QUOTE (Bull @ Apr 27 2012, 04:23 AM)

I would note that by most definitions, neither the SNES nor the Sega Shadowrun games were "Sandbox" games.
Debatable.
I think all here agree that sandbox is not a binary/ 0 or 1 thing, but a group of qualities/characteristics. While the Snes game really tended to the 0 of that scale, the Genesis one had some qualities that, in my view, put it somewhere from the mid to the 1 in the scale.
In special, Im talking about that game relative "openess" that allowed you to do what you want, and as you want, through a structure of random jobs availalble through diffferent johnsons and contacts, that had nothing to do with pre-scripted stories - in other words, you could totally ignore the "Gamemaster Adventure" and go on to explore the setting as you wish (inside certain limitations of code and of being a shadowrunner in the first place) and the game continued engaging and fun - thats the exact definition of sandbox for a large number of (tabletop and electronic) gamers.
So, in some ways, one could say that..
..the meat of the Genesis game was its "open world", that felt pretty much "alive" and made you feel like a real shadowrunner.
..the meat of the SNES game was its (mature and very genre appropriated) plot and its kick-ass atmosphere and personality.
..what will be the meat of SR:R ? Well, judging by the descriptions so far, its the tactical "contextual" combat. I hope it ends up being a bit more than that, but only time will tell. To be fair, I think we shoudlnt even demand the devs give detailed descriptions of the game right now, because not even them know this yet.