God of War Director Defends Linear Games following Visceral’s Closure

Giuseppe Nelva October 18, 2017 4:53 PM EST

God of War Director Cory Barlog follows up on Visceral Games' closure and the change of the studio's Star Wars game into a less linear experience.

Yesterday’s announcement about the closure of Visceral Studios by Electronic Arts and the radical switch of the developer’s upcoming Star Wars game from a linear action-adventure game to a “broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency” caused a lot of discussion within the gaming community, and even quite a few developers have chimed in.

One of the most interesting comments comes from God of War Director Cory Barlog, who expressed his disappointment on Twitter, and made a broader statement on linear story games, mentioning that they can still grant players agency.

I love linear single player games. Saddens me when the word linear is considered a bad thing. You can have agency in a linear story game. — Cory Barlog (@corybarlog) October 18, 2017

Interestingly, Barlog himself once described God of War as a tour bus, from which players can step down and explore, and then get back on and enjoy the continuation of the ride.

The discussion on linear games has actually been going on for quite some time. Even in 2009 with the release of Final Fantasy XIII, it was already quite heated. Personally, I think that one of the most enjoyable aspects of gaming is its variety, and there is plenty of room for linear games, open world games, and a ton of in-between solutions.

If you’re interested in God of War, you can watch a recent trailer showing the Ravenant, a similar video showcasing the Draugr, alongside a podcast on character and monster design, and one fdedicated to the fire troll. We also have some recent artwork, a second batch, a third gallery, and a fourth one.

On top of that, you can then listen to another really intriguing talk between Creative Director Cory Barlog and Story Lead Matt Sophos.

God of War will release in early 2018 exclusively for PS4.