racketboy.com

What are the some of the most atmospheric exploration-based shooters like Metroid Prime? Is there anything comparable on the PS2, perhaps, or Steam (bonus points if it also runs on Linux)?

Although it's EXTREMELY linear and pretty short, Farpoint on PSVR had a very similar feel to Metroid Prime in terms of atmosphere IMO.

I recommend Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. The first has a lot of survival horror elements, but I put them both into the first-person action/adventure category. Also, both of them are excellent.

O...

Unreal Gold is the ultimate answer my friend. I can't say for certain if it influenced the likes of Metroid Prime, Halo, etc, and whatnot, but it ultimate feels like it through and through. It was a magical experience to play through a few years ago when I realized Unreal had a campaign, and an incredible one that at.

Do it.

Having played Unreal Gold I can say that it feels nothing like Metroid Prime in terms of exploration. It might be atmospheric, but not really anything on the exploration front.

You know, now that I think about it, Half Life is sort of kind of in that space, at least in terms of how the level design makes you feel like you keep exploring through new and strange areas, and moving through these areas were just as important to the experience as shooting the enemies were. Especially in the segments where the military wasn't a major player.

Half Life is indeed great. I've also been recommended System Shock 2, though hopefully it's more like Prime than Bioshock is. Love Portal's atmosphere, but not really the same.

I've never played Unreal 1, but Tournament is great. I never owned it (did own Championship for a while on the Xbox), but for multiplayer I always reverted to Red Faction (1 or 2), though that was fairly linear (2 more than 1).

prfsnl_gmr wrote:I recommend Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. The first has a lot of survival horror elements, but I put them both into the first-person action/adventure category. Also, both of them are excellent.

How are these games on Windows? I sold the Xbox already.

System Shock 2 definitely has more exploration components compared to Bioshock, same with System Shock 1. There's a fair amount of going between areas because of things you unlock.

MrPopo wrote:Having played Unreal Gold I can say that it feels nothing like Metroid Prime in terms of exploration. It might be atmospheric, but not really anything on the exploration front.

I wouldn't discredit it so easily just because it might be more linear. It's still very different with a lot of platforming and puzzles, cool temples, lots of varied elements, and the emphasis isn't on sheer action like Doom or Quake. He said atmospheric in the first post and I think that's exactly what Unreal, Halo 1, and Metroid Prime all have in common in a lot of areas. Lots of tropical open areas meshed with mechanical industrial sections all organically mixed in.

I think Half-Life and System Shock 2 are bigger stretches. But I guess this is bound to be very subjective.

Anything Unreal is going to be freaking amazing.

Maybe Deus Ex: HR?

I mean it's atmospheric for sure with different city locations. The mission structure and map layout begs exploration to complete objectives.