The "fun-shooters" return. But why would anyone want that?

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SL33TBL1ND

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Nov 9, 2008
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You talk about this as if they're replacing the "Realistic" shooters. Even though Bulletstorm, DNF and SS are coming out doesn't meant there won't be another HL, COD, Battlefield and so on. To think so is ridiculous.
 

Arcane Azmadi

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Jan 23, 2009
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Zannah said:
Disclaimer: This is by no means a judgement on the upcoming games, I don't know those. It's just that all the "good old games" mentioned in the various discussions about these games, are from my perspective horribly boring, repetetive grindfests soaked in testosterone and immaturity, and that I'm trying to grasp why anyone would want a game coming out in 2011 to be like a game that wasn't any good in 1995.
Because you don't have the same perspective as the rest of us.

Seriously, we are SICK of every damn game trying to be Modern Warfare Again: Let's Go Shoot Some More Russians/Terrorists. Maybe it's a strange thing to be saying about a genre of games called First Person Shooter, but the fun in these games is SHOOTING SHIT. If you can take your shotgun, rocket launcher and chaingun and bunny hop around 200 enemy dudes blowing them into a spreading bloody mist in the space of less than 2 minutes and not feel the thrill of raw carnage, you're probably missing a certain important part of your brain which allows you to feel enjoyment. There's a time for Call of Duty. There's a time for Bioshock. And there's a time for the massive ball of chaos that is Duke Nukem/Painkiller/Serious Sam etc.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

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Aug 5, 2009
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I want it. Why? Because sometimes you need a clear goal, shit-ton of enemies and weapons and a cigar. That's why.
 

CheckD3

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Because the FPS genre has gone stale. Hopefully these games will be fantastically fun games that will live in the memories and hearts of the generation of gamers, but if not, at least it freshens up the FPS genre

I love a good shooter, I love pretty much all games except RTS and shooters are usually my favorite. I'm tired of "realistic" where you have your gun, another gun, a knife, grenades, and have to hide behind cover. I want a game you can run around and use any number of random weapons and fuck the shit out of enemies with your crazy ass weapons.

I liked Painkiller for this reason. If I wanted to stick enemies to walls, I could, if I wanted to use an exotic weapon, I could blast them w/ shuriken and then lightning. And if I wanted to obliterate enemies w/ over the top weaponry, I could use my mini-gun. Point is, the video game industry has been letting the shooter genre get stale, samey, and just dull. Hopefully some fun shooters will push the genre back into a zone of evolution where predictability is a thing of the past (or at least of last year)
 

BanthaFodder

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Jan 17, 2011
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Nighthief said:
Because I'm tired of games that take themselves so fucking seriously.
^this
every single FPS these days has NO innovation. for all the fanboys who are gonna start screaming "MODERN WARFARE" or "BAD COMPANY 2" or "MEDAL OF HONOR", please, *Bill Nye voice* consider the following:

does the game feature at least one stage in: the middle east/the snow/Russia or Eastern Europe

the enemies are: middle eastern terrorists/eastern european terrorists/asian terrorists/terrorists in general

the "good guys" are: American/British/west european

you are part of: a special ops squad

there is at least one: vehicle stage/sniper or stealth stage

your team consists of: the seasoned leader/the techy guy who dies/other nameless soldiers

everything is: brown/gray/DEAD. FUCKING. SERIOUS.

ya see? glad I get to punch space nazis in the balls while firing dogs out of a gun that looks like a giant neon covered howitzer. this is why I think House of the Dead Overkill was one of the best games of 2009; it was self aware, it was creative, and mostly, IT WAS FUN.
 

GRYPHOM

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WanderingFool said:
lord.jeff said:
Serious Sam and Duke Nukem are to games what Scary Movie and Epic Movie is to movies, fifty jokes a minute and over two hours only three of them were funny. I'll admit that style of story works better in games because while you sit Through hundreds of bad jokes your still having fun shooting aliens or whatnot. But relying on that is a crotch and I don't think anything that uses a crotch to make 70% of itself bearable is good. Being funny and having good story is possible look at Hot Fuzz, Life is Beautiful or Scott Pilgrim, or for a game example Psychonauts.
People with a broken ankle would disagree.

Ummm, Crotch? I think you might mean Crutch. But anyways, this is still a decent point.
 

Mcface

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Aug 30, 2009
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Ultratwinkie said:
Mcface said:
Xzi said:
Mcface said:
BRINK is the only non-"modern" shooter im looking forward to.

I find very little enjoyment out of games like series sam or duke nukem.

I will not pay full price for a single player game that went out of style 15 years ago.

