Top 7 Sandbox Games of All Time « GamingBolt.com: Video Game News, Reviews, Previews and Blog

Don’t make that face, okay? You’ve come across stranger lists, this is still okay.

Yeah, so where was I? Nowhere, I still have to start. So let’s. Sandbox games have become a major section of the gaming industry. Some of the best known franchises these days, like Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, Saint’s Row, Mafia, Crackdown and many others are sandbox games, and almost all games these days that strive to strike perfection between replayability and innovation opt for the sandbox style of games. Recently, we have seen this specific section of the games develop.

As an ode to all the great games this sub-genre has given us, GamingBolt presents to you, Top 7 Sandbox Games Of All Time. Remember, this list is the opinion of the author, and does not represent what is the fact. Before getting angry and burning down our HQ if you don’t agree, please realize that this list is a personal opinion. Your feedback will be appreciated though. You can comment in the comments section below.

So without further ado, let’s begin!

7. Fable II

Platform: Xbox 360 | Developer: Lionhead Studios | Publisher: Microsoft | Release Date: October, 2008

Fable- probably one of the most ambitious, grandest, the most passionate names in the industry of ganes, yet probably the one that has given us two of the most flawed games of all time. Building up on the successful yet inperfect formula that was introduced in the original Fable, Fable II added several new mechanics, such as the lovable dog and the very useful golden trail. Fable II allowed players to wander the entire world, and gave us such an immense sense of freedom, that one could completely ditch the main story missions and delve deeper into the world of Albion from the very beginning of the game. From stealing stuff, buying houses and buildings, killing people and guards, marrying the citizens, having children with them, to exploring towns, doing jobs, buying stuff from shops and having- uh, sexual relationships with people, you can do just about everything in Fable II. Oh, of course you can’t sell milk shake, but that’s just one thing.

(Stay Tuned, We Will Have Our Fable III Preview Up Soon)

6. Spider-Man 2

Platform: GCN, Xbox, Mac OS, PC, PS2, PSP, GBA, DS, N-Gage | Developer: Treyarch | Publisher: Activision | Release Date: June, 2004

I’m sure you cringed when you saw that name. But those of you who have played it will realize that the game actually deserves a spot here. The life-like, gargantuan city, the whole of which was open to exploration and sandbox style action to players from the very beginning, along with the spectacular new mechanics, like the 6th Sense, or Wall Running, and the realistic web swinging mechanic, in which we have to swing webs at solid things, like buildings or even airborne choppers, all came together in more ways than one, and made this a complete package, one that would stand out in the genre as a benchmark title for other superhero sandbox games to come.

5. The Godfather: The Game

Platform: PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, Xbox, PC | Developer: EA Redwood Shores | Publisher: EA | Release Date: March, 2006

“Oh wow, another movie tie-in? This list sucks!” is what you must be thinking right now, right? But I just love The Godfather, and anything to do with it. I loved the book, I loved the movie, and when the game was about to be released, I had very high expectations, despite my apprehension. While the game did have a few flaws of its own, it managed to do everything it tried to nearly perfectly. Not only did it keep the story completely true to that of the movie’s without putting us in the shoes of any of the characters seen in The Godfather universe, it also provided us with great missions, and an open, living breathing world, which offered unimaginable freedom- you could bribe cops, take over rackets, extort shokeepers, kill members of other gangs to take over the city and do just about anything one would expect from a mafiaso based free-roaming game. I don’t know about you people, but The Godfather: The Game will always hold a very special place in my heart.

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Tagged with: free-roam, sanbox, top 7 list

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http://wooow.com Peter

WTF, where’s TES?, where’s Fallout?, what a halfbrainer have been written this…
- brian
  
  thats SO true. You just have to add TES and Fallout. Those are my favorite games and in my opinion the best sandbox games. HUGE world and so many places to explore.
http://Website.com Shadow

In my eyes, when I see the word “Sandbox” I think of games such as Minecraft, Terraria, Blockland, Roblox, etc. I think of games with open worlds where you can most freely work with the enviroment, and interact with people from around the world. I respect your opinions, and I do like GTA:IV. It is a very interesting game. But… I do not agree with most of this list..
- MaNa
  
  agreed. whoever wrote this list is an idiot. // these are open world, free roam games.. NOT sandbox games.
  
