I'm not a huge gamer, but there hasn't been a FPS in maybe ten years that appeals to me. There's far, far too much influence from RPG's or movies or whatnot to turn FPS games, and most other games for that matter, into some unholy combination of a Skinner box ("achievements" and other bullshit) and a participatory movie (cutscenes, voice acting). All of that is bullshit, none of that is necessary, and I don't care.
Here's all I want from an FPS:
1. Single-player mode: A succession of well-designed, non-linear levels where you run through and kill everyone. Have lots of routes through the level. Make it really wide open. Maybe have the levels all run into each other without pauses in the middle to load--MDK did it ten years ago, so no excuses. Soundtrack: thrash metal.
2. Multi-player mode: Choose from a set of well-designed, non-linear levels where you can run through and kill all your friends. Soundtrack: thrash metal.
Really, I'm not demanding anything, concept-wise, that wasn't already in Doom II. I just want it with modern technology and without all of this bullshit about flashlights and cutscenes.
It's interesting that you put thrash metal next to both experiences. As I recall, iD wanted a pure metal soundtrack for the original Doom, and it wasn't until Bobby Prince showed them how atmospheric and creepy classical-type music could be that they went for the hybrid approach that wound up in the shipping product.
Yes, it worked well in a lot of levels, but the bulk of the soundtrack was "inspired" by Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, etc. tracks. There are web pages (or were when I last looked it up) that show a level-by-level comparison of the Doom soundtrack and a particular metal track that it basically ripped off.
It probably wouldn't work now. There was a certain zeitgeist in the early 90's where all that stuff went together better than it does now, and you can't turn back time. I just don't remember many FPS games being as fun as Doom and Doom II.
There are quite a few recent games in that vein: the Serious Sam series, Bulletstorm, and (most recently) Hard Reset (http://hardresetgame.com/). People still make them, but their appeal is limited; while I could happily thrash that years ago, circle-strafing around hordes of enemies is just as stale to me now as the current Modern Warfare-esque FPS (sadly).
Well, let's go another direction. I've also enjoyed realistic, simulation-style tactical games, ranging from Rainbow Six on the FPS side to Myth II and Close Combat outside of the FPS genre. But that seems an underappreciated genre. Is there anything good on that end lately?
As recommended by samstokes, Frozen Synapse is an excellent tactical game :). While it's not released yet, you might also enjoy Xenonauts, which is an indie-XCOM-alike.
In general, this year's (PC/FPS) games I'd pick as being worth a lookin are:
* Deus Ex: HR. This year's GOTY for me. Amazing single-player storyline, and it's truly open-approach as far as levels are concerned. I played the game almost entirely stealthily (ie. finding air conditioning ducts to hide in and making extensive use of augmentations which showed enemy patrols' FoV in order to avoid detection), but you could approach it completely differently and gun down every last dickhead guard. In a year where Portal 2 had clenched my favourite spot, this did incredibly well to claim it.
* Portal 2. Valve, Portal, `nuff said. I didn't think it was as good as the first one (there were a lot less twitch-esque puzzles, due to the PS3/360 not being able to support the rapid mouse movements a PC does), but still an excellent game.
* Battlefield 3. The whole BF3/MW3 thing is the most ridiculously hyped up marketing exercise in existence, but the multiplayer here is still Battlefield, and still solid. Might not be your cup of tea, but definitely fun for a hoon.
* Tribes: Ascend. Still in beta, and still being actively tweaked (thankfully, as the balance is currently nowhere near correct). Still, it's undoubtedly Tribes: fast, airborne, and team-oriented. Woot woot.
* Dead Space 2. My favourite horror/FPS mashup. It's not so much scary as it is shocking; generally, you get less of a fright (unlike Amnesia, which is deeply unsettling), and more of an OH FUCK style surprise. Really, really glad EA kept this franchise going, but I imagine after one more round I'll be over it (sadly).
Also, if you play nothing else from the indie establishment, Bastion is amazing. If I was to recommend only two games from this year, for me, they'd be Deus Ex: HR, and Bastion :).
In terms of other tactical games you might like, I don't typically play that genre so can't be a good recommendation engine unfortunately. Company of Heroes, while an RTS (and long in the tooth now), focusses more on local tactics than it does traditional RTS trappings (ala Starcraft 2). Thanks to the recent failure of CoH: Online, it's had a bunch of balance changes backported and is currently undergoing somewhat of a rejuvenation :). The Dawn of War II series is RTT (tactical; there's no basebuilding) but the online is so hardcore most have been turned off it by now.
