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[AlphaSnake]

Free-roaming is single handedly ruining gaming if you ask me. Developers have taken a royal shit on creativity and are now releasing copious amounts of free-roaming games. GTAIII blew the trend up. Tony Hawk, Jak II, Need for Speed have now followed, as have abother another dozen popular franchises. I don't have interest in driving around in an open world. I don't want to search for a race. I don't want to search for the damn garage shop.

In some games it fits. In others, it just doesn't. The feature seems to be tacked on for the sake of being tacked because it's the new "it" thing in the industry. Surely I can't be the only one who's downright sick of free roaming. I prefer the linearity. I prefer having the game's options laid out right in front of me; I don't want to drive miles and miles to find a fucking garage so I can buy parts.

Argh.

 

[Sho Nuff]

This is 100% Marketing's fault.

They want to describe their game as "Grand Theft Auto meets (Skateboarding)(Virtua Fighter)(Surfing)(Xenogears)(etc etc)"

 

[Lyte Edge]

Free-roaming is single handedly ruining gaming if you ask me. Developers have taken a royal shit on creativity and are now releasing copious amounts of free-roaming games. GTAIII blew the trend up. Tony Hawk, Jak II, Need for Speed have now followed, as have abother another dozen popular franchises. I don't have interest in driving around in an open world. I don't want to search for a race. I don't want to search for the damn garage shop.

In some games it fits. In others, it just doesn't. The feature seems to be tacked on for the sake of being tacked because it's the new "it" thing in the industry. Surely I can't be the only one who's downright sick of free roaming. I prefer the linearity. I prefer having the game's options laid out right in front of me; I don't want to drive miles and miles to find a fucking garage so I can buy parts.

Argh.

I definitely agree with you. But like you said, it fits some games, and doesn't fit others. On the subject of racing games in particular, linear racers have same the problems. I don't want to have to take stupid license tests and do a 99 lap race to get a fast car. I want to boot the game up and RACE. That's why I'm glad there's titles like Burnout 3 and Outrun 2 out there.

 

[arter_2]

It was a novel idea at first but for the most part I really didn't enjoy it. hell I played gta 3 for about three hours and got completely bored with itand the same happened with vice city. Spiderman was only cool becuase its was really really close to being a completely copy New York so close that I was able to visit my friends apartment. The gameplay is flawed you can only talk to people so many time and then follow thier orders to go from point A to point B all while completeing some boring task.

 

[BuddyC]

I've been bitching about this for a while. When it works, it's nice, but when it doesn't...well...sad.gif.

 

[AlphaSnake]

I definitely agree with you. But like you said, it fits some games, and doesn't fit others. On the subject of racing games in particular, linear racers have same the problems. I don't want to have to take stupid license tests and do a 99 lap race to get a fast car. I want to boot the game up and RACE. That's why I'm glad there's titles like Burnout 3 and Outrun 2 out there.

Well, in the case of GT, let's not forget that there's also an arcade mode that offers you a couple of dozen cars (some of which are very fast) from the start and a few tracks.

 

[ManaByte]

In some games it fits. In others, it just doesn't. The feature seems to be tacked on for the sake of being tacked because it's the new "it" thing in the industry. Surely I can't be the only one who's downright sick of free roaming. I prefer the linearity. I prefer having the game's options laid out right in front of me; I don't want to drive miles and miles to find a fucking garage so I can buy parts.

It's because developers have become L-A-Z-Y. Instead of sitting down and thinking "how do we get the player from point A to point B in the story?", some marketing-minded fuck blurts out "we can make it free-roaming, and sell it on the GTA angle!".

They are too lazy to think up a story or gameplay sequence to drive that story forward, so they fart out a crappy (boring) free-roaming "adventure" filled with generic tasks that make your brain melt until you get to one of the rare "story" sequences that actually try to drive the game forward.

 

[Razoric]

Hi Alpha!

 

[MarkRyan]

It's refreshing to see a thread about this. I agree completely.

 

[ManaByte]

Upcoming games where the developers were lazy:
Larry
NFSU2
Jak 3
THUG2

 

[shpankey]

I also completely agree with you. I hate it as well. Good points made also.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Well, in the case of GT, let's not forget that there's also an arcade mode that offers you a couple of dozen cars (some of which are very fast) from the start and a few tracks.

But it's such a tame "arcade" mode compared to real arcade racers, and it's still boring, but that's a different topic all together.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

I don't like many 3d games because of the "adveture" element it supposedly brings...that extra dimension can be tedious, trying to navigate and find your way around. I want to start on the leftside of the screen with the distinct understanding that I'm attempting to get to the rightside. AHHHH...gaming bliss. God bless 2dness.

 

[mosaic]

Anyone remember the stunt track on Rush 2 for the N64? That was fun, just trying to see how many flips you could get off the ramp before landing.... and sometimes getting stuck in the "wall" and racking up endless flips.

