[QUOTE="Alucard_rules"]That is exacly the point he is trying to make, you aren't in control, it tries to trick you into thinking that and/or giving you the emotion while you know you aren't actually in control, even though it FEELS like it. The whole point is to make you feel like you are in control and interacting, while you don't have control at all. And even when it is obvious, like in MGS, you still FEEL like you are doing it.the_requiem

Fair enough. I'd call that it is an achievement by game designer that MGS makes on feel that even when one knows that control is an illusion. My point was, would have made for a more interesting analysis if taken up a game that considers giving player a control of their protagonist's destiny a key selling point.

I liked the Half-Life 2 example, remember that fight really really well. I feel the point he was trying to make was that games striving for a narrative can't really give user control, only illusion of the control. And by extension of that, I feel he would have been better served using example of a game that purports to give user narrative control through choices made in gameplay. Or maybe I feel the focus of article should have been the fact that no game offers a choice that developers/designers didn't think about...

You're free to do whatever you want to do as long as it is within the prison of rules and boundaries.