Litter Box

At some point during your many hours invested in the gaming experience, you've played a sandbox game. Whether it was Pokemon, wherein you saved that Master Ball for WEEKS, only to get pissed off and waste it on a Snorlax instead of the mutant pink thing you originally strove for. Maybe it was Destroy All Humans, with the ability to raise hell in any major city your little green head saw fit. Perhaps, if you are a caffeine addicted preteen, you wasted away in front of any of the new Grand Theft Auto games. Either way, at some point in time, there has been a game where you had the option of doing anything you really wanted.

But, this has to be pulled off effectively. 

I'm not going to lie, I dislike most of the GTA games. I find something rather arbitrary and a little shall we say, moronic about being a gangster in any way shape or form. Video games which put that much power into your hands, especially marketed to the masses of newly-adolescent (or almost adolescent) market. When you have the option of stealing a car, AND killing civilians as a 12 year old, what do you do? No. I know the sarcastic comment you're thinking of. You do NOT go around picking up trash, donating money, and generally making our virtual community a better place. You emulate the stereotypical rampages of the drug-ridden underground. Lovely. 

Destroy All Humans had a novel concept, one that everyone could find amusing. Problem was, was that it was a bit clunky with the sandbox idea. It's either screw around, or do the main missions. While I can appreciate zapping tank from the safety of my flying plate, I have to restart in order to go back to do what I want to do. 

Both of these games need to learn something from the King Pin of the Sandbox Game industry: Bethesda Softworks.

Better known as the womb from which The entire Elder Scrolls series was conceived. Morrowind to Oblivion, those are the ultimate Sandbox game. We'll be putting our analysis on Oblivion. Oblivion features a very seemless Sandbox mode. I can do the main questline, or stop halfway and go visit anywhere I wanted. The great thing is that there's NO TIME LIMIT. You're never pressured into doing anything. As long as I arrive at this household, at the designated time of day / night I'm good. Not to mention it all makes sense. I decided to run straight east from the Imperial City. I found a pack of wolves, three forlorn caves (One I decided to do sometime later, it was full of undead), a minotaur, a couple Oblivion Gates, and a few camps of Bandits. Walking away I was a couple pieces of armor richer, and had the triumph of clearing out two infested caves. Killed a minotaur, stole from the bandits, and closed an Oblivion gate. The great part? I wasn't at all "told" to this! I found them of my own accord and decided to react the way I did. The game allows you to be whatever you feel necessary!

My Character is a Berserker. He's in full heavy armor, with a big axe. He's also the passive type. If I wanted to, I could join the Assassin's guild and become rich off death. The fighters guild and become famous for my heroic acts! I could be a pickpocket, and constantly be caught by guards for stealing their keys (harder than it looks). I'm already and Arena Combatant. You can join factions, get your virtual ass handed to you by whatever the hell was in those ruins (it was at night, I couldn't see). Point is, it's up to you and is pulled off way better than nearly any Sandbox game out there.

Especially GTA.

-Afro Stan

(Hiding before an angry mob of pre-pubescent 12 year olds come to call me names)