 

[ManaByte]

What sucks is that I somewhat enjoyed the first NFSU. But then I played the demo for NFSU2 and discovered it's another mind-numbingly boring free-roaming piece of crap and I don't want to bother with the sequel now.

 

[ManaByte]

Anyone remember the stunt track on Rush 2 for the N64? That was fun, just trying to see how many flips you could get off the ramp before landing.... and sometimes getting stuck in the "wall" and racking up endless flips.

That sort of thing, and the crash mode in Burnout, is great. There's nothing wrong with putting things like that in a game.

I just dread the day when EA decides to do EA Sports meets GTA and puts free roaming into Tiger Woods where you have to explore and discover club upgrades.

 

[impirius]

This is a bit of a tangent, but the more I think about this, the more appreciate the design of Super Mario 64. The castle and its grounds were perfect for just messing around and enjoying the game's mechanics; once you entered a level, you could either progress directly toward the star goal or just explore at your own pace and discover the secondary objectives in the level. Perhaps most importantly, the stages were varied enough that the game's goals never felt like rehashes.

 

[dark10x]

Anyone remember the stunt track on Rush 2 for the N64? That was fun, just trying to see how many flips you could get off the ramp before landing.... and sometimes getting stuck in the "wall" and racking up endless flips.

Have you tried Rush 2049 on Dreamcast? That kicks the stunt mode idea up to an entirely new, ultra kickass level.

 

[Mike Works]

This is 100% Marketing's fault.

They want to describe their game as "Grand Theft Auto meets (Skateboarding)(Virtua Fighter)(Surfing)(Xenogears)(etc etc)"

Hey, lay off Yanya Calibasta!

 

[mosaic]

I want a game where you can enter a house and watch a monkey wash a cat.

 

[Truelize]

I love free-roaming games when they are done correctly.
I put well over 100 hours into GTAIII and more than 50 into Vice City. And I didn't have any problem with JakII. But everyone is right that it does not fit in all games. And that it has become the "it" thing to do.
It's really sad that most companies have just started throwing the GTA style of gameplay into every game they make in the hopes that people will be hooked in by that. Lazy idiots.

Same as every freakin rpg is active battle now. Turned based is still cool people. Oops sorry to derail.

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

That sort of thing, and the crash mode in Burnout, is great. There's nothing wrong with putting things like that in a game.

I just dread the day when EA decides to do EA Sports meets GTA and puts free roaming into Tiger Woods where you have to explore and discover club upgrades.

EA already tried the freeroaming thing in SSX 3. It was boring to slooooowly make your way to the next track, and it seemed to be there just for the whole mountain races, which were good, but not good enough to justify the tedium of physically going everywhere instead of just using the menu to zap your way there. Developers should ask themselves why free roaming is more fun than selecting tasks from a menu, because in a game like SSX, I wanna jump into the races, not explore.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Have you tried Rush 2049 on Dreamcast? That kicks the stunt mode idea up to an entirely new, ultra kickass level.

Oh hell yes, I don't think I even bothered to play the racing part of that game. Stunt mode was killer.

 

[dark10x]

EA already tried the freeroaming thing in SSX 3. It was boring to slooooowly make your way to the next track, and it seemed to be there just for the whole mountain races, which were good, but not good enough to justify the tedium of physically going everywhere instead of just using the menu to zap your way there. Developers should ask themselves why free roaming is more fun than selecting tasks from a menu, because in a game like SSX, I wanna jump into the races, not explore.

Well, to be quite honest, I thought it worked beautifully in SSX3.

 

[Shouta]

Free-roam in games with interesting settings, excellent gameplay mechanics, and actual REASONS to explore as opposed to just running around for shits and giggles = rocks. Otherwise, most free-roam is blargh boring.

 

[impirius]

I want a game where you can enter a house and watch a monkey wash a cat.

It was originally in Fable but they took it out because it took up 15% of processor time

 

[mosaic]

Actually, I should explore around in Katamari Damacy more. If ANY game has a monkey scrubbing a cat, it's THAT ONE.

 

[AlphaSnake]

It was originally in Fable but they took it out because it took up 15% of processor time

That's awesome. :lol

 

[BuddyC]

Well, to be quite honest, I thought it worked beautifully in SSX3.

Me too, that's one of the few times I really liked it. I liked how you could warp to the general area if you were in a hurry, or take your time and relax as you cruised down the slopes.

If that feature isn't in SSX4, I will be very very sad.

 

[Lord Error]

Larry
NFSU2
Jak 3
THUG2

I'm not sure if the storytelling aspect is your problem, but it's hardly disagreeable that Jak 2's story kicked the crap out of the story in Jak & Daxter, and the third one, in all likelyhood, will have the storytelling even more improved.

 

[Hellraizah]

Free-roaming is definitely a borefest.

