What *is* A First Person Shooter?

From badass soldiers to puzzle solving geniuses to the occasional fireman and, just sometimes, just your everyday average Joe on a bad day, we like to see out of our heroes eyes.

But is the puzzle solver the same as the soldier when they pick up a gun? Do the fireman and the regular guy get lumped together just because they aim at things?

Sure, we know what First Person is, but what is a First person shooter to you?

From the other topic:

Any other variation, significant or otherwise, is the same as the variation in any other given genre.

Well, the definition is somewhat flexible. For example, I would consider Wipeout to be a first person shooter, because I see the game from my own perspective (if we imagine that I'm controlling the car by remote control), and you shoot at things at the game.

On the other hand, a game like Doom doesn't really fit imo, because the true goal of the game is to navigate the level and reach the exit. Yes, you can shoot at things, but it's purely optional.

Deadspace Extraction.(which takes way too long to get to the gameplay by the way)

You're in first person and you shoot things. That's a first person shooter.

If the camera is taking the POV of the character your playing as, and your primary method of attack is projectiles, it's a first-person shooter.

Doesn't mean it can't be other things, too. Like how the Prime series were FPS Action-Adventures, or how Borderlands or Fallout 3 were FPS RPG's.

I would say that, when a person says "First Person Shooter", what they probably mean more precisely is "first person perspective action game, with emphasis on ranged combat." So I would say Portal is *not* an FPS, because it isn't an action game. Likewise, Deus Ex isn't really an FPS, because its less an action game and more an RPG.

Basically, a game has to be an action game before it can be an FPS.

Portal not a FPS? You're still shooting things, it's just not a weapon.

Like I said in the other topic, I don't see why something can't be a first-person shooter and an adventure game, for example.

There are gradations. I guess Portal is a kind of FPS, whereas Duck Hunt is a pure FPS.

actually, actually, wipeout wouldnt be an fps, because even if you consider remote control, that's still third person shooting.

doom however is in fact a first person shooter, because although the objective is to navigate the level, you are in first person, and you shoot things. optional or not, shooting things take up abotu 80% of the gameplay, with the other 20% being finding secret area's and the exit.

My first thaought when you mentioned when Duck Hunt is an FPS:

PFFFFFT HAHAHAHA OH WOW

But then: Holy crap, you're right.

It's actually more like a rail shooter.

FPRS.

You don't even move. What a crappy rail system.

I'd say Deus Ex is a pure-hybrid FPS/RPG. It has enough elements of each to qualify as both.

I think we're all missing the point here: the real question is "Just what is the genre of Hybrid Heaven?"

@Cider: Isn't that railshooter?

So I guess the Elder Scrolls and Ultima Underworld are first-person shooters, because they both have shooting and a first-person perspective.

First-person shooter as a genre does not literally mean "shooting and in first person" any more than the RPG genre literally means "playing a role." The FPS genre has come to mean a specific kind of first-person game, namely an action game in a first-person perspective and a strong emphasis on fighting and shooting, usually with guns but not always. (see Heretic)

There can be hybrids - Deus Ex is an FPS with substantial RPG and adventure elements. There's enough combat in Metroid Prime to call it a Metroidvania/FPS. Bio Shock has some light RPG/adventure elements.

Just having shooting and a first-person perspective isn't enough to call it an FPS, though.

edited 22nd Jul '11 11:57:10 PM by Talby

From what little I know of Metroid Prime, the biggest issue with calling it an FPS is its reliance on auto-lock targeting (er… Did this change with the Wii installments?). Since aiming at stuff is about 50% of an FPS's gameplay (the other 50% being running around, and the sum total being the ability to do both at once,) that's quite a chop.

Going the opposite direction, Resident Evil 4/5 allow you to aim, but you can't move while doing so, which perhaps makes them an ill fit as Third Person Shooters.

The parts of something like Deus Ex that are FPS-ish are, by themselves, completely identical to a “straight” FPS like Unreal: Run, look, shoot.

^That last bit reminds me of the tagline for the first Half Life: game: Run. Think. Shoot. Live.

edited 22nd Jul '11 9:53:57 PM by RocketDude

Which is funny, considering how much responsibility it bears for the modern Pipe Shooter.