The Modern Immersive Sim

Well, hello there! Today I want to speak about something I find most fascinating in game design, and that is the notion of immersive sims.

An immersive sim is a video game (of course it is, that is the subject of this entire blog), usually in the first-person perspective to ensure that you are absorbed in its world, in which emergent gameplay is one of the fundamental pillars of the design, the player being provided with tools, abilities and levels which are open-ended, as to encourage player experimentation. In this kind of game, the player is usually given an objective and he or she is free to accomplish it in any way they can use the game systems. It is also important to note that the sim part of the name is not just for show, it involves a certain degree of physics simulation and social dynamics and the rule systems of the game applies to the player, but also the NPCs equally.

The basic blueprint for this kind of game is based on the works of Looking Glass Studios, through such titles as Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss and Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (which simulated life in a dungeon environment), Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age (which pioneered the stealth aspects), and the System Shock series. The design philosophy of these games is also present in the Deus Ex series, introduced by Ion Storm, but with cyberpunk sensibilities, and also in the Troika games, like Vampire the Masqurade: Bloodlines.

Now, in our modern environment there was a resurgence of the immersive sim genre, with games like Prey, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided, the Dishonored series, and to a lesser extent, Alien: Isolation. In these games, player agency is in the spotlight, encouraging you to experiment with your arsenal of weapons and gadgets, to explore, but also to show restraint without coercing you down any path.

Let us take a look at the brilliance of Prey, for example. You are encouraged to explore the Talos station, with all of its nooks and crannies. You can hack keypads to gain entry to rooms, search for passwords if your hacking skill is not up to snuff, maybe use the GLOO gun to get to an upper ledge or ventilation shaft and gain entry that way, maybe stack some clutter and use it as a ladder, use a Typhoon ability to turn into a small prop, like a cup, and squeeze through an opening. Those are just a few of the possibilities, the ones that I can think of at this moment.

This kind of focus on exploration is also present in the modern Deus Ex games, again with the prop stacking and hacking, but you also have an invisibility power in your roster, and you also have the social aspect for talking your way into or out of places. Hell, you could even talk your way out of entire objectives in that game.

In Dishonored, you have, again, the prop stacking (hey, it is simple and effective), you have mind control, on animals and humans, you have a short range teleportation ability and, of course, vents.

I have spoken enough about exploration, what about dealing with threats? You can always fight them head on, of course, but where is the fun in that. Each of these games has something of a combat sandbox, so you can experiment to your heart's content. Maybe you are a sneaky person who avoids combat altogether. Maybe you are a character who turns the environment against the enemies. Maybe you are a silver tongued snake. Maybe you found a method to call your own. Any method goes and you should be proud if your plan went on without a hitch, but also if it goes to shit and you manage to scrape by.

Enough with the true immersive sims. Let's look at games with immersive sim sensibilities, like Hitman, Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

In Hitman, you play the role of Agent 47. You go into large levels, are given a target and the mission to kill them. Your way. So far, so immersive sim, right? Problem is, levels are self-contained, so there are no large scale consequences for your actions.

Now, Fallout 3 and New Vegas have the whole social aspect and persistent world shtick, but what they lack is the freedom of the player. I know, they are open world, you can chose what you want to do, but that is the problem. Every path is predefined. You are not able to do it your way. You are basically choosing which railroad to go down on. As a side-note, Fallout 4 is even more limited, with missions 90% of the time consisting of clearing dungeons, a la Borderlands.

Well, those are my two cents on the issue of the immersive sims, but I have only scratched the surface of this monolithic subject. If you are interested in more about this, I suggest you play some of the games that I mentioned, so that you will understand exactly what makes them tick.