E3 2010

[ZeroAX]

I'm waiting for an FPS that has epic weapons that do all sorts of crazy stuff, like the gravity gun in Half Life 2. I'm sorry but bullets are boring.

[Pulsar_t]

Look it!

[Ack]

Ok, so modern combat has grown stale in FPS to you guys the same way WWII FPS went stale about a decade ago. It's not necessarily just a repetition of gameplay, it's a repetition of themes. I look at that collection of screenshots and I notice the similar visual appearance, their use of the currently in vogue health regeneration system, and their use of the same gun...which is admittedly a common weapon in modern NATO member nations. Heck, it's like getting an MP40 in a WWII game, you know it's going to happen if you're in the European theater, and few games focus on the Pacific side of things.

That said, I also noticed a few differences, in regards to HUD design. As I haven't actually played any of the three games, I can't say one way or the other how they are. But I will say this in regards to Medal of Honor: it IS an innovation to the series to attempt modern combat, and even though the MoH series has mainly been comprised of "stale" WWII FPS, even there it attempted to innovate.

The genre has attempted innovation repeatedly in the last ten years, attempting new levels of openness and non-linear gameplay, new health and healing styles, new locales and settings, new multiplayer sizes and gameplay styles and mechanics, and new HUDs. Game developers have also experimented with controls, melee weapons, and explosives in their games, as well as AI and squad-based combat. Heck, even death mechanics have been toyed with.

Look, I play a lot of FPS, and lately I've been exploring the last decade's worth of games, and I do see changes. And even in 2009 and 2010's releases and announcements I see differences. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is not the same as Metro 2033, Wolfenstein, BioShock 2, Left 4 Dead 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, ARMA II, MAG. And what about anticipated future releases: Deus Ex 3, Rage, Postal 3, Planetside Next.

And while we're at it for innovation, how about CoD:MW2's handling of PC multiplayer? That was different, it just wasn't a gameplay mechanic.

[ZeroAX]

calling Deus Ex 3 a FPS game? Blasphemy (jk)

I actually like World War 2 more than modern warfare games.

A) you feel like fighting a losing battle, since it's the enemy who has the biggest army, the advanced weapons, and the evilness.

B) The weapons aren't so advanced so the multiplayer is a bit slower, and more to my liking.

C) WW2 always has epic music



I think the problem with the genre is that they oversaturate it with yearly updates to the biggest games in the genre.


There has been a Call of Duty game in how many years in a row now? I still haven't finished 4.

[MrPopo]

I spent the most time with FPS's during high school, from '99-03. It felt like during that time there was more variety in settings. You had Half-Life, UT, CS, Deus Ex, No One Lives Forever, Soldier of Fortune, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein. These days you have basically two settings: modern warfare and gritty future war with aliens but guns that are pretty similar to what we have now.

[AppleQueso]

kinda like how every wrpg is either tolkien or apocalyptic sci fi

[Pulsar_t]

Market analyst firm Lazard Capital Markets has predicted a late 2010 launch for the Nintendo 3DS portable in Japan, followed by a North American launch in March at $249-$299.

Hmmm...

[J T]

The genre has attempted innovation repeatedly in the last ten years, attempting new levels of openness and non-linear gameplay, new health and healing styles, new locales and settings, new multiplayer sizes and gameplay styles and mechanics, and new HUDs. Game developers have also experimented with controls, melee weapons, and explosives in their games, as well as AI and squad-based combat. Heck, even death mechanics have been toyed with.

You make a good point Ack. The FPS genre has evolved in gameplay mechanics, hybridization with other genres, AI, and multi-player options. It's hard to see those things in screenshots though. Every time a new military FPS preview is released, it looks like it will just be more of the same-- lots of camouflage with a basic mechanic of point at something and shoot. The hate against FPS games (of which I occassionally take part in) is a bit unfair because if a game is going to have you control a character, you really can only choose between first person and third person perspectives. It just seems that third person games have had more varied settings and play styles. There aren't enough first person games like Zeno Clash that take place in a completely original environment and allow you to do something other than shoot, such as brawling. There also aren't enough games like Portal, that completely change the goal in a first person game by not focusing on shooting and instead focusing on something like solving puzzles. Games like those seem few and far between though, so I think everyone thinks a new FPS will just be a Call of Duty clone (and often times they will be right).

[ZeroAX]

Market analyst firm Lazard Capital Markets has predicted a late 2010 launch for the Nintendo 3DS portable in Japan, followed by a North American launch in March at $249-$299.

Hmmm...

holly shit. I hope that is bullshit, cause otherwise Nintendo will be shooting itself in the foot. I know the DS is the only console that keeps getting more expensive, but if the Wii and DS has showed us something is that a mass market price is needed for a machine to be successful

[Pulsar_t]

I agree $199 seems to be the reasonable price point.

Also, speaking as a cynic of anything fps I found Bulletstorm to be very interesting