I’ve been playing a few FPS games again recently after a fairly lengthy break from them. It is amazing how much they stick to convention. They feature the same old gameplay over and over again and the same old problems. Here is my top ten of annoying FPS game design and behaviour.
Enemies spawning in behind me. I just checked that room, it was empty. Why does me standing on this patch of ground cause an angry gunman to materialise there and shoot me in the back? If you are going to keep spawning in enemies around me, at least make them come in from an entrance, don’t just teleport them into the action.
Platform jumps in first-person. Don’t make me judge a jump in first-person, it is just annoying. Having to make jumps that could potentially see you falling to your doom is irritating in any genre but in first-person it is truly horrible.
Linear corridor environments. When I go places in real life I get bored of walking the same routes so I alternate. The same rule applies in games. I understand the need to have linear levels from a technical point of view, especially if your game is heavily scripted but at least give me a bit of choice. Going back and forward through the same section of map over and over is tedious.
Identical map sections. I get an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, have I been here before? No it is just a regurgitated bit of map identical to the bit I just went through in true cartoon style because it is cheaper. If you’re going to have an identical section of map at least change a texture or two, maybe move some pot plants or stick a blood smear on the wall so I can tell which is which.
Camping. I like to run around in FPS multiplayer, people who camp with their sniper rifle fixed on the horizon clenching their buttocks in anticipation are my sworn enemies. When we were designing The Ship we added Needs to drive you round the map and gave your position away to your hunter every so often, partly so campers would be penalised.
Spawn killing. This has been eradicated in decent FPS games and it is quite simple to stick in code which ensures you spawn away from the other players or in a safe zone of some kind. There are few things in life more irritating than spawning in and catching a bullet in the face before you’ve moved from the spot.
Opposing teams with identical uniforms. I really don’t care too much about realism when it comes to uniform visuals in FPS games. I like to play with friendly fire turned on but if two opposing forces are wearing the same uniforms then I find either my team mates get annoyed when I keep shooting them or the pause as I scan the uniform to see if it has an enemy insignia is enough time for them to shoot me in the face. Make them different and if you’ve auto switched my team from red to blue please keep reminding me or I’ll go on a friendly fire killing spree and wonder why the kills seem so easy
Unbalanced weapons and dominant strategies. If there is one approach in the game which works best or one weapon which is clearly more useful than the others then the designer is forcing me to adopt that strategy or use that weapon if I want to compete. I want some choice damn it.
NPC’s who don’t react to anything I do. I love Half Life 2 for this. The moment where you knock over the monitor in the professor’s office and he tells you off is awesome design. If I walk off while a character is talking to me then they should react or stop talking until I return. If you don’t want me to shoot the guy in the head to see what will happen then take away the option. I like the system where you automatically lower your weapon when talking to an ally. The worst case scenario is a character explaining a mission while I shoot him repeatedly in the head with no effect and then run out of the room with the sound of him droning on continuing behind me. If you don’t have the resources to do responses then just freeze me for the dialogue.
Stupid AI. This can manifest itself in so many ways and despite the fantastical claims made by many games AI characters are generally very stupid or at least simple in terms of behaviour. Path finding flaws are the most common, where you find an AI running into a wall because they can’t reach their destination. Perhaps the worst AI I’ve seen was in a game I won’t name but they had obviously been told to zero in on the player’s location, the problem was they apparently wanted to stand inside your body before attacking you which resulted in them running straight at you and then firing from point blank range. It is tough to approximate humans too, AI are typically idiots at movement but fantastic shots capable of hitting you in the face from miles away. To be honest I think the only way you get a real challenge in an FPS game without playing against code which effectively cheats is to play other people.
Got something else to add to the list? Post a comment.
This is a great time of year for gamers. There are so many good releases that your only problem is choosing what to play. The big franchises don’t disappoint and for me Pro Evo still beats FIFA. I’m also finding Football Manager 2010 ridiculously addictive.
Crates have been an ever present feature of gaming since the days of Doom. The perfect crouching cover, climbing step, space filler and smashable hiding place for pick ups. Then there’s the king of crates - the exploding variety. Only barrels have even come close to appearing in as many games as crates and yet for all their cameos crates have never been center stage. Well get excited because that’s all about to change, crates have finally got their own game! It’s called Crate Expectations and it’s an awesomely addictive wee puzzler. Behold the trailer.
Now tell me you’re not excited. I’ve been playing a nearly finished build all night and it is fiendishly addictive. The simple aim is to slide your crates from point A to point B, you play against 2 opponents and the winner is the first to deliver 5 crates to point B. This simple premise is deliciously spiced up by the ability to add ice blocks and aid your passage or block your opponents. It manages to capture that kind of Bomberman feel and the easily picked up mechanics allow for a surprising level of tactical deviousness.
Icy winter wonderland maps provide a variety of grids to negotiate and you can play against AI or human opponents. The art style is cute and colourful and the whole thing has been put together with a good level of polish.
Where can I buy it? I hear you shouting. Well hold on there for a minute. You’ll need to wait a while for the PC release but you will be able to buy it on Xbox Live Indie Games by the end of the month. Even better it will cost less than a cup of coffee. The crate related puns alone are worth the price tag.
