PixlBit

I second that! Fuck Halo! Also BSI is free this month for PS+ user.

That's pretty damn sweet. I do think that that game has the most awe inspiring intros. If the game ended just before the shooting started it would have been perfect, because the shooting is meh lol.

I am glad I did not buy it. I think the game looks ( Visually ) awesome.

Games, especially FPS's, are all moving towards more realism. You can only carry two weapons reasonable in real life, so lets put that in the game. Bad idea. Less fun. For some reason I noticed this especially in Duke Nukem Forever. I think because I was expecting the old school style of being able to choose from whichever weapon you picked up during the game. I screamed in anger over that one. Yes, and rage quit.

I think, despite the two weapon thing in Halo, the game has been very fun up until Halo 4 when it became more COD-like, meaning closer to a simulation of combat. I hate hunkering behind cover and reloading every five seconds. To heck with that! It's why I haven't played the COD: Modern Warefare series... or GRAW... or any modern combat game that wants to seem real.

The slow movement in Lost Planet recently drove me to rage quit. I know he's moving through snow, but do mechs have to be slow? No they frickin' don't!

The issue with same enemy types I think will be a thing of the past very soon as almost all games are online now with real players. Bioshock Infinite did seem a little old school in some of its design despite the fantastic visuals.

Overall I think it's the desire for realism that killing gameplay in a lot of games. Go watch TV if you want that. Games are for fun and fantasy.

 I don't want all games to be online. I want a well crafted single player experience! Realism has its place, but I want variety damnit!

For all their desire for realism, I'm not seeing any upswing in tactical combat sims, and any of the franchises from that genre that are still around have been dumbed down to near arcade levels *coughRainbowSixGhostReconcough*. Funny how that works, isn't it? Realism is all good...until it starts requiring thought and patience from their lowest-common-denominator audience....

This is what happens when gaming goes mainstream. it gets watered down to try and appeal to everybody.

I don't really think it's fair to say fuck Halo for inventing those two things. Do they suck in most the games that copy them? Absolutely. Do they suck in Halo? Hell no! There's so much stuff happening in the battlefields that regenerating shields were the only way for you to keep up and even then, they design the areas so finding somewhere to recharge your shields is a challenge in and of itself. 

As for the two weapon systems, the game litters weapons everywhere so it doesn't significantly reduce the options you have, just ensures that you can't use something like a rocket launcher or sniper rifle in areas where a rocket launcher or sniper rifle would be overpowered. Like regenerating health, I 100% agree with you on other games, but it works in Halo.

You can make the argument that it changed shit to hate on it, but why not hate Resident Evil 4 for making "survival horror" about action then? Because the people copying that game hurt their own games by following the crowd just like all the FPS developers copying Halo hurt their own. But it doesn't change that those two games were great because their mechanics made sense in their own game. That's why they're held in such high regard.

Anyways, I do agree completely on the no variety. The best shooters in my mind give a wealth of enemies for you to shoot which all feel different. It's half the reason I love Halo and Mass Effect's shooting so much.

 I agree it's fair. Halo invented something I hate. I never actually criticised Halo, because they are well made games, and a lot better than a lot of shooters these days. I still don't like them, but they have variety in weapons and enemies, they have decent maps that aren't linear as fuck, and they aren't slower than a down syndrome toddler with polio. So Halo is alright. It just invented a lot of shit that IMO has ruined the fps genre.

Amen Blake. A-fucking-men. This blog deserves a slow clap. 

I'm playing Uncharted 3, and while it's not a FPS, it is really pissing me off for a lot of these reasons. All the hand holding especially makes me sick. They literally tell you exactly what to do if you take too long to figure out a puzzle. WTF is the point in even having puzzles if that's the case? I've pretty much given up on modern FPS other than Unreal Tournament.

Yeah, I quite enjoyed Uncharted 2, but didn't have as much fun with 3 because it held your hand, and I feel it tried too hard tbh. But yeah, games holding your hand non-stop needs to stop!

 FPS are coming back though. We had Rise of the Triad and Shadow Warrior this year. We're getting another Serious Sam game next year. We've had Hard Reset and whatnot. So things are getting better.

 P.S. try and get painkiller working. I LOVE IT!

3 really did take things too far. I tried replaying it and a good chunk of that game is just walking around doing nothing, which 2 did like once or twice and then it actually fit. And when the game does up the challenge, it's all about memorizing what order to kill the people shooting and throwing explosives at you

Those last couple of levels were fucking dreadful. I almost didn't finish the game because of them.

I agree with your overall point that FPSes have some of these issues. I don't blame Halo for all of them, especially when I think the Halo formula is wonderful... in Halo. I just wish there were more games that tried to find their own identity. First it was everyone copying Halo and now everyone is copying COD. Hopefully we'll get something fresh and new to be copied soon. At least we've got Far Cry and other series trying out some new things that are pretty awesome.

 Every one copies everything. I just wish there were more variety tbh. COD and Halo aren't bad games, but as you said, we need something different. Honestly, my favourite FPS this year is Shadow Warrior, which mixes new and old. It feels like Bioshock in some ways, mixed with Condemned, with a metric fuckton of painkiller/serious sam. It's a great game!

