Virtual Adept

I was reading on Interscription yesterday about Saint’s Row and Khidr posed the question “what would you like to see in the ultimate urban sandbox adventure?” I wanted to take some time and write a meaningful response, so I decided to think on it a while and make that a post on my own blog.

First of all, lets go into the background of this “genre” of game so we know the current state of the art in this style of game. This “genre” really didn’t take off until Grand Theft Auto 3 came out. There were games before that that were open ended and offered similar freedoms, but GTA3 defined the genre as a genre, and was also the first to be widely imitated.  GTA3 took elements of a bunch of other genres and mixed them together to form something refreshing and something that really had a lot of immersion because of all the things you could do in the game world.

Over time, the GTA series has improved and added more and more features. In the latest game, GTA San Andreas, elements of RPG and strategy were added to give the game even more depth. Tons of new minigames were added. The game is still primarily an action/adventure but because of all the added gameplay elements it feels like much more. Saint’s Row is a lot like GTASA except it’s in high def.

So, back to the question. What would be my ultimate urban sandbox adventure?  I think first of all I would ditch the whole “gangs and thugs” theme, which is way overdone at this point. There is no reason that this same “genre” of gameplay can not be done using different themes. Here’s some suggestions:

Grand Theft Horse – a wild west themed “urban” sandbox game, where you move from frontier town to frontier town doing missions, defending the town from injun uprisings, pony express, rescuing the rancher’s daughter from her virginity, the stuff of true grit heroes. GUN sort of did this but it messed up by making it mission based rather than a seamless world where you could do all the stuff it did without jumping into a “jarring” misson mode. And honestly GUN just didn’t have enough content, it isn’t a third the game of GTASA. Still, it did an okay job and is well worth a play if this subject matter interests you, especially at it’s bargain prices you can find it these days.

Grand Theft Cyber – How about a game set in William Gibson’s dystopic future of Neuromancer? Samurai chicks with razor claws and mirrored shades. Cyberpunk or just science fiction settings in general would be a refreshing change from the tired old gangsta urban themes. They could do one set in Shadowrun, also, that would so own. If Microsoft did something similar to the gameplay of Shadowrun for Sega Genesis, but in 3D and more mini-games and things to do, wow, I’m getting wood just thinking about that game.

Grand Theft Chariot – how’s about a game set in Rome during the height of the Roman Empire? You cold do chariot races, participate in trecharous sentate politics, be a mercenary or a legionaire helping to keep the territories in line, or so much more. Ancient Greece would also be a good setting, or just about any historical setting that there are good movies and books about. Gone With the Grand Theft Wind. Grand Theft Tank circa WW2. Grand Theft China. Grand Theft Privateer (aka Pimps at Sea ).

Grand Theft Dragon – fantasy themes are still very popular if a bit overdone, but I could still enjoy a good game set in a fantasy setting with gameplay similar to the GTA series. This has been done before, of course, the latest game of this sort being The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Oblivion is an action/adventure and an RPG. It’s action oriented, but it is also an RPG with levels and skills and stuff. If it had more mini-games and if the horses had worked more like GUN it could have been even better. More interativity is needed, more care taken to individualize the NPCs, and such, but overall a very good job, and easily one of the best games of 2006 if not the best. Morrowind is a bit dated but it offers a lot of the same “non-linear, immersive world” fun that Oblivion does. The Gothic games are another good example.

But lets get back to “urban” themed games. I would like to see even more mini-games seamlessly built into the game world. And not just about killing or driving, we need lots of new kinds of interactivity. Pick up a basketball and get into a game with some kids. Buy a skateboard and take it to the skating park and it switches into Tony Hawk mode. Buy some bait and go down to the docks and fish. Buy a bunch of ingredients and become Chef Boyardee. Visit a casino and play the slots, blackjack, or a nice round of Texas Hold’em. Visit the arcades and play Pac Man or Spy Hunter. Have gratuitous sex with your girlfriend and prove your sexual prowess. Okay, just kidding on that last one, I’m sure no one would even think of doing that.

I should be able to do some normal jobs too, instead of just being a thug all the time. Like maybe I can do a mailman job or delivery boy, or I could be a taxi driver, a fireman, putting out the fires that got started when I wrecked the SUV into the gas station, an ambulance medic (including CPR mini-game), a cop, a detective, a construction worker, etc. Why not let me be a computer geek programming in a cubicle all day long?

Another thing I think is essential to the ultimate urban adventure is for the game to include more RPG elements like GTASA started doing. My favorite genre is RPG after all, and what I really want is a game that is fully immersive but with RPG stats like Oblivion and in other settings besides just fantasy. There should be some experience points system so you can improve your character over time. Having the ability to customize the character would be nice (and not just looks), and the choices you make should have an impact on what you can do in the game. You should be able to learn different skils and make choices while developing the character.

 My last point I want to make about the ultimate urban sandbox game is that it needs to be more targeted toward a mass, casual audience. The GTA games are too hard. Casual gamers do not like repeating the same extreme difficult missions over and over and failing and having to drive back to the mission place over and over again. Turn down the difficulty and/or add difficulty settings to the options so that casual gamers can get in on the fun too. Ideally the game should be able to turn on and off settings to make the game more or less difficult.  Oblivion has a slider bar. And keep the mini-games easy enough that a beginner can do them, and then gradually ramp up the difficulty to them or something. The goal here is not to challenge the player but to give them freedom to do whatever they want.

Another big, big help to this kind of game would be to add Save Anywhere ability. Repeating hard missions would be a lot less cumbersome if I didn’t have to drive back to the start of the mission and then restart the mission cinematics over and over. Saving mid mission would really help. I don’t care if you want to give me the Big Pussy Achievement on XBL if I chose to use it, I still want that option.

While I’m sure no game could ever be the “Ultimate” game, it’s fun to think of all the options. What are the features you would want in your “Ultimate Urban Sandbox Game”?