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.
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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.