An Analysis Into The FPS Genre And Its Future

We all can agree on this that FPS (first person shooter) or shooters in general are the biggest genre in the gaming industry. From the likes of Call of Duty to Halo, shooters are the most dominating genre. This genre has the best titles as well as some worst titles. We look into games which can be the next big shooter for the industry. Call of Duty could be criticized for not evolving every year but it still sells like hot cakes. Now the question is, “Is there any other franchsie or new IP which can replicate the success of COD” Let’s analyse.

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Halo

Halo is multi-billion dollar franchise created by Bungie and is now being developed by 343 Industries. We all know how big Halo is, it is the game behind Xbox’s success. You might be thinking Halo is such a big franchsie why are we comparing it with COD. In recent years we have seen that Halo is going down due to heavy competition from other big shooters. 343 Industries tried to rejuvenate Halo with Halo 4 but failed as the franchise tried to go the COD way by introducing COD based elements and the result was that many of the Halo fans left the game. Now we hope 343 industries takes Halo back to its roots.

 
It looks like 343 learnt its lessons and its team is frequently active on Twitter asking suggestions from fans and what they want from next Halo, I hope they implement all these suggestions in the game to make the best Halo. I believe Halo is still relevant and 343 only needs to implement the fan demands in the game to bring the game back on top. All 343 industries need to do is strike a perfect balance between modern Halo experience and Classic Experience. Tapping the potential of elements like Spartan Ops and Firefight will be icing on the cake. Halo might not sell up to the level of COD because it is not availble on multiple platforms but comparing the sales on Xbox One would be nice and exciting for fans of both sides.

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Battlefield

Time to talk about EA’s big multiplayer shooter. Battlefield is the only game that can or might give you the closest feel of a real war. On the campaign side Battlefield 4 is nothing except a visual showcase for your new PC or next-gen consoles. The real fun is multiplayer 32vs32 player action with all types of vehicles and fully destructible environments. Besides all of its shiny features, Battlefield has yet to make a dent in market. The franchise has a dedicated fanbase but that fanbase falls short in front of the other shooters. The recent release of Battlefield 4 might have spoiled the franchise’s image because of all the technical issues it was facing during launch. Some of them are yet to be fixed. Battlefield is not a pick up and play game it requires skill to play which is nice but it can be deal breaker of few.

Battlefield maps are bigger than any other game you have seen which means people who are good in sniping will always have an upperhand. Snipers will easily hide somewhere in map and snipe you from far away. Many assault rifles have a very high recoil which reduces the choice of your weapons. This clearly spoils the fun in Multiplayer.

The destructibility in the game could be fun but on the other side it could be a deal breaker for some. Destructible environments means no cover which could annoy people at times because at one point you were hiding and then suddenly someone blew away the cover resulting in immediate death, a common scenario in the game.

Battlefield can definitely replicate the success of COD, all it needs to do is perfectly balance the multiplayer and carefully evaluate their games before release. We want DICE to keep supporting Battlefield with additional DLC and I believe it is one of the few games which provide the true value for Season Pass. The future Battlefield can bring in loads of cash for EA if done right.

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Titanfall

From the creators of Call Of Duty comes Titanfall. It is published by EA and developed by Respawn Entertainment (studio made from ex-employees of Infinity Ward). When Titanfall was first announced it was instantly praised by many critics and it won more than 85 awards. The game released on Xbox One and PC. And Xbox 360 version is on its way. Titanfall won hearts of many gamers and critics. Sales figures are yet to be revealed but we have a rough idea that game has sold around 2 million copies (20 lakh). These numbers are very high for a new IP and with such a strong start I have a feeling that Titafall can become the next cash cow of the industry.

 
The game has an addictive parkour and the way it balances the Titan and Pilot gampelay is appreciable. Titanfall is going to get a lot of future updates as promised by it’s developers. Campaign in Titanfall is redundant, I would love to see a dedicated caimpaign with proper story and narrative. The game has 15 maps which is good and raises the bar high for next enteries but the overall content might feel less. Game modes are few, and so the customisation options. No private matches and option to vote for next map is annoying. Titanfall brought many new things to the table but at the same time ignores some basic features.

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Destiny

We were currently talking about games that were already available on shelves but now we are going to talk about one of the most anticipated shooters of 2014. Destiny comes from the creators of Halo and we expect it to be ground breaking. Details available are very less so there’s only so much we can talk about. Destiny is a big and ambitious project, Bungie will be exploring new lands with their new MMO shooter. Yes, you read it right, Destiny is an MMO shooter.

 
The universe of Destiny will be very vast and it is going to tell stories of many heroes. No details about Multiplayer has been given except that it will be fast paced and different from Halo. Weapon and Character customization seem to be an important part of the game. Early buzz and critic response is in favour of Destiny. Activision, the publisher of Destiny has high hopes from it and believes Destiny is going to be the biggest new IP launch. Destiny will release this September and a beta version will be made available to all those who pre-ordered the game.