GTA is no longer the top sandbox.

When Grand Theft Auto 3 was first released, it stunned the gaming community. It even stunned the developers working on it, who up until the last minute thought it was a mess that wouldn't work. It gave gamers a....

[Cajun Chicken]

This guy is right. Crackdown is a great game and 'refreshing' is the word.
Its just a little bit annoying that people bought it for the Halo3 beta and actually discovered a game within or just by word of mouth of those who experienced it.
And MS missed out on that window of opportunity to get a new one out as fast as possible.

I think Crackdown is a much more healthier game for the 360 than Gears and more should of been done to warrant a sequel DAY OF RELEASE and should be a game that the 360 should base its image off of instead of pretend 'hardcore' games, because we all know that audience actually doesn't exist, its just a marketing term for;
"YOU CAN KILL THINGS! FAST! AND THERE'S BLOOD! BLOODY LOADS OF IT! KILL PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW ONLINE! FOR FUN! ITS GOT FREAKING LOUD GUNS! CRUNCH! SKULLS A POPPING! FAST! LOOK! NO STORYLINE! OH, WAIT! YOU DON'T NEED ONE BECAUSE ITS HARDCORE! EMOTIONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PROTAGONIST AND PLAYER? WHATS THAT? THAT SOUNDS GAY! THAT'S NOT MANLY! GET THAT STUFF AWAY FROM MY HARDCORE MACHINE NOW! F**K YEAH! I'LL GET OUT MY GUN LICENCE, CRISPS AND BEER! BECAUSE I'M A REAAAL MAN!"

I'd rather see a sequel of Crackdown any day than the line up MS are offering this year.
But the problem is as the article states if something doesn't come out soon enough, 'filler' and 'replacements' are bought out and this is why we have Prototype and inFAMOUS being made for next year and both of those can only be played on one console, unfortunately.

I'd still love to see a new Crackdown, but like GTA, the crown could be stolen by either or both next year because of MS not forward thinking and sticking in the 'hardcore' past.

[Panipal2005]

InFamous is PS3 exclusive but Prototype is coming to both PS3 and X360

[Sitdown]

"Its just a little bit annoying that people bought it for the Halo3 beta and actually discovered a game within or just by word of mouth of those who experienced it."

I am not exactly sure why you consider it annoying........sounds like it would be great marketing.....as people who would have wrote the game off by itself......actually ended up discovering the game. It would seem annoying if the word did not get out about the game...and nobody played it.

[Cajun Chicken]

Yes, but only the PS3 will have both on the same machine. So hopefully, twice the sandbox fun if both games deliver. Unless a Crackdown2 comes out of nowhere for 360, but then maybe the above games would actually better it before the sequel is released.

Also its incredibly possible that without the Halo3 Beta, Crackdown wouldn't of sold at all, because at the time it wasn't typically the game that XBOX fans expected after hearing about Gears and the then upcoming Halo3 and was in a sea of FPS back then. That's the way I see it.
Maybe it saved this, but if Crackdown was going to come out on the PS2/XBOX/PS3 say, I don't think it would've needed that marketing move and just would of sold equally or better alone without essentially being bundled with a demo.
It was just MS saving advertising costs. For a game that should of been advertised so much in the first place.

[SteveBallmer SonyRep]

Infamous will crush the sandbox ! And make it perfect again

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Glad to have Ballmer on our side.lol

[Overr8ed]

Yea I think so too, Doing actions that either help you out or bite you in the arse are good, Superpowers+sandbox= WTF moments.
You know what, GTA was good for about 1 month for me, its weird since a lot people told me that a GTA would last you a LONG time but it really didn't do it for me, i still haven't finished the story and I would probably not because of the other games coming out.

[BabyStomper5000]

I played it about the same amount of time. I was pissed I payed $60 for it and traded it in towards... something... I can't remember what. But the point is the game was nowhere near as good as it should have been because of the fact that it was multiplat. If it were only on one system or the other they would have been able to make it twice as good considering they had to build the game from the ground up on two different systems. Oh well, maybe the new PS3 exclusive from rockstar will be the next AAA game from Rockstar. *crosses fingers and waits for the next year or two*

[BigKev45]

Uhh... yeah it still is.

[theKiller]

maybe its still famous but it lost it power with the release of GTA4, san andreas and GTA3 had the biggest impact in the gaming industry at almost any game could do!!

u will see very little sales for GTA4 DLC this fall!

inFamous and prototype probably will take the light out of GTA at least with the hardcore gamers! u also have saint raw 2, which looks much more fun than GTA4!!

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

You can always tell when someone has no taste because the claim that either GTA or Halo are Teh best ever!1!1!!

And for the record, PROTOTYPE will suck. There is a reason that game got delayed. I swear, its like I'm the only person who actually watched the game vids. They were pretty awful. The only cool thing I saw in that game was the animations when your character turns into a creature. Other than that, it just looked like Hulk:Ult Destruction.

I wouldn't be surprised if they scrap the whole project. Its been a while since we heard anything new.

Honestly though, inFamous is going to rule all these games. I think this game will be reminiscent of what GTA4 should have been, partly because the devs. will have plenty of space to build a massive city with. Not to mention the story looks interesting, the graphics are clean, and the gameplay is innovative.

[AngryXbot]

Its because Rockstar went to the 360. You start the game and you can see how much it really is old gen GTA with little improvements on graphics. Its because the game was multi platform and they had to take the 360 into account with its inferior DVD.

