Ben-DutkaYou know, it wasn't too long ago when first-person shooters not only ruled the sales charts, they also ruled in the critical realm as well. Now, I'm not saying this has changed much; the change has happened on the other side of the wall, in the genre known as third-person shooters. There was a time when few "TPSs" could live up to the intensity, polish and overall quality of the best first-person shooters (FPSs) on the market. But are those days long gone?
First of all, bear in mind that games like God of War III and Heavenly Sword are not third-person shooters; they're straight-up action titles. Uncharted and Gears of War are third-person shooters and let's face it, just looking at those two franchises alone, one can make the argument that such games are better than any FPS of this generation, with the possible exceptions of Killzone 2 and Crysis . Naughty Dog and Epic are blazing new trails in the genre that once took a significant backseat to FPS and the more we look around, the more we see TPSs beginning to get their just due. It could be argued that Ratchet and Clank is a member of the TPS category, and we're also very interested in the likes of Wet (and not just 'cuz Eliza Dushku is the voice of Ruby).
Thing is, I know FPSs will always be popular, and there will always be excellent productions available. This holiday season, you can bet that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is going to shatter sales records all over the place, and it's a further guarantee that 9s are in store from reviewers. But do you really think Uncharted 2: Among Thieves won't rival Modern Warfare 2 (at least in terms of critical acclaim)? I mean, when we look at both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, there are exclusives on each console – Gears and Uncharted – that are legitimate system sellers…and they're also TPSs. In fact, I'd dare say more are interested in those games than they are in any FPSs on the horizon. Perhaps it's because developers have really found a way to take advantage of this mechanic with the new and more powerful hardware, or maybe it's just because it has been proven that TPSs can be both awesome and profitable.
I guess the bottom line is this: if you ask after the hottest upcoming titles, perhaps TPSs will be just as prevalent on FPSs when someone responds. Does anybody remember when someone would ask if a certain game was a FPS and then they'd hear it was a TPS and…well, they'd be all disappointed? No more, people.
i prefer TPS over FPS. Im much more looking forward to Uncharted 2 than MW2. With COD:WOW and Killzone 2, im not sure im gonna need another FPS for a gooood while.
Same here
I probably won't get another FPS 'till Resistance 3
ditto to scarecrow, I wanna see how that story ends.
FPS and TPS are about even for me I love em both!(only thing I hate about FPS is when you look down and theirs no feet or when your driving a vehicle and theirs no hands on the steering wheel). I'm gonna get MW2 and Uncharted 2.
Last edited by MadKatBebop on 8/29/2009 12:18:48 AM
Well, I dunno about all this. Don't the MGS games count as quality TPS games? MGS4 is , by some margin, the vest game of any kind I've been lucky enough to play recently-the best all this gen for me-and MGS3 was for the last gen.
Going back further Siphon Filter was always quality and even though it's currently(and likely to remain) a 360 game only SCC looks like another excellent Splinter Cell too. Red Faction's switch to TPS might've been indicative of this switch(as I suppose would the more "shooter" emphasis of the last two RE games)had it not been about seeing within the destructable environments.
All I'm saying is that though COD and the likes of Halo have led to a big lift in general quality(and a fashion for them as well)in FPA games the TPS have always been there too. Uncharted, oddly, came from the Tomb Raider anble and only became a shooter because (I think)of the extra horsepower of PS3 allowing ND to broaden the template to include many onscreen enemies. This time round, despite the added shooty MP, the main game will be more puzzly than the last so will it be a true TPS or with games like Borderlands and ME2 and Fallout3 is this just evidence of(in their cases FPS and RPG)genres just getting blurred as more things become possible?
We can't moan and if the secret game Ben's on about turns out to be a NEW SF I'd expect that to be MORE than just a straight up TPS this time out with some RPg elements and possibly FPS sniping elements thrown in to the game.
So, far from a return to prominence of the TPS I'd argue that it's a broadening of what we can think of as many differing kinds of game these days as thoe lines get blurry and games harder to pigeonhole in general. Alpha Protocol looks to be another out soon that will blur boundaries of the genres and I'm all for that kind of thing, doesn't it help all us gamers enjoy more things?
wonder what's goin to be the halo of tps
isn't gears of war?
