Whats the point of playing the campaign for FPS's anymore?
- Thread starter IamSofaKingRaw
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"I. Like. To. Kill. Things." - Richard, Looking For Group
There really isn't a grand mystique to this. We want our shooty, knifey, explodey violence. And frankly, the more we do it in a game and not real life, the better. Can I get a "Hell yeah!" on that statement?
There really isn't a grand mystique to this. We want our shooty, knifey, explodey violence. And frankly, the more we do it in a game and not real life, the better. Can I get a "Hell yeah!" on that statement?
Dude, if your computer is so old you can't play Thief, Deus Ex or the original Half-Life, you definitely need to upgrade that shit. Those games came out in the 20th century (the original Thief and Half-Life in '98, Deus Ex in 2000). Seriously.IamSofaKingRaw said:
As for recent FPS games not having good campaigns, that's a matter of opinion. There are some FPSes that have good stories and some that don't. For example, the Call of Duty games have pretty mediocre stories, when it gets down to it, but I don't play CoD campaigns for the story. As you said, it's very cut-and-paste. I play those campaigns to see big set-pieces and to actually feel like I'm working towards something. Any story is better than no story, to me, and it's for that reason that I enjoy singleplayer content so much more than multiplayer.
When you're playing online, the only incentive you have is to kill that guy more than he kills you. At least in singleplayer you feel like you have an objective worth completing, even if the overall story arch is retarded and contrived.
If you look away from Call of Duty, however, there are a number of compelling stories that can be found in your general FPS selection. For instance, I loved the story in the original Crysis even if lots of people thought it was contrived. To each their own, I suppose.
People have mentioned Metro 2033, and rightfully so. It is a sweet game that really makes you feel the tension and suspense of being in a world where anything and everything can kill you if you're not smart. It's a very intense game with an engaging story.
Likewise, Half-Life 2 has an amazing story, though that's an easy one to call.
I even felt Halo: Reach had a good story. It did a very good job of making you feel like you were in a desperate situation, even if you were a super-soldier. It did a fair job of creating captivating characters and, though it did have its faults, it was a solid story all the same.
If you want a terrifying and engaging story that will sink its hooks into you, look no further than Amnesia: The Dark Descent. That game is all sorts of messed up, and exactly what it sounds like you need. For starters, the plot seems very simple at first, but quickly develops into something incredibly twisted. You're alone in this gigantic castle with nothing but monsters to hide from and creepy ambient sounds and lighting. You don't even get any weapons, and are forced to deal with conflict by running away and hiding. If you want to mix up your FPS fare, I highly suggest that game. Be warned, though: I've lost many a night of sleep because of it.
Speaking of creepy games with engaging storylines, test out System Shock 2, another classic from last century. BioShock (which I loved but apparently you did not) was the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, but I regard SS2 as superior. Perhaps not graphically (because damn that water was impressive) but gameplay and story-wise. You definitely need to check that out.
Another creepy game with some sweet story and gameplay is F.E.A.R.. Not the dumbed-down console-based sequel, but the original. If you want a game that is fun to play for the run-and-gun gameplay, but also can scare your pants off and leaves wanting to deduce the story, check it out.
Long story short, just because you haven't found any games that have solid storylines doesn't mean they don't exist. You're just looking in the wrong places. If all you're basing this hypothesis on is Call of Duty and Halo, you're going to be disappointed.
I tried it...now I have nop Dues Ex, and no Toaster...thanks, man.Gaz6231 said:
Hehehe.
Bioshock is pretty funky. And the main Halo games aside from Reach are fun a couple of times. But if you don't want to play an FPS, go play some other kind of game.
I like and play single player mainly because there's at least some semblance of story/plot, objectives, and you aren't blindsided by a camper with a sniper rifle every 5 seconds.
Multiplayer has, in fact, lowered my standards of single player games. I'll play a singleplayer game simply because I WON'T get into a die/respawn cycle.