DONT BELIEVE ME. WATCH THIS VIDEO. ****THIS IS HOW GTA4 SHOULD HAVE LOOKED IF IT WAS EXCLUSIVE FOR THE PS3****

BEHOLD AND FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE UNBELIEVABLE POWER OF THE PS3. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I BRING YOU THE JAWDROPPING UNBELIEVABLE *****OOOOOOOPPPPPPPEEEEEEENNNN NNNN WORLDDDDDDDDD******* 13 MINUTES OF GAMEPLAY FROM THE ULTRA EXCITING PS3 EXCLUSIVE KNOWN AS INFAMOUS:

http://www.gametrailers.com...

TRIPLE A MATERIAL AND INFAMOUS IS SET FOR A MARCH 2009 RELEASE. BE AFRAID XBOTS. BE VERY AFRAID. FOR THE END IS NEAR.

Take a look at that video. Everything in there is fking NEXT GEN gameplay. THATS how GTA4 would have looked like if it was truly pushed on the PS3. No matter, INFAMOUS is the next KING of open world sandbox gameplay. INFAMOUS raises the standard and the bar to new heights.

INFAMOUS. Another triple A game for the PS3. Where else but on PS3 will you find such unique and exciting content. PS3, play beyond!

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

Indeed,Infamous is now the most praised Open World game

[MAGNUM-RAM]

gta4 left so much to be desired that there are some pretty close contenders.
San andreas gta was the bar in terms of gameplay. Spiderman was always potentially
perfect. The incredible hulk surprised many. The story in the godfather was great. The warriors
improoved combat. Crackdown's simplicity was engaging. Saintsrow showcased new graphics.

I place my crown on GTA San andreas.

There are some strong contenders but if anyone misses on these great games feats
consider it metropolis & you are superman. Superman was my biggest sandbox dissappointment.

[villevalorox]

we cant be sure about that. I say far cry 2 is going to kick so much ass.

[Fowack]

Far cry 2 is going to sh!t all over ANYTHING gta.

[dericb11]

Yeah San Andreas was the top. But the reasons are simple.
It felt like a real life movie in every sense of the hood.
Menace 2 Society,Boyz in the Hood and so on. It just felt
like you saw playing those movies and seems so much more
authentic then Nico's story.

[TheColbertinator]

When CJ got to Las Venturas,it was like watching "The Casino" with a bit of "Oceans Eleven" and a bit of "The Italian Job".When he was in San Fierro,it was like watching "Chinatown".

[Shane Kim]

blaaaaaah, SA is the worst GTA game after GTA4. GTA: VC, now that's playing a movie. Scarface, Goodfellas, Carlitos Way, Casino etc, etc.

[Cynjo]

I agree far cry 2 dose look epic....19.5 sq. miles of awesomeness! While imfamious & prototype have there place i have no doubt that APB will conquer the "Sandbox" next year.

[Ludwig]

All wrong, the one who is the next-step on free roaming is Red Faction :3 .. read it up.

[InMyOpinion]

Their physics engine is amazing.

[TheColbertinator]

I nominate Protype,Infamous and Far Cry 2.The guys above know what I mean.

[DaTruth]

Prototype looks disgusting. It looks like Spider Man 3 movie game. They delayed that game because even the developers new it was crap. And we haven't heard of it since.

[solidsnakus]

the ending for crackdown was so stupid. cool but stupid, they could of made it soo much better but it seems like they just rushed the ending.

[Xi]

The ending was perfect, it completely set up the sequel and actually gave you a purpose. Now it's time to take down the agency.

[edhe]

Crackdown = awesome.

[Captain Tuttle]

This. It's the only sandbox game I ever really enjoyed.

[jay2]

I think APB will beat at least GTA4.

[JDW]

I loved Crackdown.....even just collecting the orbs was great fun. The sense of power from your maxed out character was awesome....leaping from rooftop to rooftop, kicking cars and people across the street.....

Did anyone ever play co-op online with a friend and play car football?

screw n4g....I'm going back to play Crackdown some more....

[JohnnyMann420]

...but lacked that sandbox feel of the old games in my opinion.

Right now I can't wait for Saints Row 2. Looks like FUN which I think people forgot about somewhere along the way....FUN.

I love GTA in general, but I can't deny that out of all of them I have played GTA IV the least.

[DaTruth]

I was really hoping 8Days would be the game to come out and re-define sandbox games.

[BigKev45]

GTA is still number 1. I don't care what some of you say. It set the bar how open world games are. Look at all the copy cats.
**Cough, Saint's Row, **Cough Cough, True Crime, Godfather, Scareface, **Cough.

[Ricdog]

is crap.

[QuizPyro]

I want whatever you smoke that must be some crazy ass leaf you smoking...inFamous sucks hahaha wow your funny

[Xi]

crysis is by far the best sandbox game, specially with it's simple editor.

[Mclovin96]

MGS4 is a greatest sandbox game of all time. That game wasn't the least bit linear.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

What is APB?

[mrwiggles]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch...

[JeepGamer]

"They couldn’t figure out the secret sauce behind GTA, in the last generation, but that doesn’t matter now. We have more powerful machines, with a bigger user base"

I mean its a good article and all but what is the writer smoking when he makes a statement like that? The PS2 alone has a greater install base than all three current generation consoles combined much less what the numbers look like when you add in the XBox and the Gamecube.

[3rik]

Mainly because it is completely over the top. I love jumping over buildings, punting cars and stuff like that. Prototype looks like it will be kind of like that, but it looks to serious. I loved how crackdown (at least in my eyes) didnt try to be serious. It is a hugely over the top game that feels kind of like good old childs play. Where things were simple and fun. That is how I like my sandboxes

[jcgamer]

My favorite part...taking down Mrs. Timbol...that was one crazy old lady...lol

good times :)

[psnSkareFace]

gta will always b on top because if u go by sells no game wil go near them i hav had all of them and wil still buy them