What with all the hubbub around open ended games such as GTA4 and others, I think we all need to take a step back and realize just how games aren't that open ended to begin with.



In Grand Theft Auto IV, you can go out to bowl. You can hit up the strip clubs, surf the web, jack a car and kill some hookers, but when all is said and done, none of it affects the story or the game world. Kill as many innocents as you want, your girlfriend will never find out. When all is said and done, what you do in Liberty City has no affect on the outcome of the game. Even Mass Effect, with all it's hype about being able to make choices, only has one outcome, no matter how good or how evil you are. It is impossible to change, because the outcome of every game is laid out in concrete by the designers.



Most all games are like this; as much freedom as you are given, what you do has no outcome on the story. Freedom is just an illusion; no matter what you do, your outcome is determinded by the game developers. Even in games with multiple endings (Chrono Trigger, Silent Hill 2), the outcome is based on a set of binary conditions; did you choose to save this girl or that girl? Did you fight this boss before that boss? Yes, you have a little more freedom on your journey, but do you really choose your fate?



The term is predestination; no matter what you do, no matter how you try, you cannot escape the fate that has been set out for you by God (the game designers). As video gamers, this is a fact we must all accept. In fact, absolute freedom would make no sense whatsoever from a storytelling standpoint. Again, look at GTA4. You can try to be a good citizen, not hitting innocent bystanders with your car. You can try to play it non-violently, but when you get to a mission, you have to kill. You have to be who Rockstar Games wanted Niko to be. You would feel a disconnect, because your Niko and Rockstar's Niko are two conflicting characters.



The trick to good game design is to give players the illusion of freedom, to make them feel that they have a choice, that they are guiding the story, not the hands of an invisible entity guiding them. Half-Life 2 does a great job of making the player feel like they're the one making the game go forward, even though in reality the man behind the curtain is calling all the shots. As soon as the player sees the gears and levers churning, the artificiality behind the design, the illusion is broken. It is the designer's job to make the game at the least feel dynamic, not scripted.


In conclusion, in the game world, we are not what we choose to be, but what the designerrs choose us to be. The character in any game is what the designers chose, not what you choose. Alright, some games let you choose who you wan't to be (The Sims, for example), but even then, you're still confined by the guidelines set out by the game designers. Just keep in mind, you are not the Freeman after all.