I should check it out. I've been avoiding shooting doodz for a while, but I'll get back to it.

I remember the orginal Shadow Warrior. I guess this remake is good then?

 Oh yeah. Different, but awesome.

Man, I wish I could put together a good PC to play it.

I think that Halo worked as far as its arsenal is concerned.  Every gun was unique enough that I could actually see the benefit to using different weapons in different scenarios.  I couldn't tell you the difference between any of the weapons in the current Call of Duty games.

The one thing that always bugs me with FPS games is that I ditch the starting weapon early in the level and somehow at the start of the next level I have managed to get it back.  I hate the default assault rifles that games give me....  that is why I get rid of them ASAP.  The worst is when you know the level takes place right after the last and there is absolutely no way in hell that your character could have found that gun, fully loaded.

I actually hate COD, but kinda like Halo from what I've played, so I'm going to pretend this blog was about COD, and then slow clap like William Randolph Hearst up there.

 I didn't mention it, but it kind of was. I assumed everyone knew this rant was about COD and games of its ilk so I skewered towards other games to show the problem isn't just with those games.

Incredible, this blog couldn't be more spot on.

Played Halo 2, got bored and quit. My son has played all of them up to Reach. He played a couple of Call o' Doodies too. He doesn't play FPS' anymore. His comment was that they're just the same old shit repainted over and over.

Guess you have to consider that the core audience for this stuff contains a ton of 12 year olds who A: aren't supposed to be playing the games and B: Wouldn't know an original idea if it danced around in front of them singing "Original ideas are here again."

Developers know that that's where the money is.

Played the first Bioshock. I actually made it through several hours because there was actually a story being told. Prior to that Unreal (the first game not the tournament crap) was the last FPS that held my attention for more than 5 minutes.

I've actually played a bit of Bioshock Infinite but no shooting so far. I do like the way it looks. Probably won't finish it though.

I honestly think the intro to Bioshock Infinite has the best intro to any game ever. I was in awe for the first 20 minutes or so. Then the shooting started and I enjoyed it less.

 Also, I think a lot of 12 year olds are fed up with this shit too. They buy it because their friends buy it, and it's an easy game to play with mates. 12 year old gamers are a different story. They like things that are different, or weird. Well, my brother did anyway when he was that age.

 As for variety, old school shooters are coming back to pc. It's a shame they don't go to console, but I guess they think there just isnb't a market for it there.

 I realize that 12 year olds is a generalization and I'm using it to group those who are immature both physically and mentally so they can be any age.

It's the hive mind I'm talking about. People who buy games because "all the other kids are doing it." That's what keeps developers churning out the same crap year after year now.

It's also the reason a lot of major titles come out unfinished and full of bugs and glitches. Developers get lazy because they know that it will sell like tickets to the second coming regardless.

Gamers who want something new and different are in the minority now. We're becoming an endangered species. :

The first DLC for Bioshock Infinite was just a horde battle in the final setting. I didn't bother with it and kinda ignored the recent DLC, which I've heard is good.

I honestly think your complaints against Halo, would be better leveled at Call of Duty. I don't find regenerating health frustrating in Halo, but in CoD it's basically pop your head out for two seconds, recharge health, repeat. Two weapons is fine in Halo because of the limited number of weapons available. In CoD, and many other shooters, there's dozen's upon dozen's to choose from and only being able to hold two at once is ridiculous.

You have a point with the slow movement (though I still think that works well for Halo). And I definitely agree with your complaints on bland enemies. I would certainly play more shooters if they tried ridiculous experiments like the original Half-Life and not try to mimic CoD.

I think you're forgetting how many imitators Halo had. It's easy to want to blam CoD when you dislike it, but really, I feel like Halo influenced CoD a hell of a lot. It's got all of the systems Halo invented. So while Halo certainly isn't a bad game, it has spawned a lot of terrible games, so I'm holding it responsible.

I enjoyed BI a lot.  In my defense, I don't play FPS much.  Hardly at all, actually.  I do agree about the weapons.  I was prepared for it though.  I read a few reviews and many of them stated the same problem.  

I would like to play more FPS, but I have no interest in online playing.  The single player experience is all I want.  

 What system do you play?

I'm looking for games on the PS3 and 360.  My PC is not game worthy. 

It's not an FPS but have you played Vanquish? It's a third person shooter made by Platinum games, and it's fucking phenomenal!

I think I played the demo.  Not sure though.  I'll look it up.

Vanquish is one of my favorite shooters ever. Wish they'd do a sequel or a successor.

 Yeah. It'd probably be for the Wii-U though...

Half life, Goldeneye and Timesplitters all did good things for me, thats why I still enjoy a little Counter strike, back to the good old days!

Firstly - DUDE! I haven't seen you in ages! Secondly, do you have CS:GO? If so I'll play with you sometime! Do I have you on steam? Do you have a Steam? So many questions!

Yeah I ve been well quite on the 'online front', though I'm planning on making my presence known in a..... well polite and respectful manner. I ve got counterstrike on X box live at the mo but if you ever find yourself venturing there just let me know, we can slop gloves across each other faces and about turn for ten paces!