Not going down without a fight.

• 18May 08

  FPS: Where to now?

  The Golden Age of FPS

  The First Person Shooter – a term known globally throughout the gaming community to mean one thing: Energy drinks, marathon sessions of gaming, and a lot of testosterone fueled competition. The First Person Shooter was first truly introduced to the world as we know it now with DooM, in 1993, but it wasn't until 1999 that the genre finally found it's calling – online contests of killing prowess. Now, a player wasn't just limited to blowing the hell out of basic AI in a game, they could go online and pit their skills against another of their ilk for bragging rights or (later down the line), even more in tournaments. LAN play had existed before, but now you didn't have to actually have someone else in your home as amped up on Mountain Dew as you with a computer to enjoy the Player vs. Player experience.

  Fast forward a couple of years to 2001, and meet was exactly what its name claimed it to be: Combat Evolved. Halo wasn't so much spectacular in what it did, as it was on how and where it did it; the fledging X-Box console. First Person shooters had been done before on consoles with both Golden Eye and Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64, and even ports of the Quake series, but never before had it been done with such an epic sense of scale and story. Halo WAS the game that sold us on that gigantic, intimidating, American manufactured black box. Not only did it take First Person Shooters in a new direction, it did it to an amazing and smooth effect, introducing vehicles, incredible AI, and huge, sprawling levels to our experience.

  A couple more years (2004-5) and we arrive to what I consider to be the pinnacle of true, unbridled FPS nirvana. AI had gotten more advanced, graphics more stunning, and things like vehicles had become a common part of our single player and, with games like Unreal Tournament, multiplayer experience. It didn't seem like things could get any better as games like Halo 2 game us the Spartan experience we all loved to us on a new level with Xbox Live, or the immortal legend amongst the genre was resurrected in all its horrific, hellish glory with Doom 3.

  Unfortunately, this seems to be where the magic finally ran out – where the roller coaster got to the top of the hill. I'm not sure I can call the past 2 or so years really a decline, but it's certainly been a stagnant straight away. Notably we've gotten games like Advanced War fighter and Call of Duty 4, both brilliant modern military shooters, but they've been essentially small advancements of the same old formula. These days it seems more and more, first person shooters are beginning to value flash over substance. We've slowly gone down a road from establishment to evolution, refinement, and now more or less 'same thing, new graphics engine'. Where are the revolutionary game play elements? Where are the new ideas? In place of originality we have Sci-Fi FPS #6549. The last time I saw a shooter that was even semi original, it was Gears of War, and that's not even a first person shooter. It's already been tossed into the recycling pit, though, with every other third person shooter now including the exact same type of cover system it really sort of established as a norm.

  Luckily, there are still some games out there that work just fine with the rinse and repeat cycle (Unreal and Halo, though the latter still wears thin.), but with the stagnation we're currently trapped in, we can only hope we'll see some sort of innovation soon before everything loses any points of interest all together.

  -I don't claim to be right, just of sound mind.

  • Posted May 18, 2008 9:26 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 4Dec 07

  Eidos is a shining beacon of truth!

  

  I sh-t you not, this is on the Kane and Lynch page. Now, if I recall, neither Gamespy nor GI gave K&L a 5 star review. Actually, none of those things were actually said in the respective reviews - those are from E3 07 previews!

  Now, had they included a '5 star' comment from Gamespot, I've no doubt there would be an uproar to overshadow any uproar we've seen so far.

  This is looking real good on their part. They don't lie or bribe for good reviews, nope. Totally not.

  This would be more honest;

  

  Thanks to Kotaku for both the article that alerted me of this, and the images. Take a look.

  HAY GUIS, DESE ARE GUD SCORE

  Pathetic. I lovededed you, Eidos. Hitman made me happy when I was in scary angry sad moods. Now what's going to stop me from going all psychotic on people at a moment's notice?

  Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the new era of Hype.

  • Posted Dec 4, 2007 7:16 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 11Jan 07

  I'd have sex with Square Soft.

  That's right, I love it that much.
  
  
  "As mentioned in our writeup on the Jump trailer, the female character
  who is assumed to be FFXIII's main character is known as Lightning,
  although that's not her real name. A battle expert with mastery of gun,
  sword, hand-to-hand, and magic based combat, Lightning knows little
  about herself. In fact, she's not even sure of her real name, and
  Toriyama says that we should look forward to finding out the reason for
  this as part of the storyline. Lighting was once a high ranking
  official in an organization of some form. Now, according to the
  prologue that kicks off the trailer, she's been selected as an enemy to
  all of man kind and will bring destruction to the world."
  
  Oh Square Enix, you've wowed us again with your astoundingly original
  plot and in no way cliche protagonist. You who immerses me in a world
  unlike any other, where I CAN PLAY THE SAME GOD DAMN AMNESIATIC ANGSTY
  HERO OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
  
  Yeah, sure, I come up with alot of cliche **** too, but you know what?
  
  A: I'm 15, stop expecting professional quality ideas.
  B: I don't get paid large sums of money by a software developer to come
  up with epic stories, only to pump out bull**** like that.
  
  I mean, first, I thought the FF7 spin offs were just a temporary curse, it would go away.
  Then I read raving reviews about FF XII, and my hope was brightened.
  Now I read this and I threw up. Yes, that's right, I puked. I chucked
  all over myself because playing as the already plenty effeminate
  Cloud's female clone is just vomit inducingly exciting!
  
  Chalk up another success, Square, can't wait for the sequel.
  
  Game: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
  Release Date: TBA 2007
  
  Game: Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)
  Release Date: TBA
  
  Game: Final Fantasy Agito XIII (MOBILE)
  Release Date: TBA
  
  OH SNAP, it looks like they got me covered! Good job, guys, I'm in awe.
  
  Now how about FFXIV, which will feature an arrogant king ruling over a
  land of greed, a smart ass with a penchant for fire, snake people, a
  guy with a mohawk, cultists, and a love triangle that keeps repeating
  itself so much that your brain with be screaming for you to kill
  yourself in AGONY.
  
  • Posted Jan 11, 2007 3:57 am PT
  • Category: Rant
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