most non-linear game

[Jon@lbc]

What game that oyu have played felt the most non-linear
1.Far cry at a friend's house
2.Mercenaries I own.

[Doctor Sinister]

Definitely Far Cry. By far and away my favourite FPS of all time.

Dr. S.

[Full Monty]

'Black and White', particularly the first two lands.

[Jim H. Moreno]

So far, The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, and it's expansions. Have yet to play Far Cry, but I will.

[Cpt. Bonez]

ever heard of GTA: San Andreas? i don't own it (since i don't have a PS2) but i've played it, and it feels so much like an RPG mixed with huge cities, with the nasty rap "music" and gangsters and such. too much foul language and dirty people for my likings.

[Rockhopper]

I liked Morrowind as well. I played the heck out of it, and still never really finished anything!

I have FarCry sitting on the shelf. I got busy with other things and never really started it. Might have to give it a go!

[Jon@lbc]

ever heard of GTA: San Andreas? i don't own it (since i don't have a PS2) but i've played it, and it feels so much like an RPG mixed with huge cities, with the nasty rap "music" and gangsters and such. too much foul language and dirty people for my likings.
Ya, That is very open-ended but I've never played it so...

[jaegertech]

Far Cry is still fairly linear. You still have to go from A to B, but you can decide which path you want to take inside a limited area. Just the same, I really enjoyed the game and am hoping some bright young team licenses the Crytek engine to make a WWII Pacific theatre game.

Morrowind is extremely non-linear. Fallout 1 & 2 were fairly non-linear.

[Patrocles]

Definitely Far Cry. By far and away my favourite FPS of all time.

Dr. S.

ditto!

[Overseer]

RPG games tend to be much better at this. Morrowind, Fallout games, etc are by far the most non-linear out there. I've actually played some very old CRPGs that are possibly even more so, but that was long ago, and most XP systems would probably have trouble playing them. :laugh:

GTA:SA actually isn't anymore non-linear than the other GTA games. Generally speaking, there isn't a whole lot of freedom of how you play the storyline. The only real freedom is what you do in between and what side quests you go off on.

[Hellfish6]

Silent Hunter III. :)

Alternately, one of the Dynamic Campaigns for Operation Flashpoint or Falcon 4 and M1TP2.

[Wodin]

Gothic and Gothic 2.

[gobeavs]

Out of FPS games, Far Cry.

[Cpt. Bonez]

GTA:SA actually isn't anymore non-linear than the other GTA games. Generally speaking, there isn't a whole lot of freedom of how you play the storyline. The only real freedom is what you do in between and what side quests you go off on.

and that freedom is immense! you can do things like get your driver's license, stop for some tacos, pump some iron at the gym, get some tattoes, and enjoy all the vehicles you can steal and mess around with. as long as you don't do the missions, this game is the most non-linear game ever. if you look at Far Cry, sure, you don't have to go straight to the enemies, but sooner or later, you're gonna have to kill 'em. Far Cry gives you the ability to attack the enemy how you want, but you still have to kill them. with GTA:SA (i'm not a supporting the game's issues) you don't have to do the missions, you don't have to do anything.

[Cpt. Bonez]

Silent Hunter III.
why is that game here?

[Overseer]

and that freedom is immense! you can do things like get your driver's license, stop for some tacos, pump some iron at the gym, get some tattoes, and enjoy all the vehicles you can steal and mess around with. as long as you don't do the missions, this game is the most non-linear game ever. if you look at Far Cry, sure, you don't have to go straight to the enemies, but sooner or later, you're gonna have to kill 'em. Far Cry gives you the ability to attack the enemy how you want, but you still have to kill them. with GTA:SA (i'm not a supporting the game's issues) you don't have to do the missions, you don't have to do anything.

As much as I love the game though, the freedom to do the other things doesn't really matter. You can do a lot of different things, and unlock some stuff on the end, but ultimately you are stuck on the same story path basically. And the side things you do have no effect on the storyline. For example, I made enough money at the casinos that the game had to make a new digit for my my money stat, but I still had to go through missions where the goal was to get money for something.

[KG_Norad]

Operation Flash Point also allowed you total freedom as to how to perform your missions. The missions themselves and the game progression were linear but your freedom within the mission was awesome.

[Cpt. Bonez]

As much as I love the game though, the freedom to do the other things doesn't really matter. You can do a lot of different things, and unlock some stuff on the end, but ultimately you are stuck on the same story path basically. And the side things you do have no effect on the storyline. For example, I made enough money at the casinos that the game had to make a new digit for my my money stat, but I still had to go through missions where the goal was to get money for something.
i understand what you're saying, but that's not what this thread is about. it doesn't matter if the side stuff has no relevance to the story, the side-stuff is what makes GTA a completely non-linear game, even if it doesn't help you in the end.

[Overseer]

i understand what you're saying, but that's not what this thread is about. it doesn't matter if the side stuff has no relevance to the story, the side-stuff is what makes GTA a completely non-linear game, even if it doesn't help you in the end.

Well then we're using different definitions of linearity. To me linearity is based on getting from the start of the game to the completion of the game.

[Cpt. Bonez]

to me, linearity is having to follow a scripted story line throughout the entire game.

[Overseer]

to me, linearity is having to follow a scripted story line throughout the entire game.


Same, but I put the emphasis on the term "storyline" for my measurement of it. I count the side things like the different races in GTA as just little bonuses, not part of the storyline. The storyline in GTA comes through the main missions.