What's it Gonna Take? Why it is going to be more difficult for new FPS games to break out

JayCat | June 24, 2008 | Blog | PC Playstation 3

Gamefocus editor discusses why it is going to be harder and harder for new FPS games to break out, and the surprising thing developers can do to make their game stick.

When the next big game is a great game to play, and there is press that says as much, there is one major factor working against the newcomer, and that is the king of the hill. In the world of FPS multi-player (MP), most people are already committed to a game; they have their one or two “go to” games that sit in their tray. They play it often with their buddies, may even be in a clan what play this game exclusively. As such, you have to not only convince the gamer to buy your game, but to take out the game that is already in their console. You are asking people to change a major part of their gaming life for your game. And as we all know, gamers are both insanely loyal, and yet insanely fickle.

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Comments

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0 thumbs!
kspiess | June 24, 2008

I don't really agree with this guy.

The biggest problem facing new FPS games is creativity, IMHO. Publishers are afraid to try to do anything different beyond the accepted formula -- and they get all surprised when their "as good as Call of Duty" unoriginal FPS doesn't get people exicted enough to actually go out and buy .
- 0 thumbs!
  Storm | June 24, 2008
  
  I agree. FPS' have flooded the market, and now it seems as if they are becoming too generic. The same basis for FPS genres isn't going to cut it, as there are already popular titles like, as kspiess mentioned, Call of Duty. It's why I'm not interested in other games such as Battlefield or Socom. Sure they are different settings, etc., but creativity is necessary in this genre now for me to get interested in a new title, such as BioShock.
- 3 thumbs!
  KyLeDaWg | June 24, 2008
  
  Yeah, but that kind of goes hand-in-hand with what this guy is saying. His main point is that the single-player campaign has to be good enough to get gamers interested. Like you said, unoriginality doesn't get gamers interested, since they would rather stick with the original game that the new one copied off of. Unoriginality creates a bad campaign, and a bad campaign creates a bad game.
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Red 9 | June 24, 2008

COD4 and SOCOM are in completely different categories. You run and gun in SOCOM, you die.
- 0 thumbs!
  Storm | June 25, 2008
  
  Haha, that's true, you need to take your time in that game, move at a slower pace...like...MGO.
  - 1 thumbs!
    Red 9 | June 25, 2008
    
    Except you get barrels, boxes and dirty magazines in MGO
1 thumbs!
Final Blade | June 25, 2008

_{You know, I haven't played BattleField games before, but BFBC is one of the best games I ever played. I think with the new, never seen Game engine(frostbite I believe) it really shows what its capable of. And I think they really did some creative original stuff in Bad Company. I mean gold rush, comedic shooter, massive destructable environments? Sounds like a great idea for a FPS game I ever seen.}
0 thumbs!
tallteen86 | June 25, 2008

I would like stronger Single Player campaigns (coupled with a good multiplayer one)...Creativity too, of course >_>

I'm no huge FPS fan (only got into it with Resistance: Fall of Man)....But strong offline gameplay is a big draw for me, especially since many multiplayer modes are more or less the same between games, with little differences (using the given game's gameplay mechanics)....
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nanobyte | June 25, 2008

There is still a lot of areas in FPS that can be expanded. From a single player POV weapon customisation has not been fully exploited yet and neither has a game made a career path the USP (games like Warhound, Far Cry 2 and They seem to adding new grounds)
- 0 thumbs!
  slumpy monkey | June 25, 2008
  
  Weapon customisation is going to be nailed with "Borderlands"
  
  You can paint on your own guns, Even paint a smiley face!