Too many FPSs???

[le geek]

Are FPSs the offical dominant genre these days? Sure seems like it.

BioShock
Brothers In Arms
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 3
Crysis
Farcry
FEAR
Gears of War
GRAW
Halo 3
Killzone 2
Medal of Honor
Perfect Dark 0
Prey
Quake 4
Quake Wars
Rainbow Six Vegas
Resistance: Fall of Man
Red Steel
Shadowrun
Turok
Ugo Volt
Unreal Tournament 2007
etc...

How many of these can you play before you get sick of them?

Some previous dominant genres that are niche now...
Single Screen SHMUPS pre crash
SMB platformers post crash 8-16 bit
SHMUPS 16 bit
Vs. Fighting 16-32 bit

Seems like RPGs and Car racing games are are still holding their own, as well as 3rd person action games...

Anyway I'm always a little disappointed when one genre floods the market. On the plus side though, after a genre fades away, there is a lot of good retro gaming to be had...

What's your take?

Cheers,
Ben

[heybtbm]

The big difference between the FPS genre and other genres (RPG's, SHMUP, etc.) is that FPS's are the perfect example of what "online" gaming was made for. Playing other types of games online can be fun, but they'll never match the satisfaction of blowing some loudmouth bitchy teenager away with a rocket launcher.

...I'm just saying.

[jajaja]

The big difference between the FPS genre and other genres (RPG's, SHMUP, etc.) is that FPS's are the perfect example of what "online" gaming was made for. Playing other types of games online can be fun, but they'll never match the satisfaction of blowing some loudmouth bitchy teenager away with a rocket launcher.

...I'm just saying.

lol, this reminds me of when i used to play "all weapons" on Medal of Honor Allied Assault for PC online. You could use radio commands to taunt the other. If you used a bazooka one comment fit nicely "that made a mess!" haha. Alot of these comments was removed when the Spearhead expansion pack came. I still play MOHAA online, but only on servers that allows rifle as weapon.

About the too many FPS, both yes and no. FPS is one of my favorite gaming genre. I think i never get tired of it. If the game is good i usualy play through it. The main key to a good FPS is the controllers. If the controllers arent smooth and easy it will ruin the gameplay no matter how good the story, gfx and sound are.

[Julio III]

They are pretty dominant but what I guess is linked but is wierd is how an FPS has pretty much been the biggest/most popular game of its time since they first started making them, i mean:
Wolfenstein
Doom
Quake
Goldeneye
Halo
Half-Life 2

Easily the biggest (or at least up there at the top) games when they were released, its been going on for a long time, not just recently.

[Joker T]

I love first person shooters when they do things well and as said above..online :)

[mailman187666]

i like FPS games too but i have noticed a trend lately and i kinda think if they keep makin' all these new games into FPS', they are gonna get old.

[odyeiop]

Not all FPS's feel old and tiresome.

I found FEAR to be one of the most enjoyable and freaky FPS games I've ever played. I've been pretty much playing them forever. Since the release of games like Wolf 3d, Catacombs of the Abyss, Nightmare 3d.. the old ones, up to the current Generation.

I'm personally even looking forward to some FPS that are on the way. Games like Prey, STALKER, and Hellgate London all look very promising to me.

Gaming always comes down to Innovation. So as rusty, stale and useless as a genre may be at it's base, there are always ways to revive it.

[Griking]

The big difference between the FPS genre and other genres (RPG's, SHMUP, etc.) is that FPS's are the perfect example of what "online" gaming was made for. Playing other types of games online can be fun, but they'll never match the satisfaction of blowing some loudmouth bitchy teenager away with a rocket launcher.
...I'm just saying.

To me online games are about teamwork. I love playing a game like WoW and doing an end game raid that requires about 20 people and a whole lot of teamwork.

As for FPS, it;s been about 7 years now and still nothing has recreated the magic of the original Unreal tournament for me.

[odyeiop]

Unreal tournament for me.
Best multiplayer EVER =D It's rather sad that they couldn't keep the other UT games to par with this one =(

[Damaramu]

Some FPS's are hit or miss with me. I can tolerate them ok, but I just want something fresh. Where's a good western shooter? Remember Outlaws from Lucasarts?

I know there's Gun and Red Dead Revolver, but I want the frantic pace of UT or Quake in an Old West setting.

[Joker T]

Outlaws was a great game :)

[CAGrabbitt]

Wait, what ever did happen to Killzone 2? Was it even shown at e3 this year?

[Joker T]

Wait, what ever did happen to Killzone 2? Was it even shown at e3 this year?

Nope it wasn't shown.

