5 FPS Mechanics That Changed The Genre & 5 That Are Outdated

TheGamer

Something New

5 FPS Mechanics That Changed The Genre & 5 That Are Outdated

The FPS genre is hugely popular, but has evolved a lot. Some mechanic changes are great, while others are outdated. FPS games have come a long way since their inception. From and all the way to and , FPS games have seen plenty of revisions over the decades. Because of this, plenty of iterations to the core formula have been attempted. Movement, abilities, and even health have been altered over the years to provide different experiences. Nothing is sacred. Those that succeeded go on to become an industry standard, while those that fail typically hamper the experience for gamers. From health systems to how your weapons fire, here are the largest FPS mechanics that either changed the genre or held it down. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY

Game-Changing Abilities

A recent trend that has arisen over the last few years is players gaining special abilities in first-person shooters. These can range from temporary flight to projecting cover. In single-player game modes or campaigns, these abilities can allow the player to fight in unique ways that weren't possible before. In multiplayer games, this can change entire matches and adds a and learning curve to the game. Overwatch and are fantastic examples of games that utilize ability usage to great effect in their sandboxes.

Outdated Sprinting

Sprinting is normally a great tool players can use to quickly get to cover or cross gaps faster. Unfortunately, the implementation of sprint in most titles is lacking and misses the point. Level designers have to balance missions with sprint in mind, which can become a nightmare if killing enemies takes too long. It works well enough in fast-paced titles like , but the longer time to kill values present in games like just make engagements a slog. It also causes larger levels with nothing interesting going on. If you need to spend most of the mission sprinting from waypoint to waypoint, then the level should just be smaller or make that sprint speed the base movement speed on the player as DOOM does.

Game-Changing Bullet Magnetism

Bullet magnetism, for the uninitiated, is a mechanic that causes bullets to curve towards the target they are trying to hit, meaning that shots that just missed the mark will hit instead. This sounds like it would make multiplayer games too easy, but bullet magnetism is a key component in most first-person shooters of today. Games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Overwatch all use bullet magnetism to make guns feel distinct from each other and make gunfights more engaging. If you ever wondered why shooting an enemy at their neck caused a headshot to occur, bullet magnetism is likely in play on your weapon.

Outdated Health Packs

Do you know how amazing it feels to triumph over a tough encounter with the skin of your teeth? It's amazing! Do you know how to completely revoke that feeling? Needing to spend 5 minutes looking for health drops. Thankfully, this mechanic is not seen almost at all nowadays, but health pickups were a common occurrence before titles like Halo came along. Essentially, players were not able to regenerate their health, meaning that they would have to explore maps and scavenge health drops to stay at maximum health. While this sounds like a good system, it means good players rarely engage with the system while less experienced players simply can't beat the game. DOOM's 2016 reboot did a good job , but most games do a terrible job managing health as a resource.

Game-Changing Interactive Cutscenes

Whether you like them or not, interactive cutscenes are a constant within shooters today. These can take the form of standing while NPC's talk to you, or actively interacting with the environment to trigger the next gameplay section. was the first game to do this incredibly well, but many games such as The Last of Us have come since then and further improved on the formula. Story-based shooters weren't a mainstream thing until Half-Life showed the industry just how engaging they are.

Outdated Keycards

Created by Anthony O'Sullivan Red, blue, green, the color doesn't matter. The type doesn't matter, either. Keycards are annoying and ruin map flow in almost every FPS title imaginable. Keycards are objects that players must wield before they can progress through an entrance to complete a level. They are meant to encourage exploration, but they instead annoy players with tedious searching for a small item to open doors. Games nowadays use NPCs to open doors, but that honestly isn't much better. Shooters that allow the player to progress at their own pace and complete levels as they see fit are much more enjoyable than games that force the player to behave a certain way.

Game-Changing Multiplayer

Fighting AI-controlled enemies is fun in of itself, but fighting other players from across the globe is something else entirely. Whether competitive or co-op, multiplayer has completely changed the genre, and arguably video games as a whole. With FPS games, multiplayer boils down typically to either cooperative game modes or competitive matchmaking. Borderlands is an example of an amazing FPS co-op title, while focused more on blazingly fast competitive multiplayer. Stealth and puzzle focused titles further saw improvement thanks to the addition of multiplayer.

Outdated Turret Sections

Standing still is just not fun in almost any game. Standing still and shooting enemies with the same weapon is even less engaging. With that said, why are turret sections in FPS games so common? Turret sections refer to when players control a static weapon platform and fight waves of enemies, rarely even turning and never moving. These sections lack tension as they very rarely have a failure state—or players can not die during the section. Action setpieces are paramount in these set pieces, but those are always more engaging when players have direct control of their character during those moments instead of controlling a static minigun.

Game-Changing Health Regeneration

Mentioned earlier with health packs, health regeneration is when players can regain lost health points through some means. That can be from taking cover to being more aggressive with how they handle combat. First popularized with , games like Call of Duty and, afterward, every game under the sun uses this same system and for good reason. Players can be more aggressive and have a means of recovering, or the system can be flipped on its head and make players feel more vulnerable by having them manage their health more in gunfights. It will take a long time for a better health system to be introduced in FPS titles.

Outdated Limited Arsenal

Halo also popularized a limited weapon arsenal or only allowing players to carry 2 weapons. Some games like allow you to carry 3, but the principle is the same. And it is equally restrictive in almost every game. It works in Halo because every weapon players could find did something unique or powerful in its own right. Games like Call of Duty, however, have slight variations of the same weapon yet you can only use 2 at a time. It doesn't add anything to gameplay except trying to be realistic. Why not allow players a 3 weapon limit? 4? The number is arbitrary in most games and serves no purpose other than following popular trends.