the first person shooter game thread (eew fps)

[Khan]

I never got around to trying SS on a console, however I completed and played the PC version and loved every second of it! I just wonder what the controls will be like on xbox.....imo fps games like this would be hard to play.

[twalden]

I'm a little late but I just came across this the other day: http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009

Gives me a reason to play through again. Love the Stalker games. Hopefully it won't be as buggy as it originally was.

[Ghegs]

Now that might be interesting, especially if it fixes most if not all of the bugs. I actually bought the game not too long ago for few bucks from a bargain bin, started a game, and few hours later was stuck in scenery with no way out short of starting a new game. Maybe I'll install it again and try it again with the mod.

[Ed Oscuro]

That looks pretty amazing. Already I spotted some differences. Of course, the big downside to Stalker always was the ending (starting with first getting to the Reactor), will be interesting to see how that was handled.

[dave4shmups]

Well, I quit playing Ultimate Doom, too many pentagrams and upside down crosses. Yeah, I know you're fighting demons, and I know that Carmack and Romero weren't satanists, but it just bothers me too much. And I am aware that other religions, including Christianity, have used pentagrams, I just read a Wiki article on the symbol.

[louisg]

Well, I quit playing Ultimate Doom, too many pentagrams and upside down crosses. Yeah, I know you're fighting demons, and I know that Carmack and Romero weren't satanists, but it just bothers me too much. And I am aware that other religions, including Christianity, have used pentagrams, I just read a Wiki article on the symbol.

It should make you feel better that you're blasting those bastards then!

Hrm anyone else think Outtrigger is a little underrated? I'd like to see an alternate universe where FPSses are more arcade-focused and unrealistic. Of course it IS a bit of a me-too Quake ripoff at the same time that it's got its arcade pace and polish. Makes me wish companies still put out full sized trackballs too!

[Damocles]

It's been years since I played Outtrigger, but I remember it being relatively fun. Of course, going back to it might be a bit tough due to the lack of a second stick.

As long as we're talking 3rd person stuff, I just finished up "Stranglehold". Not the best, but relatively fun.

[Mortificator]

Well, I quit playing Ultimate Doom, too many pentagrams and upside down crosses. Yeah, I know you're fighting demons, and I know that Carmack and Romero weren't satanists, but it just bothers me too much. And I am aware that other religions, including Christianity, have used pentagrams, I just read a Wiki article on the symbol.

You should try Heretic if that stuff bothers you. The name makes it sound like it'd be even more HELLCORE, but there's no satanic imagery. Heretic is basically classic Doom dressed in a fantasy motif, with magic weapons and mythical creatures instead of guns and demons. Some people give it flack for not being very original, but I like having a different flavor of Doomy action available, and besides, a Maulotaur could probably kick a Cyberdemon's ass.

[Stormwatch]

I've just finished Quake 4. It's not a bad game, but it's quite generic, and the ending is terribly unsatisfying. And the pacing is quite lacking, like...

Hrm anyone else think Outtrigger is a little underrated? I'd like to see an alternate universe where FPSses are more arcade-focused and unrealistic. Of course it IS a bit of a me-too Quake ripoff at the same time that it's got its arcade pace and polish.

Well, this. The old Dooms and Quakes were fast and wild too. Doom 3 and Quake 4 lost much of that.

[Marc]

I'm replaying The Darkness on PS3. It has its flaws, but it genuinely tries to be ambitious, its tough, looks the business, and the lead character is actually feshed-out, interesting and likeable. Great game. I think I'm gonna pick me up some Doom 64, loved that back in the day.

[louisg]

Not to *totally* derail the thread, but I've always thought Duke 3d's Dukematch mode had one of the greatest multiplayer balances ever. Sure, the game is buggy as hell. But if you set that aside, you've got a game where beginner players can compete, but skill always wins out.

This is because certain guns autoaim more than others; the default machine pistol for example is somewhat weak, but it'll pick out targets pretty far away. A beginner who sucks at using the chaingun or rockets might sneak around with the machine pistol, but will have to be careful if he's not a good dodger since other weapons generally trump that one. The rockets also have a lot of splash damage, which I like: direct hits obviously count for more, but it's not the pinpoint weapon you find in other games. If a player makes a tactical error and is in a closed environment, the rockets can do a lot of damage.

