Don't Celebrate Mediocrity - FPS DEvolution Won't Stop Until WE Demand It

JI writes: "As great as a "run-of-the-mill" First Person Shooter (or Third-Person Shooter for that matter) can possibly be there are always ways that shooters can improve. After a long history the Multiplayer Shooter Online genre has grown to new levels and seen many changes and advancements. Unfortunately we have also seen devolution in some ways. While we see some features or aspects of games come we see others forgotten and abandoned after being proven in battle across various FPS titles throughout the past."

[Hitman0769]

I just want to see the complete package. I'm seeing games capable of innovating in one or a handful of areas at a time but what about the rest of the game's mechanics? Haven't we seen better in the past? Usually I feel like the answer is yes.

[ATiElite]

I always felt Battlefield was more than a shooter cause the game feels like all out WAR with all the vehicles weapons teamwork and strategy.

Way Too many Devs/Pubs have "Dumbed" their games down in hopes of COD numbers but are finding out that "we have COD for COD type game play".

Devs/Pubs need to make shooters more complicated, more FPS hybrids like STALKER FPS/RPG or Nuclear Dawn FPS/RTS or Portal FPS/Puzzler or HL2 FPS/Physics.

The First Person shooter is the best way to do a game but you have to add more things, make it more complicated, more immersive, instead of a floating gun and mindless shooting. Don't get me wrong as the genre will always have room for Quake, COD, BF, ARMA and Red Orchestra but instead of just copying COD...try to be original.

P.S. I hate campers (snipers in BF2/BC2 are OK that's their job) but just overall pitch a tent and make a fire campers in online FPS annoy me! If you carry this card prepare to feel my knife in the back of your head!

http://www.lowpings.net/gam...

[Sabian187]

""P.S. I hate campers (snipers in BF2/BC2 are OK that's their job) but just overall pitch a tent and make a fire campers in online FPS annoy me! If you carry this card prepare to feel my knife in the back of your head!""

So, camping snipers in BF2 are fine, but camping snipers in COD are bad?
Fanboyism of the day.

Guarding an area is and will always be considered camping, no matter the game.

At least in COD a camper can't camp in a Tank/chopper just spamming non stop fire on a building. Sans WaW...there was plenty of tank camping in that game.

P.S..Any game where you shoot a gun is a "shooter".

[xX-StolenSoul-Xx]

Actually some games actually improve alot. The Cod Series has not changed since Cod 4 but alot of other games have.

Example, Battlefield Introduced Destruction and it was very good.

I would like to see destruction in Fps games.

[Sabian187]

I want you to go back through the Battlefield series and point out the actual gameplay differences other then the nonstrategic "BLOWUP a BUILDING" mechanic.

Here they are.
Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company 2. (not including Expansion packs)

Google the gameplay of each like I just did. You will find little difference in terms of actual gameplay.

General P.S. "Not in response to OP"
Battlefield series has 20 entries since 2000.
Call of Duty has 12 since 2003.
Who has over-saturated the market???!

[BetaChris]

The problem - and this isn't necessarily specific to the FPS genre, is that many developers end up using "dumbing down" synonymously with "adding accessibility".

[LOGICWINS]

I don't see anything wrong with adding accessibility as long as there are options to please the hardcore crowd. Gaming is no longer only for the hardcore gamers that spend 8 hours a day with their eyes glued to the screen. Today's average gamer just wants to have 3-4 hour burts of fun a couple times a week. For example, it's not feasible for the average gamer these days to spend hours a day in Street Fighter 4's Practice Mode just to be able to hold one's own online.

That game COMPLETELY slapped casual gamers in the face. A true masterpiece of a game is one that can encourage a casual player to get better and EVENTUALLY become a hardcore gamer...in INCREMENTS. SSIV for example just frustrated the hell out of me personally. The butt raping I gt online was just..WOW.

I had the desire to get better at the game...but the dedication it requires to do so is just too much to ask for most people.

This is why MK9 is so awesome. Its simple to understand...yet challenging(not frustrating) to master. SSIV on the other hand is "butt rape with no lube" 100% of the time.

[GodofSackboy]

They should learn to get better or continue to GET DESTROYED. Casual gamers FTL. 8 hours per day FTW!!! The gamers should MASSACRE the casuals online. MASSACRE

Edit I didnt mean to say they shouldnt exist, i meant they should get BURIED ALIVE AND RIPPED TO SHREDS by gamers

[LOGICWINS]

^^In case you haven't realized casual gamers spend more money in the video game medium than ANY other group(Wii sales, DS sales, 3DS sales, COD sales, Pokemon sales).

Its funny you say "casual gamers FTL" since they're the reason this industry has gotten as big as it is.

"I didnt mean to say they shouldnt exist, i meant they should get BURIED ALIVE AND RIPPED TO SHREDS by gamers"

YES! And then they will get frustrated, word of mouth spreads, the franchise will get a bad name for being too difficult, sales will drop, devs will take notice...and will EVENTUALLY make the game more accessible :)

^^This is PRECISELY what happened with Marvel vs. Capcom. Whats makes you think that games like Street Fighter won't be next?

