Realism Vs. Fun

I think its fair to say that my favourite genre of game is the "Sandbox" genre. That's a title that I loathe, as I find it to be very vague, and it can apply to a wide variety of games, including ones that most people wouldn't immediately consider in that genre.

Let me get a bit more specific. My favourite style of game is an open world, non restrictive, third person shooter, especially those in which the protagonist is some sort of criminal.

The easiest example of course is Grand Theft Auto, although surprisingly, this would probably be the least favourite of the bunch.

GTA was something I had always known about, and always wanted to try, but since I was a very late adopter to the PS2, San Andreas was my first foray into it. Whoo boy, did I pick a good one. In my opinion, of the 3 comparable titles (GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas) SA was easily king of the mountain. A big part of the appeal to me was the subject matter, being set in the early 90's, in an urban setting similar to Los Angeles, it clearly was going for a Boyz in the Hood vibe, which really got me hooked. On top of that though, it had a ton of little elements that were really cool. The RPG lite aspects, in which you would increase your skills through progression, allowing you to unlock new skills, like dual-wielding.

Anyways, once I got into the Xbox 360 era, Saints Row was the belle of the ball. It borrowed a lot from its predecessor, and soon to be competitor, but it also added a lot of much needed features. I loved Saints Row, playing it all the way through to the end. I do everything that could be done, but mostly because I was still getting the hang of video games again, and found it a bit to challenging.

GTAIV came out a while later, and blew Saints Row out of the water. The game was incredible. The graphics were amazing, the cars handled a lot more realistically, there was a whole social aspect to the game in which you had to actually build and maintain relationships with your friends and girlfriends. The Narrative was strong, unlike what you get from most games. Very cinematic. The problem was that once you got past the polish and the shine, it just wasn't fun. The game was TOO realistic, as far as video games go.

Once you had garnered attention from police, there was a circle that would show up on your radar, indicating the area that the police were searching for you. You have to get out of this circle, without being noticed by any police, and stay hidden for about 10-15 seconds, at which point they would leave you alone. Sounds easy, but its really not. The city is crowded, hard to get around, and most of the cars are heavy, and handle poorly.

Gunfights were another sticking point for me in GTAIV. They implemented a cover system, which I do like in most games, but it wasn't very precise. Your character would stick to cover where you might not want him to, he might have trouble getting out of said cover, etc. Did you remember to buy a bulletproof vest and stock up on ammo before this mission? No? Ok, prepare to die. Lots.

Comparatively, Saints Row 2 is a much funner game. Its not realistic a bit. If you are playing co-operatively, and your partner goes down, you can rush over and have them jump back into the fray with the push of a button. Cops after you? No problem! Just roll through a forgive and forget and their minds will be wiped ala Men in Black. Cars fly through the city, and you can manuever around almost anything.

All of this resentment has been brought up through my playthrough of the GTAIV expansion, The Lost and Damned. I do like GTAIV. I really do. It's just not nearly as fun as Saints Row 2. When I get into a car crash in Saints Row 2, my car bounces around. When I hit something in GTAIV, I fly out of the windshield.

This happens a lot.

The end result of all of this is that I can't honestly say which game I think is better. I think, despite the fact they would fall under almost the exact same category, it's like comparing apples to oranges.