First Person Shooters to look forward to in 2014

A few months back, our editor Anikait wrote an article investigating the future of the FPS genre. At that time, he didn’t have as many details as we do now, since E3 is well over. E3 revealed a bunch of new FPS games, and as touted before, the genre is clearly far from being over. We look at some of the upcoming shooters and see how they hold up.

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Destiny

Developed by the creators of Halo, Destiny is an online multiplayer ‘role-playing’ shooter, meaning it is a shooter that combines elements from the RPG genre, with heavy focus on deep customization features. Players will be given a choice to customise their character, choose a class and a race. Choosing a class will have a ‘deep impact’ on player progression, as each class has its own abilities which can be used during competitive multiplayer matches or co-op gameplay.

The universe of Destiny will feature randomly generated non pre-planned ‘events’ as the developer notes, leaving things unpredictable. This kind of approach can help create dynamic experience for players but at the same time it limits the approach of telling an epic story. It is a first person shooter which will incorporate elements from MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) genre and so Bungie calls it a “shared world shooter.” Destiny’s multiplayer will be fast paced and once a player gets into the action, he either kills the opponent or gets killed within a matter of seconds. The double jump, similar to what we’ve seen in Titanfall is also featured in the game. We will be giving our impressions about the game as soon as the BETA version arrives.

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Evolve

Evolve is a co-operative game where four hunters fight against one monster, all human controlled. Both the hunters and monster are controlled by human players. Four different players have different classes and specific roles (like how they have in Payday) and each class has its own set of unique abilities and weapons. To give you a basic idea of how the roles will be divided, think of as a tanker, assault, stealth and support combination. Monsters will also come in different classes and each class will have a different approach towards countering the four pronged opposition. Monsters are weak in the beginning of the encounter, but they evolve with the consumption of ‘wildlife.’

The game also has a single player mode but no details have been made available yet. Both the Hunters and Monsters can unlock different abilities by killing wildlife. This game caters to both solo (as Monster) and co-op (as Hunters) fans. Turtle Rock has carefully balanced the multiplayer for both sides, giving monsters an animalistic sense to kill humans.

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Call of Duty has changed hands from Infinity Ward to SledgeHammer, who have promised to innovate the worn out franchise, owing to the lacklustre Call of Duty: Ghosts. SledgeHammer is not only trying to innovate with the gameplay, but have vowed to upgrade the ageing graphics. The game takes place in a futuristic setting, which allows for new gameplay additions. Currently only the campaign footage is available and it is generating positive buzz, so far. Players will be getting brand new weapons and some “serious new technology” to play with.

But there is a problem with every Call of Duty game, we see that the campaign goes futuristic but the multiplayer,the main selling point of the series, remains static. SledgeHammer would do well to implement the futuristic elements to the multiplayer, but it wouldn’t harm them to stick with the team based approach from Call of Duty: Ghosts. On the other hand, SledgeHammer completely surprising us might be greatly appreciated as well. Activision is facing heavy competition from other fresher FPS IPs, messing up Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare might just signal doom for the decade-plus long series.

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Battlefield: Hardline

Battlefield was always under the shadow of Call of Duty, considered to be an alternative version to COD. That is about to change now. Gone are the days when Battlefield competed with Call of Duty, now the focus lies on a new theme: Cops vs Thieves. Rather than being developed by DICE Battlefield: Hardline is being developed by Visceral Games, the studio behind Dead Space. After playing the Beta, it felt like the developers are confused about what exactly they’re working on. They want to focus on large scale battles, but with cops and thieves. This might sound fun on paper, but in reality things are different. The game has same old Battlefield vibe where the whole game is slow paced, but getting kills is fast.

Vehicles have gone through some major changes which improve them and the new gadgets they have added are good, but they definitely need some refining. The level of destructibility is a bit reduced, surprisingly. The two modes that were available in the Beta are fun to play. Currently Battlefield: Hardline feels like it would have been suitable as a spinoff DLC, but Visceral has time to turn things around with the feedback from the beta. Hopefully they won’t rush it so that it doesn’t end up like the sorry mess that was Battlefield 4.

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Far Cry 4

Like our editor Tathagata previously said when he was gutted around the trailer reveal of Far Cry 3, the news transcends the very definition of insanity. In this first person, story driven plot finding life, it took a miracle in the form of Far Cry 2 to restore his faith in First Person Shooter games. From then till now, nothing ever came close to the Far Cry franchise, it is one of Ubisoft’s most truthful franchises till date. The expansive sandbox world of each of the Far Cry games, the tons of explosive fun that await you and the very essence of going on a wildlife adventure makes Far Cry a real keeper.

In E3 2014, eye balls were rolled and jaws were dropped, when the creative lead of the upcoming Far Cry game revealed the gameplay and bid adieu to everyone with a simple F word. Far Cry 4 is that one last piece of the old gen-current gen multi-plat jigsaw that seems destined for greatness. The ruthless altitude drops to the desi tuk tuk chases, Far Cry 4 is already heading towards giving its fans a plethora of fun. Post liberations got even more exciting with Temple onslaughts, car chases and seamless co-op missions. Not to forget the cliff hanger moments that Pagan Min, the psychotic successor of Vaas Montenegro may bring with his unique traits of villainy. We simply can’t wait to restart the Far Cry mayhem.

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Alien: Isolation

Aliens: Colonial Marines not only ended our lifelong obsession with Aliens, but it also wiped away the chapter called SEGA from our distant 90’s memory. It was something that we didn’t expect, and it was certainly not what anyone could have ever expected out of two of the biggest names in their individual domains – Oh, how the Mighty have fallen! When the news about a new Aliens game arose, we were trying to be all cool, passive, add all those other adjectives. But then E3 happened.

From an overpowered version of slaying Aliens to surviving a horror nightmare, trapped in a space station with just a flamethrower that can only “repel” the alpha predator, Alien Isolation brought back those feels, which are arguably original. The inclusion of the latest (free for all) DLC, that includes the cast from the original Alien film including Ripley, makes Alien: Isolation even more tempting. Sources report to us that the Alien: Isolation counter at E3 was crammed with visitors, and each of them who got to experience the game first hand, articulated his or her dread in the most glorifying way possible. Additionally players were also given the chance to experience the game through an Oculus Rift, which increased the immersiveness of the game. Expect this game to slither in like a stealthy predator (unlike its predecessor) and give all the Alien fans around the world the kind of show they deserve: gasping for their last breath, as they visualise the reptile like shadow dropping from the ceilings.

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So which of the games from that list are you most excited to play? Or would you rather stick with last year’s offerings? Tell us in the comments below.