History Main / FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism

* ''VideoGame/AllianceOfValiantArms'': A game developed by a Korean company named Red Duck, it is essentially ''Counter-Strike'' with improvements such as better graphics (via [[GameEngine Unreal Engine]]), 3 classes, passive skills (only helps a little), and 7+ modes. Recoil now shakes the screen up and down and you can now control the recoil better. Aiming down sights is useless on most assault rifles, with 3-4 exceptions ([=AK107=], [=AK200=], [=MG4KE=], etc.), because of the mysteriously slowed rate of fire and increased recoil. The Korean version recently released many overpowered guns that operate like those from ''Call of Duty'', making realism semi-dependent on the weapon you are using.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. \\
\\
On the other hand, there are some "classic" game mechanics subject to GrandfatherClause that have their roots in ''HLCS'' and have been faithfully ported to ''CSGO'', due to ''HLCS'' players having historically been forced to master them and [[DamnYouMuscleMemory now being unable to forget them]]. Bunnyhopping (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. "Boosting" (where you jump on top of a crouched teammate, then your teammate stands up so you can then jump into an otherwise unreachable place), "stutter-stepping" (quickly alternating between left and right sidestepping to take advantage of a split-second window of accurate firing on every direction change), "movement penalty" (where your running speed depends on which weapon you have equipped -- the knife and pistols being the fastest, and heavy machineguns and automatic sniper rifles being the slowest), and a small degree of movement direction control in mid-air, were also kept. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

On the other hand, there are some "classic" game mechanics subject to GrandfatherClause that have their roots in ''HLCS'' and have been faithfully ported to ''CSGO'', due to ''HLCS'' players having historically been forced to master them and [[DamnYouMuscleMemory now being unable to forget them]]. Bunnyhopping (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. "Boosting" (where you jump on top of a crouched teammate, then your teammate stands up so you can then jump into an otherwise unreachable place), "stutter-stepping" (quickly alternating between left and right sidestepping to take advantage of a split-second window of accurate firing on every direction change), "movement penalty" (where your running speed depends on which weapon you have equipped -- the knife and pistols being the fastest, and heavy machineguns and automatic sniper rifles being the slowest), and a small degree of movement direction in mid-air, were also kept. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. On the other hand, there are some "classic" game mechanics subject to GrandfatherClause that have their roots in ''HLCS'' and have been faithfully ported to ''CSGO'', due to ''HLCS'' players having historically been forced to master them. Bunnyhopping (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. "Boosting" (where you jump on top of a crouched teammate, then your teammate stands up so you can then jump into an otherwise unreachable place), "stutter-stepping" (quickly alternating between left and right sidestepping to take advantage of a split-second window of accurate firing on every direction change), "movement penalty" (where your running speed depends on which weapon you have equipped -- the knife and pistols being the fastest, and heavy machineguns and automatic sniper rifles being the slowest), and a small degree of movement direction in mid-air, were also kept. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. On the other hand, there are some "classic" game mechanics subject to GrandfatherClause that have their roots in ''HLCS'' and have been faithfully ported to ''CSGO'', due to ''HLCS'' players having historically been forced to master them. Bunnyhopping (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. "Boosting" (where you jump on top of a crouched teammate, then your teammate stands up so you can then jump into an otherwise unreachable place), "stutter-stepping" (quickly alternating between left and right sidestepping to take advantage of a split-second window of accurate firing on every direction change), "movement penalty" (where your running speed depends on which weapon you have equipped -- the knife and pistols being the fastest, and heavy machineguns and automatic sniper rifles being the slowest), and being able to move in mid-air, were also kept. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. On the other hand, there are some "classic" game mechanics subject to GrandfatherClause that have their roots in ''HLCS'' and have been faithfully ported to ''CSGO'', due to ''HLCS'' players having historically been forced to master them. Bunnyhopping (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. "Boosting" (where you jump on top of a crouched teammate, then your teammate stands up so you can then jump into an otherwise unreachable place), "stutter-stepping" (quickly alternating between left and right sidestepping to take advantage of a split-second window of accurate firing on every direction change), and being able to move in mid-air, were also kept. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. On the other hand, there are some "classic" game mechanics subject to GrandfatherClause that have their roots in ''HLCS'' and have been faithfully ported to ''CSGO'', due to ''HLCS'' players having historically been forced to master them. Bunnyhopping (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. "Boosting" (where you jump on top of a crouched teammate, then your teammate stands up so you can then jump into an otherwise unreachable place) and being able to move in mid-air, were also kept. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. On the other hand, the bunnyhopping exploit (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Bullet spray patterns are also subject to a GrandfatherClause -- they are not random, and players like it that way, because skilled players are supposed to have learned to compensate these patterns in order to lay down a lethally accurate volley of bullets. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'': aim wobble, no jumping, no health restore during storymode but... as many weapons as you can carry, DualWield assault rifles, man portable miniguns, the ability to stick all mines to other players, and split second reload. Though, health and armor restoration and reload glitching was fixed in the third entry.

* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' brings the series back to its classic roots, going away from the more horror style theme of the 3rd game, while emphasizing massive firefights in large open arenas, while also borrowing elements from Brutal Doom.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry2'': A generally strong attempt at portraying a harsh and realistic war, though some elements may feel iffy. Player can carry only four weapons at a time (of those, two are a knife and a pistol, leaving only enough room for 2 rifle-sized or larger weapons). Player must aim with iron sights as there is no on-screen crosshair by default. Your map is a physical item that you have to take out and read to know where you are. Player ''must'' use cover effectively to survive. Player must stop and heal serious wounds to avoid bleeding to death ([[MisaimedRealism though most of it]] is WorstAid, and you can do it endlessly, but at least it tried to depict emergency procedures). ''Player has freaking malaria.'' The game also notably has a weapon degradation system, where guns picked up off the ground and in a worse shape can jam, misfire or even completely fail.\\\

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Mostly-realistic damage system (though you can move fine after being blasted in the leg), inaccuracy increases ''drastically'' if you don't stop and aim. Limited equipment to a primary weapon and a sidearm, and the interesting mechanic of bullet penetration found rarely in other games at its release. Also, no healing. Nor, in the classic game modes, ''respawning''. Commonly said to be unrealistic since you never take aim with your iron sights, but that's because the game mechanics basically combined the accuracy of aiming down sights in other games with the first-person view of hipfiring, and characters do take aim in third-person. In practice, it's like if the game automatically made you aim down sights when you stop moving. On the other hand, the bunnyhopping exploit (which allows players to move faster while jumping in a diagonal direction) was so popular that players revolted against Valve for eventually patching it out of ''Counter-Strike: Source'' and attempting to go even farther in ''Global Offensive'' by penalizing excessive jumping in the beta, blaming the push for "realism" on the popularity of ''Call of Duty''. Whether it's true or not, ''Counter-Strike'' fans definitely consider themselves "old-school" FPS players.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic'': Starting with the realistic elements, what few there are: Teamwork heavily encouraged, ShortRangeShotgun is averted (in fact, most guns have pretty realistic spread), grenades, you could only carry around four weapons and eight grenades per class, and you have to reload your shotguns, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers (which also technically averts OneBulletClips, since these weapons are reloaded one round at a time). Now for the unrealistic elements: Frantic, fast, arcade ''Quake'' style gameplay, BottomlessMagazines on plenty of weapons (and strange reloads for the others), GrenadeSpam, unrealistically high running speeds, even the most fragile classes can take an unrealistic amount of damage before dying, RocketJump, ChargedAttack sniper rifles, a Medic who can instantly heal you by hitting you with a medkit, and several "futuristic" weapons like rail pistols and [=EMP=] grenades.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock1'': A HyperspaceArsenal, an abundance of healing options, ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}''-like run-and-gun gunplay, relatively low emphasis on cover, and an assortment of spell-like Plasmid superpowers. On the other hand, the early-mid 20th century era weaponry is somewhat restrained (i.e. the revolver and shotgun have very limited ammo capacity, while the tommy gun is quite inaccurate at range), character movement is relatively slow, and the game does encourage tactical use of your Plasmid powers in combination with your weapons to overcome the more challenging obstacles (the Big Daddies in particular).
** ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' is slightly more realistic, limiting you to two weapons at at time plus a QuickMelee Sky-Hook and RegeneratingShieldsStaticHealth.

* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam III'': Slightly more down the scale compared to its predecessors with sprinting (although infinite), smarter enemies, and some weapons requiring reloading with two of them ([[StandardFPSEnemies the pistol and assault rifle]]) having iron sights, requiring them to be super accurate, as opposed to 100% accurate hip firing like the previous games. Not by much down the scale due to sheer number of enemies and retaining other gameplay elements like carrying twenty weapons at once to kill twenty thousand enemies per encounter.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Past the first game, very similar to ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar''. While the series is set 180 years in the future, your basic weapons (despite being highly advanced and powerful coilguns) basically behave like StandardFPSGuns from battle rifles to light machine guns to disposable rocket launchers. Accuracy is reasonable (except for [[ShortRangeShotgun shotguns]]), aiming down the sights is necessary, [[TakeCover the cover system]] is well-constructed and vital to survival,[[note]]In addition to being able to hide behind objects as normal, the game also allies you to blind fire, aim from cover, lean, vault over obstacles, and quickly move between pieces of cover by sprinting or an UnnecessaryCombatRoll.[[/note]] semi-plausible future-tech justifies health kits, weapons are highly moddable, and all but one of the games uses RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth for both the player and the [=NPCs=]. There is a LevelUp mechanic, but for the most part, either the boosts you get are reasonable for a character simply getting more skilled ''or'' there is a stat increase that is justified in FlavorText.[[note]]E.g., increasing [[TheSmartGuy Tali's]] passive skill makes her weapon and tech attack damage increase, which is explained as her using her technical expertise to modify her coilguns and gear to get better performance out of them. Increasing [[PlayerCharacter Shepard's]] melee damage or health is explained as installing further cybernetic implants.[[/note]] Enemies take a lot of bullets to put down even from said powerful coilguns, but all are visibly [[WeWillWearArmorInTheFuture heavily armored and shielded]] in hardened ceramic PoweredArmor. Enemies are [[ArtificialBrilliance quite intelligent]] and most encounters come down to dueling smart ([[ZergRush though seemingly unending]]) squads who use real-world small unit tactics, alongside your own teammates.
** The unrealistic aspects mostly come in the form of all the absurd futuristic gear everyone has access to, which [[FantasticScience are kept mostly internally consistent but make no physical sense.]] This ranges from relatively mundane (e.g. DeflectorShields, strength-enhancing cybernetics) to ridiculous ([[MagicByAnyOtherName biotic powers]] that grant telekinesis, super speed, [[MagicMissile guided exploding]] [[EnergyBall energy balls,]] [[ShockwaveStomp shockwaves]], [[GravityMaster the ability to spawn a miniature black hole]], etc.). The "tech attacks", for instance, include the typical fantasy FireIceLightning wizard powers transplanted into a sci-fi universe and given a handwave for how they work (e.g. "powerful plasma incendiary rounds" or "masses of super-cooled subatomic particles"). As a result, with certain playstyles, gameplay can border on "Classic" pretty fast. Additionally, everyone in TheVerse is carrying an [[SuperWristGadget "omni-tool"]] in their arm that, with the correct add-ons installed, basically acts as a magic wand. With a built-in nano-fabricator there is seemingly no limit to what it can do: it can create practically anything on the spot from plasma flamethrowers to combat drones to HardLight weapons and tools. Said nano-fabricators are also in all of the guns, meaning you can have a shotgun that fires an unending supply of incendiary rockets out if its second barrel if you want. This is also why a lot of the weapons (especially rocket and grenade launchers) are visibly too small for their ammo capacities.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': [[ActionGirl Samus Aran]] is a PoweredArmor-wearing walking tank with an impressive vertical leap and an assortment of high-powered energy weapons, facing a series of large, monstrous, alien creatures. Although the emphasis is as much as if not more on [[AdventureGame exploration]] than combat.

