How come genuinely great FPS games have felt so rare to come by this gen compared to other genres? It also sort of feels like they aren't as common as they used to be, and also lack much inspiration.
What specifically needs to change about the genre to make it good again?
cool guns
It stopped being about gameplay first.
>destructible environments
>unique weapons that are fun to use
>good pacing
>story that motivates you to move forward/multiplayer that has depth
>AI that's more reactive rather than being a moving target
>controls that make you feel in control
>no microtransactions
I'm generalizing but that's always been the goal for most FPS
don't forget
>interesting and varied enemy roster that can be mixed and matched and used with the environment to make a extremely large number of different combat scenarios
For me, it's about having more than one way to play a level
Skill based gameplay mechanics also mix stuff up, I imagine serious sam 3's crazy movement with tf2's physics for airshots and whatnot would pretty much be the perfect "sandbox" action shooter
microtransactions
oh, also the main selling point of any worthy FPS - unique guns/gunplay - has died last gen, in favor of memorable main characters.
Proof:
Resistance series - dead;
Uncharted - lives on.
>How come genuinely great FPS games have felt so rare to come by this gen compared to other genres? It also sort of feels like they aren't as common as they used to be, and also lack much inspiration.
Bought Ion Maiden yesterday, had a lot of fun.
>uncharted
>fps
That's exactly the point - FPS by design have inferior marketing potential
You can only hope to play a nameless soldier in a AAA FPS game these days - no one will bother with pulling any effort into main character's design that players can't see 90% of the time
P(x) = x's selling point is unique guns/gameplay
q = game died last gen
>claims that ∀ [FPS x] P(x) → q
>proof:
>[∃x such that P(x) → q] ∧ [∃y such that ¬P(y) → ¬q]
Both logically invalid and anecdotally just wrong
nice /sci/-tpost
Until someone licenses the GeoMod engine from volition and creates some great destructible environments, the FPS will always be moving targets the vidya.
True destructible environments require reactive AI. They enoucarage creativity in level design. They encourage creativity in weapon choice. They also encourage the player to experiment.
>How come genuinely great FPS games have felt so rare to come by this gen
Because they no longer dominate the market as much. There's been less of a focus on pureblood FPS like Doom, and first person view becomes a means to an end. We've also been getting a lot more games in general, so that contributes to the feeling that we see fewer of them. You're still liable to get at least one good FPS a year, depending on your tastes.
>What specifically needs to change about the genre to make it good again?
Bigger focus on level and/or enemy design, Titanfall 2 is a good example of an overall simple game elevated by its level design and relevant gimmicks.
Resistance died because it was fucking inconsistent. The amount of weapons you could hold, the way health worked, the gamemodes, etc, all changed between the three games. Resistance 1 hada new set of weapons that could be found in NG+, resistance 2 had a co-op mode whereas 1 had full co-op campaign. Resistance didn't really know what it was. The only thing that stayed the same was the enemies and a handful of weapons.
What's y?
arbitrary variable that in that case represents uncharted
oh yeah, i've forgotten how much the idiot fans of the series hate change and fall into narcoleptic coma every time devs change the stripe color on the band-aid of main hero's left testicle.
Jokes aside, devs really didn't have a full picture of what they were doing, but the world they have build, along with monsters and the weapon set (auger and other alien weapons that stayed throughout the whole series) was great
>How come genuinely great FPS games have felt so rare to come by this gen compared to other genres?
Because just like practically everything else by modern AAA industry, FPS games too have suffered of severe casualitis-streamlining. There's very little actual engagement and interaction left to the player, they are just funneled from one "cool scene" to another, with the whole gameplay being dictated by that meme-tier "press button. Cool stuff happens!" mentality.
Long gone are games that just throw you in the middle of action the moment you choose "New Game". Long gone are actual supply and secrets hunts, and multi-level 3D environments. It's been ages since we've had actually huge enemy packs coming at you at once. And finally, way too many FPS games try to jam in pointless, distracting, gameplay diluting RPG mechanisms / menu-surfing and QTE style gameplay-replacement trash.
The last actually really potent and fun (SP) FPS game I can recall was Serious Sam 3, which seems to be completely forgotten and underrated. It did practically all D4 did, but better, and years earlier.
probably because CoD was such a hit and aggressively lowered the bar as yearly releases came out while all the casuals eat that shit up while Sup Forumsirgins were playing their jrpgs