What was the most disapointing sand box game you played?

[MirenBainesUSMC]

That was overly hyped in the media, overly reviewed too highly, and over claimed to be the best ______ fill in the blank of _______ year.


I would nominate Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. It wasn't a bad game and the story was ok --- if not far fetched concerning the use of John Martson against what the young but growing federal government deemed as enemies.

This is still regarded as a mega-great game but I never saw it. It was indeed an " open world" --- so open, you barely saw anything but cactus and sand as you rode your horse on and on...and when it came time for the mission in Mexico... it REALLY got vacant of anything with long rides to the places you needed to go to. Condensed to its core campaign missions, its a good game.

I think a lot of these games give the illusion of an Open World, such as Watch Dogs for instance. Just because you jam up the place with generic fetch and shooting missions doesn't mean you successfully made an open world... you just crammed junk into a seemingly big map ( which it wasn't).

 

[Barbas]

Dead Island. Every entertaining part of it felt clunky or otherwiseunderdeveloped. I struggled to find things to enjoy about that game. It was ugly as sin.

EDIT: The combat was clumsy and aggravating and I did not need that sewer level to hammer home its flaws...

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

You know I think I was able to look over Dead Island's flaws although the combat was indeed aggravating. I agree.

Funny thing, one time I was a very low level player at the time and tagged along this group whom wanted to keep pushing forward towards harder levels without properly leveling and exploring. I had one grenade and threw it to help out some guy that was being attacked by 5 zombies.... and the MF'kr kicked me out because he was injured in the blast. So there I was with a dinky crow bar as a weapon in the middle of the town square on my own. Messed up.

I think the whole game was clunky, I just liked to smash up zombies I guess.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

GTA 4. Never could get into it, what with it being "realistic" (that really killed the fun of it), and while the multiplayer had some good things, it was mostly a resounding meh.

 

[Savagezion]

I have to disagree on RDR. The only bad thing about that game was the shooting mechanics, which has never been Rockstar's strong suit. However, if you are gonna make a game about an ex-outlaw in the old west and not give much weight to the shooting mechanics, I am gonna have to ding you a point or two. Sandbox-wise, I thought they did a good job. The events were a little too common or too few in number or both but overall, it was a good sandbox.The problem I always hear people having with it is that there is TOO MUCH stuff to do that they get distracted from the main quest. That is what people pride TES series on as a sandbox.

I have to agree with Dead Island for my pick though. I actually like the melee combat, but hate almost everything else about the game. It doesn't feel like a sandbox so much as a corridor with multiple hallways. I really don't even like calling it a sandbox.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

I think I have to second RDR. The open world was just so boring. I mean it was big and empty then the things you could do were mostly pointless. On the other hand, I really liked undead nightmare. I liked the supernatural zombie cowboy look was neat. Also they added a point to a lot of the activities you could do. Limited ammo really helped and gave the open world a survival aspect that kind of tired everything together.

 

[Evonisia]

In addition to being the most disappointing sand box game I've played, I would say that Grant Theft Auto V would be the most disappointing game I played on the 360 (or the seventh generation). I was believing the hype, the trailers made it look like so much fun, and the features looked very interesting. When it comes out, it is controversial to give it anything lower than 10/10 which most reviewers gave it anyway. Things were looking good... then I actually played it.

Full disclosure, of about ten of my Xbox Live friends (most of whom are also real life friends), I finished the game the fastest, and that's because about half way through I was rushing to get through to the end. Sure they may have finished it first, but I cleared it in 20 hours, and never replayed it.

The shooting which looked like so much fun? It had a horrible aim assist feature, and Franklin was ironically more accurate than the other characters.
The story which looked interesting? Was just a bunch of mini plots which never made for a cohesive plot, and once you meet Trevor the plot just stops for three hours, three freaking hours.
The heists? Only happened three times, and they were fun if very limited, and required like four pre-missions which were fine for the first time but not for the other two.
The characters? Inconsistent and just overly angry for no reason. Yes the game isn't very subtle but it's just childish the way that they scream at each over one scene then buddy buddy it up the next, then the next mission they're being all sarcastic.
The driving? An improvement over GTA IV, but the game dedicates so much of its story and missions to you just driving up motorways with no challenge. Yes I know it's the GTA formula, but Saints Row 2, The Third and IV already showed us that keeping them brief but filled with information and character building was the right way to go. It's also not very clear how damaged your car is, you will smoke a bit then suddenly catch fire and blow up.
The flying? Fucking bollocks and there's nothing else that can be said about it.

Every aspect is very messy as well. The worst example I think was having to fly and land a plane, and then do a plane tutorial mission about five missions later. It's also quite restrictive and mean spirited against the player if they want to do the mission how they want (such as getting in a different car in some cases).