* ''DayOfDefeat'', another ''Half-Life'' mod turned official spin-off, is basically ''Counter-Strike'' [[RecycledInSpace in World War II.]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': well, first of all, [[CaptainObvious there are aliens.]] Past the first game, very similar to ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar''. While the series is set 180 years in the future, your basic weapons (despite being highly advanced and powerful coilguns) basically behave like StandardFPSGuns from battle rifles to light machine guns to disposable rocket launchers. Accuracy is reasonable (except for [[ShortRangeShotgun shotguns]]), aiming down the sights is necessary, [[TakeCover the cover system]] is well-constructed and vital to survival,[[note]]In addition to being able to hide behind objects as normal, the game also allies you to blind fire, aim from cover, lean, vault over obstacles, and quickly move between pieces of cover by sprinting or an UnnecessaryCombatRoll.[[/note]] semi-plausible future-tech justifies health kits, weapons are highly moddable, and all but one of the games uses RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth for both the player and the [=NPCs=]. There is a LevelUp mechanic, but for the most part, either the boosts you get are reasonable for a character simply getting more skilled ''or'' there is a stat increase that is justified in FlavorText.[[note]]E.g., increasing [[TheSmartGuy Tali's]] passive skill makes her weapon and tech attack damage increase, which is explained as her using her technical expertise to modify her coilguns and gear to get better performance out of them. Increasing [[PlayerCharacter Shepard's]] melee damage or health is explained as installing further cybernetic implants.[[/note]] Enemies take a lot of bullets to put down even from said powerful coilguns, but all are visibly [[WeWillWearArmorInTheFuture heavily armored and shielded]] in hardened ceramic PoweredArmor. Enemies are [[ArtificialBrilliance quite intelligent]] and most encounters come down to dueling smart ([[ZergRush though seemingly unending]]) squads who use real-world small unit tactics, alongside your own teammates.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth'' is surprisingly realistic for a game about fishmen breeding with humans and sea gods. Humans are fairly fragile, and the ones that aren't are handwaved as being half human hybrids. A few bullets will take out any enemy, and the player character and the enemies weren't that far away in health. If anything, they had ''more'' health than the player usually. It's also got one of the most realistic body damage systems in video games. When hit, different things happen depending on what body part was hit. Getting shot in the leg causes you to move slower and drag your leg (complete with sound effects), and getting shot in the chests causes your gun to wobble around and your vision to blur, making it impossible to aim. The only way to heal your wounds is to apply bandages, sultures, and splints, (different medical supplies are needed for different wounds) which you must apply in real time, making doing this in the middle of a firefight next to impossible. However, you must do it really fast, because if you leave major wounds untreated, you'll actually bleed to death, where as minor wounds will heal by themselves. Also, there was no Hud at all. Meaning there was no health bar, no ammo indicator, and no crosshair. The only way to tell if you are dying is how much blood was on your screen, how grey your screen was, and how hard you were breathing in game. To keep count of your ammo, you have to mentally keep track of how many bullets you fired, and to aim, you have to aim down the actual iron sights on the guns. The only real unrealistic parts were OneBulletClips, [[HyperspaceArsenal the ability to carry every weapon in the game simultaneously]], the fact that applying a bandage will make any wound good as new, and that [[BreadEggsMilkSquick there are 7 foot tall alien fish men who would claw you to death unless you shoot them and giant sea gods you have to fight]]. On top of that, unlike a vast majority of FPS games, a weapon would not automatically plant a bullet at the center of the screen. Rather, it would depend on where the weapon's barrel was actually pointing, meaning that weapon sway is not merely for show. This not only applies for you, but for any mook with a gun as well.

* ''VideoGame/SWAT4'': Being a slower-paced and atmospheric tactical shooter, there is no jumping at all, you can either creep, walk at a standard pace or run very slowly. Crosshairs and the basic personal HUD are minimal. There is no healing for anyone. Single shots are often lethal, and even when they're not, being shot in the legs or arms will hurt speed or accuracy. The player can daze himself with his own flashbangs and stinger grenades. There are no frag grenades, explosive charges, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, light machine guns, anti-material rifles, or {{BFG}}s of any kind, with the most powerful weapon you can carry being the military grade [=M4A1=] Carbine, and all the grenades (tear gas, stinger, flashbang) being non-lethal, which fits given that SWAT is a paramilitary police unit, not part of the army. All weapons have a fully realistic portrayal of recoil and their respective drawbacks. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality In fact, the only thing not portrayed is bullet ricochet.]] It's possible to customize one's bullet loadout (full metal jacket or jacketed hollow-point, etc.), and there's a focus on non-lethally neutralizing and apprehending criminals, rather that killing them outright. You're also punished for not following SWAT procedures, so if you shoot a perp without first ordering him to comply, points are docked for use of unauthorized deadly force. There are no saves at all, during any mission. The less-lethal flash bang and stinger grenade actually can injure or kill if detonated within close proximity to a person.