Mostly Batman: Arkham Asylum which is as good as everyone says it is. You can read my Batman: Arkham Asylum review or the Combat Guide and Hints & Tips. It is the best mainstream game I’ve played in ages and it doesn’t really do anything especially original or unique it is simply very well made, cinematic and highly polished. It’s the first game I’ve actually gone back and played after completing in years. If you are going to get it buy the PS3 version because you get to play the bonus challenges as the Joker as well.
The other game which has managed to pinch a few hours is Majesty 2. I did a review for Boomtown last month and then a strategy guide the other day. It is a nice RTS with a twist in that you don’t control units directly you offer them rewards to do things for you. It actually works very well and if anyone remembers the original game you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
The dud of the recent bunch was definitely Raven Squad, here’s the review. It was billed as an RTS and FPS cross which I suppose it kind of is but sadly it crosses a bad RTS with a bad FPS.
Apart from the fact that EA blatantly ripped off the art style of Team Fortress 2 I was looking forward to playing Battlefield Heroes, not least because it is free. They have slapped together FPS game mechanics with an RPG style consistent character and presented the whole thing as a first/third person shooter. The two forces are obviously Brits vs Nazis but the game is like a watered down version of a typical shooter, that is if you can get into it!
I’m sure EA were delighted with their browser based install system which is obviously intended to make things easy but I’m not a big fan. Poor layout and a refresh problem which you aren’t warned about meant my installation took a while to complete and I don’t really like having to sign into the browser every time I want to play. It is like having an individual Steam for one game and it runs Punkbuster as well, which after install wants to start itself up whether you are playing or not.
With the game installed and my character created I tried to start the game. The tutorial worked fine and I was ready for my first battle but everytime it connected the server would dump me and an error message would pop up. The forum revealed that the game has been plagued by errors and the dev team have been slow to post solutions. Considering it was delayed it is disapointing that they’ve released a buggy game and while I’d buy the whole “What can you expect for a free game?” if it was made by an indie I am less sympathetic when it comes to someone with pockets as deep as EA.
Once in the game is underwhelming. It should be called Battlefield Lite. It may appeal to casual gamers or non FPS players but then again why would non FPS players want to play an FPS? Anyway it’s not too bad, there is some fun to be had and the microtransactions are easy to ignore but I can’t see them making much money from it. It will be very interesting to see how well they decide it has done, especially since it is part of their Play 4 Free range.
If you missed the indie developed awesomeness that was Mount & Blade then I pity you. A realistic melee combat system allowed you to engage in medieval battle on horseback with a lance, sword fight, smash skulls in with a mace, slash and hack with an axe and throw spears. There were bows and crossbows and castle sieges and while the whole package was a little rough around the edges it was great fun and completely unique. I got addicted for a few weeks.
Now there is a new version, Mount & Blade Warband and they have given the whole game a graphical makeover but more importantly they have added a multiplayer option so I’ll be a smashing a skull near you very soon. Check out the video.
I used to play first person shooters for hours daily. Working at a games developer it is pretty common to play games at lunch time and sometimes even stay after work to have a big FPS session. Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Vietcong, Call of Duty, Medal of Honour, Wolfenstein, Halo, Team Fortress 2, Mafia, Doom, No One Lives Forever and our own game The Ship. There have been some great multiplayer FPS games over the years and nothing beats sitting in the same room as your team so you can actually communicate. The rivalry was fierce and epic gaming sessions would really spark the adrenaline.
I’m a really bad loser when it comes to games. Verbal abuse at work was always part of the fun though, or at least it was for me, but there came a time when the world of FPS combat lost its appeal and I stopped playing FPS games altogether. It wasn’t a deliberate decision there were just other games that I wanted to play. It wasn’t like I had fallen out with FPS’s or anything. In fact just recently I had to play one for a preview (Section 8) and I thought to myself why has it been so long? Welcome old friend perhaps I’ll play you regularly again. It soon became apparent why I gave them up.
Within five minutes of joining I had been killed three times before moving from my spawn point, stabbed in the face by a leaping hardcore nutter twice and been called a fucking useless noob by someone on my own team. Within half an hour I had the old aiming skills back and the adrenaline was flowing. Within an hour I had repeatedly raped the knife man and helped my team to back to back to victories. I would not be able to stop until I had fought my way to the top of the scoreboard and once I did after an hour and half I had to stubbornly resist the urge to type who’s the noob now you fucker! The truth is FPS games don’t bring out the best in me.
I shut it down before the next map could load up and suck me in and turned to see the horrified face of my wife holding my baby son. Having been subjected to a loud string of expletive laden screaming and completely ignored she was not best pleased. My son didn’t look bothered.
There isn’t really anything particularly new or revolutionary about Prototype. The evil military linked virus weapon outbreak back story is far from original and the third-person action gameplay is fairly familiar. The visuals are good with a rough composite of New York but this is no GTA and the strongest aspect of the art is the animation by far. There are problems with the difficulty mix as well, easy missions follow hard ones quite randomly. Check out my Prototype review for more.
