Poll: Shooters

[New Troll]

Since the beginning of time, or at least since Wolfenstein 3D, shooters have been evolving more and more. More opponents. More gore. More weapons. More everything. So much so, that this genre has branched out from the mindless shooting into several sub-genres.

With each split, I found myself caring less and less for shooters as a whole, only occasionally throwing myself into the occasional mindless shooter just to kill time between other types of games. For the most part, these shooters have all been fairly mindless. The Doom games, the Unreals, Duke Nukems, etc. In fact, the first time I played a much more tactical shooter, SOCOM, I absolutely hated it. But now I'm finding myself drawn more and more away from the faster paced shooters and am inclined to choose the more stealthy titles like the Rainbow Six games.

Course my favorite is still probably Postal 2 which is niether fast-paced, nor tactical. And then a lot of people call games like System Shock and Fallout 3 shooters, albiet with much emphasis on RPGing.

So with such diversity, I was just wondering which sub-genre is the prefered among the masses. And which game set you into such a decision? Since I'm not a huge fan of shooters, I'm hoping this poll might open my eyes to some titles I've missed over the years.

 

[JC175]

I would have to say fast paced, purely because I think the best FPS moments come in times of frantic, haphazard action, where you're forced to attack on the move, creating that adrenaline flow, etc.

Having said that I enjoy good tactical shooters as well, I'm a fan of the Rainbow Six series.

 

[neuromasser]

What about both?

 

[xHipaboo420x]

I think there's a convincing case for both, really. The two subgenres offer two different types of enjoyment, and they both have their place.

 

[captainordo]

What about both?

What he said

 

[CosmicGrenade]

What about both?

What he said

Same
I like both and some with a mix

 

[Good morning blues]

What about both?

You know how hard that would be!?

Seriously though: That's what MGS and Splinter Cell are for. Both are tactical and fast-paced FPSs you should try them if you already haven't.

...which would be great if either one of them were actually FPSs. And I disagree with this suggestion anyway; I play FPS games because I want to do something exciting, not because I want to crouch behind a wall until the guard walks by again.

Personally, I prefer the more realistic games. I find that they create much more tension than the dooms and quakes of the world. That said, there certainly is a place for those sorts of games, and Half-Life is my favorite video game franchise. So yeah, there is a place for both. I enjoy both types depending on my mood; I would just prefer to play more slower paced and tense games more often. (In practice, these games tend to be frustrating and repetitive, but when done right I have a great time.)

 

[Neonbob]

What about both?

The Chronicles of Riddick. How's that for an answer?

 

[blood77]

I like tactical shooter because they just suit me better, there are times I do like to run though a packed room of enemies with some close combat weapon either shooting or beating down anything that gets in my way. But I need to set up and do it at a critical moment, plus it is funny to yell through the mic and freak people out.

 

[Jumplion]

What about both?

You know how hard that would be!?

Seriously though: That's what MGS and Splinter Cell are for. Both are tactical and fast-paced FPSs you should try them if you already haven't.

...which would be great if either one of them were actually FPSs. And I disagree with this suggestion anyway; I play FPS games because I want to do something exciting, not because I want to crouch behind a wall until the guard walks by again.

Well, that is exciting for some and orgasmic boring for others. Personally I like the feel of just barely creeping up behind a guard then unleashing hellbent fury upon anyone within a 10 foot radius.

But I mainly like a tactical feel of FPSs, makes me feel smart.

 

[MercenaryCanary]

What about both?

About to ask that...

Does Gears of War count?

 

[Dragon Zero]

Depends on my mood. I guess I'd say more like fast paced but Tactical has a special place in my heart. However some people seem to prefere one or the other. As for the "Shock" titles, they always delight.

 

[New Troll]

What about both?

You prefer both to either one? Does that mean you don't like either or just have no opinion?

 

[Halfbreed13]

What about both?

You know how hard that would be!?

Seriously though: That's what MGS and Splinter Cell are for. Both are tactical and fast-paced FPSs you should try them if you already haven't.

