The genre died for a reason. Simply put, adventure games are too linear. Emergent, free-form gameplay is becoming the standard and adventure games represent the exact opposite of that. Every puzzle must be solved in a specific way and progression follows a certain path, with no opportunity for deviation. Action games can get away with linear progression because the actual gameplay is the focus in the game. Adventure games, on the other hand, don't have much gameplay. Most of them boil down to pixel hunts, with the user trying to figure out what item to combine with the other item in order to get a lever to pull up. In order for the adventure genre to be revived, it has to evolve. A greater focus on actual gameplay needs to take place.

Oh, and I don't think HL2 is revolutionary. In fact, I don't think the original game was revolutionary either. Sure, it was highly immersive, but the core gameplay was no different from other shooters. HL2 is a good action game, but hardly the next stage in gaming history.


This comment was edited on Dec 5, 20:01.