[Push Upstairs]

Ahh....Duke3D.

Back before sniper rifles became the norm and crapping down the throat of an alien was acceptable.

Pipe Bombs and peeing in Space Station bathrooms, where have all the fun times gone? :P

Damn the raw-kit lawn-chers...where is th return of shrink guns?

[DonMarco]

Your list is missing the Battlefield, Ghost Recon and Elder Scroll games as well.

FPS games are pretty easy and faily 3D-feeling games. With little to no art design you can still create these massive locations to explore and move around in. Balance and playtest it enough and you can get a pretty decent following and fanbase. Fans equal more money than great reviews.

FPS games will die out when those lazy MMOFPS games get their act together.

[stressboy]

If anyone is interested in an older FPS that got amazing reviews and sold like shit(thanks EA), check out Clive Barker's Undying :D

I do like a good FPS, but only if I stay away from them for awhile. I get bored with them really quickly, and feel that there are a few too many being made these days... I AM LOOKING AT YOU SHADOWRUIN :angry:

[Ed Oscuro]

How many of these can you play before you get sick of them?
I tend to only get sick of individual games, so probably never :D

Oh, and I was *so damn close* to buying Undying... :(

[jajaja]

How many of these can you play before you get sick of them?
I tend to only get sick of individual games, so probably never :D

Oh, and I was *so damn close* to buying Undying... :(

Undying is one of the scariest FPS games ive played. The monsters themself arent that scary, but the atmosphere in the game is so great.

[sabre2922]

I know Ill get flamed for this but here goes anyway:

THERE ARE WAAAY TO MANY FPS games! there lol

It seems that the majority of casual gamers (male) between the age of 17-25 only know Halo or Unreal etc and wont even give games like Shadow of Collossus a chance.

I guess im biased since I think the whole ONLINE thing is waaaay overrated -cheaters , cuttoffs etc- but Im well aware that Im in the minority on this.

[smork]

I don't play online; my pappy always told me I should sit on the couch next to someone when I snipe them, if only so I can laugh at their misery.

I don't think there's too many FPS -- I wish there were more SHMUPS, but that's just personal bias. At least FPS don't usually fall into the sequelitis that plagues, say, sports games. And even a bad FPS is usually fun if you got some friends over...

[Ackman]

You know why? Because it is pick up and play, just like SMB or Golden Axe, a lot of other games are needlessly complicated and not so fun. x_x

[le geek]

Easily the biggest (or at least up there at the top) games when they were released, its been going on for a long time, not just recently.

No doubt they've been very popular for a while, but it's more recently that so many are being released, making it in my mind the dominent genre...


You know why? Because it is pick up and play, just like SMB or Golden Axe, a lot of other games are needlessly complicated and not so fun.

Good point! So many modern games require you to rethink the controls...

Anyway, as much as I'm complaining, I am looking forward to BioShock and Halo 3. I guess you would call me a long time "casual" FPS player. I played Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM, then later Quake and Goldeneye (played the crap out of Goldeneye to the point that my buddies and I got good at using the rocket launcher as a short range weapon). Later I tried out Half Life on PS2 and didn't really get into it. Getting an Xbox late in the game, I really like Halo though. I got bogged down in the Flood levels and really need to go back and finish it and pick up Halo 2...

Cheers,
Ben

[Julio III]

You know why? Because it is pick up and play, just like SMB or Golden Axe, a lot of other games are needlessly complicated and not so fun. x_x

Pick up and play you say? I used to live in a house with someone who had an xbox. Everytime he got a new FPS it would take ages before we could play a game. Everyone had to go and setup their control scheme. Once or twice he'd get sick of it and just say, lets all just play on default and everyone else would complain but then try. It ended up with people stuck in corners, staring at the ceiling and going in circles etc. FPS games have a complicated control scheme - so many different things to do. I don't think FPS games have ever been truly that pick and and play in the same way as a simple platformer with just move and jump or a brawler with move and hit like the examples you gave.

[Ackman]

Yes but once you can play one FPS, that is it, it's all point and shoot from there.

[Iron Draggon]

I wish they'd kill the whole retarded fucking genre so all the developers would be free to make some real games again. I'm tired of hearing about all this fucking faggot fragging bullshit, and I'm even more tired of hearing about what a great new game that Game X is when it's just yet another stupid take on run around in a maze and shoot everything.

Yes, I know that you can say that any game in any genre is the same as any other game in the same genre, but it's the worst with FPS. There is nothing new about any new FPS. The theme is always the same, you're one dude with some weapon and you have to run around shooting everything.

