Non-linear level design where the player is able to freely traverse the game world and choose where and when to visit certain areas in the game.
Open World
Open world environments are a gaming concept employed in many games to give the player a more “in control” feeling while playing the game. Open world games typically consist of very large settings with many different areas and structures that can all be visited by the player at any time he or she chooses to. This style of gameplay is different from linear progression games because in a linear game the player is often forced to travel down a scripted path events and levels that come one after the next and are always in the same order. Many modern game players prefer the open world concept because it is an evolutionary step forward in the way interactive entertainment can pull a player into the story. Open world games offer a sense of control to the player, they allow a player to visit the places he or she wants to visit when he or she wants to, and it is that level of control that helps the player feel more intertwined with his character. Free roaming open world environments is still a relatively new concept,and as the popularity of it increases more and more games are utilizing the concept to attract more players.
Pioneers of the Concept
These games were all very important to the rising popularity of open world environments:- The Grand Theft Auto series- The GTA franchise is most well known for its violent and controversial in game content, but the thing that made GTA the monster hit it is today was its successful employment of open world game play. The series is the most important product of the product and it is single handedly responsible for the modern attraction of gamers to open world games.
- KOTOR- The Bioware RPG, Knights of the Old Republic, was a highly acclaimed open world Star Wars game, it is certainly not the first open world employer, but its use of free roaming in space paved the way for future space RPGs like Mass Effect, bringing the concept to a new level where players can travel not only anywhere within a map but to entirely different planets.
- The original Legend of Zelda on the NES was the first game to truly utilize the concept of non-linearity as the game world Hyrule had to be discover and explored in an open adventuring style as the player would have to discover certain aspects of the game world without direct instruction or explanation from the game.
Other games that have been highly praised for their OW innovations include:
- Mercenaries
- Fable
- Elite (Often considered the first OW game)
- Crackdown
Related Pages
| Concept Name: | Open World |
| Appears in: | 293 games |
| First appearance: | Dragon Warrior |
| Aliases |
