Are Sandbox Games Failing?
Are sandbox games a dying breed? With titles like Far Cry 2, GTA IV and various others competing to present you with the best possible open world gaming experience, more recently one that is as contemporary as it is realistic, it’s hard to argue that sandbox titles are beginning to lose their aura of enticing quality. Verisimilitude aside, there are very telling signs of what constitutes a sandbox experience, and what is simply one quality aspect of the game copied and pasted hundreds of times onto a larger map. Whereas Liberty City was full of life, various characters, themed islands, and varied missions, Ubisoft’s Africa was essentially the same six missions and vehicles dotted around a mountainous landscape devoid of any real motivation for off-hand exploration. To take two examples in comparison, one of GTA IV’s landmark storyline missions requires you to head all the way across the city to visit a car you’re attempting to purchase. You meet the girl selling the car, you get in, an
