FPS as a Genre

First-Person Shooters can be traced all the way back to 1973’s Maze War. However, the modern depiction of FPSs began with the 1992 game Wolfenstein 3D. This genre is known for, as you may have guessed, shooting firearms from a first-person perspective. Picking distinct elements to highlight in the FPS genre is a bit tricky due to this very basic description. Portal has been debated as a first-person shooter despite missing common combat elements found in most games of the genre. As always, this will take a look into what is commonly accepted as FPS and stick to theory-crafting in that regard. 

So then, what makes a good first-person shooter over just having a projectile weapon and a first-person perspective? One idea is that they tend to be very violent. Generally speaking, when you look at an average list of FPS games, most are rated M, such as Team Fortress 2 or Borderlands, with the few exceptions of T and even fewer E10+. This is because the games need to have a very visceral feeling for the player. They also need to have a wide variety of either enemies or weapons in order to break up the monotony of pointing and clicking.

Feedback

While a good FPS does not necessarily need to be grotesquely violent, much of the appeal of a first-person shooter is to mimic, well, shooting. Shooting is meant to feel heavy and impactful, showing the damage you deal to whatever you’re hitting. There are examples of games that have you shooting non-lethal weapons, but these tend to be gimmicks rather than exceptions to the rule. Instead, players like to feel the power of their weapons tearing through enemies. This may stem back from the fact that all FPS’s were considered “DOOM clones” for the first few years of the genre, meaning each one of them wanted to match that level of violence. 

But more than just seeing an enemy explode into a fountain of blood, the point is to be immersed. Taking damage should feel just as heavy and impactful as dealing it, with proper sound and visuals. Firing the weapon should be just as satisfying and connecting the hit. Everything down to the way the player’s character moves around the map needs to sell the first-person feeling of who they are playing as. Even if the player is just a generic soldier, they should feel like one by being slow and unable to traverse complicated terrains easily. Because the player will mostly only be seeing their character’s hand or gun throughout the game, the smallest details can make the gameplay feel more related.

Diversity

Many other genres, such as action-adventure, tend to have a lot going on in them. Taking Zelda as an example, once you’ve swung Link’s sword once, you have now summed up all of the combat gameplay. Sure, there are items and strategies for the boss, but at the heart of the gameplay, you will always be swinging that sword. That is because there are other elements such as exploring and platforming, but Link’s sword never changes. However, in an average first-person shooter, the player rarely does much more than shoot. Therefore, shooting must be the selling point. How do you do this? Unique guns, enemies, or mechanics.

In games like Borderlands, diversity tends to come from all three. There are hundreds of unique weapons that all handle just a little bit differently, allowing players to pick which ones they like and get a feel for different loadouts. The enemies are vastly different as well, from long-range snipers that require a perfect shot to counter, to dozens of swarming melee bugs. Each class also has its own set of unique abilities to turn the tide of battle. Switching out weapons to handle each scenario keeps the game fresh and interesting no matter how many times the player has pulled the trigger (or clicked the mouse).

Great Example

Team Fortress 2 is over a decade old and still manages to keep its fanbase enthralled. It does this by nailing the core principles of a great FPS. Despite the almost cartoony visuals, the game does an incredible job with its feedback. Rockets explode players into tiny bits, a metal bat has a gruesome ping when it connects with its target, and each character's dialogue is uniquely designed to alert players around them. The Engineer shouting “Teleporter going up!” isn’t just for flair, but to tell both allies and enemies to be aware of this strategic advantage. The way each character moves also has significantly different weight and mobility, putting the player right into the shoes of their characters.

It also has a wide variety of ways to play despite the number of characters not increasing at all. Over the years, dozens of new weapons were released that filled any gaps the developers found in gameplay. Each class themselves has at least three core weapons, with many of them having an additional slot for class-specific abilities. More than that, many of the weapons even have alternate shots, giving the players hundreds of combinations of classes and loadouts. Team Fortress 2 is primarily a player-vs-player game, so the unique enemies come in the form of all the classes opponents can play as. The dynamics between a Spy fighting an Engineer is much different than a Scout vs a Pyro. Two very unique circumstances with very opposing ways of handling the situation, yet both could be happening right next to each other.

Not So Great Example

While I did enjoy Borderlands, it is fair to say that it has some issues as a first-person shooter. One of the most frustrating elements that no good FPS should ever have is arbitrary aim. I understand it is meant to be a payoff, that you either find a weapon with good aim and bad power or vice versa, but it never feels good to line up a shot perfectly and miss. It got to the point where I had to keep an old gun for almost the entire game because it was more valuable to actually connect three poor shots in a row than it was to miss with a powerful weapon. Nothing about that system adds to the players enjoyment.

Additionally, whenever an FPS turns into an RPG, a lot of the feedback feels wrong. This is a fairly common genre, so it's hard to say it isn’t for everyone, but it feels bad to fire a rocket at an enemy that shrugs it off. Feeling powerful becomes relative, and you’re often trapped using weapons you don’t even enjoy because they are the only things that can allow you survive. The game does have a wonderful variety of weapons and skills, but the inconsistency of their value makes them just become a means to an end rather than a favored tactic. I really enjoyed a lot of the gameplay, and this is only the first one I’m referring to, so I’d just sum it up with: random in first-person shooters rarely feels good.

Overall

Much of this comes down to the player's experience, no different than any other genre. If the player feels they are gaining a mastery over their personal style, they will enjoy the game all the more. Their skill will improve and their familiarity with the game will show. They also need to feel every little thing they do, from the flash of their bullets to the cries of their enemies. Without these important principles, a first-person shooter will go from a great FPS to a game that happens to be in first-person with a gun. It's subtle, but the difference is important.