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Developer: Current FPS Games Are "Boring"

- By - Source : Tom's Guide US

Stuart Black, the man behind Criterion's Black, is bored with the recent dose of FPS games.

Actually, "boring" isn't exactly what a former EA Criterion Senior Designer (Black) said about current FPS games on the market. But because Tom's is more of a family-friendly site, we can't quote Stuart Black's true feelings about the current crop. Needless to say, he's not too thrilled, and made his feelings perfectly clear in a recent interview with The Official Xbox Magazine.

"There's a lot of cover-based shooters out at the moment," he said. "But when a guy hunkers down behind something, you've just got to sit there and wait for him to pop his head up. Pops up, couple of bullets to his head, pops back down again.. and I'm waiting for him to pop back up again?"

His summation? The gameplay is boring. "I can't be bothered hanging around like that."

Currently Black is working on an FPS for Codemasters, stationed at the company's Guilford Studio. The details around the game are rather scarce, however the April edition of the Official Xbox Magazine UK touted the FPS as "the shooter that everybody asked for." This will also be Codemasters' first new IP since the launch of Operation Flashpoint, GRID, and DiRT.

Will Black create something so entirely new and fresh that it will reset the entire FPS genre? Probably not.

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CoderDunn 02/24/2010 10:58 PM
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I see, so he wants AI in games to be more fun by standing out in the open while they get shot. Sounds much more realistic /s

mathiasschnell 02/24/2010 11:15 PM
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Y'know sometimes realism needs to be thrown to the wayside for the sake of fun. Not sure why there's a sudden need for things to look and feel realistic when the most fun games are ones where reality is pretty much ignored.

I mean, just take a look at Katamari Damacy.
Realistic? No.
Weird and perhaps drug induced? Yes.
Fun as hell? You bet.

guitarpeggio 02/24/2010 11:17 PM
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I think the enemies' AI in Borderlands is a lot of fun. They are constantly scrambling around and they rarely duck and pop up in the same place twice.

justiceguy216 02/24/2010 11:20 PM
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coderdunn :
I see, so he wants AI in games to be more fun by standing out in the open while they get shot. Sounds much more realistic /s



I think he's refering to games with preset cover points... where the game says "Press 'A' to hide behind this here barrel", rather than letting you figure out how to crouch behind it and uncrouch to shoot

mojito_619 02/24/2010 11:23 PM
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It looks like they haven't played MW2 Multilayer.
*end of sarcasm

kingnoobe 02/24/2010 11:43 PM
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That doesn't sound like what hes refering to me justice. Sounds like what coderrdunn said except I think he's talking more about multiplayer not AI.

With that said I couldn't agree more with the boring part, but I completely disagree with the reason why.

Gave me rogue spear with an updated engine. I'd be in heaven. To many new fps don't have enough options. They want to restrict what you do. Ya I like the options of ctf, ffa..etc. But FFS give me the option to host without having to buy a server, or an easy way to customize on what weapons and ammo can be used as an admin.

Shotguns+rubber batons was a blast in rogue spear.

dark_lord69 02/24/2010 11:57 PM
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Seriously, I really like the soldier of fortune series. Nothing was more satisfying than completely blowing a guys head off OR a couple limbs. I have seen too many monster FPS games and too many that only have blood and don't convey that ultra violent and very graphic aspect I really like in a good first person shooter. When I'm pissed off or just in a bad mood nothing makes me feel better than a graphic and violent video game.

Gin Fushicho 02/25/2010 12:03 PM
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Thank god someone agrees with me, if I shoot someone in the head , and they aren't wearing a helmet, it should not matter what weapon I use , if it can penetrate the skull IRL , the dude should be dead with one shot , no exceptions. As for helmets , those will only protect you from so much.