I don't know. CoD always seems to mix the two wonderfully. You can have intense run and gun moments in multiplayer and such, but then you have stealth and urban warfare that is just amazing

 

[New Troll]

Seriously though: That's what MGS and Splinter Cell are for. Both are tactical and fast-paced FPSs you should try them if you already haven't.

I tried the original Splinter Cell and really liked it at first, but then just got frustrated/ bored with it. Never finished it.

Have never played a MGS though I've come close to buying the newest one. Main thing that's kept me from trying it is most people say it's the worst one, so I almost feel like I should play one of the earlier ones first.

 

[Gaming_Purist]

As far as I'm concerned they're completely different games.

The original Rainbow Six on PC was always a plateau in tactical shooters for me, along with Rogue Spear and SWAT 3. For more recent implementations, Rainbow Six Vegas was a fine title (albeit a little too console friendly imo). Rainbow Six 3 was also fantastic.

As for fast-paced twitch shooters, Q3A and its online successor Quake Live have always been my favourite.

At the moment I'm sticking with fast-paced (see Left 4 Dead).

 

[New Troll]

CoD always seems to mix the two wonderfully. You can have intense run and gun moments in multiplayer and such, but then you have stealth and urban warfare that is just amazing

CoD is one of the few series I've played every one of so far and with every one I just start to get into it when I suddenly just lose interest. Not sure exactly why, but it might be the combination of the two styles you're refering to. I start acting stealthy when maybe I should be guns ho, and vice versa. It's probably I just prefer one style or the other. When I'm in the mood for some guns-a-blazin', I don't want to suddenly have to crouch and hide.

 

[MusicalFreedom]

I was brought up on fast-paced shooters, but I now want something a little deeper. I dislike the idea behind "tactical" shooters such as Rainbow Six Vegas, since they aren't too tactical - take cover, shoot, perhaps send your teammates down a rope while you blow a door open. As it is, the label of "tactical" seems like an illusion, a mist of realism and military squads disguising the simple premise behind it - kill everyone in some way. There's some tactics, yes, but it comes across as being quite shallow. If you upped the movement speed and your health, it could be a fast-paced shooter.

There seems to be a trend of moving away from tactical shooters, but with more things being labelled as tactical. The old Rainbow Sixes, you had a planning screen and could set the exact outfitting of your teams. That is tactical. Deus Ex is also tactical - you have many, many ways to approach an objective, and you can get by without killing anyone.

Hell, a fucking roguelike such as Incursion (I think I mentioned this in another thread) is more tactical, because you can resolve situations in different ways. And that doesn't even have proper graphics, only ASCII.

Fast-paced, though, thrives in its simplicity. I still play Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, all the classic first-generation first person shooters. Serious Sam, massive battles and very quick, very good example of this type of game.

 

[Shapsters]

I have to say both, so no vote. One of my all time favourite series is Splinter Cell, but I have spent so much time on CoD4. I cannot choose!

 

[New Troll]

The original Rainbow Six on PC was always a plateau in tactical shooters for me, along with Rogue Spear and SWAT 3. For more recent implementations, Rainbow Six Vegas was a fine title (albeit a little too console friendly imo). Rainbow Six 3 was also fantastic.

As for fast-paced twitch shooters, Q3A and its online successor Quake Live have always been my favourite.

At the moment I'm sticking with fast-paced (see Left 4 Dead).

I really like Left 4 Dead, co-op. Don't see myself ever playing it solo though. It almost reminds me of Gauntlet in it's simplistic, friend-friendly fun.

I played a little of Quake 3 and thought it delivered it's purpose well, fast action fun, but couldn't get into it too much. Probably because what time I was spending on shooters at the time was in Unreal Tournament with friends. Might give Quake another shot.

As for Rainbow Six, right now I'm playing my way through Vegas 2 and though it's gotten very frustrating, I'm still really enjoying it. Been planning on going back and playing the first one next, though I might go with RS3 instead since you recommend it.