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Open World vs. Linear Storytelling in Games

June 10, 2009 in Blog comments 3

Sebastian Maple at Resume Play cover the major topic in defining and comparing games which offer huge free-roaming environments to those that other a pathed out, linear experience for players. Be sure to come and discuss at Resumeplay.net

With the dawn of the new century came the dawn of a new console, the Playstation 2. A significant upgrade over its earlier iteration, the system provided developers with the power they needed to develop more involving and expansive games.

[...]What Do You Think?

Do you prefer open-playgrounds for your games, or would you rather follow the path laid out by developers?

Is the idea of Open-World Games a passing “fad,” or is it the future of games?

What direction will games move in? Will they move towards being more open, or linear in nature? Or will it be a combination of the two?
PangTong_Blademaster via resumeplay.net »
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  • 1
    Daweii Jun 10, 09
    I feel a good game can offer a linear experience that has all the interactivity you would expect from an open world game. Games like Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit for example are ultra linear to keep their story at the highest possible standard but in turn, turn their scenes into mini open world evironments with everything in them getting interacted with in some way if the player chooses. Through these changes and the linear nature of the levels they can do phenomenal things with the story including having a story where every minute of your gameplay will change the ending. To me that kind of thing is far more interesting than a huge and often monotonous world with very little to do.
  • 0
    Play ISDF Jun 10, 09
    I think it depends on the game more than anything. Certain games require a huge expansive environment. Others need it to be highly linear, namely for a story. Depending on the type of game and it's setting, a particular form works over another. Like I'd expect GTA4 and Fallout 3 to be sandbox, it works perfectly. I'd expect Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Halo 3 to be linear, since that works perfectly for those games. It's pointless arguing about which is better since both work for different things.
  • 0
    cornfedgamer Jun 10, 09
    I agree. It depends on the game and the story. If there's enough side missions and extra stuff to do, open world games are great. Fallout 3 and Oblivion are great examples of games that capitalized the most off of their openness.

    But an open world does get in the way of story, since the developers cannot direct the player through the story. Grand Theft Auto IV did a good job merging story and openness. inFamous also did a good job at combining an open world with several linear nodes, like the prison and junk tower on the second island.

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