Ah, Close Combat. I still find myself from time to time playing "A Bridge Too Far", despite its refusal to run in any higher resolution than 1024x768. It does actually run, though, which is pretty impressive for a game that came out 15 years ago!
Edit: If you like hardcore tactical multiplayer, you might want to check out "Battleground Europe". Oldest online multiplayer game still running, as far as I know. It has its rough edges, and certainly can't compete in the graphics area, but the realism when it comes to weapons modeling is the best I've seen. Not to mention the skills you find in the longtime players. Check out the top anti-aircraft gunners (like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eeYikGjjw).
Warzone 2100 is a squad-based realtime strategy game with no bases, resources or other distractions. The story isn't inspired and there is no in-mission saving, but I've had some fun with it. It's also been open-sourced. I'm not sure if it counts as "lately", though.
I haven't played the games you name, so not sure if this is along the right lines, but Frozen Synapse is a very good recent simulation-style tactical game.
There is only two types of games: puzzle and skill games. Most games are hybrids, of course.
FPS Multiplayer is pure skill (frag better than your enemies). FPS Singleplayer is mostly puzzle (find the trigger, figure out the right weapon use). Both elements give you a feeling of achievement.
In addition there is story telling, which is not game-specific, but games are a great medium to tell stories (and not just with cut scenes).
Another aspect is addiction, which is discussed in great length for Farmville, WoW, and others. This grinding/leveling has little to do with gaming in my eyes.
The question of wide-open/non-linear vs linear and the choice of soundtrack belongs to the story telling aspect.
Maybe there's something in the Indie community for you [1].
We've got different tastes, obviously, both in requirements for a game and music (;-p), but as someone that didn't like the Doom series all that much I think there are ~close enough~ similar games out there. The one I listed (Disclaimer: Own it, like the theme, hate the sounds and the Doom-like 'what you kill is eventually going to respawn') might be refreshing for a while.
I've enjoyed the UT games that I've played, actually, exactly because of the lack of bullshit. The single player mode seems to be identical to the multiplayer mode, except with bots instead of other players, which is fine.
Comments
I'm not a huge gamer, but there hasn't been a FPS in maybe ten years that appeals to me. There's far, far too much influence from RPG's or movies or whatnot to turn FPS games, and most other games for that matter, into some unholy combination of a Skinner box ("achievements" and other bullshit) and a participatory movie (cutscenes, voice acting). All of that is bullshit, none of that is necessary, and I don't care.
Here's all I want from an FPS:
1. Single-player mode: A succession of well-designed, non-linear levels where you run through and kill everyone. Have lots of routes through the level. Make it really wide open. Maybe have the levels all run into each other without pauses in the middle to load--MDK did it ten years ago, so no excuses. Soundtrack: thrash metal.
2. Multi-player mode: Choose from a set of well-designed, non-linear levels where you can run through and kill all your friends. Soundtrack: thrash metal.
Really, I'm not demanding anything, concept-wise, that wasn't already in Doom II. I just want it with modern technology and without all of this bullshit about flashlights and cutscenes.
It's interesting that you put thrash metal next to both experiences. As I recall, iD wanted a pure metal soundtrack for the original Doom, and it wasn't until Bobby Prince showed them how atmospheric and creepy classical-type music could be that they went for the hybrid approach that wound up in the shipping product.
Yes, it worked well in a lot of levels, but the bulk of the soundtrack was "inspired" by Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, etc. tracks. There are web pages (or were when I last looked it up) that show a level-by-level comparison of the Doom soundtrack and a particular metal track that it basically ripped off.
It probably wouldn't work now. There was a certain zeitgeist in the early 90's where all that stuff went together better than it does now, and you can't turn back time. I just don't remember many FPS games being as fun as Doom and Doom II.
http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom_music is a good place to find where the soundtrack came from.
There are quite a few recent games in that vein: the Serious Sam series, Bulletstorm, and (most recently) Hard Reset (http://hardresetgame.com/). People still make them, but their appeal is limited; while I could happily thrash that years ago, circle-strafing around hordes of enemies is just as stale to me now as the current Modern Warfare-esque FPS (sadly).
Well, let's go another direction. I've also enjoyed realistic, simulation-style tactical games, ranging from Rainbow Six on the FPS side to Myth II and Close Combat outside of the FPS genre. But that seems an underappreciated genre. Is there anything good on that end lately?
