After getting back into both Quake and UT these past couple of months do you think in the current market that arena shooters could possibly make a comeback? Just seems so depressing that the arena shooter is all but dead at this point. I remember when everyone played them, then again there was nothing else and no other easier games around.
Do you think arena shooters can make a comeback?
- Thread starter Artaneius
- Start date
Recommended Videos
To be honest I dont think arena shooters really need a new game, more like a re-release or something.
The key element of arena shooters is the gameplay and that is something where you can already find it very well refined in Quake or Unreal, the outdated graphics really dont matter much for what it is (they even help the gameplay since you dont have to worry about motion blur, lens flare, lights and shadows, etc... you basicly have simple rooms with easy to see items and characters).
They could really use some sort of ultimate arena shooter game release where one game basicly grabs all the variables of games like Quake and Unreal being capable of emulating the playstyles of each one of them by messing around with the settings (basicly like Unreals mutators system) and package it with modern hardware/software compatibility.
Arena shooters already ran their course, there isnt much to add to it other then some minor ideas and concepts (that can easily be applied through mods and addons) so its kind of hard to sell a game where the selling point is "It plays kind of like that much better/older game that you could be playing right now", although the same could be said with platformers and see the amount of shitty Mario/Metroid/Castlevania clones with a "twist" are being made now banking on all that nolstalgia.
The key element of arena shooters is the gameplay and that is something where you can already find it very well refined in Quake or Unreal, the outdated graphics really dont matter much for what it is (they even help the gameplay since you dont have to worry about motion blur, lens flare, lights and shadows, etc... you basicly have simple rooms with easy to see items and characters).
They could really use some sort of ultimate arena shooter game release where one game basicly grabs all the variables of games like Quake and Unreal being capable of emulating the playstyles of each one of them by messing around with the settings (basicly like Unreals mutators system) and package it with modern hardware/software compatibility.
Arena shooters already ran their course, there isnt much to add to it other then some minor ideas and concepts (that can easily be applied through mods and addons) so its kind of hard to sell a game where the selling point is "It plays kind of like that much better/older game that you could be playing right now", although the same could be said with platformers and see the amount of shitty Mario/Metroid/Castlevania clones with a "twist" are being made now banking on all that nolstalgia.
Just curious, how would you define an Arena shooter? I guess I sort of thought of feel like Quake and UT got defined as arena shooters more because the action is confined to a small or enclosed map more as the result of technological limitations than anything else. Do you think there's anything to that?
Like in UT3, i think it was. Some of those maps were so big that it didn't feel like the same game anymore. I felt like their formula worked well in smaller maps, and when the game got too big changed the balance around...Or maybe it was just that I couldn't adapt.
My personal favorite was Rocket Arena 3. Then UT 2003 and 2004.
But I feel like a developer would have to do something really creative to pull me back into small maps again.
Like in UT3, i think it was. Some of those maps were so big that it didn't feel like the same game anymore. I felt like their formula worked well in smaller maps, and when the game got too big changed the balance around...Or maybe it was just that I couldn't adapt.
My personal favorite was Rocket Arena 3. Then UT 2003 and 2004.
But I feel like a developer would have to do something really creative to pull me back into small maps again.
I do want a new Unreal Tournament at some point.
Still, Unreal Tournament 2004 has aged beautifully and I play it regularly.
Still, Unreal Tournament 2004 has aged beautifully and I play it regularly.
Isn't an arena shooter just any FPS that only has multiplayer deathmatches? In that case, wouldn't 'Brink', 'Counterstrike' and 'Titanfall' all be considered arena shooters?
First off 'arena shooter' is really just another name for twitch shooter, and I do mean name because their descriptions are something different.
They could make a comeback but obviously with a small community, Halo and CoD style shooters didn't just take over because of marketing but mostly because anyone can be instantly good at them, you will find no such mercy in arena shooters.
Devs also can't come in at this late stage and half arse it, if you do it worse then a decade old game (UT2004) you are doing it severely wrong. Nexuiz, Shootmania, Serious Sam, Rise of the Triad... and some others are all recent additions but they do only a fraction of what we had eons ago, that just does not cut it.
