Poll: Do You Miss Old School Shooters?

[KarlMonster]

It's not obvious to me what shooters are 'old school'. I see some references to multiplayer, but multiplayer is the same whatever the specific game is.

Sure Wolfenstein 3-D, DOOM, and DOOM 2 were good for what they were; the only software that I had access to! There were suggested times to beat, but I could take however long I wanted to get there. Wolfenstein had fake level exits, and DOOM took a sadistic pleasure in making the player jump through hoops of blazing fire just to get closer to the end of the level.

The big difference now is story, cutscenes, and a bunch of other garbage that is not shooting things. I played Half-Life many times, but I won't touch it now. I still play Half-Life 2 every few months. Somehow Half-Life 2 has a more engaging story, and feels more engaging than HL - even though I know full well that they are both claustrophobic rail shooters. Far Cry 2 is great, I can go where I please, and strike where I please - until the game tells me to go fulfill the next part of the story. The first time I played it, I did only the necessary missions. On this playthrough, I'm doing everything that I can possibly do, just to say I've tried it all. Next time I'm going to play Death Wish Mode; I can't buy any equipment at all. Of course, I quit playing when I get to the BS ending.

So long as there are more games like FC2, I won't miss the early days. But there aren't many games like FC2.

From now on, when you only say "Deus Ex", you are specifically referring to J.C. Denton. Combat in that game was clunky. It's not quite so bad in Alpha Protocol: Human Revolution, but they're stealth games with gunplay.

 

[Squilookle]

Yes.

I just want to go back to a time before we had regen health, screen blocking ironsights, jump-into-cover quicktime events, stat whoring and weapons you had to unlock.

I just want to go back to the time when we had bots to play with, when arenas were well designed for 16 players or less, when the action was fast paced and furious, and your rank upon finishing a match was trivial compared to the stories of incredible moments in-game.

I want to go back to the times when shooters were colourful, allowed to have humour, involved more than just a big terrorist plot nuke fetch quest, didn't hold your hand, and let you just work it out yourself without incessant voices in your ear.

I just want to return to the days where we were allowed cheats in a game that gave us all kind of wacky extra ways to play a game. I yearn for the days when the player character could show some personality without being a generic smarmy douche. I want to be able to play splitscreen with three other people all on the couch with me, with some bots along for the ride.

There is a game that could deliver this for us again.

There is a game that could bring back all that once was glorious and beautiful in shooters, and it would make both exising fans and newcomers alike twinkle with joy.

That game is Timesplitters, and it needs your help.

 

[veloper]

Also:


Bound to piss off an old school shooter fan.

No I love it!
Doom is just the perfect vehicle to illustrate what's wrong with modern shooters and their campaign modes.

 

[chiggerwood]

If anything I just want to get away from the creepy, led you by the nose,[insert a bunch of nasty adverbs here] quasi-realistic military shooter that's been clogging up the genre.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Also:


Bound to piss off an old school shooter fan.

No I love it!
Doom is just the perfect vehicle to illustrate what's wrong with modern shooters and their campaign modes.

Because Call of Duty and it's 3-4 clones are obviously all modern-day shooters. Obviously.

 

[Snotnarok]

Also:


Bound to piss off an old school shooter fan.

No I love it!
Doom is just the perfect vehicle to illustrate what's wrong with modern shooters and their campaign modes.

Indeed, breech this door! ...Okay.
You're hurt! Find cover!
...Dammit! >:L

 

[Kyrian007]

Is Perfect Dark old school? If so, yes.

I agree, I haven't found a better shooter since Perfect Dark. Cod... please, you're only along for a ride so your squad knows how to get to the end of the level. MoH... see previous. Painkiller might have edged it out... but multiplayer was better on Perfect Dark.

 

[Bonecrusher]

I'm a player that comes from Doom, Duke 3D, Blood, Shadow Warrior, Quake era, my first FPS was Wolfenstein 3D.

However, I totally disagree to the people who claims those games were "simplistic" or today's games are "shitty".

First of all, you can not expect shakespearen story from Wolfenstein 3D... Games were simplistic, because the technology were limited. Half-Life was an evolutionary (aah, I hate this word thanks to Apple) game. They put story telling and scripted events into cutscened FPS games of that time.
So, you don't have to be that simplistic to make an "old school FPS". You can put an interesting story inside the game while doing tricky combat action gameplay. One example will be Half-Life 2 and Episodes, the game gives us both a great story and a action pack gameplay. One other example is Borderlands 2, I feel like almost playing a game similar to Quake 2, so much fun jumping around and doing tricky jumps. Portal is a good example too, it has similar jump and movements to old school FPS games.

By the way, I don't know why, but I find Serious Sam series very dull and boring, "old school FPS" should not be just killing waves on enemy over and over, it also need to have a good combat system. I think Bulletstorm had a better combat than Serious Sam. Of course, I love rocketjumping wallrunning style of Quake 2, Unreal Tournament (99) or TFC (I heavily dislike TF2 for many reasons).

