Give me your example of a Linear and a Nonlinear shooter.

Linear gameplay. Sometimes it can mean an excruciatingly simple and trudging story that you can do little to make fun. Other times, it can be one of the most thrilling experiences you can have playing any video game at all. In recent times, some of the best games to be released were largely linear experiences. I speak of course of titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, games that were not focused on giving you a whole-wide world to trudge through and wreak havoc upon, but rather very engaging set pieces with simple goals. I, for one, enjoyed the campaign of Modern Warfare 2 immensely. If I described it to someone, I would call it “the best summer blockbuster you’ll never see in a theater,” and I think that held true for one reason: Linear gameplay.

Linear gameplay, that is to say, gameplay that nudges you along in the right direction with no allowance of real exploration, can be a real benefit for game developers because they can concentrate on immersing the player in the story they crafted. One of my favorite parts in the MW2 campaign was the first portion of the mission in Brazil where you had to find the right-hand man of a target you were after, from that opening where you were sitting in the car, to pursuing the contact, and then to shooting him in the leg. Not a complicated gameplay segment at all, but very engaging and definitely thrilling. Why? Because YOU were there and YOU had to shoot that guy in the leg.

Uncharted 2 is no different in the way that. Yeah, you’re just shooting a bunch of guys, jumping over stuff, and getting to an area that has something you need, but how it’s presented made a world of difference. Who can forget having a shootout in a collapsing building while there was a helicopter outside causing the collapse in the first place? When the player knows what he needs to do and there’s a path mostly apparent to him, he can concentrate on all the things going on around him, like a helicopter shooting at him and destroying the building beneath his feet.

However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, non-linear games like GTA4 andFallout 3, while immersive in the way that they will put you smack dab into a living, breathing world where they can do whatever they please with no real guidance other than a story they can progress when they want to. Open world gameplay itself is a great kind of experience, but when it comes to immersion, it goes about it in a very different way. Rather than dazzling you with story and set pieces, the game actively shows you the kind of impact the player has on the world. It can be in the form of saving lives from an undetonated nuclear bomb or blowing them all up or simply being pursued by police because you punched too many civilians, the player has an impact on the world.

It could be said that a gameplay type is made out of necessity, in the way that if you have an open world game, a developer may not be able to dedicate much time on wowing you with scripted events or detailed side quests. As much as I would love to see a GTA look as good as Modern Warfare 2, that just isn’t going to happen in this console cycle, unfortunately. It is something to wonder of the crafting of the world can just be as important as the gameplay itself, and after watching the trailer for Red Dead Redemption, developers are slowly getting to that sweet spot of immersion without having to take a linear versus non-linear approach.

There is one game that I will say is a good hybrid and you’ve probably already played it: Mass Effect. From the moment you start playing and until you finally put the controller down for the last time, your mission was clear, to save the galaxy. While playing ME, the player is given choices on how they want to go about accomplishing that mission. Freedom of choice for the player is an interesting take on the idea of non-linearity, but throws it into a game that is largely linear. ME was definitely a pinnacle of storytelling for me for this reason and the sequel will no doubt raise that bar in many aspects, including the “conversation interruption” where you can cut to the chase and push people out windows or maybe shoot them. And who doesn’t enjoy doing that?

What are your thoughts?

SORES

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My take is that nowadays, and through the 7th gen, developers know what they wanted you to play, and they know how to get you to play it. Simple as that.

If a developer wants you to play a story driven cinematic title, he'd make a story driven cinematic title.

If a developer wants you to play a shooter RPG, he'd make Fallout 3 or Rage.

If a developer wants you to play a an action adventure with sequenced set pieces and give you thrill ride to enjoy, he'd make games like Uncharted and The Order...

IT'S THAT SIMPLE...THEY WANT YOU TO PLAY SOMETHING SPECIFIC AND THEY MAKE IT THAT WAY.

Now, if you buy a freaking platformer game like Little Big Planet, and you start complaining about the shooting mechanics of the paintball gun and comparing it to Crysis 3 and then saying the game is bad because it doesn't compare to the shooting mechanics of Crysis 3, YOU'RE A FREAKING IDIOT...

If a developer makes a game like Heavy Rain and you start saying the game is all cinematics and story and you compare it to an actual involving game that wasn't made with the main objective of being story driven and cinematic, you're also an idiot.

The point is that if you're going to judge a game, please judge the game by what it's doing or aiming to do.

