New Genre, Coming Through: Welcome to the Sandbox

I’m probably one of the few people who gets a little excited when I see those survey cards inside the instruction manuals of new video games. You get to fill out the little survey, and mail it out for free (no postage necessary), content with the knowledge that you, in some small way, have influenced the video games market with your consumer data. Sue me, I’m an idealist.

They ask you how many games you buy, how often you play, and what kinds of games you like specifically. Right here, right now, I’m starting the lobby for Sandbox games being represented as their own genre on those kinds of lists. Action/Adventure represents them you say? Perhaps back before GTA III, but these days, with so many games sporting robust open worlds and the style being represented as often as it is, it has developed beyond just being a “setting” for an action/adventure title when properly implemented and utilized.

By now, the Action/Adventure genre as it is has been separated enough from Sandbox gaming because while it can be set in a “city” or open world, it very simply breaks down to: missions, goal attainment, story advancement, rinse, repeat. I have nothing against AA games, I love Uncharted and have a healthy amount of AA titles in my games library, but the idea behind them is the nature of Adventure: that you set out with a goal in mind of attaining, and with some level of freedom to deviate, it follows a linear path of progression towards that goal.

Sandbox gaming, on the other hand, is marked by the ability to provide a robust experience without a player following the narrative arc of the game. GTA IV, for example, is cited as a great example of this since many people have played this for hours without ever advancing the story. They drive taxis, earn money, buy guns and tear the world up. While they’re missing out on a brilliant narrative (the story was what really made GTA IV spectacular in my eyes), their interpretation of that particular game shows just what a Sandbox game is as opposed to just an open-world game.

Prince of Persia (2008) for example is the latter. While the game world is open and allows for free roaming, aside from the reparations the prince makes, it’s hardly a sandbox world, merely a responsive adventure world where the game relies on the pursuit of the stated goal of rejuvenating the land. Aside from pursuing light seeds, a supplemental quest that doesn’t benefit the characters other than advancing the story in some parts and being an achievement marker, there is no “sandbox” to play in. It’s a robust environment through which the player has free reign to roam about.

The genre of sandbox gaming can be defined not just by the scope of the environment, but the depth of the experience primarily. How much is there to do in the game’s setting? Are the multitude of the options superficial? Are they all requirements for narrative involvement and advancement? Or, in the case of true sandbox gaming, can the player find a unique playing experience through these elements even if they are independent of the narrative?

GTA IV manages this, as I stated before. It’s the new trend for gaming to provide an open world that not only gives the player a natural environment to make theirs, but to also make that environment realistic in its response to player actions and narrative development. GTA III did a good job of this by making your presence draw the fire of certain gangs in different neighborhoods when the story called for it. Spider-Man 2 did a decent job of this too, as the story advanced, certain enemies began appearing randomly in the streets in response to the narrative as well. The sandbox responded to the player’s actions and movements through the City. The same can be said of InFamous (if you haven’t read my review of it, you can do so here). Whether a player is evil or good affects not just the game’s aesthete, but also the City’s response to the disaster that begins the story. Does it repair itself and rise from the ashes? Or does it continue to slip further to despair? These are all affected by Cole’s powerful influence.

It says something that technology for video games has advanced far enough that we can construct complex environments for players to interact with and thusly establish an entirely new genre of gaming. That we now have a genre that has separated itself markedly from its forebear shows that the technology and medium of video games is still growing and finding its footing in the world of gaming. Am I the only one who’s excited to see the next GTA or an InFamous sequel?

Prince of Persia Review

Photo courtesy of: http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/877/877054/prince-of-persia-20080527114820938_640w.jpg

The Sands of Time have been blown away to make way for a new Prince in a new world and adventure. The new Prince of Persia sees a Prince who is only such by name, and a new challenge with a new (gorgeous) ally: the Princess Elika. Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia comes at just the right time of year for its adventure. I’m not talking necessarily about the ideal market time for the Holidays during gift shopping, but the spirit of the Holidays. The holiday season is just the perfect time for a game with this much heart and personality.

