5) Battlefield 3
Err... hard to explain this one so early, but there are much better deals of what you're looking for. BF3 comes with a really insultingly bad campaign, and the multiplayer has been dumbed down compared to some of its earlier games. Really when you break it all down, BF3 as it is now (and from what we know of 4) is just a tactical version of COD, giving you more options, a bigger map, and some interesting variables to change all trapped within a very stale formula, and the tactical fun and intense fighting has been done better elsewhere. No matter what the "hardcore" Dice fanboys want to tell you, avoid this. The only thing it truly has over Bad company 2 is server lists, and you could probably get those on the PC version.
4) Crysis 3
I thought about this briefly. Crysis 2 and 3 are under-appreciated games of this generation. They get some good hype on each release, only to have people criticize its gameplay without any real constructive criticism. I don't find the games bad personally, they're fun and actually a bit different from the average shooter. However here is the problem: They are a very weird subgenre of their own where it's a bunch of open areas in a linear form. Crysis 2 has a great length, and an interesting balance that makes it an ok game for new guys, but then 3... very short, pretty challenging at some points, and its a game that I feel would need more experience to go into. Also the Multiplayer is a bit silly, essentially being COD with a fancy suit. Your better off playing COD instead... oh wait, but not for your first shooter game because honestly...
3) Call of duty
Call me a hipster, a hater, or whatever but the fact is I simply think playing the current COD first would be like raising a baby off of junk food. In both cases you don't want them to get used to the low quality industrial sludge that has already gripped an army of sheep-like followers causing an interesting collapse in its own way. I get the appeal of COD, and why it has already brought in flocks of completely new FPS players. It's a very well crafted casual form of the shooter experience. Everybody can be a winner, play through a block buster style campaign, Side gimmicks to reinforce your idea that you get a lot of stuff in one package, and you get points for doing almost anything. Not to mention the easy access to many modes, mild personalization, split screen support, and the added peer pressure of everybody and their grandma playing it. It's a party game, block buster experience, and E-sport shooter all in one disc. The bad side? Honestly have you seen the state of our shooter industry? COD is just one game, but I'm willing to say that it inspired all of that. The same generation that came with COD, continued to stay and hang out with normal gamers giving it a try as well making COD a massive seller. Developers with other games joined in on the trend, and things start to get a little too familiar. The market has shrunk, and developers are getting away with making easy over-scripted 6 hour campaigns, forced matchmaking with bad hosting, low quality reflex gunplay and a gimmicky rank up system, etc. Everything is done super light and easy, and there is no high grade quality or serious depth to it. Even the "hardcore mode" is just blindfolding the experience and shipping you out with more fragile health, hardly anything worth bragging about yet just "challenging" enough to demote the entertainment for many. As the red orchestra developer mentioned while making their own game, their focus groups now want COD styled everything to be in every freakin' shooter. COD is raising people to crave cheap junk food experiences, and hand holding playthroughs so that they can enjoy their bike without removing the training wheels. As long as the industry only emphasizes those training wheels, it's acceptable to live your life with them on. There is a damn good reason why the older gamers are upset about this, we know better that there is a superior way to game out in this world. We know that level design used to be better, that enemies were actually interesting at one time, and that health didn't always mean hiding behind the wall a couple of seconds after a fight. I beg people to join the fight for better quality, instead of being another "me to!" guy with the guilty pleasure of insisting that everything is good as long as it caters to "everyone" on one disc. COD has its value, and I would recommend every FPS fan buy at least one of the games (black ops 1 is my favorite), but as a starting title it's a bad idea to get used to lower standards. Eh, I could be wrong, and who knows maybe it's wrong to set yourself on such a high standard as well knowing that the rest of the genre will have many that wont live up to that start of yours. Of course it's also gaming, so just worry about having fun.