  D:<
Nonmity

I’m going to have to mention Utopia from oldschool intellivision. Is there any older sandbox game than this? This game is probably older than most of you kiddies.
Rage Quit

these are ALL open world a sandbox is like Minecraft and shitty roblox
André

Where’s Minecraft? Is a great sandbox game for Xbox 360 and Computer (Linux, Mac and Windows)
jerome

guys are right, they should start drawing a fine line between sandbox & open world.
sandbox=you create,build,invest. very addictive stuff maybe next only to met
open world= just open world. oblivion series is a good hybrid though.
MinecraftFan

In my opinion the best Sandbox is Minecraft, Minecraft is a sandbox with 3d mining missions only survival and freedom to build what they want to fight monsters still play with players from around the world with 500 + servers with people playing on the same server! and can customize the dinosaur with MODS, special minerals, with up to fight GOD among other things, and also having hundreds of thousands of Texture Packs!
Shashank

I don’t really get why people like Assassin’s Creed so much. It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO repititive. Yes, the scenery is awesome, the characters so lifelike, but in the end, you just do the same old boring routine again and again
- James
  
  I can agree with you on the very first game. After that, I don’t.
Corakus

” Fable II allowed players to wander the entire world, and gave us such an immense sense of freedom, that one could completely ditch the main story missions and delve deeper into the world of Albion from the very beginning of the game”

Did he confuse Fable 2 with TES?Because when I played Fable 2 the game wouldn’t even let me do the sidequests or explore any part of the world without doing the main storyline, the game is about as linear as it can get, it sure as hell isn’t a sandbox.It’s just an Action RPG with a fair amount of side content at best.
2ndhalfblood

you missed few that I would have put in there
SanAndreas – how can you miss this game, i would say its better than Gta IV
Saints Row 2
by the way, you do realize Cole MacGrath will die if he went to water!?! might wanna change that
iceminecrafter

what about minecraft?
- Taylor Lance
  
  This article was published 3 years ago ,fag.
Rapthorne

The author of this list obviously has no grasp of the difference between a sandbox game and an open world game.

Sandbox games generally allow the user ti create their own objective (such as minecraft), Open world games have a structured set of objectives or a story, but allow you to freely go where you want and do as you chose.
M.P.

…How about MINECRAFT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
- Meisadragon
  
  Article was published before Minecraft came out, unfortunately.
Wolfram

Dear Corakus.
Fable 2 do allowe you to do sidequests, I do not know why you cant do’ em, but since your game is broke you should argue about that the game can brake and not whats happend when you are lagged out and say the game itself is broken.
I will like it if you try to “repair” your game in a sort way or buy a new one, you will find it more enjoyable then.
Boba-TalkingStuff

This is a horrible list…
First of all Sandbox games should allow for free playing. You can do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. Simple as that. You are confusing that with…free-roaming. In a sandbox you play whatever game you can with the sand that’s given, even foraging new elements with what you have (either mentally or literally in the game like in Minecraft, or making Sims and houses in Sims 3), with ‘free-roaming’ you just move about the world without excessive restiction. Linear games have plots that MUST be followed, Non-linear games have deverse choice, (however i’d argue that a choice ‘tree’ is still linear.) So… basically all the content must be avaliable to be enjoyed whenever the player desires.
So to be clear, a sandbox game must allow for freedom of choice(when and what) at its most basic level. Higher levels include freedom of progession (how the story goes), and or freedom of objective (what you are trying do, on a mental level (emergence) and higher up on an actual level. Even higher than this game elements themselves can be manipulated to create new content. Though a sandbox game can potentially have a linear story (like Oblivion for example) the way to avoid a non-sandbox experience is to allow for that story to be opitional or not. (No forced choices.)
Heck even Harvest Moon fits into a Sandbox category.
This list is FATALLY flawed. First off, Assassins Creed gives the player the ability to move freely in the game DURING each mission, but the game is still heavily resticted to a linear story. Free roaming per mission, but not even CLOSE to a sandbox. Not…even…a little bit. Especially considering you have no choices, just do this and that…and succed…or fail and be forced to try again. Nothing more.
Another Fatal Flaw…
Where is Oblivion?????? This is…by far…the most ‘sandbox’ like game on the market at the time of this article…and its not even given an honorable mention? That’s messed up.
Now I will admit I haven’t played all the games on this list, but I’m that if Assassin’s Creed is at the top of the list…the others…many of them, below will be horrible flawed as well. I will admit that Fable 2 is a game I have played an loved, I will say that as a ‘free-roaming’ game it fails. Many of the maps seem…streamlined, and all of them require loading screens. There isn’t much to explore excessively, and though you could do this, much of the content of the game lies in the missions and objectives that are setup in game and by the user themselves. That’s what makes it sandbox, the freedom to choose what you want to do, for how long, and why. The freedom to avoid the story, if there is one, or play through it. Assassin’s Creed…simply was not like this.
Fable= Run a moke and blow up a whole time, turning blue and getting devil horns all the while.
Assasin’s Creed = Uh…your character does not kill people! Desuncrenization emenant!
????
If I wan’t to choice to do something…I’ll do it in Sandbox. Simple as that. There will be a consequence…but they make room for that…they don’t forece you to start over unless you die. >.<
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WaKKO SicK

all these games are OPEN WORLD games NOT SANDBOX at all. None of them give you any sand to build with so it really pisses me off when i see an article claiming that these games listed are sand box when they are not. Eve is a sandbox Skyrim is an open world. X3 is a sandbox. Minecraft is a sandbox. Darkfall is a sandbox. yet none of these games our on your list. Which makes me think gamingbolt is filled with idiots who can’t understand the english language enough to pick up a dictionary.
cam

THIS IS FREE-ROAM NOOB