OMG, yeah that is so much fucking fun, I could do it over and over again in hundreds of allegedly different games and never get tired of it. Please, if you really enjoy just running around and shooting everything that moves like that, then you need to join the military and do it for real. Quit wasting all your time just sitting there in one place doing it on a PC screen and make your fat lazy ass useful for a real cause.

But really, the worst thing about the whole FPS genre is the way that it has almost completely taken over every PC gaming magazine in existence. FPS are always the first thing mentioned, followed by the equally lame MMORPG genre, then RTS, which at least has some merit although they're just as bad about every game being exactly the same as every other game in the genre, and finally in the last few pages of the magazine they might bother to say a few words about a new racing sim or a new flight sim or a new tycoon game or something like that in one paragraph that basically says something to the effect of "Well this game is not an FPS, an RTS, or an MMORPG, so who really gives a shit and why did they even bother to make it?"

[Lothars]

Are FPSs the offical dominant genre these days? Sure seems like it.

BioShock
Brothers In Arms
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 3
Crysis
Farcry
FEAR
Gears of War
GRAW
Halo 3
Killzone 2
Medal of Honor
Perfect Dark 0
Prey
Quake 4
Quake Wars
Rainbow Six Vegas
Resistance: Fall of Man
Red Steel
Shadowrun
Turok
Ugo Volt
Unreal Tournament 2007
etc...

How many of these can you play before you get sick of them?

Some previous dominant genres that are niche now...
Single Screen SHMUPS pre crash
SMB platformers post crash 8-16 bit
SHMUPS 16 bit
Vs. Fighting 16-32 bit

Seems like RPGs and Car racing games are are still holding their own, as well as 3rd person action games...

Anyway I'm always a little disappointed when one genre floods the market. On the plus side though, after a genre fades away, there is a lot of good retro gaming to be had...

What's your take?

Cheers,
Ben

Honestly that's pretty dissapointing mainly because FPS's well they are good, just get to many of the same old same old games.

I do like FPS especially games like Unreal Tournament

the original is still the best but I still enjoy UT 2004, it's a great game.

though I am looking forward to Quake Wars, Unreal Tournament 2007, BioShock, Gears of War

at least they should all be good, but it's all good.

[Ackman]

I wish they'd kill the whole retarded fucking genre so all the developers would be free to make some real games again. I'm tired of hearing about all this fucking faggot fragging bullshit, and I'm even more tired of hearing about what a great new game that Game X is when it's just yet another stupid take on run around in a maze and shoot everything.

Yes, I know that you can say that any game in any genre is the same as any other game in the same genre, but it's the worst with FPS. There is nothing new about any new FPS. The theme is always the same, you're one dude with some weapon and you have to run around shooting everything.

OMG, yeah that is so much fucking fun, I could do it over and over again in hundreds of allegedly different games and never get tired of it. Please, if you really enjoy just running around and shooting everything that moves like that, then you need to join the military and do it for real. Quit wasting all your time just sitting there in one place doing it on a PC screen and make your fat lazy ass useful for a real cause.

But really, the worst thing about the whole FPS genre is the way that it has almost completely taken over every PC gaming magazine in existence. FPS are always the first thing mentioned, followed by the equally lame MMORPG genre, then RTS, which at least has some merit although they're just as bad about every game being exactly the same as every other game in the genre, and finally in the last few pages of the magazine they might bother to say a few words about a new racing sim or a new flight sim or a new tycoon game or something like that in one paragraph that basically says something to the effect of "Well this game is not an FPS, an RTS, or an MMORPG, so who really gives a shit and why did they even bother to make it?"

No way Honkey!? O_O FEAR, HL2 and Farcry brought a lot to the table atmosphere, gameplay and fun, esp FEAR.

IMHO though COD2, Quake 4 and Doom3 did nothing for me, absobloody nothing.... I rather watch full house re-runs than play those steenking games again, meh.

[googlefest1]

well FPS for me is kind of a new thing so ive been suporting that genre lately.

I used to be anti FPS (unless it was a game created by the guys that made it famous). I was one of those guys refusing to give a game a chance if i felt it was copying someone elses idea.

Halo was the game that changed my sentiment. A few years after its release my friend gave me the game and asked me to give it a chance. Now i look at games on an individual basis. I have missed many great games (not only FPS) and now im catching up and trying new games that i would have dismissed as a worthless copy of someone elses idea.