If you think you know gaming or you're a true gamer because you think Little Big Planet sucks due to it's paintball gun, you're probably the same guy who thinks a fish is stupid cause it's incapable of climbing a tree.

Oh, and if you think games like Uncharted 2, TR, BI, TLOU, and more are linear...well in other news...snow is white...

Fix your formatting issues, games pot!

Touche!

Arma and Dues Ex are nonlinear. The player is given multiple options to approach and tackle objectives. In the case of dues ex, this includes not killing at all. The entire game can be done without killing a soul beyond boss battles.

This option of not killing is definitely something I personally would enjoy seeing in more titles. Currently, thief and dishonered are the only others that come to mind.

I actually prefer a linear game/storyline. Fallout is the only exception.

I can run around aimlessly in real life.

More games are becoming linear... Like how FF7 is to FF13.
Doesnt meant its bad, and not everyone has time to game.

I agree that its down to how the developer wants you to play the game.

Just Cause 2, open world sandbox shooter extravaganza

Battlefield Bad Company is a quasi-sandbox that's linear yet a lot more open as far as approach on the terrain goes, same goes for Crysis

linear, any COD game

Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3 are mostly linear btw. While they have large environments the gameplay usually is incredibly tight fair ground rides without multiple methods of a gameplay. Games like Deus Ex usually offer several different ways to achieve a single objective. Crysis (oh it's a tech demo!) also allowed this through suit powers.

Anything that forces you to move A to B with no freedom is linear...

People moaned about Beyond's fixed story and lack of multiple paths like Heavy Rain.

Well Beyond is not Heavy Rain and never hinted at giving the player choices that would lead to totally different outcomes. It was linear just as Quantic Dream designed it to be.

Only ten posts? Oh yeah, I need to stop making threads that make sense in System Wars. What was I thinking????

why don't you just stop making threads

lol only 10 posts for johnny to throw another tantrum. that has to be a record.

Yes please.

Yeah, I don't understand what people who want to nonlinear games are looking for. I want to play a game, marvel at the eye candy environment, but unless it's GTAV or other open world games, I really don't care about linear/nonlinear

I think the best linear games are the ones that give the player a since of choice and open areas. If I am able to approach a combat situation with multiple ways to dispatch my enemies, then that may offer some sort of reason to replay the section, at least for me. Maybe I can kill all my targets or maybe I can sneak past them. There could be some environmental hazards that I can use to my advantage or even create

There may also be npcs to interact with in these open areas. There may be a poor man you can give money to, a dog to pet, a child to help out of a fire. All of these things could be experienced by taking a different path through these open areas.

There are many ways to look at it.

I believe Rage is a non-linear shooter.

Linear would be COD.

Uncharted/Mass Effect/ Fallout / GTA <=== These aren't shooters... i'm confused.

They have shooting, but shooting is not the main element of the game. Can't really call them shooters... Shooters are Halo, Bioshock, Gears of War, Lost Planet. Not those.

Naming those shooters would imply that any game where you throw stuff no matter the gameplay can be considered shooters.You wouldn't call Metal Gear a shooter tha fawk...

Linear: Any COD campaign

Non-Linear: STALKER

I could be mistaken but the OP talks about linear and non linear games in general. And at the same time I could disagree with you and switch Bioshock with Uncharted.

At least with the first bioshock, shooting is only a part of the game. You have a story that is told through the insanity of those you fight against, the state of the whole city or rapture itself. Not only that, combat has rpg elements and there is also limited exploration.

Now with uncharted you have an ok story and characters too with great presentation, but you have combat that mostly revolves around shooting except for some limited platforming in open areas and melee combat.

I am sure others could go more in depth with the others, even though i do not see them as anything else but shooters. However, i know for a fact that labeling Bioshock as just a shooter contradicts your last sentence.

Stop making shitty threads WastedWisdom.

The title of the thread:

Give me your example of a Linear and a Nonlinear shooter.

You might be mistaken.

Linear: Halo 4

Non-Linear: Halo 1

See wut I did there?!

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Honestly, linearity in and of itself is not bad. Linearity is only a problem when it fosters repetition without introduction of new content or a worthy challenge of wits.

@the_bi99man: I know about the title but in the OP focuses on linear games vs non linear games. Maybe it is being very vague. GTA IV was mentioned. I would not call that a shooter. Or maybe we are talking about games with shooting elements.

Only non linear shooters I can think of are STALKER and Crysis. The games you mentioned in the OP most people wouldn't call shooters.

