With another passing year comes another flood of every one’s favorite game genre: The Sandbox Game. In the wake of Grand Theft Auto IV last spring does a new batch of games bring new and “innovative” ideas to the table, and more importantly do they have the potential to be good?

InFamous

Why it could be AWESOME!

With inFamous being Sucker Punch’s first titles since 2005’s Sly Cooper 3, a definite sidestep has been taken from the ‘kiddy’ Sly aesthetic in favor of a much grittier presentation. inFamous puts players in the shoes of everyman Cole McGrath and chronicles his escapades after some how acquiring a variety of electrical based powers (at the expense of the infrastructure and order of fictional Empire City), the concept seems solid. Besides sharing the awesome game mechanic of allowing every nerds fantasy to come to fruition (Being Able to SHOOT LIGHTING like Emperor Palpatine in the original Star Wars trilogy), inFamous implements a familiar good vs evil system allowing players to use their own moral compass to navigate through the game. With a city that blames you for the current state of affairs, the utter resentment of most of the game world opens up the possibility of a truly unique open world experience.

Why it might SUCK!

I understand that creating a karma system to track good and evil player actions can help add weight to in-game decisions and encourage multiple play throughs, but at some point (probably somewhere between Mass Effect and Fallout 3) something about this mechanic has become stale in my mind. inFamous’s success rides sorely on it’s ability to up the ante in how the game world reacts to these decisions and dynamically changes to reflect them. Certain game mechanics, such as the limiting of powers in blackout areas of the city, could end up hampering the experience at the expense of fun.

Prototype

Why it could be AWESOME!

Prototype can probably be best summed up in one sentence: The Incredible Hulk without being green. The games design shouldn’t be that surprising as it is coming from Radical Entertainment (Developers of the past two Hulk games), but why try and fix something that isn’t broken? Reading up and watching videos of the game has left me with the impression of an allout battle of epic proportions as you fight your way through a recreation of New York City. With the power to absorb enemies and civilians into your body mass and cause general mayhem with super strength and speed, I think Prototype might be one of the more purely fun sandbox game to play around in.

Why it might SUCK!

With GTA IV’s uncanny recreation of a living breathing New York City, as well as the shear depth and length of the game, Prototype may be fighting an uphill battle from the get-go. I think the key to Prototype could be how it is paced; if you keep doing repetitive missions with little evolution in game play I feel it could get stale rather quickly. Hopefully a similar system to Crackdown will be implemented making a character badass from the outset while increasing as awesomeness as the game progresses. If Prototype fails to keep the gameplay and missions fresh, I feel that it could blend into a sea of mediocre titles when it comes out later this year.

Fuel

Why it could be AWESOME!

While we as a country sit in an economic recession with the price of oil and gasoline always having the possibility of skyrocketing to new heights, Fuel sets out to provide a game capturing every American’s secret ambition to forget about hybrids, get a monster truck, and drive it off a cliff and come out unscathed. With a game world that can only be described as “really fucking huge,” Fuel’s gameworld borders on an absurd 5000 square miles (For the sake of comparison Oblivion’s world consisted of a modest 16 square miles). While Burnout Paradise explored an open world environment within the confines of a city, Fuel’s focus on racing in natural and open spaces could create an incredibly deep game experience.

Why it might SUCK!

Sometimes a game can suffer because it is too ambitious, and this problem may plague Fuel, especially since Asobo Studios has never developed a racing title before. The idea of a truly open and expansive racing game sounds great on paper but it may become a daunting and boring game in reality. The reason that Burnout Paradise works is because it is tight and focused city within the confines of the city limits, with fuels map approximately 216x larger the Burnout’s I feel that there are probably going to be some really boring and static environments filling out the rather ludicrous map. Could the concept work? Sure, but for Asobo it may be a bit too much to handle. Let me know when Criterion or Evolution Studios takes a crack at it.

This is Vegas

Why it could be AWESOME!

With a concept that tasks players in reverting Las Vegas back to it’s roots as a morally bankrupt playground for the rich and criminal alike, from the current family friendly tourist destination it has become, This is Vegas doesn’t seem to be short on ideas. An interesting faction mechanic has you influencing the shifting state of the city with the completion of missions for one of four distinct groups all while fighting the Disneyfication of Sin City. With gameplay residing in four distinct types (Fighting, Racing, Gambling and…PARTYING), a recreation of Las Vegas which has you racing through it’s streets, partying in it’s clubs, and hopefully engaging in extra-curricular activities in your hotel room could make variety This is Vegas’s saving grace.

Why it might SUCK!

Simple: Midway. Sadly as a byproduct of Midway’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this year, This is Vegas may end up on the short side of the stick and be released before a final polish can be applied keeping it from being a truly great game. At this point we still don’t know a ton about what the gameplay actually consists of making the quality of the game a bit unpredictable. If Midway can find some way to give the developers adequate time to polish the game, it could be a success, but I fear that This is Vegas is destined to either be pushed out too early, or pawned off to a different publisher, much like the Wheelman.

I Am Alive

Why it might be AWESOME!

With Ubisoft coming off the tremendous success of Assassins Creed, I Am Alive puts the player in the shoes of Adam Collins in the post-apocalyptic ruins of Chicago. While little is known about the actual gameplay, it seems that it is going to be more focused on environmental interactions and an individuals decisions within the confines of said environment contrasting the often combat heavy nature of many open world games. While I am still waiting for Alan Wake to blow my mind, I think I Am Alive’s premise sound incredibly interesting and different from many other games on the market.

Why it might SUCK!

With a inexplicable link between the Will Smith film, I Am Legend, in both name and source material, I Am Alive could be treading into territory that will make it hard to establish the true nature of the game. With the success of Fallout 3, and the upcoming Vegas pseudo expansion, I hope that the gameplay promises actually come true and it is not just another shooter set in a post-apocalyptic setting. Hopefully Ubisoft will use the money they made from Assassins Creed in the development of the game instead of an absurdly large marketing blitz that will seem to elevate the game to quintuple-A status.

Just Cause 2

Why it might be AWESOME!

The original Just Cause stood out in my mind as a really interesting, albeit flawed early Xbox 360 title because of its unique use of verticality by way of it’s parachute mechanic. If this idea is expanded upon and the controls and AI are tweaked a really fantastic game could be created. New weapons such as a one-handed grenade launcher and the ability to fly a jumbo jet open new possibilities for mayhem to ensue on the tropical island environment in which the game is set on.

Why it might SUCK!

Lets be honest, Just Cause was not a great game, when it was released we were starved for 360 titles and ate up anything that looked decent and had a fun demo. If Just Cause 2 is unable to remedy the issues plaguing it’s predecessor (Including Bugs, short game length, terrible AI, and repetitive mission structure), it will be nothing more then an outdated and relatively unplayable mess. Sandbox games have come along way in 3 years and Just Cause may just be a relic from a time in which it had no real competition.

-Eric Wall

On another note: Probably my favorite thing about these games is the awesomely generic names these developers have come up with:
Rico Rodriguez, Adam Collins, Alex Mercer, and Cole McGrath all sound like dudes you went to high school with.

Tags: Fuel, I am Alice, inFamous, Prototype, Sandbox, This is Vegas

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