There are tonnes of positives, but most of them come in the minor details and how gorgeous it is. A lot of the time I was just happy to drive around in these missions watching the view and listening to the weird even more 90s remix of Rhythm of the Night on the radio. I wouldn't call it a bad game or anything, just a big disappointment. And no, I didn't bother with GTA Online outside of doing the snow map glitch.

Of the three best games evarr of 2013, BioShock Infinite made me angry, The Last of Us made me happy (ironically) and GTA V made me so sad.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Man, I loved both Dead Island and RDR
Worst sandbox would be Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and Destroy All Humans!. Both games are incredibly glitchy and offer shoddy sandbox gameplay at best.

 

[Rabbitboy]

Assasin's Creed 3. I was so bored it still suprises me that I played 2,5 hours of that game.

 

[Something Amyss]

GTA 4. Never could get into it, what with it being "realistic" (that really killed the fun of it), and while the multiplayer had some good things, it was mostly a resounding meh.

I almost went with this, and then I remembered Crackdown 2. I think it's supposed to be a sandbox. It's really more of an orb hunt simulator.

I gave the first one a pass, because I was hoping they'd really build on it with a sequel. But the sequel was pretty much the same thing.

GTA IV was pretty disappointing, though.

 

[BadNewDingus]

Rust.

It's a great idea. Until you forget that you're on the internet and most the playerbase are hackers. If it had a single player mode where there was AI humanoids ... it would be fun .. for a little bit.

Red Dead is a great game. I don't know how many times I rode by a campfire with a few guys huddled around it, only to fill them full of holes and have a posse chase me.

 

[Rastrelly]

GTA 3. It was sooooo boring and clumsy after original and 2...

 

[Strelok]

I'll third Red Dead Redemption, interesting world, done better by Gun and Call of Juarez. Annoying main character, I couldn't muster any other emotion but loathing for him. Boring story, terrible villains. I got a few hours into it and just could not continue. A real miss by Rock Star and the start of a downward spiral they never recovered from. I also got Crackdown with the RRoD XBox I rebuilt that was pretty terrible, but I couldn't play it for long, the jaggies and horrible draw distance were enough to deter me from ever playing again.

 

[Dark Prophet]

GTA after it went 3D, well I have not tried 5th but I doubt it will light my world on fire. Somehow they just don't click with me. And I'm aware that they are technically good even great and story is above average but the sum of it's parts is still less than the whole for me.

 

[laggyteabag]

DayZ, at least in it's current state. You watch any video online about DayZ, and then you see all kinds of wacky situations in the game, and it really makes you want to buy into it. The problem with DayZ is that it is nothing like that. During my 44 hours of play, less than an hour of that was being in contact with another human player other than my friends. It is just that you spend so long with the game running around and collecting food and supplies, just to run into someone that shoots you on sight for no apparent reason or explanation, just so that you can start the cycle again. It's not even like the zombies are even a threat, they are more like a nuisance than anything; they go after you one at a time, chase you for miles, or you can kill it with one single hit from a fire-axe, it is pretty pointless with them even being there. Is the game tense? Sure. But is is worth spending 95% of your time wandering around aimlessly to spend 5% actually doing something? No way in hell.

The game is a gimmick, and I see no real reason to go back to it, at least until the game gets some real content.

 

[Rayce Archer]

Prototype. Fun combat totally squandered on a small, boring world, tedious missions, and awful characters.

 

[UmberHulk]

Assassins Creed: Brother hood. About 60% of that game is built around grinding for cash so that you can buy upgrades that you really don't need.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I liked Mafia II a lot more than Red Dead Redemption but I was more disappointed by Mafia II than I was by RDR. RDR bored me to the point that I just stopped playing once I got to Mexico but Mafia II was a sandbox that didn't want to be a sandbox and indeed, shouldn't have even bothered to have been. I would love to play a sandbox that takes place during the prohibition era, the 40's, the 50's and, Mafia isn't a terrible game but the chapters of the game seem to undo every step forward you take. I got to a couple of points where I had just stocked up on ammo and, weapons only to have them all taken away during a chapter transition...

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

too many to name.. Fallout 3, Mafia 2(which was actually a good game, but the it tricked you into thinking it was a open world game when it wasn't and that sucked), Elder Scrolls, Just Cause 2, Assassin's Creed 3, Assassins Creed Brotherhood, Assassins Creed Revelations and red dead redemption...

 

[josemlopes]

too many to name.. Fallout 3, Mafia 2(which was actually a good game, but the it tricked you into thinking it was a open world game when it wasn't and that sucked), Elder Scrolls, Just Cause 2, Assassin's Creed 3, Assassins Creed Brotherhood, Assassins Creed Revelations and red dead redemption...

Mafia 2 only used an open world since you would be driving around the same areas a lot of times through the story of the game, even the game itself is seperated by levels where you can only roam around if there isnt an objective that requires your immediate presence.

I still manage to enjoy the game for what it was but it was clear that a lot of people didnt manage to let the "sandbox" concept out of the game.