Prince of Persia falls into that strata of games that many of the hardcore may find too easy. It’s very approachable. As every other reviewer has touched upon already: you cannot die. If you miss a jump in a stretch of some platforming, or are overpowered in combat, your magic infused assistant, Elika (more on her later), will rescue you and take you back to a safe are to regain your footing or your health. A lot of people have cried against this practice, but then again: in what game does your protagonist truly die anyway? If you lose to a boss in any other game, you reload from a checkpoint. Elika is just a physical manifestation of thet Video Game world magic that we’ve come to accept as normal. It displays a great understanding and clever manipulation of the medium to work an ally into seamlessly filling a role that we have innately just expected the technology to do for us. It’s this kind of affinity with the medium the developer displays that pushes Prince of Persia as close to art as can possibly be, if it isn’t art already.

The environments are gorgeous when you cure them of the darkness you’re trying to save the world from, and they are astounding even when they’re overrun with the “corruption” of the dark Lord. There are hardly even a few graphical issues to speak of as you move through the game, and the game renders environments far off into the distance to give you a true sense of scope wherever you are. Everything from the enemies and the environments are well designed and you’ll never feel like anyone or anything you encounter in the world is out of place or was rushed in any way. The cel shaded approach to the design and characters really makes the world a living artistry that, while a risky decision, winds up pulling you deeper into the heart of the game as you run through the gorgeous tapestry of the world Ubisoft has made for you. In short, this world you’ll inhabit in this game is one you’ll feel privileged to explore.

The combat is given similar attention, and this is where I’ll begin pointing out the flaws of Prince. To be sure, the battles are all incredibly cinematic and encourage experimentation to discover the various combos and variety of attacks and strategies to take in your battles. Your battles will always be one on one allowing for constant evolution of your skills in the combat system. They are also crafted with a requirement of elegance rather than random button mashing. The key to victories throughout the game is by landing combos at the right time, the key to getting combos is to timing your attacks properly throughout the combo. Just mashing buttons quickly is the way to screw up a combo and getting yourself mauled by your opponents. Eventually battles can feel repetitive but that doesn’t make them any less of a pleasure to partake in or simply watch as someone else plays. The problems begin with the repetition and continue with how easy things can begin to feel, not just in battle but in the platforming: the Prince never adds any new powers to his repertoire, so the Pr is the same Prince you end with: except for the connection you;’ll form with him and the affinity you’ll inevitably develop for Elika as her powers grow and you help her.

Elika is your ally through your journey to cure the cursed lands in which the game is set. Because of her link with the Prince, she is able to use him as a guide to follow his platforming prowess to reach the cursed areas she needs to cure with her magic. Elika not only fills the aforementioned role of revivalist, but she also allows the Prince to perform the heretofore nonsensical “double jump” with her magic. So now, instead of your character inexplicably jumping again in midair, Elika will use her magic to hoist you into a boosted jump. Elika is filled with personality that shines through in the requisite cutscenes you’ll have to watch in between your action, but Ubisoft also threw in optional interactions you can trigger between the Prince and Elika at will. The conversations that develop the characters and their relationships further are clever, cute, and full of heart you have to appreciate. While the Prince has an inexplicably American accent, the voices still fit even if they do catch you off guard at first. You believe the chemistry the two characters have in their conversations because you believe in their teamwork through the platforming and battles in the game. It’s a small thing, but the Prince piggy backs Elika up vines and ladders, and will do a nice little dancing spin to get past her when they stand together on a narrow beam. Regardless of that flaw, you see the relationship and characters develop wonderfully because Ubisoft synced their gameplay, presentation and story in ways that stand firmly in contention of those who would still claim video games cannot be a medium for artistic expression.

The heart and artistry is where Ubisoft’s current gen Prince of Persia scores its points and really roped me in and could really rope everyone in if they give it a chance: heart. From Elika and her relationship to the Prince and you, to the spectacular environments and fun, challenging yet forgiving gameply: the new Prince’s world is filled with a wonderful heart you’ll inevitably get enveloped in and have fun with. In the end, that’s what these games are about, not scores, achievements and proving you’re “hardcore,” but fun. Prince achieves this with flying colors in the face of its minimal shortcomings. If you give it a chance, even if it isn’t a ‘blockbuster’ this is a game you’ll take with you for years to come and may remember the same way you remember fairy tales from your childhood.

Score: 9/10