And lo On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:19:15 +0100, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> did  
spake thusly:

> Phil Cook v2 <phi### [at] nospamrocainfreeservecouk> wrote:
>> From reviews some are disappointed they dropped the sandbox aspect for a
>> linear fixed storyline approach.
>
>   The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was my first modern "sandbox-style" game
> I played, and it was a magnificent experience.
>
>   Unfortunately after playing with it for a month or so, I got actually
> immunized against the marvels of an open and realistic world, and  
> afterwards
> any sandbox-style game has been outright boring. Thus it would be such a
> problem for me.
>
>   (I go to more detail here:  
> http://warp.povusers.org/grrr/sandbox_games.html )

To my mind it's not that the sandbox gives you everything it's that your  
actions seem to be inconsequential to the story or the world. They are, in  
theory, open Final Fantasy games. "Oh no a giant meteor is about to hit  
our planet and only you can save us by defeating the dark wizard who pulls  
it closer, but first I'm having difficulty finding my sheep can you help?"  
there's a level of disconnect there if you just plough through the story  
you're either woefully underpowered or have a sense of unease that you've  
missed out on everything the world can offer. Try to take advantage of the  
'world' and as you say ennui sets in.

Okay I harp on about InFamous but it works. It's a small open world you  
can just run around, but the side-quests matter; fix the satellite uplinks  
and more people can contact you with jobs, sort out this problem and the  
enemies won't venture into that area in such high numbers meaning you  
don't have to run through then or stop to slug it out each time. It has an  
effect so much so that one of the side-missions I tend to leave to last is  
getting the El-Trains running; with them defunct you can use the railway  
as a quick transit system, with them running you have to watch out you  
don't get splattered by a train, on the plus side the trains move faster  
if you can hitch a ride and they can also splat enemies on the tracks too.  
All the side-missions connect to the main story and both affect the world  
around you.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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