Best free-roaming game this gen

What do you think is the best free-roaming game this generation and why?

Just Cause 2 because of the grapple?

InFamous because of the Lighting riding?

Spiderman because of the webswinging?

Crackdown, Prototype, andHulk because of the super jumping?

Red Dead because of the Horse mobility?

Oblivion/Fallout3/F:Vegas for the fast tracking?

Borderlands with it's FPSRPG styIing and vehicles?

GTA, Saint's Row, etc....because of the Vehicles like Cars?

Bully because of the biking/skateboarding?

I'm not sure...

While I own all these games and have played them a lot, I'm not a big lover of the sandbox genre myself. So, I would have a hard time deciding. I guess I will say Spiderman based on how he travels...although it's not my favorite sandbox game of all time.

Have a good day, TC. :P

Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption, mainly because I actually had fun playing them and I thought Fallout: New Vegas was boring and Prototype was short.

Modded GTAIV is a hellva lotta fun, I've got to admit.

What do you think is the best free-roaming game this generation and why?

swguy123

Probably Stalker or X3: Terran Conflict. JC2, White Gold and The Precursors are great for a more lighthearted experience.

Fallout New Vegas, or Fallout 3.

(Note: The answer above will more than likely change on 11/11/11)

I'm kind of surprized that this is my choice but right now that's Infamous.

I think it delivers the most satisfying package as a whole from what is available right now.

Oblivion and RDR.

Probably Stalker or X3: Terran Conflict. JC2, White Gold and The Precursors are great for a more lighthearted experience.

hypoty

Stalker if that counts. New Vegas and Saints Row 2(with co-op) gets honorable mention.

Speaking of which, Saints Row 3 is up on the coming soon list on Steam... I can't wait :D

From a pure free roaming point of view, STALKER: Call of Pripyat. ALife does amazing things.

Other favourites include Oblivion, FUEL (even though the free roaming aspect lacked a bit) and ArmA II when played as a free roaming game (mission editor :)).

Persona 4

Probably Stalker or X3: Terran Conflict. JC2, White Gold and The Precursors are great for a more lighthearted experience.

hypoty

Minecraft

Probably Minecraft. The most freest and roamiest game said in this thread thus far anyway :P A decent one at that.

Just cause 2 is by far the most fun I had in a game this gen. The fact that the game is also an outstanding techincal achievement that looks gorgeous and runs very smooth, also kinda helps. RDR is overrated, FO3 is great but tech wise its almost last gen.

I hope Just Cause 2 is up there, I spent $50 I had left over on a trade in on it. Might give it a whirl soon.

[QUOTE="hypoty"]

Probably Stalker or X3: Terran Conflict. JC2, White Gold and The Precursors are great for a more lighthearted experience.

Salt_The_Fries

The English version consists of Russian voices with English subtitles, not ideal but it'll be like watching a foreign film. I recommend it, the scope is huge, the gameplay is varied and the visuals are nice. It's a little rough around the edges but that's easy to forgive, especially when FPSRPG's are in short supply. I never played Boiling Point, so I can't comment whether WG is better, but I'm loving WG so far. Also, both games are on sale at BeamDog. The BeamDog version comes with an improvement pack for both games and because of that I consider the BeamDog versions to be the definitive English versions.

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"][QUOTE="hypoty"]

Probably Stalker or X3: Terran Conflict. JC2, White Gold and The Precursors are great for a more lighthearted experience.

hypoty

The English version consists of Russian voices with English subtitles, not ideal but it'll be like watching a foreign film. I recommend it, the scope is huge, the gameplay is varied and the visuals are nice. It's a little rough around the edges but that's easy to forgive, especially when FPSRPG's are in short supply. I never played Boiling Point, so I can't comment whether WG is better, but I'm loving WG so far. Also, both games are on sale at BeamDog. The BeamDog version comes with an improvement pack for both games and because of that I consider the BeamDog versions to be the definitive English versions.

That sounds great to me! Is the game even available in the west or do I have to do some import/modding magic here? Sorry about not googling but for some reason I can't find any links that don't seem just a little too fishy. Playing mmos makes one somewhat paranoid in regards to clicking links ;)

Edit: Europeans are used to subs. Especially anything japanese needs Original VO + sub rather than atrocious dubbing ;)

Just Cause 2 because of the grapple?

InFamous because of the Lighting riding?

Spiderman because of the webswinging?

Crackdown, Prototype, andHulk because of the super jumping?

Red Dead because of the Horse mobility?

Oblivion/Fallout3/F:Vegas for the fast tracking?

Borderlands with it's FPSRPG styIing and vehicles?

GTA, Saint's Row, etc....because of the Vehicles like Cars?

Bully because of the biking/skateboarding?

I'm not sure...

While I own all these games and have played them a lot, I'm not a big lover of the sandbox genre myself. So, I would have a hard time deciding. I guess I will say Spiderman based on how he travels...although it's not my favorite sandbox game of all time.

Have a good day, TC. :P

SolidTy

[QUOTE="hypoty"]

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"] You are awesome for mentioning X3. By the way, is there an ENGLISH version of The Precursors? Is it any good? I used to be greatly interested in it...Is there english version or even unofficial translation of White Gold as well? Does the game improve upon Boiling Point???Filthybastrd

The English version consists of Russian voices with English subtitles, not ideal but it'll be like watching a foreign film. I recommend it, the scope is huge, the gameplay is varied and the visuals are nice. It's a little rough around the edges but that's easy to forgive, especially when FPSRPG's are in short supply. I never played Boiling Point, so I can't comment whether WG is better, but I'm loving WG so far. Also, both games are on sale at BeamDog. The BeamDog version comes with an improvement pack for both games and because of that I consider the BeamDog versions to be the definitive English versions.

