Modern shooters and the atrophy of fun @ TR

Here is an interesting look at how modern shooter games have changed.  I call it the "Call of Duty Effect" where games guide you thru the story giving you a chance to do something at per-determined times.

And the reason?  Well let's see, game consoles with their lack luster control structure make FPS games harder to play so the game devs take steps to make things easier.  Plus, and this is really sad, the more complex the game is the more help "some" players need to figure out what to do.  In doing so they create this "on rails" path system to make sure you can't break the game and get thru as quickly as possiable.  I'm not saying game developers are lazy but making the perfect game takes time and the longer it takes the less money they make. 

(*cough* Duke Nukem Forever anyone? (the first try, not the second) */cough*)

In the end the lack luster single player campaigns are just a pr0n fluffier for playing online anyway so who cares right?

Don't get me wrong. The exploration was great. Watching the story unfold was incredible. But the combat and looting got so repetitive—so downright boring—that I couldn't stand to play more than a couple hours at a time. I got sick of digging through trashcans inexplicably filled with silver coins and of fighting wave after wave of enemies, each one more indistinguishable than the last. The combat sequences blurred together, ran into one another, and I found myself praying for them to end, hoping that I could proceed without playing hi-fi wack-a-mole with steampunk guns and angry crows.

My comments may not mirror those of the TR staffers but that is why we call them opinions.

Related Web URL: http://techreport.com/blog/24613/modern-shooters-a...