On the other hand, syringes (and bottled water) somehow restore health even though most of the damage you take is from ''bullets'', and you can still take a lot of them even without using syringes, ''and'' you also have health regeneration for minor injuries. Even with the inventory limit, realism is still iffy. One can conceivably cart around an M79 with 5 grenades, a SAW with 500 rounds, and a sniper rifle with 50 rounds. Plus 5 hand grenades and 5 molotov cocktails. Also, this is the game where almost any damage to a vehicle (collision, fall off a cliff, riddled with bullets, set on fire) can be repaired by opening the hood and tightening the radiator cap, though whether or not this makes the game more or less realistic is a bit of a YMMV.

** The unrealistic aspects mostly come in the form of all the absurd futuristic gear everyone has access to, which [[FantasticScience are kept mostly internally consistent but make no physical sense.]] This ranges from relatively mundane (e.g. DeflectorShields, strength-enhancing cybernetics) to ridiculous ([[MagicByAnyOtherName biotic powers]] that grant telekinesis, super speed, [[MagicMissile guided exploding]] [[EnergyBall energy balls,]] [[ShockwaveStomp shockwaves]], [[GravityMaster the ability to spawn a miniature black hole]], etc.). The "tech attacks", for instance, include the typical fantasy FireIceLightning wizard powers transplanted into a sci-fi universe and given a handwave for how they work (e.g. "powerful plasma incendiary rounds" or "masses of super-cooled subatomic particles"). As a result, with certain playstyles, gameplay can border on "Classic" pretty fast. Additionally, everyone is carrying am "omni-tool" that basically acts as a magic wand, complete with a nano-fabricator that can create practically anything on the spot, from plasma flamethrowers to combat drones to HardLight weapons and tools. Said nano-fabricators are also in all of the guns, meaning you can have a shotgun that fires an unending supply of incendiary rockets if you want.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'': Enemy squad tactics ranging from hurling grenades to flush you out to sending in troops one at a time to see if you're dead, taking cover, and such. Taking cover was also encouraged when fighting human enemies and there are no BottomlessMagazines on real world guns. On the other hand, your armor can take several dozen bullets, you can carry a small arsenal of weapons and ammo, you can run at 40 miles per hour while wearing a metal suit and carrying 15 weapons, some guns have unrealistically large magazine sizes (the submachine gun can hold 50 rounds), the grenade launcher under the submachine gun never needs to be reloaded, and most of the cleverer things your enemies do are faked with scripting.\\

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' was moderately more realistic than its predecessor. There is a very realistic physics engine, guns are slightly more accurate across the board, your enemies will do those intelligent things even without scripting, magazines are smaller forcing you to reload more often, cover is more encouraged, there are a few vehicles you can drive, you don't run nearly as fast, and many enemies are more fragile (those who aren't are handwaved as being cyborgs). The handgun also averts BangBangBang. OneBulletClips, CriticalExistenceFailure, MadeOfIron characters, your HyperspaceArsenal, and unrealistically short weapon ranges (rather similar to Halo or Fallout) are still there, however.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': Similar to ''Fallout 3'', with a couple of key differences. First of all, the game includes ironsights, weapon mods, much more limited bullet spread, and other small changes that make the game slightly more realistic. Second, ''New Vegas'' has an optional "Hardcore" mode (separate from the standard difficulty settings) which drastically increases the game's realism--ammo has weight, healing happens over time instead of instantly, and it's possible to die of fatigue, starvation, or dehydration if you don't carefully monitor your food stocks (though how ''healthy'' that food is doesn't matter, you can live on Twinkies and cola) and sleeping schedule. Medkits don't heal all damage; [[SubsystemDamage crippled limbs]] require you to seek out a doctor. Unofficial mods tend to make it harder, such as requiring utensils, or needing a balanced breakfast; ''Imp's More Complex Needs'' is a mod that lives up to its name by tracking not only calories (the analogue to the unmodded game's generic "Hunger" stat), but also protein and vitamin/mineral content and forces the player to avoid malnutrition penalties. It also makes it possible to go into a "food coma" from too much eating, makes eating take time and penalizes various skills and stats until it's done to prevent players from trying to scarf down an entire steak during a firefight, and makes it possible to suffer from water poisoning from drinking too fast. It also adds circadian rhythm and forces players to follow their sleep schedule or gradually change it over many days to something else, lest they suffer (more) penalties.\\\

** Play styles and site rules vary from casual skirmishing featuring lives, spawn areas, no restrictions on ammo capacity/rate of fire, and classic game types such as capture the flag and simple team based death matches. To mil-sim style play, incorporating real capacity magazines, team based camouflage and uniforms, and complex and variable objectives.

