When did linearity become a dirty word?

[cookyy2k]

I recently had a birthday and so had a bit of cash to get a new game. Now I used to be a big warhammer 40k geek so I decided I'd take a look at spacemarine reviews as I always look at reviews before buying a game new. The reviews I saw had somewhat average scores, the main negative people were giving was linearity, some even going as far as 1 or 2 out of 10 based soley on the linearity of the single player mode. I thought to myself well that's a silly reason and bought it anyway, I'm currently really enjoying it despite it being linear.

So, why has linearity become such a negative point these days? Given budget and/or time constraints I'd prefer a dev team to concentrate on story and gameplay rather than in making a sandbox world that is unnecessary for the game in question. I'm all for sandboxes in games if it is needed GTA style but really is a linear story in spacemarine such a damning factor?

 

[Exterminas]

You have to look at the game as a whole.

Linearity is not bad, when you make a unique and innovative game. (Portal)
Linearity seems cheap, when you make a Gears of War Clone (Space Marine)

Not saying SM would be a bad game, but I can sort of see the point when a linear game is also a pretty bland cookie-cutter of it's genre.

 

[RogerKevin]

FFXIII filthied it up for everyone.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I think it's because there is so much of it. Even if something is a good idea once, after the umpteenth time people might get fed up with it.

 

[Kevak]

Linear games are only good when the game is innovative and has not been done before (Portal or the original Rayman for examples), pallet swaps and clones are bad.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

FFXIII filthied it up for everyone.

This. My favorite, and a unanimously praised, game is Half-Life 2. It's very linear. Therefore, linearity in and of itself isn't bad, just how the game executes it.

 

[DEAD34345]

Well... when is linearity ever a good thing? It always has been a negative point against games if I remember correctly, and so it should be. Obviously how much of a negative point it is varies from person to person, but that's just how opinions work. Personally, I almost never play linear games, because player choice is pretty much my favourite thing about video-games as a medium.

If linearity doesn't bother you, that's fine, but clearly it bothers plenty of other people, and their reviews have every bit as much validity as yours.

 

[theriddlen]

Linearity was a dirty word around time when Call of Duty 3 came out. I think you're few years late with this thread.
Most of us want an experience that is intuitive and fun, as a result of being precisely crafted by professionals.

 

[cookyy2k]

Well... when is linearity ever a good thing? It always has been a negative point against games if I remember correctly, and so it should be. Obviously how much of a negative point it is varies from person to person, but that's just how opinions work. Personally, I almost never play linear games, because player choice is pretty much my favourite thing about video-games as a medium.

If linearity doesn't bother you, that's fine, but clearly it bothers plenty of other people, and their reviews have every bit as much validity as yours.

I know they have as much validity, what I'm getting at is they give like 1/10 for a game and their only negative is that it's linear. I've seen reviews that praise it in game play and other areas but still slate it for linearity giving it dismal scores.

Also to the gears of war clone comment... Spacemarine is 3rd person, with no chest high walls. I enjoy spacemarine, I get fed up of gears after half an hour as with any fps that has out of cover=death.

 

[suitepee7]

god of war 3 is dead linear, and its awesome, and got really strong review scores. depends on personal preference IMO

 

[cookyy2k]

I personally, can't stand the idea of buying a game that's linear unless there is something very killer about it that makes me not mind. In my mind, something that is linear is equal to something that has no replay value and little creativity.

Because a sandbox is all that I ever replay a game for. Linear games can have replay value. Every film is linear, does that mean that you only watch a film once in your life then never watch it again?

 

[ImSkeletor]

You have to look at the game as a whole.

Linearity is not bad, when you make a unique and innovative game. (Portal)
Linearity seems cheap, when you make a Gears of War Clone (Space Marine)

Not saying SM would be a bad game, but I can sort of see the point when a linear game is also a pretty bland cookie-cutter of it's genre.

Have you played space marine? Last time I checked gears of war is a cover based shooter and Space marine has almost no cover to speak of.

 

[Twilight_guy]

When did reviewers on the internet not become a gaggle bag of idiots with crap opinions?

Don't trust online review made from people who clearly have no idea what they're doing. Linearity isn't bad its just that some people have no concept of how game design works and that reflects int their reviews.

 

[Antari]

I recently had a birthday and so had a bit of cash to get a new game. Now I used to be a big warhammer 40k geek so I decided I'd take a look at spacemarine reviews as I always look at reviews before buying a game new. The reviews I saw had somewhat average scores, the main negative people were giving was linearity, some even going as far as 1 or 2 out of 10 based soley on the linearity of the single player mode. I thought to myself well that's a silly reason and bought it anyway, I'm currently really enjoying it despite it being linear.

So, why has linearity become such a negative point these days? Given budget and/or time constraints I'd prefer a dev team to concentrate on story and gameplay rather than in making a sandbox world that is unnecessary for the game in question. I'm all for sandboxes in games if it is needed GTA style but really is a linear story in spacemarine such a damning factor?

To a certain extent linear storylines can take away from replayability. Open sandboxes provide the freedom to have something different happen each time you play through. Where as a linear storyline will usually only allow for a limited amount of different angles to approach things. Most of the people who go crazy on those reviews you'll find are Dawn of War 2 fans. They prefered the more Command & Conquer style sandbox.

 

[rekabdarb]

I dunno... kinda prefer linear games. When i played the original Dragon Age i didn't know what the fuck to do (do now) so i HAD to put the game down and panic about it. Twas weird.

Didn't know wtf to do cause there were SO many quests early and no way other than reading them with my VERY out of date prescription glasses. Small words on a tv about 4 yards away that is 8 years old... kinda hard to do with my eye sight. (which is -8 i think)

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I really don't see why linearity would be mentioned outside of the RPG/Action RPG/JRPG/Sandbox genres, I mean for me this is really the only place where it comes into the equasion, I'm not expecting diverse open worlds when buying an FPS or a hack 'n' slash game.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Linearity done well is fine. See the Half Life games for a good sense of linearity. The Pacing is good, the set pieces occur at the right times, and it follows a good story progression arc.

Bad linearity is where you run down fifteen identical hallways with nothing to do.

 

[DEAD34345]

I know they have as much validity, what I'm getting at is they give like 1/10 for a game and their only negative is that it's linear. I've seen reviews that praise it in game play and other areas but still slate it for linearity giving it dismal scores.

Also to the gears of war clone comment... Spacemarine is 3rd person, with no chest high walls. I enjoy spacemarine, I get fed up of gears after half an hour as with any fps that has out of cover=death.

Maybe the problem is that it is linear, even compared to other linear games? I mean I've only played the demo, so I won't pretend that I know the game inside and out, but in the demo there was no choice in anything. You just walked down what was essentially a long corridor (that just happened to look like a nice outdoor environment), killing hundreds of Orkz. There didn't seem to be any secret areas, there was no multiple paths, no sniper vantage points, no unique ways to get through fights, nothing. The lack of options would make the game extremely dull to me.

Of course, I may be completely wrong about all that (like I said, I don't have the game). A more likely situation is that all of these people giving the game 1 out of 10 do the same for any linear game, or any games that just don't happen to be their cup of tea. I mean 1/10 is probably the most popular score to give a game in a user review, followed closely by 10/10 (users don't make the best reviewers).