That sounds great to me! Is the game even available in the west or do I have to do some import/modding magic here? Sorry about not googling but for some reason I can't find any links that don't seem just a little too fishy. Playing mmos makes one somewhat paranoid in regards to clicking links ;)

Edit: Europeans are used to subs. Especially anything japanese needs Original VO + sub rather than atrocious dubbing ;)

Get it through BeamDog, the site is made by a former Bioware employee and is trustworthy, it's on sale for $15 as well. Like I said, that version comes with an improvement pack which means you don't have to hunt down any extra files like the unofficial patch or the Russian audio files.

Probably Stalker or X3: Terran Conflict. JC2, White Gold and The Precursors are great for a more lighthearted experience.

hypoty

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

Just Cause 2 because of the grapple?

InFamous because of the Lighting riding?

Spiderman because of the webswinging?

Crackdown, Prototype, andHulk because of the super jumping?

Red Dead because of the Horse mobility?

Oblivion/Fallout3/F:Vegas for the fast tracking?

Borderlands with it's FPSRPG styIing and vehicles?

GTA, Saint's Row, etc....because of the Vehicles like Cars?

Bully because of the biking/skateboarding?

I'm not sure...

While I own all these games and have played them a lot, I'm not a big lover of the sandbox genre myself. So, I would have a hard time deciding. I guess I will say Spiderman based on how he travels...although it's not my favorite sandbox game of all time.

Have a good day, TC. :P

DethSkematik

Yeah, Sorry about that! :D A flood of memories washed over my brain, and I just rattled some titles off... :P

red dead redemption

[QUOTE="DethSkematik"][QUOTE="SolidTy"]

Just Cause 2 because of the grapple?

InFamous because of the Lighting riding?

Spiderman because of the webswinging?

Crackdown, Prototype, andHulk because of the super jumping?

Red Dead because of the Horse mobility?

Oblivion/Fallout3/F:Vegas for the fast tracking?

Borderlands with it's FPSRPG styIing and vehicles?

GTA, Saint's Row, etc....because of the Vehicles like Cars?

Bully because of the biking/skateboarding?

I'm not sure...

While I own all these games and have played them a lot, I'm not a big lover of the sandbox genre myself. So, I would have a hard time deciding. I guess I will say Spiderman based on how he travels...although it's not my favorite sandbox game of all time.

Have a good day, TC. :P

SolidTy

Yeah, Sorry about that! :D A flood of memories washed over my brain, and I just rattled some titles off... :P

Fallout 3 for me.

Gta IV, Red Dead Redemption

I hope Just Cause 2 is up there, I spent $50 I had left over on a trade in on it. Might give it a whirl soon.

Twin-Blade

Ive been playing Just Cause 2 recently, its pretty fun so far, the game looks stunning on pc, it has a huge world which is fun to roam through with the parachute, grapple and a variety of vehicles. The shooting is average and the story is poor.

Just cause 2 wasn't perfect, but I had the most fun playing it

EDIT: STALKER and minecraft too

The best?

Games which actually put free roaming at the core of their gameplay, not resorting to the world being a mission hub which so many do (apparently open world design handn't moved beyond GTA3).

Crackdown and Minecraft are up there.

GTA SA

crazy amount of easter eggs. freeman's crowbar, body bags, the 'no easter eggs' one, c*** rock.

inFamous 2 when that comes out. But I enjoyed Fallout the most.

Why have I not heard Assassin's Creed II? RDR is also awesome.

All the ones on the wii...haha no just kidding. I'd have to say RDR. Freedom in such an atmospheric, vibrant setting. There have been a good few I've loved. Looking forward to LA Noire.

GTA4 and Just Cause 2.

As far as messing around on a rainy day goes, Just Cause 2 takes the cake. It's so wonderfully over the top and fun to play.

the exploration segements were insanely enjoyable for me. they were one of the most enjoyable things I have experienced in a game in a while.I love the exploration segments in this game for many reasons

- while I like games like borderlands or infamous, they got boring at times. this game never lost my attention. i never got bored playing it.

- I loved the jazz music like this or this or this and how it worked so well with the space theme and complimented the visuals (like the various nebulas, asteroid fields, and suns)

and also the little tidbits on the radio like the Christian Bale parody.

- I liked how each moon didnt feel like a seperate level, but rather part of the whole solar system map. you could actually look up into space and see the other moons and everything else

- I loved the visuals and how it contrained the proportions of a solar system. its not realistic, but it has an oldschool charm that you dont see in many games today. for example, how you can fly out to a spit of land that is just sitting in the middle of space that accommodates a service station. how often do you see that?

- the platforming is top notch. aside from "ratchet and clank," "mario galaxy," and "DK country," there really arent many good platformers out these days.

honestly, this exploration feature is what really saves this game. without it, this would have been a weaker entry in the series. insomniac is always doing new things and branching out. This is why I love that company.

Easily Red Dead Redemption.

• Minecraft
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Stalker: SoC

Can't exactly choose, i like all of them for different reasons, and all do what they do absolutely best.