** Multiplayer can sometimes forget that this is a game about highly trained special forces. Even the most rudimentary of squad tactics and attempt to emulate the basics of real combat usually goes out the window in favor of running around like a blue arsed fly due to random spawning (it was made to be semi-random based on the proximity against a group of opposing enemy, unlike most other team based FPS supposedly to deter spawn campers but as the series goes on it seems to be random) and the series collection of usually small multiplayer maps that seems to get smaller as the series goes on. The series seems geared towards such an approach however, with most modes giving you [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist lightning-fast respawn times without any penalties]] and most maps being tight and personal, and those ranked high on the leaderboards generally use such tactics. Some later games, like ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII Black Ops III]]'', slide even further towards the classic end with additions like jump-jets, sliding, and wall-running, all while still able to aim and fire your weapons accurately.

** Multiplayer can sometimes forget that this is a game about highly trained special forces. Even the most rudimentary of squad tactics and attempt to emulate the basics of real combat usually goes out the window in favor of running around like a blue arsed fly due to random spawning (it was made to be semi-random based on the proximity against a group of opposing enemy, unlike most other team based FPS supposedly to deter spawn campers but as the series goes on it seems to be random) and the series collection of usually small multiplayer maps that seems to get smaller as the series goes on. The series seems geared towards such an approach however, with most modes giving you [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist lightning-fast respawn times without any penalties]] and most maps being tight and personal, and those ranked high on the leaderboards generally use such tactics. Some later games, like ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps3 Black Ops III]]'', slide even further towards the classic end with additions like jump-jets, sliding, and wall-running, all while still able to aim and fire your weapons accurately.

* While the earlier Refractor-era ''VideoGame/Battlefield'' games were fairly realistic (see ''Battlefield'' in Simulationist folder), the Frostbite games (''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' and on) introduced arcade mechanics heavily inspired by ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' such as regenerating health, OneBulletClips, squad spawns (soldiers can teleport onto anybody in their squad to get them into action faster), and some fairly unrealistic gun mechanics such as "tap fire" (you can fire a weapon at full-auto speeds with laser accuracy as long as you [[ButtonMashing tap fast]]) and some improbably slow bullet travel. Hardcore negates ''most'' of this and puts it closer to the Simulation camp.
** ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'': Though base gunplay is mostly realistic, the depiction of its [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI subject matter]] has been a subject of controversy due to relying much more on experimental and [[RareGuns far less used]] (but mostly [[AluminumChristmasTrees true-to-life]]) automatic weapons. In addition, there are very powerful Elite Class pickups, but are mostly within the range of expectations for a man with special equipments (and are still mostly inspired by real life). Hardcore exists as usual, and some servers also restrict weapons to restore historical accuracy.
* ''VideoGame/Battlefield2142'': Although it's rather realistic for the most part for a sci-fi shooter, the vehicles are {{Humongous Mecha}}s.

* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'': Though base gunplay is mostly realistic (see ''Battlefield'' in Simulationist folder), the depiction of its [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI subject matter]] has been a subject of controversy due to relying much more on experimental and [[RareGuns far less used]] (but mostly [[AluminumChristmasTrees true-to-life]]) automatic weapons. In addition, there are very powerful Elite Class pickups, but are mostly within the range of expectations for a man with special equipments (and are still mostly inspired by real life). Hardcore exists as usual, and some servers also restrict weapons to restore historical accuracy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' series: Fragile humans, war vehicles, squad combat, recoil compensation, suppression effects, destruction effects, and the like. Health regenerates a bit slower than most games (using health packs is recommended), and long-range combat requires you to compensate for travel time and bullet drop. [[ContinuingIsPainful Respawning is painful]] since the maps are always big and you can only respawn on select points, encouraging players to be careful about their health. However, rockets don't kill humans as easily as bullets, among other things in the name of balancing out multiplayer. Later games in the series straddles the line between Semi-Simulationist and Simulationist (Hardcore is very much on the Simulationist side) due to having many realistic elements but encouraging run-and-gun styled gameplay (earlier games are closer to reality in this regard). The ongoing mod ''VideoGame/ProjectReality'' (see below) is much more realistic on the scale, ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' and ''VideoGame/Battlefield2142'' is a bit less realistic (see Semi-Simulationist folder) primarily due to the depictions of their subject matter, and ''VideoGame/BattlefieldHeroes'' is a lot farther up.
** Humans aren't that fragile, even in [=BF2=]. Similar to [=CoD=], most weapons have a power in the region of 40-25, which still requires at least 4 or so bullets to kill someone. As with [=CoD=], networking issues usually affects this and increase the number of bullets used by an individual by quite a bit. The only damage modifier in vanilla [=BF2=] is for the head, which allows sniper rifles to only give one-hit-kills on headshots. Explosives don't kill people as easily because the splash damage of handheld explosives is reduced, as said, for the sake of balance. However they are perfectly capable of one-hit-kills, providing the target is hit directly.
** ''[[VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany Bad Company 2]]'', at least, throws the whole explosives thing right out the window, with the Carl Gustav rocket launcher being one of the most effective anti-personnel weapons in the game, even moreso if you take the improved explosives perk. Not only is its splash damage sufficient to get kills off indirect hits, but it blows cover to pieces and is fast and accurate. Then there's grenade launchers, which many players believe to be the only truly overpowered weapon in the game. C4 can also be used very effectively if you know what you're doing. Hand grenades are also pretty strong, but you usually can only carry one.

* ''No More Room in Hell'' is a Source mod that attempts to depict a realistic zombie survival situation. The HUD is completely absent most of the time -- no crosshairs, the ammunition count only appears when you hold the reload key to check the magazine, and you can only tell your health from the visual effects. Shooting without stopping and aiming is a bad idea due to the scarcity of ammunition and the low hipfire accuracy worsened by moving. No shooting when sprinting. Aiming for the head is a requirement since zombies can shrug off a ton of damage to their body due to being undead. Inventory is restricted by weapon weight (one shotgun takes up around a third of it), and the more you carry, the less stamina you have for sprinting and melee. Ammunition is separate for guns with different calibers, and also take up weight in your inventory. Getting attacked by a zombie can cause damage, bleeding and/or infection. Health is regained through first aid kits (going through a lengthy animated self-treatment process), bleeding is treated with bandages (no healing though), and infection is temporarily halted with antiviral medicine. You die ''quick'' if even just one zombie gets a bit too close. In addition, using a weapon with a scope doesn't zoom in the whole screen, flashlights can only be used alongside handguns since you have to carry them with one hand, and infected survivors will always reanimate after death unless they commit suicide with a [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain headshot]].

** The related game ''Escape from Tarkov'' (made by a heavily related but separate studio, taking place in the same universe) is ludicrously detailed in realism. The huge (and incomplete) list of realistic mechanics include common sights like no crosshairs, realistic inaccuracy and recoil, realistic bullet damage, magazine-based reloading, minimalist HUD, bullet penetration, realistic carrying (2 long guns and a handgun on your body, the rest goes in your backpack), massive punishment to deaths to discourage recklessness; some rarer sights like bodypart damaging, bullet ricochet, 3D weapon presence (your weapon is not locked to the center of your screen, you'll lower it when standing up against a wall, your sights can misalign if you move when aiming, and telescopic sights do not zoom in your entire view), fatigue from running and carrying, the grenade having a ''massive'' kill radius due to the shrapnel; and there are just some obscure mechanics that exist for no reason other than ''more realism'', like requirement for gun maintenance (your gun can jam if you don't), having to put magazines in your rig before you reload, detailing weapon modification to such an extent you can strip your gun down to just a (non-functional) receiver, and making sure that there's a first-person player animation for everything you do (including changing your firing mode). The game also includes a whole bunch of realistic maneuvers like making tactical reloads separate from speed reloads and allowing you to lean and fine-tune that lean with scrolling. In short, it is ''created'' to be as authentic, hardcore, and detailed as possible.