Summary
Back in the first generation of gaming consoles, open-world games were not even an option, but as the technological advancements opened new development opportunities, the games started to feature bigger worlds, letting players freely explore them at their own pace.
Nowadays, being open-world is most of the time a must-have feature for the big-budget titles, but it never guarantees a success. Many open-world games were released in previous years, and a significant number of them were discontinued even after succeeding in delivering a satisfying experience.
Cinema superstars appearing in video games has almost become common nowadays, but back in the seventh generation of consoles, it used to be a rare case, and that’s why most gamers still rememberWheelman.
The game is an open-world action experience featuring Vin Diesel as the protagonist. Wheelman has nothing to do with the Fast And Furious franchise, but it’s safe to say that the game was heavily inspired by that movie series, especially knowing that driving is a major gameplay mechanic in the game.Wheelmanfeatures both story missions and side quests, butGTA-like free-roaming is also a big plus in the game, as players can drive any vehicles they see in the streets.
The player takes the role of a special undercover agent, trying to retrieve some classified documents before they end up in the hands of the wrong people. Set in the city of Barcelona, Wheelman delivers a unique experience of driving in a European city, something that is quite rare in the open-world games of this generation.
Few movie adaptations succeed in becoming a superb video game, butThe Godfatherwas a brilliant effort by Electronic Arts in delivering a game that sits between the originalMafiaand theGrand Theft Autoseries.
What madeThe Godfathera great experience was the fact that it allows players to enter the universe of the movie as a new, standalone character while also following the highly-praised storyline shown in the original movie.
The open-world elements inThe Godfatherare way more advanced than the original Mafia game, and that’s why it felt like a refreshing experience, though the story was not as impressive as that ofMafia. Some of the open-world activities like robbing banks were quite creative inThe Godfather, something that even theGTAseries didn’t feature at the time.
Unfortunately,The Godfather 2was so big of a big failure that EA canned the entire series. The game was a total detachment from the original entry, where the open-world activities went shallow, and the story elements from the movies were also downsized significantly.
Probably the best franchise to compareMercenariesto isJust Cause. It was Electronic Arts' take on a light-hearted open-world action game whereexplosions and destructiontake the main theme of the game while the story does not take itself too seriously.
Both entries in the Mercenaries franchise feature maps that include more wilderness than city areas. Even the urban areas are usually home to military outposts with heavy vehicles that can be used to boast the game’s mechanics in raising chaos and destruction.
A third entry for Mercenaries was in the works in 2009 after the mild success of the second iteration, but the closure of both Pandemic and Danger Close studios canceled the project and shelved the franchise.
Before Rockstar traps itself between consecutive entries ofGrand Theft AutoandRed Dead Redemption, the studio was indeed working on a variety of franchises from different genres.Midnight Clubused to be a serious rival for Electronic Arts’Need For Speedat the time, but it had its very own gameplay feel.
Midnight Clubwas also a game about illegal street racing with a detailed car customization system. UnlikeNeed For Speed, which used to focus more on the aesthetics of the cars in the customization menu,Midnight Clubwould also allow for some detailed technical customizations as well, and it was a bold feature of the game at the time.
With theLos Angeles Complete Editionreleased in 2009,Midnight Clubnever received another entry. It was barely even talked about by Rockstar Games or its parent company, asGrand Theft Autobecame the cannonical brand for them.
Once considered as the rival for theGrand Theft Autofranchise, Driver experienced a massive free fall after its second entry. The game used to be the king of open-world driving games on the original PlayStation, as both Driver and Driver 2 were amazingly popular games at the time with interesting driving mechanics and enjoyable free-roam opportunities.
However, the transition to the PlayStation 2 era was never easy for theDriverfranchise. WhileGrand Theft Autoreached massive success in this generation,Driverfailed with every experiment.Driver 3turned into a huge letdown for the fans, and the same happened forDriver: Parallel Lines.
The series, however, was eventually revived withDriver: San Francisco, an entry that took the series back to its driving-oriented roots and ditched theGTA-style gameplay. The results were epic. Although San Francisco was the closure for the franchise, it was indeed a closure at its peak.
World War 2is usually a preferred setting for shooter games, butThe Saboteurwas one of the few open-world action-adventure experiences set in Nazi-invaded France. The game was about a resistance group in the country who get involved in a feud with the Nazis after a series of events and then try to recapture the sectors of the city that is lost to the German army.
The Saboteurhad inspirations from a variety of games. The ability to freely roam around the city and cause trouble for Nazis would remind players of aGTA-style game, but it also had a good amount of stealth mechanics and a lot of rooftops to climb, giving players a mixture ofHitmanandAssassin’s Creedexperience in a World War 2 setting.
The story and the gameplay elements were both quite satisfying forThe Saboteur, but even before its release, everyone knew that there would be no sequel to it. Electronic Arts shut down the studio behind the game, almost a month beforeThe Saboteur’s release.
Protorypewas a brand-new experience from the developers ofThe Simpsons: Hit & Run, and it did turn into a successful launch for Activision, convincing the company to greenlight the sequel as well.
Both games focus on the superhuman abilities of a protagonist who tries to stop a deadly virus from infecting Manhattan. The game uses a mechanic known as Shapeshifting that allows the player toswitch between their human formand the mutated form.
While the story does try to make a good person out of the protagonist, the gameplay does allow the player to harm the citizens as well, something that was more viable in the sequel. Both Prototype games delivered great fast-paced combat and smooth movement abilities, but the second entry didn’t meet the financial expectations of Activision, which resulted in canceling the third game and shelving the franchise.
Sometimes, it’s just sad how great games with amazing potential never receive a sequel.Sleeping Dogsis one of the biggest opportunities in the gaming industry that was missed by Square Enix. The game excels at almost everything.
It delivers a unique setting with a compelling story. The gameplay combinesmartial artswith the common weapon-based actions of an open-world experience. And the protagonist is quite beloved by the fan base.
Sleeping Dogshad everything it needed for a sequel, and the developers were already working on an online spin-off for it, but then Square Enix decided to cancel the project and shut down the development studio, shelving a stellar IP forever.
When destruction in games used to be a fancy feature,Red Factionwas on the front line of delivering destruction-based environments, allowing players to change the shape of the game’s world as they raise hell with explosions.
Similar to Saints Row, Red Faction was also a brilliant new IP by Volition, a studio that no longer exists. Unfortunately, the sunset forRed Factionhappened a lot earlier than Volition itself goes off. The last entry in the series was delivered back in 2011. Although Volition released a remaster ofRed Faction: Guerillain 2018, it never took the series out of its long hiatus.
Currently, the IP is in the hands of Plaion, but there is no clue about a possible revival of the franchise.