And GTA is the king of free-boreming.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

Yeah, Fable was the first "free roaming" game that I was excited about getting, Ironically, it was one of the the most linear feeling games I've played.

 

[Pimpbaa]

I haven't played a free roaming game that had it badly implemented, but then again I haven't played some of the examples mentioned. I loath linearity, especially in genres like RPGs.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

My definition of:

Fun Linear game = Super Mario World (one of the greatest games ever)

Fun 'Free Roaming' game = Diablo 2 (the other greatest game ever.)


I don't care if Diablo isn't *really* a 'free roamng' game and I don't care if my defintions are not correct...cause these games still rock.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

I'm with you until GTA officially goes multiplayer. Then free-roaming will rock once more.

 

[bjork]

TXR > NFSU

that is all.

 

[pilonv1]

Most developers these days cannot even make interesting levels, so I don't know why they think they game make these "free roaming" game worlds interesting too.

I think half the problems are that they are poorly signposted so half the time you spend running around finding where you have to go. For GTA thats fine because there's plenty to keep you occupied on the way and it's often more fun looking around than completing missions. Someone mentioned SSX3, and that's a good example of why we don't need it in every game. Whiplash is another example, where it's incredibly hard to find out where you're going.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I don't know how people can complain about SSX3. If you wanted you could play the game without free-roaming at all.

 

[Sho Nuff]

I just dread the day when EA decides to do EA Sports meets GTA and puts free roaming into Tiger Woods where you have to explore and discover club upgrades.

I just laughed at this, but I stopped after I realized that EA would probably do it.

 

[G4life98]

to me it seems like the problem is with lazy devs and the bad and boring worlds they create

 

[SolidSnakex]

The reason alot of free roam games don't work is because they don't seem to realise that what makes GTA work is all the options they give you. Alot of free roam games now just feel like they created this giant world and that's it, there's not all that much to do, so you're basically left just trying to find the next place you need to go instead of just having fun playing around.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

Its about interacting with the virtual environments and virtual communities. And having a multitude of various tasks/distractions that keep your experciences diversifed.

 

[Jonnyram]

Agree totally. I hated THUG because it took the cool skating action and interrupted it with 100 boring pieces of nonsense. Why the hell do I have to drive 'round the 'hood in a skating game!?

 

[etiolate]

Well, to be quite honest, I thought it worked beautifully in SSX3.

I think the devs shifting the focus to a 'one mountain you can explore' sort of GTA thing took focus away from track design, mostly in the showoff/trick tracks which were overall much shorter and weaker than in Tricky. I'd rather have a bunch of good individual tracks than a couple short ones that link to one another.

 

[Zaptruder]

Free roaming games, that aren't about free roaming... need a zap to event menu.

If your game is about racing cars at blistering speeds with other race cars, then it doesn't need inbetween sections where you're trying to find those fucking races. OTOH, if the player does feel compelled to explore the city, then they still can. But if they're not, then they don't have to.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I blame Neversoft still feeling a bit envious of Atari's 720 degree design...hub/free-roam style before most games even got the linear part down. I bet THUG 3 has the "Skate or Die!"-bee swarms, too...

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

I think the devs shifting the focus to a 'one mountain you can explore' sort of GTA thing took focus away from track design, mostly in the showoff/trick tracks which were overall much shorter and weaker than in Tricky. I'd rather have a bunch of good individual tracks than a couple short ones that link to one another.

Exactly. There was less actual gameplay than Tricky, unless you wanted to manually snowboard between venues over and over. There were only 5 actual racing tracks too! And they weren't as good as Tricky's tracks. The rival system was dropped. Unlockables were pathetic. They basically dropped a lot of what made tricky cool to fit it into the free roamin' mold. Ah well. At least it sold poorly enough compared to Tricky that they might drop the exploring snowboarder stuff.

 

[DarienA]

I don't have interest in driving around in an open world. I don't want to search for a race. I don't want to search for the damn garage shop.

TXR was doing driving around looking for races back on the DC... shut the hell up dammit.

As for the garages what's to search for? If you don't want to look for the hidden ones just use the damn map.

I personally am enjoying the hell out of the NFSU2 demo, I've played it a few times now and I normally only play demo's once and call it a day. The city EA has composed in NFSU2 just seems enormous.. hair pins, overpass, underpasses, highways.... looks to be a long(TXR-type long) game hopefully. Ah I see bjork beat me to the TXR reference....

 

[Gantz]

I'm still waiting for a console rpg that has the free roaming, interaction, and cohesiveness of of Ultima 7.

 

[Optimistic]

Anyone remember the stunt track on Rush 2 for the N64? That was fun, just trying to see how many flips you could get off the ramp before landing.... and sometimes getting stuck in the "wall" and racking up endless flips.

Oh man, that was soooo fucking awesome. Shame the actual racing in Rush 2 sucked. What i'd like to see - remake of Rush 1 + Rush 2's stunt mode.