Also, I don't understand what is that hatred towards Call Of Duty, yes, many players of COD community is "dumb", and publishing a new COD game each year makes the series dull. However it still has an interesting combat system. I sometimes play it for the fun. Ironical situation: I see some players arguing that Counter-Strike is so old school and way more better than COD-shitto, however in Beta days, CS was mocking by HL mod players because of its bad community and similar reasons as COD. 10 years ago CS was being criticized, now COD is being criticized...

I want a Blood 1 (gothic horror) sequel, a Blood 2 (cyberpunkish dystopia) sequel, a Unreal Tournament (cyberpunkish future) singleplayer, a better Quake game than that weird Quake 4... However I still like playing FPS games like The Darkness (aah, one of my most favorite games), Battlefield 3, Call Of Duty Black Ops 2, Left 4 Dead 2, AVA, and RPG hybrid like Borderlands 2, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Fallout New Vegas.

One thing I really want to see is this,
today there are a lot of "Fuck Yeah America" style FPS games, thanks to the COD series. We need more different stories, there are already plenty materials - cyberpunk (Deus Ex), steampunk (Thief), dystopia (Half-Life 2), postapocalypse (Fallout New Vegas), Lovecraftian horror (Undying)...

 

[veloper]

Also:


Bound to piss off an old school shooter fan.

No I love it!
Doom is just the perfect vehicle to illustrate what's wrong with modern shooters and their campaign modes.

Because Call of Duty and it's 3-4 clones are obviously all modern-day shooters. Obviously.

Unobviously, YES they are. COD is by far the best selling leader of the modern pack and it really does set the current trend.

 

[Bonecrusher]

Also:


Bound to piss off an old school shooter fan.

and part 2:

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

snip

Ah, dm_crossfire. Good times.

Though I wouldn't camp on that map (or pretty much any map really) if there are any good Tau Cannon users around. You'd just get railed through walls again and again and again.

Anyway, to anyone who also has the Opposing Force expansion, try playing a Barnacle Only game on the Xen map (can't remember the name). It's loads of fun, even if you'll drop to your death numerous times.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

Um... I- I... Yes? Like, I like all kinds of shooters be it CoD, Doom, Deus Ex, Halo or something in between so... Mnyeah...

 

[Rastien]

Holy crap did i read that title wrong... i read it as "Do you miss old school shootings" and thought jesues what kind of a sick bastard would miss school shootings! then i realised the error of my ways.

Yes i do :] i spent many an hour playing doom at the tender age of 9 ^^

 

[GoaThief]

Oh god, yes.

Serious Sam 3 isn't something I particularly enjoy because the movement physics, maps and weapon management are too simple although fun on the odd occasion. I want proper oldschool shooters such as Quake, Kingpin: Life of Crime, Forsaken, etc. It won't happen again because the high skill ceiling puts off the vast majority.

 

[Smooth Operator]

A few more wouldn't go amiss, mainly to keep people out of the dark ages, inform them that shit can work in more then that one narrow way.

But them old school shooters could still very well do with some updates, and no I do not mean letterboxing and going colorblind with a side order of cataracts.
Yes we got SS3 back from the grave but the monsters were near all the same, guns near all the same with a couple going worse, again no secondary fire modes... come the fuck on guys, you can't just reheat leftovers and sell them new, you made cool features once so how about we do some more.
And you don't haveto fear a story, go wild, go cartoony, do something just don't go militant bare bones, Bulletstorm had an awesome fucking idea... sadly it was then brought to life by accountants, but if it wasn't we would have a great game out of that.

 

[shrekfan246]

Nope. I always had a love-hate relationship with Doom because I was very young when I first played it, and always ended up stranded halfway through a level with 5 Health, 0 Armor, and no healthpacks between me and the next monster. And while some people might like that and spout off about how it "makes things more tense" and how it really "brings out your true skills", no, it's really just frustrating when you can't continue on in the game because you have literally no way of gaining health and only one hit left in you.

Besides, between Resistance, Halo, Bulletstorm, Serious Sam 3, Bioshock, Deus Ex: HR, Crysis, Dishonored (I'm counting it), Borderlands, RAGE, F.E.A.R., Metro 2033, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Shattered Horizon, Section 8, The Chronicles of Riddick, Zeno Clash, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Mirror's Edge, Condemned, The Darkness, Portal, Half-Life 2, and Prey, there's plenty out there that isn't a "military shooter" like everyone loves bemoaning as the only thing being released these days.

 

[WanderingFool]

snip

Funny, I was just looking at this:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdsq1v8drY1rla0rpo1_1280.jpg

Play more UT2K4

Hmm, I enjoy COD and Halo's multiplayer, but I do miss playing that game at my one friends house with a bunch of old desktops linked together. Come to think of it, that the only time I enjoyed Counter-strike also...

But that said, there were still problems with old school shooters.

 

[Souplex]

Honestly, for the most part, over the years shooters have gotten better.
There were a few steps back here and there when things like Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare happened.
But for the most part, progress.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I don't think every shooter should be old-school style, but I certainly wish we had more of them.

Funny this thread should come up now, as I've recently been playing Shadow Warrior for the first time. I freaking love Lo Wang. It's a shame that we will most certainly never get another Shadow Warrior (what, with everything having to be 'politically correct')