Sandbox or Not Sandbox?

[The Crazy Legs]

Alright, I think that its about time that we settle this once and for all. Which is the superior style of gaming, sandbox games (such as Fallout and Just Cause) or games that are linear (such as Call of Duty and Gears of War)? Sorry about only using shooter games as examples.

Leave your honest opinion. Try to be more professional than just writing 'sandbox is gay gears of war rocks'. You're better than that. Try to prove that you are correct by pointing out what's good about your preferred style and what's lacking in the other.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Depends. Personally, I like both. Sometimes I want a big, expansive world like the Mojave Wasteland to lose myself in, and sometimes I just like being in a French metro, teaming up with my fellow Russians to take down the American army.

It's personal preference. People want what they want; let's stop trying to have these kind of arguments. They'll go nowhere.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

In general, seeing as I prefer story-focused games, I usually go for more linear games because sandbox sidequesting brings with it a lack of urgency, and ignoring the sidequests means you miss out on a lot of content - lose/lose. If the game is purely about its sandbox, then it'll quickly lose its novelty, like Just Cause, Minecraft or GMod. In fact, about the only sandbox game I ever really liked was Assassin's Creed 2, so...yeah.

 

[Kimarous]

Your definition of sandbox is a little sketchy. Zelda is sandbox yet Need For Speed isn't? Look, I know Zelda tends to have open areas like Hyrule Field and whatnot, but simply being "open" doesn't make it sandbox. I've played games NFS games with free-roam cities like Underground 2 and Most Wanted, and they gave a much more "sandboxy" sense of freedom than trotting around an empty plain ever did. Maybe it's because the environment was prettier for me, maybe it's because I could do impromptu races and pursuits where as Hyrule Field has nothing beyond a Peahat or two, but let's be honest here... calling Zelda games "sandbox" is a big stretch.

 

[Erttheking]

It's like trying to ask "what's better, RTS or FPS," in reality they both work in their own way.

 

[John_Doe117]

Madden and Need for Speed can't be sandbox games (as far as I can tell). They are competative games for their single player mode and are limited by their nature. I don't see racing and sandbox working well, Diddy Kong Racing did this, after a short period selecting levels was annoying.

Personally I wish linear games like Call of Duty and Gears openned up more to something like Halo C.E. standards or Turok 1 and 2 (N64). Call of Duty 4 was pretty fun the first time, but I was disappointed that I couldn't circle around buildings from all the barriers placed around and noticing so many scripted events.

 

[him over there]

You can't prove one is correct, that would be like saying every comedy film is wrong because every horror film is wrong.

 

[Daget Sparrow]

I don't play a lot of them, but the better quality games are generally the sandboxes.

 

[The Crazy Legs]

Your definition of sandbox is a little sketchy. Zelda is sandbox yet Need For Speed isn't? Look, I know Zelda tends to have open areas like Hyrule Field and whatnot, but simply being "open" doesn't make it sandbox. I've played games NFS games with free-roam cities like Underground 2 and Most Wanted, and they gave a much more "sandboxy" sense of freedom than trotting around an empty plain ever did. Maybe it's because the environment was prettier for me, maybe it's because I could do impromptu races and pursuits where as Hyrule Field has nothing beyond a Peahat or two, but let's be honest here... calling Zelda games "sandbox" is a big stretch.

Right, right. Sorry about that. I wrote that and immediately felt like I made myself look like an idiot. I guess that since the forum is still pretty small, I guess I can still fix that. Okay, I guess that your point about LOZ and NFS is true. They ultimately fit in the same catagory, which is neither sandbox or linear.

 

[The Crazy Legs]

It's like trying to ask "what's better, RTS or FPS," in reality they both work in their own way.

*Shrugs* I hate the arguement too. I just only care what people prefer, because one person actually got angry about me liking Fallout instead of Call of Duty, and I tried to ask them why they didn't like sandbox games, and he couldn't come up with a better explaination than "Because they're stupid".

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

It's like trying to ask "what's better, RTS or FPS," in reality they both work in their own way.

*Shrugs* I hate the arguement too. I just only care what people prefer, because one person actually got angry about me liking Fallout instead of Call of Duty, and I tried to ask them why they didn't like sandbox games, and he couldn't come up with a better explaination than "Because they're stupid".