And I love all the traps you can set. The multitude of strategies is really what keeps this game fun, whether it's hovering outside a window with the jetpack, laying pipe-bomb traps, or wiring up spots with tripwires. Because of this combination of factors, you've got a game where there's more than one skill required to win.

The easy-to-use level editor is always a huge bonus, too, since the built-in levels do eventually get old.

Who's with me?

[saucykobold]

Duke 3D would be one of my favorite games if not for the bugs. The levels are really well-designed and the multiplayer's awesome. Unfortunately, it's very easy to get crushed in ways the designers didn't intend.

[louisg]

Duke 3D would be one of my favorite games if not for the bugs. The levels are really well-designed and the multiplayer's awesome. Unfortunately, it's very easy to get crushed in ways the designers didn't intend.

Yeah, I like it. Well, some of the enemies past episode 1 have some dubious placement and strategy (like the chaingun guys), but overall it's pretty cool.

Re: getting crushed.. wow I didn't know there were so many ways to do it! I've gotten killed by walls a few times, but mostly I'll die on one of the moving trains in Rabid Transit.. it's really easy to do there. Usually in games I'll complain I get stuck on a wall or something, but Duke 3d goes the extra mile and just squishes the player.

[KBZ]

I really love outtrigger. I would love for there to be a pc version with online play. The pace of the game is great, and has a certain virtual on style 'awesomeness' happening for it.

c'mon sega! dust off the source code and port this baby to steam already.

[louisg]

I really love outtrigger. I would love for there to be a pc version with online play. The pace of the game is great, and has a certain virtual on style 'awesomeness' happening for it.

c'mon sega! dust off the source code and port this baby to steam already.

I just want to see more arcade FPSses! An Outtrigger port with some larger arenas would be cool though.

[KBZ]

As a big killing floor fan, I was excited to see Defence Alliance 2 appear in my games section of steam.

Oh god what have they done....

They took a good game and turned it into halo! The game is wonky as hell. With all the turrets, there are constantly explosions all around you bringing your framerate to its knees. Not to mention that being on offense is quite a task in respawning when you're seemingly always walking into a wall of turrets.

And survival mode is useless since when you die you can just reconnect to the server and your squad doesn't die out.

I know it's free.... but c'mon! really disappointed =/

[Ed Oscuro]

Update: Soldier of Fortune is extremely lousy on Intel Extreme Graphics (845G chipset if memory serves). 640x480, sure shimmery textures show up, but it's really slow. Any explosions cause the thing to halt completely for a good half second at least. I didn't turn all the settings down all the way, but what would be the point? I usually don't care for anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering but without anisotropic filtering things already took a bad enough quality dump - I don't want to turn down all the details too.

On the plus side, it's starting to look more like this is probably nVidia breaking compatibility in a driver update, which means that there should be other ways of playing this. I haven't isolated DirectX but the XP machine this was on is running DirectX 9, maybe not the latest web update but it's close enough.

About the game itself - the first section was a bit short, but it seems pretty good so far. Love using the two weapon special keys; even if they don't do anything useful they always do something.

Edit: Forgot to mention - but completed the last Call of Duty 5 MW2 coop missions on Veteran with my bro while he was here. Playing on a smallish SDTV at a distance with RCA jacks too, lol. We got through Wetworks, the two juggernaut campaigns, and some other stuff. Just took two evenings to do it. If I can find the disc, I'll start polishing up the intel locations too. I was solidly in support mode for most of the time (i.e. on Wetworks I got a fraction of his kills, something ridiculous like 16 to 36) but it's still a pretty fun game. Playing through on Normal. The save file had 2/45 intel and I got it up to 7/45 in an hour or two.

[Stormwatch]

Update: Intel Graphics is extremely lousy.

[Diabollokus]

Respect for the Vet, ed.

[Arasoi]

Did anyone ever play Blood for PC back in the day? That has to be my favorite FPS game of all time. Crazy weapons, awesome levels, great bosses, and sick humor galore.