Gears of War.
Its overhyped, invokes fanboy high-fives with the mere mention of its name, and is hailed as the greatest thing since Jesus.
Sounds a lot like Halo. 😀
I know im going to sound like a fanboy, but Gears was just a terrible game. The dialog sounds like it was written by an autistic 3rd grader, theres about 3 different shades of brown taking up the entire color palette, and the character models are so ridiculously disproportionate… I played Gears until the last battle against the buy covered in the little bat things. I died a few times then thought "why do i even care if i kill this guy?" The story didnt make me care about any of the characters at all. Probably because the story didnt exist. Say what you will, but IMO (!!!!) Gears is just weaker than Uncharted in every regard.
End mini-rant
Last edited by NoSmokingBandit on 8/28/2009 10:36:41 PM
@nosmokingbandit it is overhyped just like halo but unlike halo it doesnt suck the dialog seems fine to me and i hate to admit it but it was the only reason other than fable that i got an xbox when i did
@Bandit
"autistic"? Are you sure you didn't mean "third-grader with Tourette's"?
Not meaning to poke fun at either condition.
I thought it was fun game why say its overhyped
I like them both but, I have a soft spot in my heart for FPS. I been playing them since Wolfenstein and they never cease to enjoy me.
I've always liked TPS more. I never could get into FPS's. I also like other games that use the third person view that get mistaken for TPS's.
I'm waiting for the Tecmo TPS Quantum. Downloaded the trailer a little while ago and I like the look of it. Of course I waiting impatiently for Uncharted 2.
totaly agree with quantum i thinks its gona be a kick ass game
yea dude quantum and uncharted both look just amazing
Almost forgot about Quantum. That is gonna be killer!
TPS > FPS
Bottom line:
3rd person games > 1st person games
By the way, add Resident Evil to that list
I totally agree, with one revision: games which allow one to switch at will are better still. I prefer third-person, even for most shooting, but sometimes you need to get a closer look at something.
The third-person view gives you some peripheral vision and makes me feel like I'm actually IN the environment, like I'm interacting with it.
I always feel like a Dalek when I play an FPS, even a good one like Killzone 2.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/29/2009 1:21:46 AM
Yes Scarecrow, Resident Evil 5 is my best game thus far this year and its TPS.
Yes I've played Killzone 2, but RE5 got it!
Last edited by www on 8/29/2009 5:13:51 AM
Of course. I'd say TPS games have surpassed FPS games. FPS's are just all the same thing. At least TPS's have diversity. The only diversity in FPS games are the weapons.
Awww Ben has a crush on Eliza 😉
Who doesn't? 😉
Nah. Others are higher on my list. 😉
I like TPS's better than FPS's. To me, an FPS looks like a camera floating above the ground with arms attached to it.
I suppose after playing a lot of games from a third person perspective getting my hands on a first-person game felt alien.
It's just a lot easier for me to get into a TPS.
Last edited by TGG on 8/28/2009 10:43:32 PM
I find it weird that FPS's were most likely created to make you feel like you are in the game, or that you are "immersed" in the environment. But they always create a sense of disconnect for me. I feel like I have no real connection with the main character (even though I am in their head!)
I always have a better connection with a TPS where the character is on the screen and I can see them. Also I just hate looking down in FPS and I DON'T SEE FEET! How realistic is that?
some games you can see feet actualy i think u can in halo nd resistance 1 not sure about 2 or killzone 2
Agreed 100%. When I see my character running around, I identify with my character. Even in TPS games where I have no control over the character's appearance, I still feel the same. It's like being an actor, you take on the role of the character. But it's easier to do this, and become immersed when you can see your character in the action.
@SVEN
I have the same issue! I need to see my feet! I could NEVER feel attached to my FPS character but Snake c'mon I almost cried at the end of MSG4!
BTW I understand MSG4 isn't a dedicated shooter.
Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 8/29/2009 3:08:47 AM
You can see your legs in Crysis also.
How about the ones you look in the mirror but you can't even see yourself.
It's like world said a while back about fps. U have no legs, u never did
If Mirror's Edge does nothing else, at least it might show "normal" first-person games how to handle the character's body.
