User blog comment:Lord Dalek/Stop...please.../@comment-4648181-20120906050503/@comment-3492791-20120909092642

I'm pretty sure Jonesy's statement on linearity is more a statment on that, while level objectives are very specific, there are multiple way to achieve them. Linearity has nothing to do with the ending, it has to do with the journey to it. It's really a stament on the player's freedom of choice.

For example, a boss fight in a Legend of Zelda game is very linear, as there is only one possible way win. A boss fight in Deus Ex is not very linear, as there are multiple ways for the player to handle the confrontation.

This distinction is commonly confused with the difference of a level based game and a sandbox game. To be honest the only real extra freedom allotted by sandbox gameplay is the abilty to dick around alot more.