In Defense of the Linear Game

As someone who doesn't have hours and hours to play games, I have come to appreciate linear game play more and more. A game I can pick up and know exactly what needs to be done next, that lets me save mid-level rather than dropping me back into an open, is something I can come back to again and again.

I loved GTA IV, it was a blast to play, but I played through the whole game in two weeks for fear that I would lose an idea of what was going on. Such a large open world and complex storyline that did not have to be played in order made coming out of the game and trying to get back into it months later almost impossible for someone who doesn't have more than an hour or two a day to play.

I experienced the same problem with Oblivion. The game was so long and the world so large, that if I didn't play it continuously for hours on end trying to return to the game after taking a break was almost impossible. I spent most of my time re acclimating myself to the world; what I was doing, what the side quests were, where the hell my next quest was supposed to be.

Contrast this with my last play through of Uncharted. The game is short, 12 hours at most, the levels are linear, you go from point A to point B killing whoever gets in your way, and the story was an easy to follow adventure game. The weapons were limited to a few special weapons and handguns that were easy to keep track of, and the characters were easily recognizable making the story even easier to follow. I loved the game, and wish I could find more like it.

Fable II's solution to this also seemed ideal. PeterMolyneux loved to talk about how the in bread crumb trail eliminated the need for a map, and that's true. But for me it also eliminated the need to memorize the world. While the menu system was a bit unwieldy I could jump in find the quest I wanted to continue and then follow the bread crumbs until I got where I needed to go. Here was a very "non-linear" game that still brought a degree of narrow purpose. It told me where I needed to go, and how I needed to get there.

It's not that I don't love longer games with wide open worlds, it's just that I don't have time for them anymore. More over, it really bothers me that often times games are knocked for being too "linear". I love linear games, they make up the majority of my gaming, anyone else have a favorite game that allows the player no degree of control over where they go?