People are all stuck with the nostalgia factor, those games aren't very good compared to more recent tiles at all. and neither will these new ones.

people in the 70s thought giant afros and bell-bottoms were cool.
if you wear them now, you just look stupid.
It has nothing to do with nostalgia. Duke Nukem 3D is better than CoD: MW2, CoD: Black Ops, and every damn game trying to be like those. Even with its outdated graphics. That's why I'm looking forward to Duke Nukem Forever. I think I'm looking forward to the fan update for Duke 3D even more, though.
I massively disagree.
Duke Nukem is a shallow first person one man v the world shooter.
It's shallow. VERY SHALLOW. even compared to the COD series.
You are definitely blinded by nostalgia goggles.
oh yes because its true when you back it up with an opinion. Want to know how COD is more shallow? They release the same fucking game every year with only minor graphical enhancements.

AMERICANS WIN AND ARE DOMINATE!

see what i did there? I just spoiled the ENTIRE COD franchise for everyone in the past, present, and future.
as opposed to what?
10 year long development cycles and they still are using the same exact gameplay on a slightly better graphics engine?
yeah awesome, i so wish every game was like that.


have fun with your 8 hours of campaign with no replay value, bud.
 

TilMorrow

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Jul 7, 2010
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Duke Nukem, Serious Sam and Bulletstorm don't forgo story for the simple fun of blowing shit up. They have both Duke and Sam's story being they fight to save the world/s from alien invaders and make lots of fun along the way and BulletStorm's story is space pirates have crashed on a planet full of mutants and have to fight their way through them to escape.
 

LandoCristo

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Apr 2, 2010
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I don't think anybody is saying that games like the original Doom or Duke Nukem were better than somethings that are coming out today, bu they're instead saying that they're glad that those old style games are given a second chance to evolve in order to keep up with the changing market. People all over were a little pissed off when Duke Nukem Forever's "Ego" system was announced, but I'm glad for it. It lets developers do what they're supposed to do (Hint: it's to develop), and make the game able to stand up for itself opposite from other modern games.

And even before MW2 came out, I was getting bored of realistic shooter. Playing a game where Iron-sights is on the left number instead of the left trigger is not innovation, that's just re-mapping the controls. And the only NEW thing in any of the recent CoD games has been Zombies and Spec-ops, which are the only two things I play on them anyways.

EDIT: Basically, what I'm trying to say is that games are about having fun, and I'm not saying that realistic-shooters aren't fun, but that there should be more options for those of us who don't like to be bogged down in one style of one genre. I want to have the option to either pick up that assault rifle, and lay down covering fire for my squad, or I can pick up the Flak-Cannon and charge head-first into a castle full of acid-spitting zombie rats.
 

Tony2077

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i've lost my taste of military style non sci fi shooters. i still like the graw series the console versions.
i plan to try out Serious Sam 3 and bulletstorm
 

Tanis

The Last Albino
Aug 30, 2010
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Because shooting at nothing but brown and gray and maybe red environments, people, and weapons...it gets old.

Hell, that's one of the reason why I'm actually praying for a TimeSplitters 4.


Screw CoD/MoH/ect.
It's it about time the FPS/TPS change it up a bit?


Even FF7: Dirigible of Cerberus was better, at least in style/looks than most of the FPS/TPS that are coming out...and this is coming from someone who think FF7 is overrated trash that's helped ruin Square.
 

tzimize

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MattyDienhoff said:
JourneyThroughHell said:
But I'm a CoD guy. If the stylistics of Bulletstorm or the gameplay of DNF appeal to you, that's fine and dandy. I'll stick to my super-realistic, super-serious shooters myself.
Did you seriously just mention "CoD" and "super-realistic shooters" in the same sentence? I hope you're not implying that Call of Duty fits that description.

If so, I strongly disagree. You're half right, because there's no denying Call of Duty is super-serious, but it's far from realistic. Call of Duty (especially World at War onwards) is like... War: Michael Bay Edition.

I think the interest in these games mainly stems from the desire to see more first person shooters that don't take themselves so seriously. The difference between funny and serious is what's important here. Where exactly each given game falls on the realism scale is irrelevant.

And with all the gritty "realistic" [footnote][sub]Massive emphasis on the quotes there, because the vast majority aren't. Games like ArmA II, Red Orchestra and SWAT 4 can reasonably claim to be "realistic", Call of Duty, Battlefield and Medal of Honor... not so much.[/sub][/footnote] shooters that have dominated the market for the past half decade or so, I'd say some more 'fun' shooters would be a refreshing change, if they're done right. For instance, No One Lives Forever of 2001 is one of my favourite first person shooters ever, its silliness and sense of humour are two of the best things about it.
Great post, sums up my thoughts nicely. Plus I laughed out loud from the War: Michael Bay edition comment, and instanly thought about CoD: Black Ops that I recently finished.

