If a little game series called, “Grand Theft Auto” is a new concept to you then welcome to planet Earth. GTA invented if not perfected the concept of free-roam game play. Go anywhere, do anything…the possibilities were almost limitless.

[Grand Theft Auto]

It’s almost cliche now to say any other free-roam or sandbox style game is trying to be GTA. At some point in the birth of a genre, others must create within the concept’s parameters to even coin a genre type…well, a genre.

At what point however, do we begin to find a game an unworthy addition to the genre? What standards must be met to be classified as a great sandbox game? What new ground must be ventured to further the genre?

Not to pick on Godfather 2 [PC, PS3, XBOX360], but it’s a prime example. It’s like a five year old who doesn’t know that the joke has gotten old…

Anytime you develop something in a dominated genre, you have to stray away from “fitting in”. See if you do not fit in, you “stand out”. This is exactly what developer Electronic Arts has failed to do.

In my opinion, it should be the goal of any developer working in any genre to make a stand out experience. If developers continue to fail to do so, we will only see the genre cancel it’s self out. IE. Saint’s Row, Mercenaries, Mercenaries 2, etc…

When developing in a GTA dominated genre, the best thing to do is to start thinking about genre mixing. Bethesda has done this brilliantly with the Oblivion and Fallout series. Fallout 3 is a perfect example of mixing classic RPG with FPS in place of a turn based hexagon format. Bethesda successfully reinvented the game and brought in a whole new audience, thus receiving many awards. Of course this was a complete change in genre, but was it a bad idea? Obviously that would be a resounding, no.

“The Godfather” was originally released for the PS2 & XBOX in March of 2006. At the time sandbox gaming was still a fresh experience due to the 2004 release of “GTA - San Andreas”, so essentially “The Godfather” was just a mafia themed extension of “San Andreas”. A smart move on the part of EA. It’s to be noted that with the exception of the genre creators (GTA), sandbox game play release ratings have increasingly dropped for every new edition to the sandbox genre. A dwindling interest can only mean one thing…time for a change.

A master of reinventing video game experiences is none other then “Metal Gear” creator Hideo Kojima. Kojima found himself tasked with creating a “combat” game in 1985 for the very limited capabilities of the MSX2 console. Video below -

[Hideo Kojima - Metal Gear on MSX2]

If you skipped the video, I’ll summarize for you here. Kojima, limited to 2D and only 9 horizontal sprites at a time, decided to reinvent the “Combat” genre and create the “Stealth” genre. Operating within the same parameters he was able to create an entirely new experience, a sort of hiding espionage puzzle game that spawned many sequels and became a legendary series. The things one can do when they don’t have enough sprites for bullets, haha.

The same needs to be done with the sandbox gaming experience. Mix it with elements of deep RPG or Splinter Cell styled stealth, especially in a Godfather game. Allow for player controlled character changes. Give orders as the Don, then switch to the character assigned the hit to carry it out. Always adhere to some level of realism when it comes to dealing damage. You shouldn’t have to deal out 20-30 bullets to drop and enemy and the same should go for your own character. Do not add filler to the game, repeating copy pasted missions over and over is not fun. Diversify the game play and take the time to make the environments feel varied and real along the way. Draw your audience in and give them options once they are there with an array of weapons and gadgetry to choose from. Above all, just think outside the box.

If you find yourself developing inside the square, take a note from Hideo Kojima and ad another side.

I for one, really enjoy sandbox games and GTA 4 has shown that improvements of the genre can be made. Let’s just hope that the copy cats of the development world don’t play out the concept by their lackluster attempts to build on the firmly laid foundation.