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| I believe this image explains it some. |
2) Fallout 3/Borderlands
These games are great, but they're aiming in the RPG bias a little too much. Borderlands has a lot more in common with Diablo than any shooter I've enjoyed. Great enemy types, crazy shooting, and the perspective are all it has in common with shooters. The looting, leveling, the way the world works and grows around your character, and generally anything else is related to Action RPGing. Borderlands is an amazing game that deserves its attention and fanbase, but it's not a great starting place if you're looking to get into serious shooter. Fallout 3 is a very different RPG combination, with normal RPG leveling and questing, world development, paths, looting for stats at a calmer rate, and of it has its own innovative systems like the pausing combat bits. However this is for the hardcore crowd exclusively, making you repair your weapons, and watching out for every little survivor detail, checking your inventory and clearing space quite a good bit. It's a challenging and frustrating game for some, and it's different enough from the average shooter game to still not recommend as a true shooter experience. I'd really ask that people come back to these some other time in their life, same for crysis.
1) Duke Nukem Forever
Just plain avoid it. If you're new, you wont respect the little nostalgic value it has in its level designs, aliens, and weapons. Everything else in this game is garbage, and an insult to gamers. Duke nukem forever combines a few of the bad things with older games, with many of the issues new games have, offering the best of nothing. Multiplayer had potential, but guess what? it's dead because the game sucked so bad. Not even the dirt price tag is a value here to new comers, that would just be an easy way to make someone want to stay away from shooters. Apply this to a few other games to, like Haze, Aliens colonial marines, and Declassified.
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Now for the games that you should look into if you're new:
5) Rage
What a weird way to kick off the recommendations, right? I'll admit I haven't even completed the game, but when I was replaying the beginning for the 4th time (it's a long story, don't ask) I put the game in a new perspective and imagined some underage shooting gamer playing it with those 8 year old on christmas eyes glaring with inspiration and fun... kind of like back when I played turok 2. The game wasn't received well basically because it messed up in some strange areas, and was kind of humiliating for it to be pushed out as this major hyped title from the founders of the genre after their last release so long ago. It completely missed the point of open world, and generally was a bit confused about what game it wanted to be. However the game itself was never actually bad enough for the bargain bin, and I'm pretty sure I remember the reviews being around a 7-8 range so... don't look into the lack of enthusiasm so much. Besides, this is just #5. This game gives you a decent world, great guns, great enemies, great physics, and just a good taste of a form of shooter you don't see much anymore. Monsters, mutants, and big guns litter the scenery and while the game is more linear than it claims, it is certainly no overscripted military shooter junk food most of the market is into. This is a pretty good starting point, and a fairly interesting shooter that you can find for $5-$10. ;) If you want an even better example of some similar, and even more faithfully classic shooter gameplay, check out Resistance 1 or 3 (avoid 2). It's got less length, but it's the arguably better game with the same feeling in mind.
4) Team Fortress 2
Valve has made some good games, but one of my personal favorites from them just so happens to be an awesome place to start gunning online. Team fortress 2 will benefit you if you want to get in on the online strategy shooters, picking your classes carefully and learning to use them right in proper situations. The core gameplay is pretty fun to, giving your proper health, good shooting, and a flexible community with content to last you until the apocalypse takes out your internet. Not to mention you will be in on some good comedy, able to understand all the jokes in countless TF2 focused parody videos and cartoons. This is one of those games so popular and with just the right tools that the community has basically turned it into an unorganized cartoon series. The game itself is actually pretty humorous as well. Oh, and did I mention it's free with a genius F2P model that doesn't get in your way? Though if TF2 doesn't work, give brink a quick try. It's an alternate and very cheap delivery of the same concept of shooter, just done with more parkour, more mix of killzone, and a new set of classes and objectives. It's not a great game on its own thanks to its lack of maps and modes, but it's got perfect tactical fast multiplayer FPS gameplay and thus not a bad start.
