F.E.A.R

[ElvenMessengers]

Ok so I recently got this game for the 360 and honestly, it's the greatest 1st person shooter game I've ever played. Does anyone else feel the same?

[hextr1p]

While I did like the game (I played it on the PC), I can't claim that it's the greatest FPS I've ever played. Other FPS games I'd place above it are ones like Far Cry, Half-Life 2, and even some of the Call of Duty series. F.E.A.R. seemed too linear to me. True, all the other games I listed are also linear. But they just have a feeling that their worlds are so much larger and complete.

I liked the slow down mechanic, and the hand to hand aspect was alright, I guess. And there were definitely some creepy spots in the game! But I just felt too confined, and came away from the finished game with a feeling of, "Eh..."

They are working on the sequel to the game (and I'm not talking about the expansion pack), so hopefully they'll open up the game a little more when that is released.

On a positive note, I did really like the lighting, and the graphics were pretty amazing. But other than that... I just didn't get into it as much as I thought I would.

[Fallen Templar]

Ok so I recently got this game for the 360 and honestly, it's the greatest 1st person shooter game I've ever played. Does anyone else feel the same? You obviously have not played the Halo 3 beta then :wink:

[Uprising]

I own FEAR and the expansion for my pc. Great shooters. Story is not on par with the Half-Life series, but I like the gun battles better. If you can play it with all the eye candy up, man does it look amazing. That said, both FEAR and Half-Life 2 take a big steamer into the mass maw that is HALO.

[Wytefang]

FEAR on PC was amazing. It had a few flaws, notably the linearity and sameness of the level design (more offices?) but it had amazing graphics and psuedo-physics modeling as well spectactular ambiance and sound, and insanely impressive A.I.

For story, the Half-Life series is frequently lauded though I've been less than impressed in that regard than some fans have - perhaps I'm too picky after playing a spectacularly well-written game like Planescape: Torment. For my money, the top shooters in recent years are UT2004 (and the original UT), Quake 3 (not a game I like but I can appreciate its impact), Call of Duty 1 & 2, and any of the Battlefield series but especially BF2. (I'd give a nod of the head to the recently released S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game also, for what it's worth.)

Halo? Not so impressed with the series unless I'd only played shooters on a console. Then, and only then, I'd consider it something special. When you compare ANY of the series (even Halo 3's beta) they fall short compared to high-profile PC FPSs. The much-vaunted AI in the original is extremely wimpy and unimpressive once you really tear into it and the texturing and art direction is bland at best, boring at worst. The multi-player is obviously where it's at but even that's not terribly innovative or too interesting compared (again) to PC shooters of any merit.

Halo may be widely popular but that's more a reflection of the larger number of console kiddies out there than it is a reflection of pure quality when you take a long, hard look at the game series and its features and gameplay.

Just my opinion but I'm confident that much of that opinion is grounded in reality. It's not that the HALO series is horrible, by any means, but it's mainly that it's horribly over-rated. :)

[Uprising]

(I'd give a nod of the head to the recently released S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game also, for what it's worth.)
I have S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I couldn't get into it a whole lot. I put maybe 20 hours in and just stopped playing. I like the atmosphere and controls, but it just couldn't hold me for long. Have you played PREY Wytefang? It's for sale real cheap around here, but I never picked it up. Haven't heard a whole lot about it. Looks pretty good though.

[Wytefang]

Prey has a fairly cool story (for the most part) and really interesting controls and it also has that whole up is down and left is right thing going on once you're inside the spaceship.

Pretty cool weapons too. It's not entirely ground-breaking, per se, but it's definitely a novel game and it does have a fresh feel to it. Highly recommended for FPS fans, imho.