So The Division will have plenty of open world elements, allowing you to travel around the city at will. Do you think that Ubisoft will get this feature done right? I've seen plenty of games with an open world where the world was poorly designed and unintuitive.
I think they'll do fine, I've been playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag and the open world elements are great, they still create stupid boundaries but that is something that every game will have even if it is an "open world".
Agreed, if there's one thing that Ubisoft does and does well it's level design. The Assassin's Creed franchise showcases this well, but even before then Ubisoft has made some really stunning level design choices. I mean, look at Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, was it sandbox? Not really. However the world creation was fantastic for it's time, beyond a doubt. More recently, the Far Cry franchise is another good example of open-world games with great design principles. Overall, I wouldn't worry that aspect of the game, I'd be more worried about how they balance the mechanics of blending two genres without copying their competition.
Definitely. The Assassin's Creed games were a joy to play and open world elements were great, so I'm sure Ubisoft are going to do it right for this game as well. They're a pretty good company, let's not forget about that.
Assassin's Creed at least has a plot-based reason for initially limiting the size of your world, even if it's a little ham-fisted and unnecessary. Limitations like that in 'open world games' can drive me a little bonkers. I prefer the likes of Skyrim where you can go pretty much anywhere you like from the outset, even if that means dying a horrible, horrible death for your curiosity. Still. I'm not too worried. Ubisoft has a ton of experience crafting open world games at this point. They have issues, but creating large, unique worlds isn't typically one of 'em.
I don't think we'll see something like Skyrim in terms of open world elements, it would be too extreme. Still, since they said that they won't focus on the story too much we might be surprised!
What makes a game good is the sum of its parts. If the open world is a bit lackluster, I'll be able to forgive it if the script is spot on. However, Ubisoft is pretty good at populating their worlds, so I trust that there will be plenty of side objectives.
Yeah, unfortunately they don't seem to be focusing on the story side of things. I just hope that they don't half do things.
The open world is the one aspect of this game that I'm not worried about in the least. Assassin's Creed is masterful in it's open-world feel and scope. I remember jumping from rooftop-to-rooftop in Italy and just being absolutely blown away. It feels great, alive, and organic. I had the same feeling with Watch Dog on the Xbox 360 in a setting that's closer to this game... I truly felt like the city was alive, and honestly all of the videos about this game give me that exact same vibe. Also, I watched a video where they explained that the loading is done seamlessly. You'll be going into the Dark Zone and as your character is entering the zone, the level loads so it's completely seamless (no loading screen). I liked that aspect of Assassin's Creed Black Flag a lot, how you could jump from the boat to the towns without loading. I'm glad it's being perfected further. I really get a sense that Ubi is taking everything that's worked in previous games and applying that experience into this one.
I know, right? Watch Dogs was really immersive and with all that background noise and NPCs it truly felt alive, same goes to Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft are really good at those things, they should this trait to their advantage.
Watch_Dogs was crazy immersive! I remember being blown away by how the city just felt alive. I didn't find it went away too much the more I played on either. Judging by the trailers, I think they've nailed it with this game, and it'll blow our minds.
The real question is, is it truly open world? Or is it HUB based like for instance the new game Skyforge? Minimal loading zones and areas that are actually connected (not hub based where u teleport to each area from one centralized area) is true open world. This can make or break a game for me.
Videos so far show a seamless transition between single player and entrance to the Dark Zone. Your HUD kind of goes full static and as you're hopping the fence into the Dark Zone (the multiplayer zone), the instance loads and you're connected to the multiplayer, so there's no loading screen or teleporting, it's all done without you fully realizing it. It's pretty neat, actually.
I have no faith that they'll change their usual formula. You know, the Ubisoft formula. Conquer a point, discover the land around it and unlock various things to do in there, then go conquer another point and so on. They've followed these guidelines for making open world games for more than 5 years. And their games are still selling. I don't think that's going to change. I'm just hoping that the mechanics inside this trite formula will be good, and they do for now so I don't have much to complain about.
You're right, it's a formula that I feel not only works, but I enjoy a lot. I like that in Assassin's Creed, when I discover a new area, I can climb up a viewpoint and unlock the map with activities within that area. That's fun to me, it gives me a clear objective and I love knocking off the side-missions and picking up all of the collectibles in an area; it feels productive and rewarding. It sounds like the same thing will apply to this game, where it'll be discovery and view point based. And I'm good with that. You know what they say about fixing something that isn't broken...
I'm sure they'll get it right. They want to make a good quality game. We'll just have to wait and see!
As long as the open world parts doesn't feel like it's just empty scenery with little to no interaction that makes it more like a stage, I'll be happy. For the most part, I'm far more interested in the story and how it integrates with the gameplay.
Other than shooting people repeatedly until they're dead, I haven't seen much interaction with the environment honestly. But I hope you're right.
The open-world level design is not likely to be a problem. It's one of Ubisofts most successful areas. Although there were some initial boundaries in AC, they were fleeting and never affected my enjoyment of the game. As for what extent your character will be able to interact with the environment, its hard to say from the limited information that we have at the moment, but its an area they've always done quite well at before.
I was thinking more along the lines of finding Easter eggs and maybe secret areas, but nothing beats shooting people in the face until they are dead XD
