Some of you might know the feeling. Standing on top of a building, the wind in your hair, looking gruff as always. You slam a clip into your gun and you're ready to roll... Where? Uhm... To the badguys ofcourse! But why? Because they're evil, that's why. And after that I'll ehm.... Kill some more... Until I finish the game! And then we'll see a credit roll.

Or how about this one? Standing on top of a grassy hill, sword at your side, trusty steed behind you. The world is open to do whatever you want. Let's join the Thieves guild! No wait! The Fighter's guild... Or how about climbing that mountain? Story quest maybe? No wait! Need to level up for that so definately a guild... What were my quests again?!

It's called Sandbox, Free Roaming, Open-ended... It's the new big thing, and it might just be too big for it's britches. Yeah yeah, nail me to a wall for blasphemy, but I just said it. Free roaming through an open-ended sandbox just isn't my thing. Why? Because it's a big illusion that leaves me with a sense of emptiness rather than feeling incredibly involved with a game. But why is this? Wouldn't a game where you make the decisions be all the more compelling? Hardly, you're not the one pulling the strings are you now?

The trouble with free roaming or open ended games is that they're digital constructions. Digital constructions as we all know function using rules designed by the developer. Now how are you able to do whatever you want? You're bound by rules aren't you? But maybe these rules are all just a resemblance of physics etc. Even then, no developer could possibly imagine every single solution you as a player might come up with. An example: Some of you might know the D&D pen-and-paper RPG. Which is quite a bit of fun if you don't take it too seriously and turn it into lazy afternoon with your mates. Now every game is lead by a dungeon master (No, you don't have to look like a silly short man with long grey hair like in the cartoons) who tells the story. The players interact within certain rules that dictate their abilities, but do not hamper their creativity. Very often a DM will throw a, what he believes to be, difficult challenge at his players, only to see it overcome easily by a little creativity from said players using their surroundings in a way the DM hadn't anticipated. That's free-roaming. Trying to grab a rope only to find out you can't because the developer hadn't anticipated you trying that is hardly considered just that.

Alright, that's game mechanics. Now how about stories? Oblivion was free-roaming, so was GTA and Saint's Row, they all had stories. Very true. Very, very true. But where the stories in GTA and Saint's Row to me felt mostly like an afterthought and hardly ever managed to suck you into the game and actually get involved, the story in Oblivion was too feeble when it started, dropping you in a world with so many options I ended up unable to make a real decision and stick with it. Which is another point alltogether. While free-roaming and open ended gameplay are a very cool idea, they often leave you with too many possibilities that distract you from the main story. The sheer amount of guilds, unrelated sidequests and other options in Oblivion were staggering, nevermind the fact that you even got sidetracked from pursuing any of these paths because it was so easy to just jump to another track. I honestly spent a couple of weeks playing the game without really doing anything, gaining quite a few levels but ending up with a highly random character that wasn't particularly good at anything.

Then ofcourse there's Sandbox games. Create your own thing and such. Crackdown was a fine example. A huge city, genetically enhanced agents and lots of stuff to do... For the few hours it took you to wipe out every gang and end up with pretty much nothing to do but jump on buildings, throw cars around and shoot people. Compelling? Hardly.

So what is this blog about? Forget free roaming and sandbox games if they mean they create games that are uninteresting or that lack the ability to suck you in. Planescape Torment, KOTOR 1, Vampire: The Masquerade, and so many other games with compelling storylines, interesting characters and great gameplay were good enough to keep me hooked, dragged in and playing for hours. If I wanted to do freeroaming, I'd play D&D. But I'm not. I'm playing a computergame... So give me something interesting to play. Now.