Platforming in first-person view doesn't really work, though.
I remember when I first played Doom and Wolfenstein being so impressed with the concept. Being able to see the gun you were carrying, the surprise of coming around a corner and running into an enemy. I was willing to overlook the negatives: the nauseating ability to move equally fast in any direction, the lack of peripheral vision.
Thing is that was over ten years ago and the only improvement to the genre is better graphics, that is it. The setting may change but the new games are simply prettier versions of Doom with the same presentation and the same flaws. That is why I am simply over FPSs.
I was very impressed too back then. Especially with Doom. But now they get pretty stale, but Resistance and KZ are pretty damn good anyway.
The funny thing about Doom is that compared to the FPS games of today is a shooter on rails. You don't have the freedom that you have now within the environment. The level design and mood of the game is far more an arcade game mood. The FPS games of today are different somehow. I can go back and replay Doom, and it's still fun, despite the crude graphics. I think that's because it's an arcade shooter, not a combat simulator.
also: Rubi
I also prefer TPS over FPS because you can actually get into the character while FPS is just guns…>_<
Like Uncharted for example, Drake has so much character, its much better than just running around shooting ppl mindlessly, there's more character in the game compared to the FPS. As much as i like FPSs I'm just FPS'd out right now.
One of my favorite games is Star Wars Battlefront. It has a fps mode, but is SUCKS! It would of been horrible had that been the standard view. Bring on more third person shooters, I want to see my character!
Can I get an "amen"?
I have to admit. I've always preferred the third person perspective in games. Like everyone says, it's easier to see your environment, and it's easier to connect with your character when you're always lookin at them. I also like to see my guy jump, roll, dive, shoot, and recoil when shot.
i really couldent care less what camera style a game is as long as its fun.
one thing i find and aggravates me with TPS is allot of the time the camera either seems to far away or to close.
like in batman AA the cameras so close its almost in FP mode.
but than in ninja gaiden 2 the camera is so far away its hard to judge how close you are to the edge, youve got no idea how many times ive died because ive jumped thinking im at the edge when im not.
gets extremely annoying.
but i wish we had more games like ninja gaiden, i love sword fighting games and theres no where near enough.
we have 1M and 1 RPGs
1M and 1 FPS
1M and 1 TPS
quite a few racers.
quite a few MMOs
but barely any action/ sword fighting games.
we need more sword fighting games, and we need more platforming games.
on a different topic i was thinking today one of my favorite ps2 games is kill switch.
i wonder if were going to get a sequel to that.
its kind of like haze sort of, id love to play another kill switch game.
Even more than Ninja Gaiden2 is Shinobi 2 and put 12 bosses in it like the original Shinobi for Sega Master System no any of that 4 boss bull crap, although they didget the classic 3 part stages like 1-a 1-b 1-c right in the one for PS2 but not enough bosses.
kill.switch is just a Gears clone. Gears invented cover mechanics, just like RE4 invented the over-the-shoulder camera. 😉
On a serious note, I agree about having more games with melee weapons, though I'm not a hard-as-nails action fan myself. My blast-from-the-past recommendation is The Mark Of Kri (and its sequel, which should have been better than it was).
Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/29/2009 2:28:30 PM
how can kill switch be a gears clone when kill switch was out way way way before gears?
and kill switch is nothing like gears, it was more like a secret agent game more like haze.
that comment sir tells me one thing.
youve never played kill switch for shame.
you know what you have to do tomorrow.
What about that perfection we all know as Fallout 3? That sucker has everything from FPS, TPS all wound up in a crazy blend of RPG sprinkled on top.
W8in on Uncharted 2 BTW!
Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 8/29/2009 3:02:59 AM
Yup I agree just waiting to get my hands on the GOTY edition so I can finally finish the darn thing, lol.
My three most favritest TPS' are Max Payne, Dead to Rights and The Suffering. those are the games that set the bar for TPS'
the suffering was so creepy, i remember playing it when i was a kid and it scared the crap out of me.
ive been looking for it to see if it has the same effects on me.
its the scariest game ive played, well its not really scary but it f***s with your mind.
"Why Daddy?" "Why did you hold my head under the water?"