Because there is no story (for the most part), and you can pretty much turn off your brain, sit back and have a good time whether you can play for 15 minutes or you can play for the next four hours. It doesn't require the same level of commitment as a lot of games so you can pretty much jump right in and play with your pals.
Halo is popular because Master Chief wears a mask and 12 year old boys can play make believe and pretend they are a Spartan. 😈
Re: First Person Shooters. Why so much love?
Originally posted by TheOneBumGun
Why are FPSers so popular you think? I have never had that much fun with them apart from 2 or 3 but they seem to be one of if not the most popular type of games.
immersion, is the answer, a good fps really immerses you because you see the game through eyes, rather than a camera - more or less. Also helps because when you mess up, you KNOW it;s because you missed somthing , it's your own error, and you take the blame rather than screaming at the shite camera controls that didnt show an enemy in a certain part of the level or somthing.
IMO ofcourse.
Mainly the reason i love the camera is I pick what i look at. It's alot better than some third person cameras, for instance: lara croft, and you see what you want to, not what the devs wanted you too, adding a sense of freedom to even a very linear game like hl2.
Also, it's very hard to make a good third person camera, meaning alot of third person games just naturally fail; whereas fps is simple and does not detract from the other things the devs wanted you to experience.
Immersion is far less important to me than being able to fire at my enemy from the angle i want to while moving in the angle i want to and using the weapon i want to, but of course this could be taken into consideration too. You feel alot more like the character when you don't see their face, maybe why bethesda chooses to make their elder scrolls games in first person view rather than the infinitively more popular rpg choices of birdseye and third person. I often find myself thinking of gordon freeman as myself due to the lack of personality i can replace with my own.
My personal take, is that FPS always provides a visual acuity exercise on a constant basis.. its very enriching for the reflexes and coordination together.. at least IMO..
I love flying out from around the corner and dealin out pinpoint accurate hot death.. or even if I suck.. the road to get to "good" and "great" is extremely fun..
They're straight forward and usually easy to grasp. In essence, you point and shoot.
They are also usually the most graphically advanced games. When you hear about a new game coming out that pushes the graphics of a system or an era to new heights, it's usually a shooter.
Also they're purely skill and reflex based. Everyone starts out (for the most part) on even footing and must rely on their own speed and strategies to become good, as opposed to some games where you don't really get 'good' but your character just gets better thus making the game easier and making him better by proxy.
To me its probably because FPS games have the best gameplay in general. Think about a third person shooter for a second... what is there to do?
Sprint - hide behind cover- fire/blind fire- do a fancy roll move - get behind cover some more and keep shooting
Where as in an FPS you have probably 5 times the amount of ways to take down an enemy and usually more weapons as well
FPS are also easier to jump right into unlike other games that require you to read the instructions or go through a tutorial (yes this only takes a matter of minutes but people really are that lazy)
Originally posted by Smasandian
I also find it the best way to tell a story.Everybody can talk about how RPG's have good stories. They do but I find FPS tell them the best, especially if their made by Valve and Monolith.
Well they certainly have the capacity and potential for great stories. Like you said, Valve proves what is possible with storytelling and character development within an FPS game.
Sadly most devs are satisfied just making another generic shoot-first-think-never experience and so FPS games get propagated as being mindless and without plot by those who aren't wholly familiar with them, because they think they are all like Halo or some other game with a story from Generic action movie 101.
True.
Playing the Half Life series opened up how stories can be told through the first person perspective.
Even though you kind of lose any sort of character interaction because you generally don't communicate with them, or when you do, the voice work is a bit disjarring. I always felt FPS stories are more about feeling than it is about plot and characters. In Half Life, you feel lonely inside that massive complex while if it was an RPG, you would get a different feeling all together.
I never really liked them.
They tend to be redundant, and gets boring quickly.
Replay value is poor. The only reason why I'd play it is to engage in multiplayer combat just to "socialize" with other players.
And most FPS rarely have a good storyline, if at all.
The plot is there, but the storyline lacks depth. Needs more scenario, alternate endings, character development, etc.
And it's not even realistic as some claimed it to be. It's not even identical to the human vision; our eyes can move faster than our hands, or vice versa (reflex), NOT simultaneously all the time in one stationary position (FPS in general have a center crosshair. Um... we can move our hands freely).
It's only strength is multiplayer matches, where you can play with friends. It can also be a means to "fit in" with your community of gamers.
There's no sense of accomplishment, unlike RPGs or Adventure games, imho.
In MOST RPGs, the storylines can be deeply moving, and sometimes the story can be an unforgettable experiece.
It requires careful thinking, analysis, decisions which make you feel a sense of accomplishment once you finish the game.