I'm going to play Singularity next, and will most likely enjoy that more. The palette of the "realistic" shooter was old 10 years ago ( at least it feels that way ), and I would also like something more interesting to shoot than soldiers and space marines.

I'm also looking forward to more interesting weaponry. BFGs, shrink guns, freeze guns...ah man...good times.
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
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Generic Gamer said:
Vault101 said:
could you honestly tell me AVATAR has a better story than Mass effect? honestly? (because if you say yes then your an idtiot...regardless of what you think of eaither of them..well that was harsh but seriously)
To be honest they're about on a level for story. Mass Effect is alright story-wise for a game, but 'for a game' still isn't very good. Honestly it feels way too modular to be a good story, it's blatantly a string of mini-quests, any story where you can read the chapters out of order and have them still make sense is weak. Think about the first game, think about Liara's turning point and ask whether such a big event should have really been able to happen in different orders or even not happen at all.

Where Mass Effect 2 wins is characterisation. Some of the characters are very compelling (some) and they are what carries the game. The 'story' is preposterous shallow nonsense, the characters do a good job. It's like when you have a really good actor reading a really shit script. The level design is also exquisite, it's incredibly immersive.

And yes, I love that game but honestly it's a summer blockbuster.

Daedalus1942 said:
Quake 3 was horrible.
Everyone just used the rail-gun, the single player "campaign" was just unreal tournament all over again and it was beyond retarded.
No subsequent game in the series has been able to recreate the wonder and atmosphere of the very first Quake.
Then they brought in the strogg and the series went downhill so fast.
IV Was horrible, had barely any plot and was just trying to cash in on Doom 3's success, a little too late.
-Tabs<3-
The original Quake is still one of my favourite games, I still actually play it! Great level design and awesome enemies. I think there's still a place for Quake 3's (or UT's) kinetic gunplay in the shooter market, I actually consider that era to be the peak of the shooter. Modern shooters are bogged down in cover and jam-in-the-face, if it was one of several subgenres then it wouldn't be so bad but there are just no alternatives. I'd enjoy the change of pace if I could rocket jump, grab a megahealth and blitz a level in a matter of minutes. Variety is the spice of life and all.

Though I'll concede the Strogg are shit, all I remember of Quake 2 is that it was competent, I can't remember any stand out bits. Quake 4 is an abomination, neither a competent shooter or a competent horror.
well it is subjective But I still think the story for ME is really good, makes you like the charachters and makes you want to know what happens next, also it gives you emotional investment in whats going on (Im going to cry when ME3 ends, no doubt about that)

mabye your standards for what makes a great story in a game are very high

and as has been said many time before story in games isnt just the "plot" it can be a million other little, things, take fallout 3 or NV little details the create a world so facinating and fun, In a way a movie could never hope to do

as for AVATAR...I dont hate that movie but the fact is this story has been told a million times before you knew what was going to happen as soon as you heard the basic premise (and dont get me started on the na'vi's elf syndrome),

district nine had a similar story and themes yet that was handled a million times better (and a much much better movie) seriously ME feels a million times more orgininal and its an example of what bioware does best, take well known tropes and cliche's and do them so well that it feels fresh

where as AVATAR just took cliches and presented them with tons of pretty special effects

anyway this is all subjective so ill leave it at that
 

Thespian

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Sep 11, 2010
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Once everyone got sick of being big burly space marines performing unbelievably farfetch'd stunts and propagating stereotype after stereotype, we went into a bit of a recession and became obsessed with the delusion of realism, muddy brown "Gritty" games seemed holy and divine. But not we've come full circle and I think a lot of people are sick of the "War is REAL and GRITTY and SHIT and DEAL WITH IT" attitude to games.

Personally, this annoys me for two major reasons:
1. Such "Serious" shooters (I assume they know who they are) try to create this atmosphere of an intense, visceral experience, which I am fine with, but in the end they aren't even realistic. They, too, have these ridiculous setpieces and glorified shooter mechanics and overpowered melees and quickscoping, but it's just all coated with a poorly textured holier-than-thou texture.
So, to not beat around the bush and just mention CoD, you can get a game that doesn't have any of the down-to-earth realistic qualities it claims are so important, but has the shitbrown/gunmetalgrey appearance of a game that would. All the cons and none of the pros, to my eyes. As opposed to a game that just straight admits that it's not remotely realistic and can thus have unique art styles or set pieces. (TF2 :D!)

2. The point of games is not to mimic reality. At times, mimicking reality in order to enhance the experience is good, but not all the time. The point of games is usually to have fun, or to stretch the imagination, or escapism or something along those lines.
_____________

However, I don't think all "Fun" shooters sacrifice story. If all goes well, we should get an exaggerated, colourful, unique new shooter in the next few months.