Areal wants to free its gamers. The game, funded on Kickstarter, is an FPS RPG. It’s not only an open world non-linear game, but it’s also a choose-your-own-adventure where you can’t peek ahead to see where your choice will lead. At least that’s what the developers promise. It also says there’s no morality. No right or wrong, Sith or Force, etc. You do what you want and there’s no one judging you except yourself. But your choices do affect the gameplay, which I’m intrigued to know how that creates freedom when the game is programmed to act in a certain way based on what you decide.
The premise isn’t anything spectacular. Post-apocalyptic survival-of-the-fittest. The inciting incident was some meteor. There are mutants that will prey on you. Creatures have their own evolutionary trait – some will stalk you and jump you from behind, some will attack you head on.
Truly “smart” games will happen. That is, games where things happen as a consequence of your actions, or happens just because – like real life. The challenge then will be for the game to avoid being dull, like real life often is. And so the debate that’s been going on for centuries: predestination or free will?