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Immersive Sim

Concept »

Influential sub-genre established by Looking Glass Studios in which the player is free to act as they choose in a richly simulated world, often associated with action-RPGs. The term was coined by Warren Spector in his Deus Ex post-mortem.

The Immersive Sim wiki last edited by Joris_Weerts on 04/11/13 02:36PM View full history

Overview

A school of game design established by Looking Glass Studios with Thief, Underworld and System Shock, this concept is still alive today in games such as Bioshock and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Defining elements

  • Immersion in an elaborate and believable game world.
  • Simulation: physics and AI are used to create believable behavior in objects and characters which the player can freely interact with, resulting in 'emergent gameplay'.
  • First person perspective so as to truly look through the eyes of the protagonist (though not all games adhere to this).
  • Game design that allows for multiple paths and/or multiple solutions in every situation.

Rock Paper Shotgun ran a series of interviews on the past and future of the genre and the GAMBIT Game Lab also interviewed several ex-Looking Glass developers on the subject.

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