"Open World" and "Exploration" Games

The one I'd like to see is one set in the Star Wars universe where you are a smuggler (or something along those lines) making your way. You could go to Tatooine, Coruscant, etc. Get enough money to modify your Stock Light Freighter.

moss_icon wrote:

it's by these crazy soviet programmers who also made a game based on "heroes of might and magic", which is utter lunacy: www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/10/02/king...wife-the-belt-odoom/

King's Bounty ROCKS. I've been meaning to post a recommendation for it on this site.

Daggerfall was one of those truly seminal moments in gaming history for me, alongside titles like Ultima III, Civilization, Doom, Half-Life, and Thief. Where your eyes are opened to the the possibility of what a PC game can be--and what they promise in the future. It's true, the game had many flaws, but I was in such heaven, I couldn't have cared less.

I think maybe that's why Morrowind was a letdown. In Daggerfall, everything except the main story's dungeons was randomly generated. In spite of the chaos that sometimes created, it helped make every new game feel like a truly new world. Morrowind didn't have that: if you went to the same dungeon, you'd find the same monsters, the same major items. A shame.

I really liked the scaled leveling in Oblivion, but I think that's because I approached the game as an exploration game, not an RPG. Fixing the enemy level shoehorns you in to the same pattern of world exploration every time you play the game. Scaled leveling, on the other hand, means you can start anywhere you like. Every game can be really different. Oh, well. Angry internet won that battle, unfortunately.

Just went to listen to that track you mentioned. Instant memory of trudging through the snow from town to town on my horse. Awesome.

mikoyan wrote:

The one I'd like to see is one set in the Star Wars universe where you are a smuggler (or something along those lines) making your way. You could go to Tatooine, Coruscant, etc. Get enough money to modify your Stock Light Freighter.

That'd be cool. Maybe something like Oblivion, but Star Wars. Opportunity to join either the Rebels or Imperials would be cool, too. And the ability to command whole fleets of ships if you become a high ranked admiral or something. If it was sort of like an MMORPG, but without all the other people, they could let you make decisions that really affected the galaxy. That'd rock.

Aarontu wrote:

mikoyan wrote:

The one I'd like to see is one set in the Star Wars universe where you are a smuggler (or something along those lines) making your way. You could go to Tatooine, Coruscant, etc. Get enough money to modify your Stock Light Freighter.

That'd be cool. Maybe something like Oblivion, but Star Wars. Opportunity to join either the Rebels or Imperials would be cool, too. And the ability to command whole fleets of ships if you become a high ranked admiral or something. If it was sort of like an MMORPG, but without all the other people, they could let you make decisions that really affected the galaxy. That'd rock.

If you ever played the d6 RPG, I was thinking something along the lines of the Stock Light Freighter Guide.....

I'm the opposite, I prefer enclosed tightly lead games.
I think it is because I am goal orientated. I find that if I'm given the freedom to explore I get bored. I much prefer to have a stronger narrative focus and a game that is leading me down that path. I find the same thing with gamebooks.
I think that is why I have never gotten a world of warcraft character much passed level 30.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

I'm the opposite, I prefer enclosed tightly lead games.
I think it is because I am goal orientated. I find that if I'm given the freedom to explore I get bored. I much prefer to have a stronger narrative focus and a game that is leading me down that path. I find the same thing with gamebooks.
I think that is why I have never gotten a world of warcraft character much passed level 30.

Personally, I highly enjoy both kinds of games. Admittedly, I don't play open world games for the story or for the action, but more for the sense of discovery and exploration. Sometimes I just want to explore and do random stuff. I've never actually completed a GTA or Elder Scrolls game, though I've spent time on them having fun and stuff; after I really satisfy my "itch" for open world gaming, I stop playing the game and go back to other kinds of games for a while.

The games I mentioned above (Fallout, Star Control II, Quarentene) are probably perfect open world games for me, because there is enough plot focus to keep me from getting too off track, so they keep me playing it till the end.

My absolute favorite kind of game is the non-linear strategy game (X-Com, Civilization, Master of Orion), but sometimes I need an open world/galaxy to explore.

This was a brand-new concept of game to me when I started playing Oblivion. i LOVED it. The freedom was amazing. I went on to play Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Saint's Row and GTAIV (all of which I find similar in terms of freedom). I loved all of them and my favourite by far was GTAIV.

