i think with half life 2 it is MEANT to be linear, story-driven, and extremely 'focussed', i.e. the less deviating away from the proper path, the better (there are exceptions made, of course, when solving puzzles or trying to 'discover' something in a given area). half life 2 doesn't claim to be anything else, though: it's story-driven and valve don't make you waste much time doing shit that isn't directly pertinent to the ongoing plot. half life 2 would suck if there were meaningless 'side-missions' and 'distractions' to sink your time into. i don't think it would make the game any more 'immersive' or 'engaging'. half life 2 does what it says on the tin, and it does it fucking well.
call of duty's single-players have always been story-driven, too... but they lack the same engaging quality. the first 2 games had average single-player campaigns that were actually worth playing - after that, the 'modern warfare' series seem to be a tour-de-force of bad hollywood movie cliches, stock characters and predictable 'controversial' scenes to stir up media attention and hype. it's all utter dross. the fact that the writing and the plot of each campaign is so utterly shite means that the linear design and limited, scripted maps don't hold their own. in half life 2 it works because the game is actually entertaining. in the call of duty games (the more recent ones especially), when the storyline and characters suck ass, and are basically the story-writing equivalent of an ADHD sufferer going nuts with a collection of bad children's stories, it doesn't hold its own. you just get bored.
call of duty's single-players have always been story-driven, too... but they lack the same engaging quality. the first 2 games had average single-player campaigns that were actually worth playing - after that, the 'modern warfare' series seem to be a tour-de-force of bad hollywood movie cliches, stock characters and predictable 'controversial' scenes to stir up media attention and hype. it's all utter dross. the fact that the writing and the plot of each campaign is so utterly shite means that the linear design and limited, scripted maps don't hold their own. in half life 2 it works because the game is actually entertaining. in the call of duty games (the more recent ones especially), when the storyline and characters suck ass, and are basically the story-writing equivalent of an ADHD sufferer going nuts with a collection of bad children's stories, it doesn't hold its own. you just get bored.
Last edited by Uzique (2010-11-14 11:42:50)
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
