there's a GDC talk on Youtube where Warren Spector makes that point explicitly. The original was narratively linear but had freedom within the mission gameplay.

there's a GDC talk on Youtube where Warren Spector makes that point explicitly. The original was narratively linear but had freedom within the mission gameplay. He considered that vital for the tension of the story. This is also why HR succeeded for me in contrast to Mankind Divided. The 'open world' like approach of the latter sidelined the main story which seemed almost tangential. Which is a problem in many games these days. https://youtu.be/tffX3VljTtI https://youtu.be/tffX3VljTtI