The contents of this blog have actually been bouncing back and forth in my head for quite some time now but it has only recently during my adventures in Fallout 3 (review to be completed soon) that said contents have taken a body that is more readily presentable. This entry focuses on the focus of the industry when it comes to gameplay and what we as gamers expect of our developers.
The word 'linear', at least in my mind, seems to have become almost something of a curse-word in the modern gaming industry. By contrast one of the biggest buzz-terms over the past couple years has been 'emergent gameplay'. For the uninitiated: the term 'emergent gameplay' refers to a game reacting to the style and decisions of the player in order to produce situational content as opposed to following a predefined script or series of events. I feel more and more like the idea of a linear experience is souring on publishers and gamers alike and I'm not really certain this is a good thing.
Ten or fifteen years ago nonlinear presentation in gaming was essentially unheard of. There are two reasons in my mind for this; the first being a matter of preconception and the second a matter of technology. With regards to the first: games in those days were meant to be certain things that games had been for decades. The games had to challenge the player sequentially and had to eventually end. With regards to the second: ten years ago the technology simply did not exist that would allow for a game to deliver an experience to the player that would be both nonlinear and satisfying. Predetermination was necessary for an enjoyable gameplay experience.
However as time went on, preconception gave way while technology improved. I think the biggest turning point for the gaming industry with regards to the struggle between linear and emergent gameplay was the 2002 release of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto III. Grand Theft Auto III certainly wasn't the first truly open-ended game ever released nor was it significantly different from the previous games of the series in terms of the ideas conveyed through the gameplay but it was without a doubt pivotal in remolding what players expected from their games and, in turn, what publishers expected from their developers. Grand Theft Auto III placed players in the midst of a vast 3D urban sprawl and, while it did tell a narrative over its course it didn't force the player through that narrative. Grand Theft Auto III allowed the player to approach that narrative at their own pace and convenience which, in 2002, was an idea that had never been executed as successfully as it was in Rockstar's criminal title.
The third entry in the Grand Theft Auto series would, I think, go on to pave a very new, very different, more commercialized era of gamer expectations. Games like Morrowind and Saint's Row would follow Rockstar's entry into gaming history and all of a sudden players were no longer beholden to their games and their courses. Gamers now expected their games to give them the same sort of freedom they had been given in Grand Theft Auto III. The publishers knew this and steered their developers to give the booming video game market what it wanted: freedom.
Can you code freedom? No. But more recent games like Spore and the aforementioned Fallout 3 are coming eerily close. And how could I write this entry without mentioning the ultimate manifestation of this freedom-infatuated gaming culture? The MMOs. World of Warcraft as of this writing boasts 11 million subscribers and is, unbelievably, still growing. Warhammer Online boasts another 500,000 or so. Moreso than ever before we, as gamers, are free.
Or are we?
Are our expectations with regards to gameplay and presentation well-founded? Will those of the next generation of gamers even be Realistic or will the bar be set so high, their anticipations be so lofty, that the ability to deliver a satisfying or even recognizable gameplay experience be lost on our beloved developers? Are the games of the future to share the fate of Spore: less games and more 'entertainment experiences' that end up being so dilluted and spread so thin that the delivery of satisfying or enjoyable content is never realized? I think its a very Real possibility we should stop to consider.
I think the gaming industry needs to take a good look at itself and then keep a mind on its past. Is 'linear gameplay' such a horrible thing? The vast majority of the most beloved titles of all time have been wholly linear experiences. Doom, Myst, Max Payne, Half-Life... the list goes on. In my mind the fact remains that while technology may be amazing and while the capacity for emergent gameplay be ever-expanding, there is no scripting trigger than can replicate timeless moments and no algorithm that can replace a writer at work.
~V
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