So if someone does decide to take a crack at it UT 2004 with new ideas is your entry point, then you get inventive with business model (free version only random match making, full version for custom servers with your own setup), content creation (let users make maps, guns, modes, vehicles, mutators, ... that then get included into official rotation), also keep track of peoples records/scores and fully embrace bragging rights, then set up asymetric modes where top players go against tons of newbies, horde modes are always a good way to relax, heck let users make challenge/campaign maps of their own and things could really take off.
They could make a comeback but obviously with a small community, Halo and CoD style shooters didn't just take over because of marketing but mostly because anyone can be instantly good at them, you will find no such mercy in arena shooters.
Devs also can't come in at this late stage and half arse it, if you do it worse then a decade old game (UT2004) you are doing it severely wrong. Nexuiz, Shootmania, Serious Sam, Rise of the Triad... and some others are all recent additions but they do only a fraction of what we had eons ago, that just does not cut it.
So if someone does decide to take a crack at it UT 2004 with new ideas is your entry point, then you get inventive with business model (free version only random match making, full version for custom servers with your own setup), content creation (let users make maps, guns, modes, vehicles, mutators, ... that then get included into official rotation), also keep track of peoples records/scores and fully embrace bragging rights, then set up asymetric modes where top players go against tons of newbies, horde modes are always a good way to relax, heck let users make challenge/campaign maps of their own and things could really take off.
You should lead the charge. They are all great ideas. I really like how your FTP model works. It doesn't shut anyone out of playing it for fun and doesn't restrict players, but the customisation is there for paying members.Mr.K. said:
I'd like if we had really spacious and tricky labyrinth doom sized maps. BF4 maps may be widespread with destructible enviros, but its still not as unique as large labyrinth levels designed to trap players with bait powerups, monster ambushes, compactor walls, and other scare tactics. There are probably different ways to employ all those old goodies too.FoolKiller said:
I actually just bought Quake III myself after not having played it for years, and I'm having a blast. Still one of the top multiplayer shooters out there, and it's due in part to the controls and gameplay being so tight, pure, fast, flowy and refined. I miss seeing that kind of thing in modern shooters. It all feels very slow and spongey these days in comparison. I'd love to see an ultra-fast twitch arena shooter for this age, with double jumps and dashes and rocket jumps and wall climbs all with polished effects and physics... Ah, I can dream.
Wouldn't TF2 basically count as an Arena/Twitch Shooter? I'm just adding to those that say that there are some already out there. 
Those games were fun but I was never good at them (unless you count AvP2 for the PC as one). "Can" they make a comeback? Well I'd say if they actually made a game like the one Mr.K described above it'd certainly be a good way to try. People really enjoy their customization, and with the customization things that Mr.K was talking about the game would essentially be "Build Your Own Quake". And I've got a feeling that such a game might have a pretty good draw.
Those games were fun but I was never good at them (unless you count AvP2 for the PC as one
). "Can" they make a comeback? Well I'd say if they actually made a game like the one Mr.K described above it'd certainly be a good way to try. People really enjoy their customization, and with the customization things that Mr.K was talking about the game would essentially be "Build Your Own Quake". And I've got a feeling that such a game might have a pretty good draw.
Yes, let's go back to the days when the fact that you just happen to be a good shot automatically means you're using a bot and gets you kicked out of games.
I'm being sarcastic, by the way.
I'm being sarcastic, by the way.
Quake isn't an arena shooter. It's a labyrinthian shooter, like Doom, and Shadow Warrior. Examples of arena shooters would be Serious Sam and Painkiller. And they've had some fairly recent releases. If you were just thinking of labyrinthian shooters, there's always the reboot of Shadow Warrior, as well as the new Rise of the Triad game.
You're missing another key point: twitch shooters don't work well with controllers. When publishers discovered they could print their own money by crapping out endless variations of the same mediocre shooters for consoles the money to make twitch shooters evaporated.Mr.K. said:
I don't really miss twitch shooters because I was never all that great at them... what I miss is tactical shooters that presented more difficulty than crossing the street does.