[jonnyutah]

how about Metroid prime... that was different. problem is most of the talented designers are avoiding fps or are gettign involved in oringinal stuff. actuall it's very sad that a un-original fps is that hosttst selling type of game in our country. x_x

Yes, fps are getting old. so go buy Table tennis to liberate your mind. it's out now. :)

[swlovinist]

FPS games has been around a long time, and will continue to be around a long time. I and not a huge FPS fan, but when done well can be one of the top online gaming experinces out there, espically in a big team battle. I too think that the genere has been saturated, when in the past only a few titles were available at a time. Even with that being said, sign me up for Halo 3!

[Joker T]

Your list is missing the Battlefield, Ghost Recon and Elder Scroll games as well.


The Elder Scrolls isn't an FPS, its an RPG that can be played in first person, and i dont think he strived to make a list of every FPS. That list is likely just off the top of his head.

[Julio III]

But really, the worst thing about the whole FPS genre is the way that it has almost completely taken over every PC gaming magazine in existence. FPS are always the first thing mentioned, followed by the equally lame MMORPG genre, then RTS, which at least has some merit although they're just as bad about every game being exactly the same as every other game in the genre, and finally in the last few pages of the magazine they might bother to say a few words about a new racing sim or a new flight sim or a new tycoon game or something like that in one paragraph that basically says something to the effect of "Well this game is not an FPS, an RTS, or an MMORPG, so who really gives a shit and why did they even bother to make it?"

Maybe if those other genres had a cool acronym then they'd get more coverage...

[jdc]

I wouldn't exactly call myself a great FPSer, but I've learned to play them since hopping over to the XboX and now the 360. I usually play racers and RPGs but the severe lack of roleplayers on Microsoft's console "forced" me to try FPS.

Put it this way, if you got me to play Halo2 on Live, I'd be in the kiddie pool section with the noobs. My nephew, on the other hand, is in the top 10, number 7 ranked if memory serves. Seeing him play is sickening. He kills people faster than I can reload....and I got him into videogames! As a matter of fact I FINALLY finished the original Halo tonight. I couldn't do that damned warthog run at the end ever since the game was released. I started a new file on my 360 and did the game in a day and a half with only two attempts at the final run. And yes, I've completed Halo2 back on my original Xbox....but it looks so damned much prettier running on a 360, so that's next.

I'm highly looking forward to Gears Of War and will pick up all of the new 360 shooters that meet with decent reviews. I know that Peter Moore promised more RPG content for the 360.....but I don't have much faith in it happening. I'm set to become better at FPS because of it.

[calthaer]

The original Unreal was a piece of FPS artistry, a work of great vision and imagination. Everything else that has come after it that is strictly an FPS (excluding the genius work of Warren Spector) has paled in comparison, including the much-vaunted Halo, which sported miles of identical indoor hallways - oh. the. joy.

And Duke Nukem 3D was also pretty good. Half Life was just OK (the Natural Selection mod is a work of genius though). Metroid Prime was very good, but not quite in the same league by a slight margin.

And now the gaming world has been saddled with bizarro clones of the above ad nauseum. Bring back the golden days of PC gaming, even if it has to be in 400x320 resolution or whatever.

[DonMarco]

Your list is missing the Battlefield, Ghost Recon and Elder Scroll games as well.


The Elder Scrolls isn't an FPS, its an RPG that can be played in first person.
I say it's a FPS with RPG elements. Same for GRAW. I played that entire game in first person mode because I can't stand third person. If you could rotate the camera (like Lost Planet) that would be something else. But you couldn't. All third person mode offered was a shoot-around-corners thing, which was cheap and unsportsmanlike.

[Ackman]

So I just finished Condemed Criminal Origins the hobo Murder simulator and it was brilliant! :D

COME OUT AND PLAY, HOBO'S COME OUT PLAY!? :evil:

Very violent and brutal nothing like beating up a gang of wild, crazy, mean demonic hobos to death with a shovel or a sledge hammer, some of those hobo put up quite a fight O_O but I learned em, I learned them real good. :evil:

THNX you tazer.

Game deserves an 8.9/10 Excellent atmosphere and great gameplay.

[jonnyutah]

don marco, maybe deer hunting game would offer up you the sportsmanship your looking for. LOL

[googlefest1]

too many FPS ?

i would say to many present day / military FPS games

not enough scifi / horor ones - unless im missing them

im refering to consoles - not PC - for the most part i stoped playing new PC games - i still have 4 games from the year battle crusier millenium came out still sealed - i have a ways to catch up. But ofcourse there is the exception for civilzation and simcity titles

[Ackman]

I'll say one thing about FPS esp FEAR, Farcry and Cdm Criminal Origins... the AI is brilliant, much better than in any other genre imho. :D

[Ackman]

I'll say one thing about FPS esp FEAR, Farcry and Cdm Criminal Origins... the AI is brilliant, much better than in any other genre imho. :D

[Joker T]

Donmarco,

You do know the "S" in stands for shooter right?

