Baldur’s Gate is an adventure game with quite a linear structure. Going the wrong way too early will certainly get you killed. Therefore much of the playing experience involves finding this out the hard way and then starting again with a saved game. Sometimes you meet people who have been sent to kill you or have other nefarious goals. You are given various dialogue responses, allowing you either to admit who you are or to lie. But it rarely makes any difference. Whatever you say, you will usually get the encounter the designers intended.
Although there is a lot of story here, there’s little gameplay. The experience is much more like reading a slightly interactive novel than playing a game. The question is how would this story stand up as a novel? Or a film? Both of these other mediums are ideal for storytelling. On the other hand, computers are good for interactivity.
If we end up creating an inferior version of something that can be done better in another form, we’re not making best use of the computer’s strengths.Game Architecture and Design: A New Edition Andrew Rollings Dave Morris (2004)
Wrota Baldura – tylko fabuła czy też gameplay?