I agree with those two although I think Far Cry 3 is about as non-linear as it gets. It makes Crysis and Warhead look like corridor shooters.

KZ2 and KZ3 are very linear although the most linear shooter I've seen is Bulletstorm.

I had fun with all six games though.

Your title specifically says shooters but you have stuff like GTA in your OP.

You're not making ANY sense.

Also the OP is messy looking and too long for such a topic, most people won't post because they won't read it all

This thread is as boring as old waffles. You only have yourself to blame.

I was just thinking about that. ;)

Another very linear shooter I can think of is Hard Reset (PC). But, I think Bulletstorm is the very definition of linear shooter. The invisible walls are literally to your sides and your rear gets blocked off so quickly there's no backtracking.

Linear...something like Gears...NONlinear would be something like the old school Ghost Recon Games "still the best of the series"

Do you want me to rub your tommy and sing till you fall asleep?

Non-linear Shooters: Farcry, Crysis, Stalker, Rage, Borderlands.

Linear Shooter: Probably everything else.

Probably you could take some Tactical Shooters into consideration for non-linear.

Me too. Linear games have unarguably better pacing and most of the time a well thought and told story.

God damn, that Uncharted 2 gif is putting in the mood to play the game once again.

Linear=CoD. None Linear=Dark Souls

The point of the thread is that people enjoy having "linear" as a go-to excuse for not liking many games and they think this makes them look like true gamers who know what true conventional gaming is. But in the end, how smart are you if you think a fish is stupid because the fish doesn't know to climb a tree?

well fish are stupid

Rub my Tommy? :/ is that a slang term for Penis where you're from? Stay the hell away from my Tommy

No shit Sherlock. Nobody makes a game thinking 'I hope no one plays this'. Making a game isn't just a jumble of creations bundled together; they're meticulously planned from the moment the ideas conceived, and continues to be until it goes gold.

People in the industry look at the charts, decide whats popular and then assign a team to a game. It's not actually down to the developer a lot of the time, but the bigwigs and their fat stacks.

My friends been part of a small development studio based in the center of my city since we left Uni together, and he's never once had any real say. And the fairly shite android/ios games they pump out (while commercially do okay) don't reflect him as a person or a gamer. He's told what to create, he's just the one who has to figure out how to go about it.

But keep on practicing making observation's - by gum someday you might notice something in the world that matters.

The stalker series fills the non-linear void quite nicely, I'd also say the far cry games are probably the greatest example.

Too bad it's dead now.

ohhh would make sense... I didn't read the OP honestly, too long. Just read the tittle and saw the games.

1) What RPG elements ? I don't remember no RPG elements on Bioshock at all, there was a different currency system that wasn't experience. You attain a different currency to buy upgrades for yourself or your powers or weapons. Also the whole game is a FPS with no other elements attached to it, it doesn't matter if it was story driven open environment or whatever. Bioshock is a FPS with it's primary gameplay revolving around FPS.

2) Uncharted is an action adventure period. Yes it has shooting in it but you go and tell someone uncharted is a shooter you'll be giving them the wrong idea about the game because it revolves around more things than just shooting. It's mostly focused on the adventure aspect than the action, which has shooting but not limited to. If we start calling games like uncharted shooters we're going to end up with a huge pointless argument that's just going to end up setting games genre's based on personal opinions rather than the category they was set out to be for organization. We can call MGS a shooter if it's that way, we can call Zelda a hack n slash versus Devil May cry which is the real one. Huge difference.

Stalker is a highly linear game. Gameplay wise, the only real open endedness is in the games ending.

Non-Linear: Stalker, Farcry Series, and Crysis1

Linear: Halo Series, CoD Series, Killzone Series, Crysis2/3, other generic console shit.

I concur.

What? how is STALKER "highly" linear? stop talking shite just to stand out

Actually contribute to this thread any mean? So you need to post all threads, even if just eating naked children if the topic stays do not like or is brain death. Is the amount of time spent on spam is enormous. Life, such as at work or school, girls do you have? I doubt. the game you also you got candy crush posters

So, I get attacked by you so you can repeat what I said in the thread and then tell me to keep making observations...See, nothing is more annoying than assholes like you who try to condescend. If I notice something in the world that matters, an idiot like you will be too preoccupied in system wars to notice. Don't fucking condescend, asshole.

And you say "no shit" but if it's a "no shit" topic then how come people still continue to compare games together here in Sys Wars that shouldn't be compared together on a daily basis?

seems like my comment contributed more to this thread than yours. I have no idea what you're trying to say