Poll: Shooters - what are you looking for? Realism Vs. Non-Realism

[DEAD34345]

Where's the "Why don't we have both?" image? Really, no-one? Well... I guess it has to be me, then.

Spoiler: Why don't we have both?

Arma is one of my favourite shooter series. Timesplitters is one of my favourite shooter series. The first is one of the most realistic military sims around, and in the second I can play as a gingerbread man fighting an endless respawning army of monkeys on green fire in a nightclub. I'm not sure if it's possible for 2 shooters to be farther apart from one another on the realism spectrum than those two, so "A bucket of popcorn" it is.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I like a blend of both but I'm not really into the high realism games (ones that involve breathing, drop distance etc), I can do COD,BF and TF2 type shooters but sometimes can get frustrated with Battlefield because I forget that the guns have bullet drop and sometimes I think I'm going to land a perfect sniper shot and end up missing multiple times while the enemy simply guns me down at a nice distance with his AK.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

Where's the "Why don't we have both?" image? Really, no-one? Well... I guess it has to be me, then.

Spoiler: Why don't we have both?

Arma is one of my favourite shooter series. Timesplitters is one of my favourite shooter series. The first is one of the most realistic military sims around, and in the second I can play as a gingerbread man fighting an endless respawning army of monkeys on green fire in a nightclub. I'm not sure if it's possible for 2 shooters to be farther apart from one another on the realism spectrum than those two, so "A bucket of popcorn" it is.

What gets really fun is when you are doing both in the same game. Like you have a realistic shooter with believable werewolf physics. So long as realism isn't used as an excuse to exclude ideas, I like it.

 

[Barbas]

Non-realism. I didn't enjoy some of the faff involved in Red Orchestra, but games that pay care and attention to their guns, animations and mechanics I am certainly a fan of. Killing Floor 2 looks like it's gonna be one of these, but for now, I like games like Contagion that let you check how much ammo is left in your gun by holding the reload key. You can also shout helpful commands like "x rounds left", "die, you h*ji m*therf*cke*r!" and "let's go shopping, chaps".

 

[DrOswald]

I like a good single player/coop campaign. I don't like competitive shooter multiplayer.

Beyond that I like good weapon design, good enemy design, and good encounter design. Halo had great weapon design. Halo 2 didn't. I think this factor alone made Halo a significantly better game.

As for tone and style, I like variety. I will play any style (save multiplayer focused) and will enjoy any style.

Do you want the full experience? Holding the rifle, handling it, managing your ammunition, your equipment... Always on the alert, always ready - praying that your luck doesn't run out. In reality, it's a lot depending on sheer luck, not just skill. Putting that factor into gaming isn't a good idea, which is also why I think that most games who boast 'realism' aren't that real. Who wants to play a game where you can get shot in the head by a sniper you didn't even notice a block away after just ten seconds? But that's reality. Who wants to play a game where a charge blasts you away to pieces of meat without warning? But that's reality.

Sounds like the Misery mod for STALKER: Call of Pripyat. And I enjoyed that one.

 

[Zakarath]

I'll play whetever; I've logged lots of time on everything from Halo to Borderlands to Arma 2's DayZ and Wasteland mods, as well as FPS-RPGs Like Deus Ex:HR or Fallout 3. And plenty of others. I like the tenseness of Arma 2 and the annihilation of my foes in Borderlands; it just depends on what mood I'm in at the moment.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Personally, I don't really have a preference one way or the other, as long as it fits the tone of the game. For instance, I love the over-the-top, unrealistic gore-fest violence that is Bulletstorm because it fits the game perfectly. A large part of the game is seeing just how over-the-top you can get with your kills.

Then there's games like Battlefield which aren't the most realistic certainly, but for the type of shooter it is, it works. There's a balance. More realistic bullet physics in comparison to the laser tag simulator that is Call of Duty (which there's nothing wrong with, I have just as much fun with that franchise), while having the unrealistic multi-tool that would make any engineer/mechanic cream their pants and a set of shock paddles that can revive someone that would normally be reduced to vapor. But it works

Finally, you have games like Arma and Red Orchestra. I've only just recently got into the two seeing as I have had an Xbox 360 far longer than my PC, but enjoy them just as well as the others for their own reasons. Maybe I just have more broad sense of taste than some, maybe it's just because I don't like picking favorites to begin with. Either way, I just can't really find it in myself to choose one in particular.

