Open ended games - any suggestions?

[DeathAdder]

I'm mostly playing "Pirates" on PSP at the moment. While I can't be arsed to rescue any of my family members, I'm having a great time sinking ships and driving the infidels (Spanish) out of the Carribean.

What other games are sandbox games, where not doing the actual missions matters very little? I know the GTA games are like that, but it's always irritating to have certain parts of the city closed off while I'm raising havoc.

Any ideas?

[MattyD]

Maybe this is a trite suggestion but what about Elite or its sequel, Frontier?

[Concept]

Or Hunter if we're on the retro tip. I used to be in love with that game.

[DeathAdder]

Elite is a great idea. I'll never understand why that never got a Game boy port.

Not heard of Hunter - what system is that on?

[Concept]

You can find free online versions, floating about. It isn't the most accessible of games though - when I returned to it recently I'd forgotten everything.

[zhena]

Jamie

Who is Jamie ?

zhena

[Akira]

crackdown.Seriously the best sandbox game i've played!

[MikeRox]

crackdown.Seriously the best sandbox game i've played!

seconded. Maybe add a few structured missions rather than just a simple boss fight for every general, and there wouldn't be anything I'd change tbh. As it is, it's perhaps a little too "sandbox" for some people.

[toxicninja]

If you like adventure games check out Steambot chronicles, it's a open ended sandbox game where you drive a big mech, play in a band and chat people up.

[eastyy]

x3 the threat is quite open ended......and very time consuming
gothic 3 is open ended.......unfortunetly pales compares to oblivion
i have always wanted to try the early elder scrolls games like daggerfall and arena

Just cause for the x360/pc....you could spend weeks exploring

[MattyD]

And then there's your MMOs like WoW and Second Life, but that's dangerous territory.

[Magnakai]

Plenty of old 80's/early 90's CRPGs were very open-ended. Not sure that's quite what you wanted though.

[DeathAdder]

Plenty of food for thought here, thanks all.

[wicky]

animal crossing

[Concept]

You also might want to look out for Stalker. It looks like it could be the sleeper hit of the year (an odd thing to say when you consider its previous hype, but people have gone off for it the last year and a half) according to recent feedback.