3) Bioshock infinite
Bioshock is getting a lot of attention now for a good reason. It's one of the best shooters in recent time, and easily one of the best games this entire year. This is the best starting point for you if you know you are into a pure single player catered experience, and want something deeper in story and character than what rage or R3 was offering. Bioshock gives you great FPS story elements with audiotapes to find, nice characters, great setting, and a good twist. Gameplay wise, the combat is rewarding with good weapons, enemy types, and unique to bioshock is the vigor powers. You can shoot lightning, fire, and water out of your hands as well as some other crazy stuff. Despite reaching "masterpiece" praise and a string of 10s everyone is sending out a couple spiteful comments. There is a boss scene that became infamous in the first week, the weapon slot limit has hit some love/hate reactions, and some of the enemy types are getting criticism (especially handyman who was supposed to come out on top as a good icon). However the problems can still be overlooked and the game is enjoyable with an ending that shocks people to the core, and the game is still just receiving large amounts of praise. The only issue I'd have recommending it is that it's pretty much a one way trip. You play it, you finish it after 12-16 hours, and you can go back some ways and figure out tiny details you missed but overall the game itself wont change or add in anything special or customizable. If you're a multiplayer guy, give this a rent but it's not going to be aimed at you. If you are a collector, story fan, and a fan of great single player shooters purchase this now. Handy alternatives would be singularity, wolfenstien, other bioshock games, and if you go back even further: the entire Half-life series.
2) Starhawk
Yeah it would be a bit strange to not have at least one third person shooter on here. Anyways, this is another good multiplayer one, but unlike TF2 it's not class based. It's chaotic team work riding on a transformer jet while having your trigger happy jetpack friend dive in and shoot up the turret defense system so you can land on an enemy and steal that shiny flag for points after you exit the enemy base leaving only ashes from an overpowered clusterbomb. Yeah you probably don't understand a word I just said, but it was still awesome in your mind and now you know it's one of those games. Starhawk is a perfect sense of organized chaos, giving you tons of vehicles, crazy guns, and tactics all in an open battlefield filled with 30 other players running around doing the same thing. The sense of balance in this game is amazing (though a little strange at first), coupled with a nice art style, personal freedom, and deep gameplay this game is simply amazing in every way except for the campaign. Not to mention it handles mainstream gimmicks well, completely removing load outs for pick up and play simple but deadly weapons, and ranking gets reduced to costumes while perks are put off to the backburner but still unlock interesting abilities and actually make you achieve something. This game deserved a way better fate than it got. Seriously if you're going to be a multiplayer heavy person, go and get this alongside Teamfortress 2. These games are simply brilliant.
1) Killzone 2
Alright, yeah it's a little biased. There is a good reason I talk about this game all the time. This is a well balanced game in every regard, the campaign may be a bit short and the story wont amaze you, but it's solid and the gameplay within it is a blast made to be replayed over and over again. The multiplayer is a bit of a combination of the two awesome ones mentioned above, giving you class focused tactical team gameplay with a very chaotic yet somehow organized pacing. You have freedom in server lists, a good community, fun trophy hunting, and the core gameplay is overall deep and very immersive. You have a heavy weight system, class tactics, objective strategies, mapping, and guns to all learn as well as a ranking system that actually makes you earn through things unlocking more than just assault rifle #8. You unlock classes, their guns, do special tasks to unlock their specials, get to mix and match specials to form your own hybrid classes, and despite how tough all of this sounds it's actually pretty simple to pick up on if you have the patience to properly enjoy something. Plus there is bots, and the game is generally customizable. It's depth done right, and all about what an actual hardcore shooter is while still being a game capable for someone to start out on. This is a game that you can really sink your teeth into, enjoying the cast and story, a fun campaign, amazing multiplayer, and the general mechanics are fantastic. Actually just go for the trilogy, it's very affordable, and comes with 1 and 3 as well which offer their own advantages. The community got pretty split with the 3rd game, as it did some mainstreaming and had a less friendly interface that still makes it more difficult for me to want to replay it. However it's pretty solid, and despite all the scripting in the campaign the gunplay itself is improved with the new slot advancement, fun melee, and the varied landscapes and more effort on the plot. Generally this is just an amazing series to get started into. Oh, and as a bonus the visuals and physics are some of the best you can get on console right now. Even Killzone HD looks pretty amazing considering it's just a polished PS2 port. I also personally just enjoy the brutal style of it all to, its coloring and blood shed really depict a war torn world with suffering and destruction. Overall a priceless package if you ask me, and a great place to kick off the genre.
