Just from my own library, here are a few FPS games that would like to respectfully disagree: Arma II CS:S (joke, I know you mean singleplayer ) Crysis 2 - yes it is essentially linear, but the level layout does allow for a multitude of approaches. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising STALKER: ShoC STALKER: Clear Sky STALKER: CoP Also 1998 HalfLife would like to be included in the list of linear 2010 FPS games please.
To be fair; Half-Life was awesome at the time, if only because it never actually used Cutscenes (Woot for rendering everything in-engine), but I sadly agree; Call Of Duty: Linear Shooter 3 isn't going to improve, and it seems most other games are starting to go the same way too. I miss the original Call of Duty. (Even then, it wasn't perfect) Also; Half-Life 2. I dare say it's not exactly vibrant in the number of ways you can complete it.
Why should linear automatically mean bad? Many of the best games i've played are linear. But cutscenes are the devils work and must never be used again.
Story line of a FPS 1. Kill bad guys/kill good guys 2. Shoot down heli 2 1/2. Complete a snow map 3. Kill really bad guy/kill really good guy 4. ???? 5. Profit!!!!!!
Do fallout 3 and Bioshock count as FPS? But yeah I do miss the exploration and sense of wonder from being able to explore worlds, Have fond memories of the original Unreal.
That's Doom on the left isn't it? It's a shame that modern FPS has lost the puzzle/secrets element that Doom had -- where you would catch a glimpse of an area and then spend ages trying to work out how to get there. It was a good way of breaking up the rhythm of the game. Tangentially, I have recently started on Crysis 2 and, bizarrely, it seems to have flags all over the screen telling me where all of the cover is, where the observation points are, where the flanking opportunities are etc etc. Is it just me or does this slightly defeat the point of playing an FPS and learning to read the maps? Hopefully, it will ease off as the game progresses otherwise I may have to put it down.
They are probably afraid that people who are too used to corridor style play will miss the 'freedom' they are being given. It's worth playing through at least once, and possibly again with DX11. I still miss the freedom of Crysis and Far cry.
Linear isn't always bad, look at Metal Gear Solid... Linear as they come but fantastic games none the less. However they often mean developers can just get away with piss-poor storylines and/or slack work. I.e. all of our favorite game, Modern Warfail 3 that'll be tragically released soon.
True it's not a given. HL2/Ep.1/Ep.2, BioShock 1-2, Singularity & Metro 2033 were some of the most linear games I've played in the last few years but in my opinion spectacular nonetheless. Linear is ok with me IF its to convey ALOT of storyline, but generally speaking I go into a game assuming linear = bad until proven otherwise. I still much prefer open gameplay though, notably the likes of Oblivion, Fallout 3/NV, STALKER CoP/SoC, etc all of which still manage a ton of storytelling but leave the order up to the player. And lmao @ "Modern Warfail". Genius.
convulated and complex levels without a map for you to use as a form of navigation just makes things tedious. However, i do like it when games include secret areas and the like. It's a shame that it's a dying trend.
Anyone here ever played TimeSplitters? Now those were the days when maps were maps, hell creating your own maps was amazing fun in itself.
Hell yea Timesplitters 1 + 2 were both awesome! To this day still the most fun i've had with a local multiplayer game
Soooooo good! Just loved playing Local Co - Op on this. Aren't the team working on something at the moment (Free Radical?)
Timesplitters - First and only console FPS I have been able to enjoy! I don't think its fair to say that all FPS games are now linear, or that linear in itself is a bad thing. I think the OP is looking at a symptom of the big malaise in gaming at the moment: The biggest selling games are not that good. It may be rose tinted glasses, but in years gone by, to get big sales you had to come up with something GOOD. These days its a case of Moar Explosions and a big marketing budget.
That's the real problem right now. And sadly, it's our own fault, because as long as they keep making BIG profit there's no real incentive for things to change. If the games with huge marketing budgets did poorly and the real gems actually sold millions instead, devs and publishers would generally be more motivated to polish their product.
