Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Freedom in games, it's a good thing isn't it? Surely the idea of being funneled down corridors, with a freedom akin to that which gravity grants you, is all but moribund? Well I'm not so sure. Ever since titles such as Doom 3, Quake 4 and Painkiller (and their subsequent iffy reviews due to their corridor mentality) "freedom" has become the buzz word to adorn game boxes worldwide. Games that promise "unparalleled levels of freedom" or an "unprecedented level of freedom" are now ten-a-penny and with the latest rebirth, like a phoenix from the ashes, of the Co-Op, it feels like we shall be reveling in our unprecedented and co-operative freedom for all eternity. Why would we bother with the lonely experience of a never-ending funnel, when we can drink with many others from the fountain of eternal freedom?
Because there is always to much of a good thing. Case in point: Just Cause. Just Cause offered freedom to such an extent that one would find themselves lost and bewildered by the sheer scope of the playground you were placed in; and more crucially gave you so little focus or direction that you were never compelled to actually explore it. Miles and miles of virtual miles that never once were embraced by my virtual feet. It took hours to travel from one side of the group of islands to the other! And why? To complete a cliched task which echoed many missions you had already completed. That's not freedom! It's just being forced to commute further!
That said at least there was no Co-Op!
Ahhhhhhh beautiful, lonely, depressing freedom.