GTAIII introduced one of the most popular sidequests in videogames: hidden packages. And it fitted the scene just right - an open world for you to explore every nook and cranny, rewarding the player in doing so. In a world that big they couldn't just throw hundreds of random weapon rewards everywhere. Something more abstract was needed and therefore the very rewarding hidden packages came to life.
But now, so many years later, this form of sidequest has been abused as a lame excuse of bonus material so many times I have lost count. Shooters in particular suffer heavily from this. It gets as bizarre as "Collect all Intel" (MW2) and "Collect all Helghan Intel" (Killzone 2) - two exactly the same types of 'side missions' in two competitive games! There is absolutely no effort taken to set one apart from one another using bonus material. And the list goes on: Killzone 2 also has Helghan symbols to destroy in similar fashion, and I just read on IGN that Homefront has newspapers to collect. Seriously?
It is pure developer lazyness to throw in a sidequest like that and just assume the player is willing to explore the world they have created, sometimes even without any reward in gameplay.
I think this outdated assumption must be put to rest. Developers should think of more refreshing extra's to motivate and reward their players, enhancing the world and the game they wish us to get lost in.
What did or did you not collect? What do you think fitting sidequests would be for specific games? Discuss!