Multiplayer has, in fact, lowered my standards of single player games. I'll play a singleplayer game simply because I WON'T get into a die/respawn cycle.
uhm...story-driven campaigns for Left 4 dead and Counter Striker? Surely you jest! (ps, and I know that may not have been the point you were making, but THOSE were the games you just recommended to someone who specifically said he was looking for story driven campaigns)Kiyotaki said:
OT: As others have suggested, try the Half-life games, though I personally love em, I think the story is a bit over-rated. You say you only have a PS3 to game on, which unfortunately I do not have, though I do believe the Resistance games are pretty story driven. Now cue someone who actually has a PS3 and played them for more than a few hours at a friends house coming to correct me, I assume.
*looks over at game collection* every time I find one that had a good or interesting story, I notice its actually a third person shooter...
Bioshock 2 got a bunch of 8.5's. Not sure where you got the idea that it was some kind of special gem.IamSofaKingRaw said:
If your problem is the cut and paste story, then Bioshock should have been right up your alley.
If Borderlands could actually use their characters for more than just random one-shot popups (notably, before dying or giving you quests through irrelevant text boxes), then it might have been FAR more memorable.
See, what many of these FPSes fail to do today is leave any sort of impression.
CoD4 was memorable because of the last scene (spoiler free post here, but most of you should know the one); moreso than the mediocre gameplay.
Bioshock had the infamous tag-line plot twist (again, spoiler-free here).
Mass Effect does quite a bit more than other shooters in developing some sense of character. Even if the some of the characters are recycled cliches, they at least have their cliches do things (except Tali'Zorah. I love her backstory, and I loved her character the most even back in Mass Effect 1).
It's things like these that make me care about the characters, or at least enjoy their presence. It's also why I love GTA3 and Vice City: the characters are so brutally entertaining (for all the wrong reasons, arguably) even when they're your nemesis.
Showing me a muscle-bound asshole in power armor, a Nazgul/Sauron-clone, or an evil corporate suit doesn't mean shit because most of these characters don't really ever do anything. Yet, those are the characters what we see now if anything at all.
See, what many of these FPSes fail to do today is leave any sort of impression.
CoD4 was memorable because of the last scene (spoiler free post here, but most of you should know the one); moreso than the mediocre gameplay.
Bioshock had the infamous tag-line plot twist (again, spoiler-free here).
Mass Effect does quite a bit more than other shooters in developing some sense of character. Even if the some of the characters are recycled cliches, they at least have their cliches do things (except Tali'Zorah. I love her backstory, and I loved her character the most even back in Mass Effect 1).
It's things like these that make me care about the characters, or at least enjoy their presence. It's also why I love GTA3 and Vice City: the characters are so brutally entertaining (for all the wrong reasons, arguably) even when they're your nemesis.
Showing me a muscle-bound asshole in power armor, a Nazgul/Sauron-clone, or an evil corporate suit doesn't mean shit because most of these characters don't really ever do anything. Yet, those are the characters what we see now if anything at all.
Sometimes players play the campaign for nothing more than a chance to get achievements, although that may be a shallow reason, other times, some players simply like to hear a new story, (character depth notwithstanding) but it seems like you've focused on a lack of innovation in FPS storytelling, and I will admit that most FPS storytelling is lackluster, most characters in FPS's are tropes, cliche's or stereotypical. Halo was an FPS that was a bit finicky, had it's bugs and it's highs and lows, but for it's time, was a shooter that allowed a tremendous depth into what was going on. This continued into Halo 2, where most of the character development took place. While you hear some "meh"s for Halo 3 and Halo Reach, (I have never played any CoD or TF/TF2 games myself so I'll stick to what I know)
Borderlands never seemed to make itself out to be a serious shooter, it seemed pretty lowbrow how you can shoot something and have it's head or arms or whatever explode with blood and guts, and to simply remark, one of it's key selling points were it's massive amounts of weapons. The game may have been geared more to being an experiment rather than a mainstream title, marketing is to blame for that part.
Borderlands never seemed to make itself out to be a serious shooter, it seemed pretty lowbrow how you can shoot something and have it's head or arms or whatever explode with blood and guts, and to simply remark, one of it's key selling points were it's massive amounts of weapons. The game may have been geared more to being an experiment rather than a mainstream title, marketing is to blame for that part.