sick of Rockstar.

Dear lord.

I want a Rockstar that is as dynamic and mod friendly as anything from Bethesda.

The gangster mods would be...orgasmic.

Rockstar, here's why:

In Bethesda worlds, committing a crime or generally doing wrong has one consequence: death.

Rockstar worlds tend to grade you on your actions and respond accordingly.

It's funny because the reality of those two worlds is the reverse of what you wrote.

 

[teebeeohh]

well...
Bethesda give the best worlds that feel like worlds and not just sandboxes to dick around in. On that note where is volition in the poll?

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Bethesda does a better job of fleshing out their worlds and making you feel as if you're actually there, so...Bethesda.

 

[The Shade]

Bethesda makes bigger worlds and it puts more in to those worlds. You can spend years exploring Bethesda games and still discover new things.

Rockstar has big maps, but it doesn't have full maps.

 

[David Bray]

Not even a question. Bethesda.

With Bethesda you get whole continents and have between 100 and 200 hours of quests and encounters.
With Rockstar you get a couple of cities at best with only 20 hours of gameplay before you get bored and have to kill everyone to keep yourself entertained.

 

[Anthony Abney]

Bethesda, and my thought process is probably a bit different from everyone else's. Basically, I decided which is better by looking at what happens if you go straight from one mission to another.

In Rockstar, you have bland cities/deserts to look at and the only things you pass up are mini-games and side-quests that give no reward for playing them or only give a small reward that's not really worth it unless you're pressed for cash (which you're usually not) or are a completionist.

In Bethesda, you have breathtakingly beautiful landscapes, small villages, shrines, and other things that all have side quests that reward you with an item you can only get there, along with forts, caves, and other dungeons full of valuable loot just waiting for you to grab. Of course, this is not the case in the Fallout games, but I like the TES series more than the FO series anyway.

 

[Iwata]

well...
Bethesda give the best worlds that feel like worlds and not just sandboxes to dick around in. On that note where is volition in the poll?

Well, I left out Volition, Obsidian, the defunct Pandemic and others, as I wanted this poll to reflect only the two major players in the sub-genre.

 

[Woodsey]

Rockstar, here's why:

In Bethesda worlds, committing a crime or generally doing wrong has one consequence: death.

Rockstar worlds tend to grade you on your actions and respond accordingly.

Huh? That's essentially the wrong way round.

 

[B33J33]

Without a doubt Bethesda. I've been on the bandwagon since Daggerfall and twelve years later leaving Vault 101 was the best in-game experience of the last three years - here's hoping Skyrim will top that.

I love Rockstar's sand-box games, but judging by the amount of hours spent/immersion/storyline Bethesda wins every time in my book.

 

[The Harkinator]

This is really close but I have to say Rockstar. The worlds are smaller but sort of better, they look nicer but I would like a Rockstar open world with lots of places to discover in it.

 

[Eireronin]

Write in time

Suckerpunch

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I guess I'm the only one, according to almost every review on the planet. But I found red-dead to be a total snorefest, I was honestly so bored when playing it and I didnt find the "open world" aspect interesting at all. Oblivion, on the other hand, remains one of my most beloved games of all time.

 

[C95J]

I love both GTA4 and RDR, but Fallout 3 is my all time favourite game, and I am currently playing through Oblivion again getting ready for Skyrim, which looks to be a strong contender for my most loved game. Nothing has come close to Fallout 3 yet, and Skyrim looks to be the game to dethrone it.

So I'm gonna have to go with Bethesda for this one, even though I still love Rockstar games.

 

[Popadoo]

Bethesda. Bethesda Bethesda Bethesda.
Throughout this thread people who voted for Rockstar have kept complaining about Bethesda games crashing. I've played Oblivion, Morrowind and Fallout 3 and had only 1 minor problem, which was a character not moving properly in Oblivion. I've also played Red Dead Redemption, where my character got stuck in a saloon's fencing several times and my horse kept running off a cliff when I called it.
Anyway, Rockstar make a huge sandbox just so you can run from one side to the other while doing the main mission, and maybe let you play horse-shoes or shoot birds if you're good. In Bethesda's games almost every single NPC or item has some sort of story/side-quest attached.