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The best linear games 2022 may be all that some players desire to do. While open worlds and multiplayer are entertaining, there is much to be said for simply playing through a story level by level.
The 15 games listed here are certain to grab your attention if you’re looking to play a great, linear, single-player game. The greatest 15 single-player linear video games, from our perspective, are discussed below. Let’s have a look.
15 best linear games 2022
Neon White
Rate: 9.5/10
This is one of the best linear games 2022. Annapurna Interactive’s Neon White is a fast-paced puzzle platformer with a lot of shooting. This game cleverly combines aspects from card-collecting roguelikes, puzzle games, and dating sims in a way that makes more sense than it should. It also has a protagonist that personifies the “Cool Assassin” category.
Neon White’s interpretation of the well-known conflict between angels and demons offers a novel twist on a well-worn storyline. Over the course of its 11 hours of playtime, this game remains interesting and entertaining.
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Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Rate: 9.5/10
At this point, Halo: The Master Chief Collection is much more than just a game. Although it has a thriving multiplayer community, Bungie’s original Halo games make up the majority of the game.
This is the version of all three games you want to play for the first or the thousandth time if you have any affection for these nearly retro shooters.
The basic plot of the Halo tale is already known to everyone who has spent any time near a Microsoft computer in the past two decades. You are familiar with the Covenant, Cortana, and Master Chief. The Collection’s ability to go through all the games with contemporary graphics is fantastic, though.
As players progress through an enormous, multi-game arc, this enables numerous design choices shine. The Collection is still a classic hit, despite the fact that Halo may have abandoned this style of design in favor of an open world with Infinite.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Rate: 9/10
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge by Dotemu and Gamera Games revives the arcade cabinet gaming of the 1980s. This is one of the best linear games 2022 that takes a little more than two hours to complete and is just as simple to play as its vintage ancestor.
Shredder’s Revenge is the ideal game if you’re looking for a solid, sidescrolling beat ’em up. It’s time to show Shredder who truly controls the streets by turtling up, kicking some shells, and doing so. The sewers beneath such streets, at the very least.
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Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Rate: 9/10
What if you were compelled to play the main tale of the Elder Scrolls video games? That is the issue that Dark Messiah of Might and Magic seems to be posing as it immerses players in a mystical, medieval setting that is rife with peril and intrigue but also requires them to advance the plot as opposed to joining guilds and exploring arbitrary dungeons.
It might not be as popular a game as some of its more well-known rivals, but it’s still a lot of fun.
During the game, participants take on the role of Sareth, an apprentice with a unique destiny. Players accompany him on his adventure as they devise numerous strategies for defeating opponents and solving puzzles while going through various stunning environments as they progress through the plot.
This more straightforward experience might appeal to you if you frequently get distracted in larger games.
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Trek To Yomi
Rate: 8.5/10
Trek to Yomi is one of the best linear games 2022 from Devolver Digital that is strictly linear, but there are a few rare opportunities to pick up some upgrades and bonuses. A warrior named Hiroki is currently looking for answers and retribution from those responsible after his village was destroyed.
The Black and white side-scrolling game Trek to Yomi may be finished in around five hours. You’ll remember this game long after it’s ended because of the gripping tale of loss and adversity and the monochromatic graphics.
Metro 2033
Rate: 8/10
It almost has the impression of being Fallout 3 or 4’s narrative response in Metro 2033. Instead of taking place in a vast environment that players can explore at their leisure, the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Russian subway system, with players limited to the movements required by the plot.
The overall product feels more like it gives the player greater assistance than it does restriction. Despite being the first in a series, Metro 2033 is the one that matters most to players who prefer a more conventional linear experience.
Here, it even makes sense to keep players underground because it lessens the impression that they are being compelled to move in a particular manner. This might be a perfect fit for you if you prefer the story to explore in your post-apocalyptic environments.
Metal: Hellsinger
Rate: 8/10
Metal: Hellsinger, The Outsiders, and Funcom have created a rhythm-based first-person shooter that competes with titles like the Touhou Project series. With the speed and velocities of the gameplay continually increasing, this game quickly achieves a very fitting bullet-hell status. This is one of the best linear games 2022!
Metal: Hellsinger is a brief game, lasting only about four hours, with its terrible demonic art style and hellish elements. As you wipe out waves of foes, take pleasure in shooting to the music for even greater advantages.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Rate: 8/10
A more recent installment of the Deus Ex series, Human Revolution, features more open-world gameplay. However, placing the game in a more linear setting works wonderfully since it allows players to delve deeply into Adam Jensen’s story and discover the elements of the future world that best serve to tell the tale.
The freedom of choice that distinguished the earlier game is also present in this one, albeit with a much more narrow focus. Deus Ex offers a single hub world from which you may access several levels as the plot develops rather than a fully open world.
Although each of these stages feels like its own tiny open world, you nevertheless find yourself going mostly from one place to another as the story develops.
This game offers a fantastic linear experience because it still encourages innovation and discovery, only in a way that doesn’t detract from the narrative that the creators aimed to convey.