[CYCLEGAMER]

I agree, MK9 has a great system for both sides, I tend to find myself in the middle of being a hardcore gamer and a casual, simply because I can become casual about video games some months, but others times I am glued to the tv for hours, depends on work for me.

[9thGenHero]

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll see an end all be all package for a couple of reasons. From the developer perspective it's a balance of what they include day one and what can be sold later as DLC.

[EDD213]

Todays topic Hard-core gamers. Hardcore; being so without apparent change or remedy; chronic: hard-core inflation; which is exactly what you dont want to be. Lets face it if you are a "hardcore gamer" then you probably play the same bland titles over and over again like madden and cod and BF and FF. Being hardcore is not good. Hardcore gaming is idiots buying the same product. Just look at BlOPS.

[BABY-JEDI]

Kill the camper....
The end

[Boody-Bandit]

Depends on the map and where the person is camping. If I know someone is camping and they are in a position where they have a tactical advantage and they wont move? I simply avoid that area of the map and let them have their real estate.

The think that blows about BO is they have power ups to help you camp. That is lame. I miss the old days of PC gaming where they forced you to move and rewarded you for it instead of rewarding you for camping to get kill streaks. It's a shame those kill streaks are not based on tactical instead of just how many kills you can rack up in a row. Then they could call them skill streaks.

[BABY-JEDI]

Camping really isnt hardcore. Bottom line is that it is the poorest way to play FPS. But I do see your point in BO.
: )

[artdafoo]

COD is the McDonalds of FPS, fast, cheap and easy to get into. Not the best food but it'll do. COD players DON"T WANT CHANGE ! They fear it, they want the same game every year and will pay $60 every year for what is really an expansion pack on a CD. They should just market it as such and sell it for $20 every Novemeber, But don't act like you're re-inventing the effin wheel Infinty Ward/Treyarch cuz you're NOT ! All you guys do is give it a new coat of paint and Armour All. That's it.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

LOL!

Idiot consumer confirmed.

" I am getting MW3 and keeping my expectations responsible. That means I expect it to be the 5th game that is mediocre in a row with both a horrible party and clan system, No Stability and No Clan Member List Feature at all."

HEY! I have an idea! I'm expecting a mediocre product, and I'm gonna buy it and show the developers that they can keep putting out mediocre products, and I'll keep buying them!

Seriously, are people stupid these days?

[InTheLab]

That's about where I stopped reading. You can't complain when you ARE the problem.

[TheLastGuardian]

FPS don't interest me as much anymore. BattleField 3, Rage, Resistance 3 and Bioshock Infinite are about the only FPS I want in the next year. CoD4 was fun while it lasted but Activision started milking the series, after that I skipped W@W, only rented MW2 and bought Black Ops hardened edition day 1 for some strange reason. I sold CoD4 for $30 and Black Ops HE for $45 when I was done with them.

If you like vehicles and you're tired of all these FPS games Twisted Metal is the best game for you. Twisted Metal will be one of the most fun and unique games of the year and even this whole generation. Everyone with a PS3 needs to get Twisted Metal, it's coming out October 4th 2011.
http://forums.n4g.com/Twist...

[SpaceSquirrel]

A lot of the first-person shooters are looking and playing the same for me.

[Pintheshadows]

It's not that it's mediocre. They have just become dull due to over saturation of the market. I bet MW3 will be good but i'm just burned out for the shooting gallery games.

I played HL2 again recently and I swear I could hear my heart say thankyou.

[Kee]

Black ops is mediocre?

I'm sorry, you don't get to be the biggest selling game of all time without being an enjoyable game.

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

I'm not a CoD fan, not even an FPS fan, but I know people who are. I myself haven't played an FPS since Doom.

I need to point out that mediocrity and enjoyability are not mutually exclusive.
A few examples of enjoyable mediocrity.

90s batman movies, Star Trek In Name Only, godzilla In Name Only, movies based on video games, nerdcore hip hop, half the levels on litttle big planet (including mine), and most top 40 radio.

[Kee]

Mediocrity in that sense is only opinion-based and I'm sure the people who bought it would beg to differ...

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

how does your opinion of CoD differ from the opinions of all of those people (myself included) who watched, and enjoyed, the creator of Lost and Alias butchering the Star Trek franchise?

I've said it before popular =/= good.

As a corollary: mediocre can be enjoyable.

[KiWi1711]

I generally agree with all the points made in this.

Splinter Cell (though a Third-Person) is another title that fits that bill. It's gone from being a Tactical espionage/ shooter to more of an "everyday" shooter.

The only reason I can really think of and accept for these changes: Accessibility.

Accessibility = Greater Sales potential. Bioware recent titles are a good example. Take Dragon Age, or Mass Affect, and look at they did, with the sequels: Made them more accessible for a larger audience.

[HacSawJimThugin]

You know what really grinds my gears? People who enter Gears of War matches and refuse to participate. I mean, why waste my time and yours if you are not going to play. Some people just stand there and spin the camera around while looking at the sky....WTF!!

I loved how the beta kicked them for inactivity and I hope this is a feature that makes it to the final product.

[Lulabarbie]

I agree Hitman, I'd like to see the whole package also!