Forgotten Features Of FPS Games That Need To Come Back
First-person shooter games have been in existence for over three decades now, and have undergone several changes and advancements just like any other major video game genre. The fundamental concept of eliminating enemies by shooting them has remained constant, but numerous mechanics and features have helped to advance the genre.
However, not all excellent ideas have made it into the current FPS games. There are several features and concepts in FPS games that were innovative and fun but have fallen out of favor with modern gaming audiences. Here are some forgotten features of FPS games that deserve a comeback.
6. Horde Modes
Horde mode, a bonus feature in FPS games, seems to have disappeared from the shooter genre except for a few exceptions like Treyarch Call of Duty titles and Doom Eternal. Even games like Halo have abandoned the concept, with its Firefight mode last appearing in Halo: Reach in 2010. However, horde modes added value to the games they were part of in an era where games seem to be offering less and less overtime despite their rising price tag.
5. Interactive Map Elements
In the past, players could load into a map and change something about it with the press of a button. Halo 2 and 3 were great with this feature, with maps like Zanzibar and High Ground having gates that players could open at will. Call of Duty also experimented with this idea at one point with Ghosts, but this feature has gone extinct in modern multiplayer FPS games. It added a layer of dynamics to the games it appeared in that helped make the experience fun and memorable.
4. Parkour Mechanics
Several shooters had advanced movement systems that involved a lot of parkour maneuvering. Titanfall is the best example of this trend as it was the originator, but many first-person shooters that tried to copy its movement have gone back to their “boots on the ground” roots. Shooters can still feature some fancy parkour moves every once in a while.
3. Alternative Fire Modes
Alternative fire or alt-fire mechanics are when the weapon’s primary firing mode and another function entirely are dedicated to two buttons. A perfect example is the SMG in Half Life 2 having both full auto fire and a grenade launching capability. However, shooters don’t feature alt-fire anymore, which is disappointing because it’s a way to give certain weapons extra personality and utility outside their main function.
2. A.I Squad Commands
The ability to take command of a squad and issue different commands to A.I allies in real-time is much rarer now than it used to be. Star Wars: Republic Commando put the player in charge of a squad of clone troopers with distinct roles, each of whom could be ordered to do different things. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 placed a strong emphasis on tactical squad-based maneuvering. However, recent Tom Clancy games tend to feature a much more stripped-down version of this idea.
1. Multi-Character Campaigns
This feature allows the player to play as different characters either as part of a single-player campaign or as a segmented or episodic campaign experience. Aliens Vs. Predator Classic 2000 allows the player to play either a xenomorph campaign, a predator campaign, or a colonial marine campaign, with each character having unique abilities, weapons, movement, and levels. Other games have flirted with the idea, such as Halo 5, which featured both a Master Chief and Locke side to the main story, but overall this idea has faded into obscurity as FPS games have opted for either straightforward campaigns or for removing them altogether, opting for an entirely online multiplayer experience.
In conclusion, FPS games have been around for a long time, and some features that were once innovative and fun have fallen out of favor. However, these forgotten features deserve a comeback, and their inclusion in modern FPS games would add value to the gaming experience.
First-person shooters have been around for over thirty years at this point, and have seen a number of changes and evolutions in that time like any other major video game genre. The basic premise of shooting enemies until they’re dead has essentially remained unchanged, however, there are plenty of mechanics and features on top of this basic experience that have helped to drive the genre forward.
Not every good idea, however, has made it this far into the genre’s lifespan. Indeed, there’s a litany of features and ideas in FPS games that, despite being cool, fun and even innovative, seemed to fall out of favor with modern gaming audiences for the most part. Here is a list of some forgotten features of FPS games that deserve a comeback.
6 Horde Modes
With the few exceptions like the Treyarch Call of Duty titles and Doom Eternalit seems like the bonus horde mode has disappeared from the shooter genre. Even games like Halo have abandoned the concept, with its own Firefight mode last appearing in Halo: Reach in 2010.
Instead, the horde mode concept has more or less spun off into its own sub-genre of FPS where that’s the entire game. It’s rather disappointing because in an era where games seem to be offering less and less overtime despite their rising price tag, horde modes really added value to the games they were part of.
5 Interactive Map Elements
Gone are the days when players would load into a map and be able to change something about it with the press of a button. Halo 2 and 3 in particular where great when it came to this as both the maps Zanzibar and High Ground both had gates that player could open at will. Call of Duty also flirted with this idea at one point with Ghosts, though sometimes the execution left something to be desired.
This idea added a layer of dynamics to the games it appeared in that helped make the experience fun and memorable. It’s a shame that this awesome feature has by and large gone extinct in modern multiplayer FPS games.
4 Parkour Mechanics
For a while it felt like every shooter had to have some sort of advanced movement system that involved a lot of parkour maneuvering. Titanfall is easily the best example of this trend as it was the originator, but a new Titanfall doesn’t seem very likely to release in the near future, and many if not all the first-person shooters that tried to more or less copy its movement have gone back to their “boots on the ground” roots.
An argument can be made that it simply became too popular and thus gamers got sick of it, there’s no reason that shooters can’t feature some fancy parkour moves every once in a while.
3 Alternative Fire Modes
Anyone who’s played the Half Life series understands what alternative fire or alt-fire mechanics are. One button is dedicated to the weapon’s primary firing mode while another is dedicated to another function entirely. A perfect example is the SMG in Half Life 2 having both full auto fire and a grenade launching capability.
Halo Infinite is probably the only modern shooter experimenting with this concept, although It’s less of an alt-fire and more of an ability to switch between two different modes of primary fire. Other than things like this, however, shooters don’t really feature alt-fire anymore, which is disappointing because it’s a way to give certain weapons extra personality and utility outside their main function.
2 A.I Squad Commands
The ability to take command of a squad and issue different kind of orders to A.I allies in real time is unfortunately much rarer now than it used to be. A good example is Star Wars: Republic Commandowhich put the player in charge of a squad of clone troopers with distinct roles, each of whom could be ordered to do different things.
Another great example is Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2which places a strong emphasis on tactical squad based maneuvering. More recent Tom Clancy games tend to feature a much more stripped down version of this idea, if they do at all.
1 Multi-Character Campaigns
The best way of describing this feature is when a game allows the player to play as different characters either as part of a single player campaign or as a segmented or episodic campaign experience. This perfectly describes Aliens Vs. Predator Classic 2000a game that allows the player to play either a xenomorph campaign, a predator campaign or a colonial marine campaign, with each character having unique abilities, weapons, movement and levels. The old Call of Duty games also had separate campaigns for different nations.
Other games have flirted with the idea, such as Halo 5which featured both a Master Chief and Locke side to the main story (with the latter’s taking up the overwhelming majority of missions), but overall this idea has faded into obscurity as FPS games have opted for either straightforward campaigns or for removing them altogether, opting for an entirely online multiplayer experience.
