Are Linear Games Inherently Bad?

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I think what people mean when the say that about a game, is that it lacks 'depth'. It also depends alot on genre.

People expect certain things from games. I expect RPG's to have a certain depth and non linearity to them. I expect side quests and an over world map so I can explore the world that has been set out in front of me. I expect small puzzles on the way to the next boss and small detours to get hidden weapons and monsters. This is why I consider Final Fantasy 13 to be a bad 'linear' game. and Tales of Vesperia to be an excellent 'in depth' one.

I prefer Fallout's style of FPS to Half Life (even though I love both games) anyday because to me exploration and discovery is my gaming preference. I think at the end of the day it's all down to personal opinion and what you like to get out of a game. Even a game like Mario Galaxy lets you discover hidden things and go off the beaten path.

To me a game shouldn't be a corridor with a movie at the end of each part.

 

[ItsAPaul]

Linear is fine, just as long as its not FF13 linear where you're literally going in one direction. New Vegas was linear as hell and it worked (even kept weapons from you til certain levels).

 

[moosek]

It kinda limits the replay value, but they can certainly be good games

 

[viranimus]

Cause its cool to knock the old school in favor of the bright shiney new toy?

Seriously, as an RPG guy, I cant stand the notion that RPGs need to be sandbox. Honestly RPG was made for linear gameplay. Its a good thing. Its the most effective way to deliver a cohesive storyline.

Honestly I am not really a fan of most sandbox type gaming experiences. About the only one that absolutely truly gets it right is minecraft.

 

[Frozengale]

Linearity is nothing bad, but when you seriously feel like you are just walking down different corridors to get from cutscene to cutscene then there is a problem. Many games do that these days. Your pushed out the door, pushed into an environment you've never seen, pushed through that environment post haste, then pushed into the next. It becomes very discomforting and awkward and you feel like you are missing half the experience.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I think artificial sandboxes can be terrible too. Crackdown presented a huge explorable city, complete with bad guys of different skill levels in each area. Too tough to take on these guys? Okay, you can go here, every new game.

 

[Plinglebob]

I'd much rather have a linier game then an open world game.

 

[Roxor]

Secret levels aside, vertical-scrolling shooters are linear by design and nobody ever complains about them being too linear.

 

[trouble_gum]

Just because Mass Effect follows lots of RPG tropes doesn't make the game linear.

Just to be clear, I never said that Mass Effect was the pinnacle of non-linearity, you just misquoted me.

*snip*

What I meant was that Mass Effect offers tools that give the player the chance to approach obstacles in a variety of different ways, be it going in guns blazing, disabling the enemy with tech/biotic powers, or sometimes even talking yourself out of a sticky situation. BioWare specifically engineered it so that virtually no two players will have the same experience.

Following the old RPG trope of impending disaster that can be ignored while you mess around doing side quests that have no actual bearing on said Universal Doom? doesn't make a game linear, and I never said it did.

The query was more "Why do you think ME is the closest thing to non-linearity?" You've now provided some further info on your reasoning, which are all good reasons for why Mass Effect is not linear. They're not particularly good reasons for why it's "the closest thing to non-linearity," alone among various other RPGs, though.

The tools you quite rightly ascribe to ME and the ways in which they relieve linear-ness and provide variety in player experience, are all features of plenty of other RPG and RPG-esque games. System Shock 2: Bioshock, Oblivion, Fallout, The Witcher, Dragon Age, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and GTA IV, to name a few.

In short, I refute your statement implying that Mass Effect has anything special about it making it more non-linear than several other games, and thus, does not represent "the closest thing to true non-linearity." At the same time, I agree with all your points that make it not linear.

If you want true non-linearity, I suggest learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Been there, done that, got the shelves groaning under umpteen Star Wars, WoD, Paranoia and Deadlands sourcebooks. Do I get a prize?

 

[Robert Ewing]

Linear games aren't bad at all. And neither are sandbox games or even open world games. Linear games just give you a more precise story the way the developer intended it to be told, I think that is a very effective way of getting the story and showcase your games superbness, don't let the player stray from what the developer wants you to see. Nothing wrong with it, some of the best games ever made are linear.

 

[NathLines]

No, they aren't. But people are asking for a knee in the face if they give me a hallway filled with chest-high walls.

 

[iDoom46]

Following the old RPG trope of impending disaster that can be ignored while you mess around doing side quests that have no actual bearing on said Universal Doom? doesn't make a game linear, and I never said it did.

The query was more "Why do you think ME is the closest thing to non-linearity?" You've now provided some further info on your reasoning, which are all good reasons for why Mass Effect is not linear. They're not particularly good reasons for why it's "the closest thing to non-linearity," alone among various other RPGs, though.

The tools you quite rightly ascribe to ME and the ways in which they relieve linear-ness and provide variety in player experience, are all features of plenty of other RPG and RPG-esque games. System Shock 2: Bioshock, Oblivion, Fallout, The Witcher, Dragon Age, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and GTA IV, to name a few.

In short, I refute your statement implying that Mass Effect has anything special about it making it more non-linear than several other games, and thus, does not represent "the closest thing to true non-linearity." At the same time, I agree with all your points that make it not linear.

I'm sorry. We both seem to be having the issue of not quite understanding what the other was trying to say. I thought you were saying that Mass Effect was linear because it followed RPG tropes.

I'd just like to make one final clarification that you seem to be hung up on; I only name dropped ME as an example. I fully agree with you that games like Fallout, Oblivion, and Dragon Age offer the same amount of non-linearity, if not more so (DA lets you be gay, after all). I thought that by giving ME as an example, others would assume that I was also referring to games with similar mechanics as well. Sorry for the confusion.

However, I don't think Bioshock or GTA IV are as non-linear as the rest of the games you named. I'd elaborate, but I feel like this post is pretty friggin' long as it is and adding an essay for each game on why I think that way just seems like overkill at this point.
I can't speak for System Shock, The Withcer, or S.T.A.L.K.E.R, though, as I have never played them.

Been there, done that, got the shelves groaning under umpteen Star Wars, WoD, Paranoia and Deadlands sourcebooks. Do I get a prize?

You win ten internets and a cookie, to do with as you see fit.

 

[trouble_gum]

I thought that by giving ME as an example, others would assume that I was also referring to games with similar mechanics as well. Sorry for the confusion.

Pedantry is the soul of the internets. >.> <.<

However, I don't think Bioshock or GTA IV are as non-linear as the rest of the games you named. I'd elaborate, but I feel like this post is pretty friggin' long as it is and adding an essay for each game on why I think that way just seems like overkill at this point.

Bioshock and GTA IV both fall foul of different things that still make them more linear than any of the examples we're discussing. Bioshock is massively linear, on a plot/story front. But, it still offers the player several points where you can make choices that will impact the outcome. Unfortunately, when you get to that outcome, its annoyingly cut and dried despite some things you may or may not have done along the way.

GTA IV was doing fairly well for me on the non-linear front right up until the point when Kate McCreary was deus ex machina'd into the ending despite the fact I'd ignored her since her introduction. This is pretty much GTA IV saying "yeah, we know we've given you lots of choice up til now, but we only wrote two endings so screw you. You love the Irish girl, even if you've never spoken to her since the bank job."