The 10 Sins of game development. pt 3

#7 Bland environments

The problem: Environments within the gameworld are repetitive, and/or many elements within the game are inoperative.  I.E. doors that lead to nowhere or cannot be opened, hallways without signs or distinction, and repetitive objects that can neither be moved or interacted with.

Major culprits: Halo: Combat Evolved, Doom, Condemned: Criminal Origins

Avoidance: Specifically tailoring environments by designing them to be completely interactive.  I'll never understand why devs put doors in the game yet I can never use them.  What the hell is the point in that!  Less bottles, crates, and cardboard boxes; more specific objects that relate to the environment.

#6 Linear gameplay

The problem: There's only one way to get through this FPS, if you don't like it TS!

Major culprits: Rainbow Six, Call of Duty 2, Perfect Dark

Avoidance: Designing the game to let the player choose what objectives are done and how they should be accomplished.  In this case, I singled out two older games and a launch title, because most modern games are designed to be non-linear.  However, there are still third party devs that seem not to get the point.  Games in this day and age, especially first-person shooters, should be designed to leave objectives and environments open, giving players the choice to accomplish objectives how they please.