If he really couldn't come up with a better explanation than "because they're stupid," he probably wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer himself. Even "I just don't like them for some reason" would be a better explanation. The whole concept is kind of odd; I think even "RTS or FPS" isn't the right analogy here; it's more like tabletop RPG or novel. I guess what I'm saying here is that the two concepts aren't really related, they aren't in direct competition with one another, and they don't necessarily share the same audience. The only thing they really share is a medium, and if some people prefer one over the other, it doesn't exactly mean much other than that their tastes are narrower than the tastes of people who like both.

Edit: And if he actually got angry because you prefer Fallout over CoD, and it was unprovoked beyond the statement[footnote]by which I mean, you didn't put down CoD and put him on the defensive, and you weren't asking him to turn of CoD so you could play Fallout or vice versa, stuff like that[/footnote], the dude really must have some sort of bigger problem than not liking certain videogames, and his opinion on the matter isn't something to get too worked up over.

 

[The Crazy Legs]

It's like trying to ask "what's better, RTS or FPS," in reality they both work in their own way.

*Shrugs* I hate the arguement too. I just only care what people prefer, because one person actually got angry about me liking Fallout instead of Call of Duty, and I tried to ask them why they didn't like sandbox games, and he couldn't come up with a better explaination than "Because they're stupid".

If he really couldn't come up with a better explanation than "because they're stupid," he probably wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer himself. Even "I just don't like them for some reason" would be a better explanation. The whole concept is kind of odd; I think even "RTS or FPS" isn't the right analogy here; it's more like tabletop RPG or novel. I guess what I'm saying here is that the two concepts aren't really related, they aren't in direct competition with one another, and they don't necessarily share the same audience. The only thing they really share is a medium, and if some people prefer one over the other, it doesn't exactly mean much other than that their tastes are narrower than the tastes of people who like both.

Edit: And if he actually got angry because you prefer Fallout over CoD, and it was unprovoked beyond the statement[footnote]by which I mean, you didn't put down CoD and put him on the defensive, and you weren't asking him to turn of CoD so you could play Fallout or vice versa, stuff like that[/footnote], the dude really must have some sort of bigger problem than not liking certain videogames, and his opinion on the matter isn't something to get too worked up over.

Trust me, I understand what you're saying. I just was annoyed by the fact because he was doing that in public, putting me down in front of a whole bunch of people, and I guess I just started this thread in response due to a bit of anger over the situation. Wierd thing is, that wasn't the only guy. I had to sit through work with all my co-workers, all CoD fans, mocking the event. It was hell. Sorry to rant.

And I asked the guy later why he got angry at me for liking Fallout. Guess what? It was because he bought Fallout: New Vegas (after watching the commercial and thinking it was something other than Fallout) and thought it was stupid. He... I guess he got angry at Fallout in general and felt like singling me out for liking what he didn't. It's funny. Graduate high school and you've still got bullies. I just started this to see if I could find anyone else who really sees the linear/sandbox thing as black-and-white as that guy.

Personally, I like sandbox games better. I feel restricted by games such as Halo and Call of Duty, which give you a path that is set out for you previously. Sandbox games allow you to explore, and get more play-time than the 10-hour campaigns of linear games. I want to find myself getting my money's worth for games. (For instance: Fallout New Vegas: $20.00, 140 days/ Halo Reach: $60.00, 7 days)

 

[Vault101]

Alright, I think that its about time that we settle this once and for all. Which is the superior style of gaming, sandbox games (such as Fallout and Just Cause) or games that are linear (such as Call of Duty and Gears of War)? Sorry about only using shooter games as examples.

Leave your honest opinion. Try to be more professional than just writing 'sandbox is gay gears of war rocks'. You're better than that. Try to prove that you are correct by pointing out what's good about your preferred style and what's lacking in the other.

neither..apples and oragnes..

which do I prefer personally? thats a really hard question, I like sandboxes in that they tend to give you good playtime..but I dont care for screwing around all that much

Ideally I kind of like "kind of linear but kind of not" stuff like Bioware games (dragon age and mass effect)

but overall I'll judge the game for what it is..not for how it compares to somthing completly different

 

[AwsomeKal-El]

FPS: I think most are good if they confine you to one or two buildings or a battlefield.
Other: Most again are good sandbox games. GTA, Bully, Spider-Man 2 and the Arkham games