Whatever you say about Prototype you have to admit it is a lot of fun to play. There are hints of Akira about the set up and charging around the city mashing up enemies who are woefully ill equipped to deal with your ferocious violent abilities brought a big grin to my face. This is no superhero game either, your powers may be comparable but your complete disregard for public safety and the moral ambivalence of the whole thing is quite refreshing.
I haven’t been gaming much the last couple of weeks because I just became a father and my bundle of puking, pooping and wailing joy is infinitely more interesting than any game. Still in the brief periods when he drops off to sleep it is Prototype that I have stuck on to squeeze in a quick blast of escapist action.
First up I made the dreadful mistake of actually paying out some of my own cash to buy Damnation. I was sucked in by the promise by of a vertical shooter with steam punk styling but it turned out to be sucky in extremus. The giant breasticles of Yakecan could not elevate this, in fact just look at that stupid outfit, I’m kind of insulted that those ridiculous breasts are supposed to appeal to me. Jesus grow up, the number of artists in the games industry who dress up big breasted women in really stupid outfits even a fashion designer would balk at is still way too high. Then again it may have been a cheap ploy to distract you from the dull gameplay and terrible voice acting.
The game itself was billed as “revolutionary” although advertising rules seem to state that everything must be described as revolutionary nowadays whether it is a boring car which looks like every other car on the road, some balm soaked toilet paper or in this case a shooter so ordinary that if you cut it open and sawed into the bones you’d find the word ordinary all the way through like a stick of seaside rock. Here’s my Damnation review. Damn you Damnation!
By contrast I also got slightly addicted to a free strategy game which is like a warped version of fantasy chess. Yeah I know that doesn’t sound appealing. Ok just check out the Zatikon review and you’ll see what I mean.
Damnation may have been disappointing but it still had playable portions. Unlike the foul pestilent Wii turd The Destiny of Zorro. There does seem to be a special kind of dire reserved for the Wii. Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball was marginally better but don’t get excited.
Oh yeah and there was also Star Trek DAC which offered some basic and relatively inoffensive space battle.
Let’s hope next weeks games are a bit more inspiring than this bunch.
You should go and buy Zeno Clash immediately. It is one of those indie games that reminds me why I love this industry. Deeply imaginitive, a terrific art style and some great gameplay.
Indie developers ACE Team have taken some risks with this and the first-person melee combat is nicely handled. They used the Source engine which I’m familiar with because the last two games I worked on were based on Source. We had trouble with melee combat in The Ship, we didn’t have punching but there were several club and sword weapons. Judging distance and range can definitely be a problem in the first-person perspective and there are times when it feels awkward in Zeno Clash but their block, counter and combination combat system for hand to hand works really well for the most part.
The story and the art style are also great, here is my full Zeno Clash review. It only costs $20 (£15) so seriously get on Steam and buy it. With publishers applying an ever tightening choke hold on the industry there is a danger that creativity and risk is lost from games. It is these qualities that really drive things forward and for me Zeno Clash is a great example.
I’ve been playing a few FPS games again recently after a fairly lengthy break from them. It is amazing how much they stick to convention. They feature the same old gameplay over and over again and the same old problems. Here is my top ten of annoying FPS game design and behaviour.
Mostly Batman: Arkham Asylum which is as good as everyone says it is. You can read my 
Apart from the fact that EA blatantly ripped off the art style of Team Fortress 2 I was looking forward to playing Battlefield Heroes, not least because it is free. They have slapped together FPS game mechanics with an RPG style consistent character and presented the whole thing as a first/third person shooter. The two forces are obviously Brits vs Nazis but the game is like a watered down version of a typical shooter, that is if you can get into it!
I used to play first person shooters for hours daily. Working at a games developer it is pretty common to play games at lunch time and sometimes even stay after work to have a big FPS session. Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Vietcong, Call of Duty, Medal of Honour, Wolfenstein, Halo, Team Fortress 2, Mafia, Doom, No One Lives Forever and our own game The Ship. There have been some great multiplayer FPS games over the years and nothing beats sitting in the same room as your team so you can actually communicate. The rivalry was fierce and epic gaming sessions would really spark the adrenaline.
There isn’t really anything particularly new or revolutionary about Prototype. The evil military linked virus weapon outbreak back story is far from original and the third-person action gameplay is fairly familiar. The visuals are good with a rough composite of New York but this is no GTA and the strongest aspect of the art is the animation by far. There are problems with the difficulty mix as well, easy missions follow hard ones quite randomly. Check out my 
First up I made the dreadful mistake of actually paying out some of my own cash to buy Damnation. I was sucked in by the promise by of a vertical shooter with steam punk styling but it turned out to be sucky in extremus. The giant breasticles of Yakecan could not elevate this, in fact just look at that stupid outfit, I’m kind of insulted that those ridiculous breasts are supposed to appeal to me. Jesus grow up, the number of artists in the games industry who dress up big breasted women in really stupid outfits even a fashion designer would balk at is still way too high. Then again it may have been a cheap ploy to distract you from the dull gameplay and terrible voice acting.
You should go and buy Zeno Clash immediately. It is one of those indie games that reminds me why I love this industry. Deeply imaginitive, a terrific art style and some great gameplay.