There is the weirdest feeling of utter freedom as I drive or fly around NYC. It's so amazing. I'm totally hooked on this genre now. I should really get Saint's Row 2 which I hear is fantastic as well.

maka wrote:

Also, what about board games that work like this? For example, Magic Realm is a very open-ended game where you have a lot of freedom as to how to act and what to do. You can explore, loot treasure sites and fight monsters, but you can also hire natives and use them to fight other natives or go hunting players, or just maybe avoid everyone and look for magical places to learn spells, etc... Few boardgames I know have this feeling...

I was thinking about this, and I think Talisman with a ton of expansions feels like this. Nearly the whole board is open to every player at the start of the game and players are free to go wherever they want to. Each region (Dungeon/City/whatever) has it's own deck of encounters and it's own special spaces so each area is genuinely different. I like that open feeling, though the downside of all the expansions is that players will encounter each other less frequently.

Other adventure games can probably have something kind of like that, too, like maybe Return of the Heroes with expansions or Descent: RTL. Pen and paper RPGs would obviously be the most "open world" tabletop game, but that's kind of a given.

Bullwinkle wrote:

I really liked the scaled leveling in Oblivion, but I think that's because I approached the game as an exploration game, not an RPG. Fixing the enemy level shoehorns you in to the same pattern of world exploration every time you play the game. Scaled leveling, on the other hand, means you can start anywhere you like. Every game can be really different.

i never really thought of it this way before, but i like your line of thinking. if i could find my oblivion disk i would give it another shot, but i lost it when i moved and it wasn't installed at the time. gah.

Black Barney wrote:

This was a brand-new concept of game to me when I started playing Oblivion. i LOVED it. The freedom was amazing. I went on to play Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Saint's Row and GTAIV (all of which I find similar in terms of freedom). I loved all of them and my favourite by far was GTAIV.

the freedom in mass effect was fairly irrelevant, and most of the non-story planets were utterly bland but MAN ALIVE what a great game! one of the few games where i was just happy to play the main story through and not be too disappointed that i didn't bother with all the little sidequests, because i was too hooked on finding out what happened next. can't wait for the sequel.

p.s. get saints row II. so long as you can stomach the teeth clenchingly bad performance and mediocre graphics, you will have a riot (LITERALLY)

I tried the original Saint's Row, and was underwhelmed.

My largest issue with a lot of sandbox games is SIMILAR to Skeletor's. I like that the game has a focus, and gives you strong objectives, but allows you freedom on how to achieve those objectives.

The original Deus Ex was really good for that--as was Bioshock. Oblivion worked because it consisted of a series of interesting and well-defined quests.

A lot of sandbox games just create the sandbox and say. "Have Fun." Then they fill the thing with very samey minigames and distractions. (Grand Theft Auto, I'm looking squarely at you. Mercenaries was far worse.)

Curiously, I was fond of Crackdown, which is even leaner. 17 bosses...go kill 'em. No story, no cutscenes. It worked, only because the actual game part was so much fun.

BTW. Completely unrelated. If you find a copy of Earth Defense Force for the 360 cheap. Pick it up. Terrible graphics. But you can fire at a massive army of 30 foot ants with a nuclear-tipped rocket launcher. And there are hundreds of them crawling all over buildings.

I'm replaying Bioshock now and having a blast.

I played Saint's Row a year after finishing up GTAIV. I expected to hate it but actually really loved it. I thought it was a total blast to play. I missed not being able to fly helicopters or anything and that's why I think I should get Saint's Row II. Maybe I got it as a wedding gift?

I liked Bioshock a lot--especially the atmosphere--but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that it never quite measured up to the genius that was System Shock 2. And the penalty-free respawning made the game way too easy.

yeah, I'm playing with Vita Chambers off. What an awesome addition to the game (it was free with the DLC). It's way better. "Ah crap, that Big Daddy killed me. Ok, let's try this again but with the Big Daddy reset to full health" Meaning it is once again challenging.

With Vita Chambers on in my first playthrough on Hard, the first Big Daddy killed me almost a dozen times. On this playthrough (Hard) with Vita Chambers OFF, the Big Daddy didn't kill me once. how come? Probably cuz I had fear of getting killed.

It's way better like this

Actually, the Big Daddys ended up not being THAT bad. Mines and explosive tripwires are your friends.

The AI in Bioshock didn't seem all that great when you compare it to Killzone 2 and Fear 2.