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| Well... taken from 3, but I did end up saying just get the trilogy. |
In conclusion, I'm not saying these are the best shooters out there, and there are certainly some better shooter in other generations that aren't on the list. This list isn't saying that bioshock isn't as good as killzone, or that half-life is bad new guys, it's keeping with more recent games you can easily find on shelves and games that would be great for guys who want a really great shooter to get started with. I'm not the type to recomend a game for baby steps, so I'm leaving super casual stuff out and I'm not afraid to give out something a bit hardcore (though again, nothing too difficult and punishing in its own nature) so that you have something deep to master and enjoy when you try out these games. Honestly the casual stuff wasn't even around until COD, so obviously a lot of true shooter fans came from somewhere with deep elements in it. And above all, I know that people need to be themselves and figure out what will work for them. I'm sure someone who wants to jump into the genre will just walk out into the market and pick up something based on little facts and evaluation. Like "well everyone talks nice about this game, it must be a classic" or "this is a cool cover" or something like that. And it actually works sometimes. Ok so for some side commentary, here are some honorable mentions that wouldn't be too bad to start with either but have their own faults.
Honorable mentions that didn't quite make the list:
FarCry 3: Great open world game, but honestly it also hits some weird very casual spots that kind of devalue it and take the control away from the player at times, and the story deserves more criticism than it gets as well as the game can be generally a bit wacky. Also it's got that touch that Crysis has where you feel like you need to bring in some sneaky experience and good thought that beginners might not have to maximize the fun in this game.
W40K spacemarines: It's a great game, but it doesn't do much for shooters. It's got a great health system, and perspective of 3rd person hack and slash mixed in with shooting with crazy weapons and battling awesome enemies in a very cheesy gothic machinery world. However you're missing out some if you don't know about warhammer40K (kind of "in crowd" deal here), and I found the gameplay to heavily lean on that melee bit with the gunplay getting sort of repetitive and leaving you a bit unrewarded if you don't use it right. Plus the multiplayer kind of sucks.
Section 8 prejudice: It's a really fun game, but the community has left it leaving you only with bots and everything on the list just felt like it really deserved more attention. Plus the game is a bit experimental on mechanics, without offering strong values to carry into other games so it would be an oddball to start with, and you'd probably enjoy it's quirks more after you understand the genre better.
Brink: Mentioned with TF2, but really the gameplay is amazing. Just a very small game map-wise and nothing but the same objectives per map, it only changes based on your team.
Bad company 2: BF3 downgraded itself, but bad company 2 was great. Better campaign with a sense of humor, multiplayer that gives you a sense of virtual war and tactics while being wildly fun and more to battlefield's nature than it's BF3 successor, and it's generally a great game. Downside is the fact that online may not be very well supported, whether EA decides to kick it offline a month or so from now or just the community has moved on.
Uncharted series: Uncharted came on my mind, and it's certainly a general game I'd recommend even if you're new to gaming as a whole. Big adventure, big dev support, big story, fun multiplayer, and a blockbuster experience. However my problem with it lies in the casual and overrated "platforming" and the fact that it just doesn't come to mind when I say "shooter". It's fun, it's got decent gunplay, and its one of the few real world shooters I've seen with enemy types, however in the end the shooting just doesn't feel powerful enough and it's more like 1 element mixed into a melting pot than an essential part of the game.