As recommended by samstokes, Frozen Synapse is an excellent tactical game :). While it's not released yet, you might also enjoy Xenonauts, which is an indie-XCOM-alike.
In general, this year's (PC/FPS) games I'd pick as being worth a lookin are:
* Deus Ex: HR. This year's GOTY for me. Amazing single-player storyline, and it's truly open-approach as far as levels are concerned. I played the game almost entirely stealthily (ie. finding air conditioning ducts to hide in and making extensive use of augmentations which showed enemy patrols' FoV in order to avoid detection), but you could approach it completely differently and gun down every last dickhead guard. In a year where Portal 2 had clenched my favourite spot, this did incredibly well to claim it.
* Portal 2. Valve, Portal, `nuff said. I didn't think it was as good as the first one (there were a lot less twitch-esque puzzles, due to the PS3/360 not being able to support the rapid mouse movements a PC does), but still an excellent game.
* Battlefield 3. The whole BF3/MW3 thing is the most ridiculously hyped up marketing exercise in existence, but the multiplayer here is still Battlefield, and still solid. Might not be your cup of tea, but definitely fun for a hoon.
* Tribes: Ascend. Still in beta, and still being actively tweaked (thankfully, as the balance is currently nowhere near correct). Still, it's undoubtedly Tribes: fast, airborne, and team-oriented. Woot woot.
* Dead Space 2. My favourite horror/FPS mashup. It's not so much scary as it is shocking; generally, you get less of a fright (unlike Amnesia, which is deeply unsettling), and more of an OH FUCK style surprise. Really, really glad EA kept this franchise going, but I imagine after one more round I'll be over it (sadly).
Also, if you play nothing else from the indie establishment, Bastion is amazing. If I was to recommend only two games from this year, for me, they'd be Deus Ex: HR, and Bastion :).
In terms of other tactical games you might like, I don't typically play that genre so can't be a good recommendation engine unfortunately. Company of Heroes, while an RTS (and long in the tooth now), focusses more on local tactics than it does traditional RTS trappings (ala Starcraft 2). Thanks to the recent failure of CoH: Online, it's had a bunch of balance changes backported and is currently undergoing somewhat of a rejuvenation :). The Dawn of War II series is RTT (tactical; there's no basebuilding) but the online is so hardcore most have been turned off it by now.
Ah, Close Combat. I still find myself from time to time playing "A Bridge Too Far", despite its refusal to run in any higher resolution than 1024x768. It does actually run, though, which is pretty impressive for a game that came out 15 years ago!
Edit: If you like hardcore tactical multiplayer, you might want to check out "Battleground Europe". Oldest online multiplayer game still running, as far as I know. It has its rough edges, and certainly can't compete in the graphics area, but the realism when it comes to weapons modeling is the best I've seen. Not to mention the skills you find in the longtime players. Check out the top anti-aircraft gunners (like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eeYikGjjw).
Warzone 2100 is a squad-based realtime strategy game with no bases, resources or other distractions. The story isn't inspired and there is no in-mission saving, but I've had some fun with it. It's also been open-sourced. I'm not sure if it counts as "lately", though.
I haven't played the games you name, so not sure if this is along the right lines, but Frozen Synapse is a very good recent simulation-style tactical game.
There is only two types of games: puzzle and skill games. Most games are hybrids, of course.
FPS Multiplayer is pure skill (frag better than your enemies). FPS Singleplayer is mostly puzzle (find the trigger, figure out the right weapon use). Both elements give you a feeling of achievement.
In addition there is story telling, which is not game-specific, but games are a great medium to tell stories (and not just with cut scenes).
Another aspect is addiction, which is discussed in great length for Farmville, WoW, and others. This grinding/leveling has little to do with gaming in my eyes.
The question of wide-open/non-linear vs linear and the choice of soundtrack belongs to the story telling aspect.
Maybe there's something in the Indie community for you [1]. We've got different tastes, obviously, both in requirements for a game and music (;-p), but as someone that didn't like the Doom series all that much I think there are ~close enough~ similar games out there. The one I listed (Disclaimer: Own it, like the theme, hate the sounds and the Doom-like 'what you kill is eventually going to respawn') might be refreshing for a while.
1: E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
What about the Unreal Tournament series? UT3 was released four years ago, and from what I can tell it still has decent graphics.
I've enjoyed the UT games that I've played, actually, exactly because of the lack of bullshit. The single player mode seems to be identical to the multiplayer mode, except with bots instead of other players, which is fine.