Modern games-going back to linear?

It seems to me that we are leaving the freedom that we saw in alot of the games of last year and before and going into things like better gameplay, better graphics, but removing the freedom aspect from our games.

Anyone get this feeling and have a deep sigh of regret?

last year? Fallout 3 is this year and that is what I would call one of the biggest freedom games, although I get what you mean but ime wondering on what genre of game?

All the future games in the RTS sector, SC2, DOW2 have strong player choice elements, the new Total war game like the rest of them is mostly player choice as well, Farcry 2 is another game that gives players freedom that has come out this year.

Can you give some comprisons, for example give a game that last year and before had freedom and today it does not?

Nah, it's just different ways to have games, both will likely be around for a while.

Linear games never went away or faded into the background, despite one or two coming out that boasted freedom to do what you want.

I rather have a linear game than an open world game. Looking at Far Cry 2, yes, its cool driving around getting missions, but all I can think is Far Cry, and how awesome that was.

You said it yourself.

If it comes at the cost of better gameplay, isn't that the most important thing?

how exactly do you classify gameplay? I would factor in freedom as a part of gameplay because I don't want to be a character that someone else wrote anymore, lol. I want to be my own character that I wrote (mainly because i would never do alot of the things i see my character doing in linear games)

Originally posted by Lord Knightfa11
how exactly do you classify gameplay? I would factor in freedom as a part of gameplay because I don't want to be a character that someone else wrote anymore, lol. I want to be my own character that I wrote (mainly because i would never do alot of the things i see my character doing in linear games)

I consider it the game itself. It's replayability, it's length, its all around fun-ness.

Originally posted by Lord Knightfa11
It seems to me that we are leaving the freedom that we saw in alot of the games of last year and before and going into things like better gameplay

There never was a significant period where games were mostly linear which in turn became about freedom for you to say they are now going 'back' to being linear. Unless you are talking about the time of Space Invaders and Asteroids, right back from the point it became a serious hobbying pursuit games had a mix of the linear and the free, from Mario to Elite.

Freeform games can often be exceptionally boring and vague. Linearity can allow for much more interesting stories and focussed gameplay. There is no inherent overall advantage in freedom.

Originally posted by Lord Knightfa11
how exactly do you classify gameplay? I would factor in freedom as a part of gameplay because I don't want to be a character that someone else wrote anymore, lol. I want to be my own character that I wrote (mainly because i would never do alot of the things i see my character doing in linear games)

In a video game, you are playing a character and plot written by someone else. Period. Even if you get to set a few stats and decide "I want to say THIS to a person", the plot is going to carry out in a specific way and 90% of the character you have no control over.

I'm with Ush; freeform/open games can be boring as hell. Being able to freely wander under the illusion of having control over what happens in a game (hint - you really don't) does not a good game make.

alot of games have this semi-free gameplay but when you actually think about it...what use is it...i mean you could spend 40 bucks on GTA4 and just wander around killing people and getting into trouble with the cops...but half the stuff you can do only becomes unlocked after playing the game story through for at least part...

take for instance playing pool, going to the strippers, bowling...whatever...they're only fun to do once or twice...and only become unlocked at certain points when you meet certain characters

once you've done them...you don't do them again unless you want to keep the characters in your phone in a good mood to unlock certain benefits

you cant do the car racing until a certain point in the game...you cant even unlock the full map until a certain point in the game

so it's not really free

and it gets boring quickly if you play it as such

With the all the hype going about with MEGA MAN 9, I won't be surprised if more new games with the ability of the SNES come out for the 360, Wii or PS3

Obviously free roaming games, just like linear ones, can be very boring. But as I said, it's really just about what the makers want their game, to be. Neither is superior factually, though I can understand that some people like more "free" games and others like more "linear" ones. But many, if not most, games you might consider free, really just give you an additional ability to explore a place and either let you choose what quest to do when or actually give you a relatively linear storyline but let you hang out in a environment in between the missions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_gameplay