First Person Shooter as in Halo or Doom, not Elder Scrolls.

[Joker T]

Donmarco,

You do know the "S" in stands for shooter right?

First Person Shooter as in Halo or Doom, not Elder Scrolls.

[smokehouse]

To be honest with you, I got sick of them years ago. To me it’s so repetitious and without rewards, quite like Madden. You play a football game and although it’s slightly different from last time, it’s always football. FPS titles have been the same for years. If you like that thing you’re golden, if not, ignore them like I do. I know there are improvements to sound and graphics as well as the online thing but ultimately you’re running around with a gun shooting things and collecting items (in the "story mode"), different setting and theme, same task.

The FPS fad is no unlike many other things, something becomes popular and everybody wants a piece of the action. Thus the 10,000 different FPS titles.


Oh, to the flamers, yes, I have tried MANY current FPS titles looking for the elusive fun title but it’s always the same to me.

Live and let live I guess.

[smokehouse]

To be honest with you, I got sick of them years ago. To me it’s so repetitious and without rewards, quite like Madden. You play a football game and although it’s slightly different from last time, it’s always football. FPS titles have been the same for years. If you like that thing you’re golden, if not, ignore them like I do. I know there are improvements to sound and graphics as well as the online thing but ultimately you’re running around with a gun shooting things and collecting items (in the "story mode"), different setting and theme, same task.

The FPS fad is no unlike many other things, something becomes popular and everybody wants a piece of the action. Thus the 10,000 different FPS titles.


Oh, to the flamers, yes, I have tried MANY current FPS titles looking for the elusive fun title but it’s always the same to me.

Live and let live I guess.

[googlefest1]

isn’t that the same situation with almost every game

you do the same things in most platformers, most rpgs, all fighters.

most of the time when I play, I rotate the genres (except for sports - I don’t play that too often) mostly avoiding the plots I don't like. Other wise, at least to me, all games are the same with in their genre they just have minor differences that make them better or worse than the other (not considering controls and camera).

[googlefest1]

isn’t that the same situation with almost every game

you do the same things in most platformers, most rpgs, all fighters.

most of the time when I play, I rotate the genres (except for sports - I don’t play that too often) mostly avoiding the plots I don't like. Other wise, at least to me, all games are the same with in their genre they just have minor differences that make them better or worse than the other (not considering controls and camera).

[jajaja]

isn’t that the same situation with almost every game

you do the same things in most platformers, most rpgs, all fighters.

most of the time when I play, I rotate the genres (except for sports - I don’t play that too often) mostly avoiding the plots I don't like. Other wise, at least to me, all games are the same with in their genre they just have minor differences that make them better or worse than the other (not considering controls and camera).

Was about to say the same thing. That the description can fit every genre. Like in adventure games, you basicly do the same thing in every game; pick up stuff, talk to people, solve puzzle etc. The stories is what makes the game. Almost all FPS games have a diffrent storyline. I fully understand that people get tired of a genre tho.

[jajaja]

isn’t that the same situation with almost every game

you do the same things in most platformers, most rpgs, all fighters.

most of the time when I play, I rotate the genres (except for sports - I don’t play that too often) mostly avoiding the plots I don't like. Other wise, at least to me, all games are the same with in their genre they just have minor differences that make them better or worse than the other (not considering controls and camera).

Was about to say the same thing. That the description can fit every genre. Like in adventure games, you basicly do the same thing in every game; pick up stuff, talk to people, solve puzzle etc. The stories is what makes the game. Almost all FPS games have a diffrent storyline. I fully understand that people get tired of a genre tho.

[shoes23]

For those looking for a classic and unique FPS, you need look no further than Strife for the PC. Combined elements of exploration, and character devolopment, with a decent story, and a giant single world. Definatly one of the best FPS, even by todays standards.

I'll agree that the genre has become saturated with too many WWII FPS, but when I get bored of them I can just pop something unique and fresh in like Deus Ex, Red Faction, System Shock 2, or Half-life in.

Ever since Wolfenstein3D allowed me to blast Nazis into giants piles of goo I've been hooked. You just need to weed through the "clones" and find the FPS that attempts to add something to the genre.

As others said before as well, there are a ton of genres that encompass massive amounts of mediocre games. How many 3D platformers do we need? RPGs were the main teenage character needs to save the world from some dastardly force? Fighting games were the sequels are simply adding some new backdrops and a new character?

To answer your question, no there are not too many FPS.