The game will never properly be ported/remade like Duke Nukem etc have been as apparently the source code for the modified Build engine (and the rest of of Blood) was lost during one of Monolith's buyouts.

There is a Deathmatch only Quake conversion called Transfusion though:

http://www.transfusion-game.com/

Just not the same without the epic 1 player mode, sigh.

[Ed Oscuro]

Respect for the Vet, ed.

Thanks. Doing the two aircraft missions was crazy fun (I'd say we used maybe one to two dozen attempts for each one though). Bro says the guy he was playing with is good, but I'm guessing not the team player. Oh yeah, we cheated the Juggernauts + explosives mission though - have one guy go prone in the doorway, other guy shoots the ugly critters trying to come in the door from around a wall. Almost ran out of time on that one.

Also, I need to get through the rest of Blood. Have it on my laptop, haven't had time for it though. Also need to get through Wolfenstein 3D (I held off completing more because of the blasted maze level in episode 2 that I felt I had to complete as much as possible - I haven't even stepped inside it, lol. Absolutely 100% game completion up to that point, sigh).

[BIL]

I loved Blood back in the late 90s. Particularly the awesome, screen-rattling power of its explosions. Lobbing a TNT bundle into a crowd of monks and zombies never got old. Excellent level designs too.

[EinhanderZwei]

Anyone tried the Marathon trilogy by Bungie? It's totally awesome/radical/bodacious/cowabunga old-school FPS I've ever played. I know, I know, it's gonna sound like cheap fat trolling, but I can't even play or look on Doom 1/2 anymore after Marathon's majesty. Why? Because:
- All three Marathon games feature kickass artwork, visual style and mission-based level designs
- All three Marathon games feature awesome storyline that should make Hironobu Sakaguchi eat his heart out
- All three Marathon games feature fast and furious multiplayer
- All three Marathon games feature extremely high modding capabilities

Most importantly: it was released as GNU GPL in 2005, so it's completely free. Even the PSP source ports exist!

[Mortificator]

I've played a bit of the trilogy thanks to Aleph One, but didn't stick with them for long. Marathon feels like it wants to be System Shock so bad, but it's no System Shock.

Also need to get through Wolfenstein 3D (I held off completing more because of the blasted maze level in episode 2 that I felt I had to complete as much as possible - I haven't even stepped inside it, lol. Absolutely 100% game completion up to that point, sigh).

I haven't used them myself, but I know there are source ports out there that give you an automap.

Personally, I got tired of the stages relatively quickly and just warped to the boss (and Pac-Man) levels. Hitler was fun, and the finale of Spear of Destiny was pretty creative.

[EinhanderZwei]

I've played a bit of the trilogy thanks to Aleph One, but didn't stick with them for long. Marathon feels like it wants to be System Shock so bad, but it's no System Shock.

Reasonable, but as for me, Marathon tries following the same topic, but in different way (for example, Durandal is way more complex and not straightly hostile AI than SHODAN)

[Mortificator]

Durandal some cool moments, like the "Escape will make me God" message; that's some great AI reasoning. Of course, SHODAN benefits a lot from having a strong voiceover (like GlaDOS would in Portal) and in having more latitude in interacting with the player.

Now, a lame example of a malicious AI would be AM from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. It talks and functions just like some evil diety, only with the occasional line about circuits to try to make it sound computer-like.

[EinhanderZwei]

Totally agreed on all 3 points. Also, Pathways Into Darkness (a pseudo-prequel to Marathon) was very close to System Shock 1 in terms of gameplay (but not story). Though some say that it was a shitty game

[Damocles]

...and out in left field I'm playing Sniper Elite. It's feels like an extension of the Rainbow Six (1 and 2) series. I'm enjoying gravity and wind, but it feels like our hero has his scope zeroed at thirty friggin yards.

[1up]

cant stop playing MW2 domination in multiplayer. Game has a firm grasp on me.

need to do the last tier of spec ops missions. Got 10 spec ops mission on 3 stars (veteran) and a whole bunch on 2 stars. Did it with a buddy in UK. Those spec ops missions are a lot of fun

[Ruldra]

I'm planning to buy Borderlands but I'm not sure if I get the PC version or the PS3 one. Is there any big difference between them?