Alan Wake
Rate: 7.5/10
Horror video games have been featured in some of the best single-player narrative games ever made. However, most of the classic horror movie monsters are avoided in Alan Wake, which instead centers on a fear that is a little more relatable: a fear of the dark.
Alan Wake gives players the opportunity to experiment with light and dark in a way that is incredibly uncommon in video games by having them assume the position of a writer who is drawn into a world that appears to be hauntingly influenced by fiction.
Nothing about Alan Wake is fashionable. Although it’s simple to get pulled into the story, it’s also crucial to take a step back and consider how wonderfully the game is made.
You’re continually being led from one place to another, using creative new strategies to ward off the darkness as you make your way out of the shadows. Because players are never given the chance to deviate from the extremely well-designed rails, every aspect of this game shines.
Midnight Fight Express
Rate: 7.5/10
This is one of the best linear games 2022. The beat-em-up Midnight Fight Express by Jacob Dzwinel and Humble Games features some powerful motion-captured animations. The gameplay of this gritty combat game is fluid, and it has a great soundtrack and appealing graphics.
If you can complete all 40 stages of Midnight Fight Express unharmed, you can finish the linear one-two punch in four to five hours. The game’s bite-sized tale has no shortage of thrill thanks to its reliable controls and genuine effect.
Titanfall 2
Rate: 7.5/10
Titanfall 2 is perhaps not what you would expect to see on a list of linear video games if you’ve just played the original Titanfall game.
The first game in the series was only available in multiplayer, but the second game’s single-player campaign offers players a fantastic opportunity to enter a fully realized world and play through a scenario that is remarkably similar to a very traditional first-person shooter, though in this case, that shooter also includes some fantastic mech combat.
But Titanfall 2 isn’t simply a game for shooter enthusiasts. It also has a surprisingly complex and moving tale that gains from the game’s more constrained setting.
In fact, a lot of the game’s mechanics operate because players are supposed to advance continually. This game might be for you if you’re seeking a fantastic balance of action and narrative.
We Are OFK
Rate: 7/10
But are we actually doing this? Discover the true meaning of “okay” in this little music biography that also functions as an interactive EP. With this five-hour-long drama filled with sound and passion, Team OFK really outdid themselves.
Around the Los Angeles area, four bandmates set out on a journey of adventure, art, and inner survival. The sophisticated and vibrant imagery occasionally clashes with the volatile emotions and thoughts of its leading actors. We could all stand to learn from the principles of moderation and kindness that We Are OFK imparts.
Dishonored
Rate:7/10
Dishonored is an intriguing game that uses the hub-world concept that is extremely common in contemporary linear games, but that nevertheless necessitates that players follow a relatively simple plot.
That’s likely the only thing that can be called clear about this game, as it has a very complex plot and gives players a lot of options for how to approach the game’s many levels.
In order to safeguard the crown princess, players assume the role of a former royal protector who has gone outlaw and is compelled to carefully eliminate some participants of a plot. Players have access to a variety of mystical powers in addition to diligent environmental research and observation.
The game and its sequel provide players with a ton of exploration opportunities, but because each chapter of the tale takes place on a different level, players have a greater possibility of directly engaging with the story.
Bioshock trilogy
Rate: 7/10
Some of the better illustrations of linear gameplay can be found in the three BioShock games. The first two games do have an open environment in that there is often a lot of backtracking, but there is still a sense of linearity to them because of certain story events.
The third game, Bioshock: Infinite, is far more linear in structure, and it really works to the game’s advantage. All of these games use narrative breadcrumbs to lead players from one location to the next, but the story is what actually makes them memorable.
The underwater city of Rapture serves as the setting for the first two BioShock games, while Columbia, the third, is an aerial metropolis. There are difficult moral decisions to be made throughout all three games, which place a lot of emphasis on the meaning of choice and free will.
The lack of an open environment enables the makers of all three games to create some pretty great set pieces and better direct players through the narrative.
Spec Ops: The Line
Rate: 7/10
A military shooter with a large narrative component is Spec Ops: The Line. It makes use of a lot of the clichés found in more conventional linear shooters while dumping some of the clichés into the narrative in unique ways.
The plot moves in such a way that it is almost difficult to notice that you spend a large portion of the game being channeled from one area to another in a fairly traditional manner. Because it truly lives and dies by each design choice, Spec Ops is one of the best linear video games available today.
Both a multiplayer feature and an open-world version of the game are absolutely necessary for the game to make any sense. This game continues to be a distinctive story experience that is challenging to find elsewhere thanks in part to the sense of being constantly pulled ahead by the narrative.
Conclusion
Above is our recommendation of what we consider the best linear games 2022. A substantial increase in the number of video game releases and the indie sector occurred in 2022. It could be wonderful to take a break and unwind with a quick, linear game because new and in-depth games are coming out faster than some people can finish them.
It is unmatched how satisfying it is to complete a game in one or two sessions, and it is good to have a tale that is easy to follow and reasonable in length.