 

[Shadow flame master]

I'm not really picky when it comes to the content in my shooters. If I liked one game in the series, then I'm more likely to buy the next game in the series. It's as simple as that.

I will say that while I do like some realism in my games, if we really wanted all the shooters to be more realistic, then having more of them end with the MAD scenario would be truly realistic. Or have something like Spec Ops: The Line happen when shit hits the fan and it just doesn't stop until everyone dies horrible deaths.

But until then, I'm gonna enjoy the realism that Call of Duty and Battlefield gives me.

 

[kommando367]

I want the most unrealistic shooter ever. Like I want a gametype where every enemy explodes on death like the fallout bloody mess perk and after the giblets pile up enough, a colossal carnivorous corrosive spitting butterfly shows up, and whoever does the most damage to it without dying wins.

Either that, or just more Borderlands 2 DLC.

 

[laggyteabag]

I prefer non-realism over realism. If a game is too realistic, as in a simulator, it tends to wind up feeling too gimmicky after a while. The setting isn't overly important either, although I do have preferences. Modern Military is fine, although it has become somewhat grinding within recent years, but there are great games in this setting. I do occasionally have a craving for a WWII shooter, but I am kinda glad with it being fazed out over recent years, because you can only hear the same "We have to take down Hitler" story oh so many times before you just get bored. Sci-Fi is the best by far as the developers have to at least have some level of imagination in their games as opposed to just getting a load of real weapons or pieces of equipment and throwing them into a game and calling it a day. Overall, I do tend to prefer arena based shooters where everybody starts on equal footing as opposed to something like Call of Duty where it grinds down to who picked the best gun for their loadout, but I do enjoy both.

 

[G00N3R7883]

Non-realism.

The FPS is my second favourite genre after RPGs and I've played alot of them. Long time favourites include Half Life and FEAR. There was a period of time after COD became popular that I was really getting worried about the genre. Every game wanted to be COD, "realistic" military shooters, real world location, super serious characters, lots of brown, boring weapons and restrictions on how many you can carry.

Thankfully the last couple of years the genre has remembered where the fun is. Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3, Borderlands 2, Shadow Warrior, etc - lots of colour, interesting fictional locations, some crazy/silly humour, carry all the guns for more tactical options, magical abilities, fast paced action.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Literally none of the above (I hate how kernels of popcorn stick painfully between teeth and, gums). Anyway, I generally have more fun with the non-realistic shooters and I've also had fun with realistic shooters but what I really-really want is both at the same time. I want a game wherein I'm part of a special ops team who somehow travel through time and space and wind up on a planet infested with Dinosaurs and, Robots. I want to take out giant monsters and, mecha with real-world military firearms. I would also love for a Cabella game to take place in a Dinosaur filled place as well. Just imaging an honest hunting sim wherein you stalk and, hunt Dinosaurs!

 

[nomzy]

Well the shooters I have the most hours in are the Counter-strike series so there's something to be said for.. whatever that counts as.

But I outside of CS, I much prefer realism.
I really love the ballistics in ARMA(especially with ACE)or DayZ, I have not ever felt so much satisfaction in my ability to hit what I'm shooting at. On the flip side I think the ballistics in battlefield are absolute dog shit.

Another thing that's great is that it makes things a lot more intense, no game has ever come close to the intensity of experiencing DayZ for the first ~month.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

I went with the third option, i.e. fun. I don't mind realism if it's done right and the game is fun, although that's rather rare, but I'd probably take non-realism over realism any day.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I like the non realism one and the closest example I could give is Wolfenstein The New Order.

I have had it up to here with the military shooter nonsense. I'd rather go back to WWII setting instead.

 

[Ryallen]

I personally prefer non-realism, if only because I like blowing people up with a well-placed shotgun shell while mowing down a hundred men in hockey masks with a rocket launcher in the other hand. You know, if my profile picture wasn't enough of a hint to what game is one of my personal favorites. However, that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate realism where it is. I like Spec Ops: The Line, and even though I have repeatedly said that I don't like The Last of Us, I certainly liked the combat in that game. So, if I had to choose between the two, non-realism wins every time, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't like realistic combat once in a while.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Both and it depends on the fun i had with the game. Bulletstorm, Killzone2-3 and others are as much welcommed as gritty war shooters or games in a more or less realistic setting (love Call of Juarez). If popcorn is the right choice for my gaming taste i'm going to grab a can.

edit: uhm buckett of course