princeofdreams 02/25/2010 12:05 PM
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killerclick 02/25/2010 12:06 PM
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I want realistic shooters. Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear were awesome. I loved how Quake and Unreal players couldn't last 10 seconds against me... kept trying to aim while running, trying to jump, forgetting that bullets pass through doors and other people... it was a blast

killerclick 02/25/2010 12:09 PM
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Yeah, and Ghost Recon was also great... where you can mow down a stupidly bunched up squad from 200 meters with 10 rounds in less than a second. Oh, this is stupid, we didn't even see you, waaah waaah :)

babybeluga 02/25/2010 12:27 PM
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dreamphantom_1977 02/25/2010 12:41 PM
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The only AI that really stood out to me was in stalker. I remember one time I was hiding with my flashlight out looking around, I seen a guy sneak up on one side, and I was sure he was gonna go there, I looked, didn't see nothing, waited, waited, looked again one way, then looked another way, nothing. So I turned my flashlight off, and bam he jumped out and killed me. It made me laugh cuz it was like he was waiting till it was dark so I couldn't see him. I knew he was there, somewhere lurking in the shadows. I agree most AI needs work. Like farcry 2, when u put ur sniper on someone way in the distance and they take a defensive stance. Or grandtheft auto IV the cops just "know" were you are at. I'm not complaining, some of the scripted AI is good, but nothing like playing against a real person online.

A few things I would like to see in AI:

1. Not knowing where you are at- almost 90 percent of the games i've ever played the enemies just "know" where you are at. Give them senses to find you. Sight, sound, smell, ect. Like farcry 2 or crysis. Nothing is worse than when an enemy can "see" through walls, or find you from far away insantly without looking.

2. Fear- I can't recall many enemies that you go up against (besides unarmed pedestrians) that you shoot, and instead of fighting to the death, maybe get the fear in there eyes, and run away. It just makes the game more real.

3. How bout some tricks? - enemy pretends pretends to be hurt, then you walk up to him, and bam, he shoots you. Or he befriends you for part of the game, and then he turns on you.

4. Better Hunting skills - It would be cool if the enemies could do stuff to to draw you out instead of always the run and gun method- smoke the place out first. Throw a rock or something to make you look away from where they are coming from. Work together to get hunt you instead of every man for himself.

5. Tea bagging - nothing would be more real than an enemy that teabag u after the kill. Plus that would motivate you to keep playing so you can teabag him back.

Honis 02/25/2010 12:44 PM
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matt87_50 02/25/2010 12:52 PM
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coderdunn :
I see, so he wants AI in games to be more fun by standing out in the open while they get shot. Sounds much more realistic /s



you want realistic? join the army.
I want fun and immersive.

I agree with him completely.

fps's went cover based to counter the fact that console controllers completely GIMP FPS gameplay!

JohnnyLucky 02/25/2010 12:55 PM
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Bored? Want to experience the real thing? No problem. Join the US Army or the US marines and get shipped to a combat zone. Unfortunately if you get waxed there is no replay.

jomofro39 02/25/2010 12:59 PM
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The entire environment needs to be destructible. Then there eventually will be no cover. And you should only be allowed to reload entire clips at a time, none of this 30% clip leftover automatically put into another clip in .05s.

b0o 02/25/2010 12:59 PM
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Cover system is the worse thing to happen to FPS in the last decade. Its also ruined Mass Effect 2, which isn't a pure FPS, but its combat relies heavily on cover.

crouch and prone positions along with a button to 'lean' were more than enough to let a player or enemy use the environment as cover. I don't know why they've dumbed it down so much.

I also hate the new 'hide for 5 seconds and regen all your health' system, makes every big fight into hiding, shooting 1 target, hiding, shooting 1 target, etc. lame.

D_Kuhn 02/25/2010 1:02 AM
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What he should have said is "Console FPS games suck". Press button-go to cover, press button-stand up, move joystick to roughly the vicinity of what you want to shoot, press button-headshot! Yipee I ROCK!

randoMIZER 02/25/2010 1:39 AM
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jomofro39 :
And you should only be allowed to reload entire clips at a time, none of this 30% clip leftover automatically put into another clip in .05s.


You've been able to do that in every Battlefield game from BF 1942 to BF2142, although I'm not sure about Bad Company and Heroes as I haven't played them. I think there's a couple of other games that do the same, but it's a rare feature still.

Personally I think AI have changed little in the last decade. They are still brain-dead, they just have the ability to kill you from greater distances with less accurate weapons now.

liquid0h 02/25/2010 2:13 AM
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victomofreality 02/25/2010 2:32 AM
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I don't know if he was AI or realism. What I took from it is he's tired with the fact that they're all so similar. More variety in game play not just different level settings.

Cons29 02/25/2010 2:42 AM
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"you know how fps today are 'boring'? they are all this and that..blah blah blah...hey you know we this new (fps)game we're working on.."

yeah, nice one to promote an upcoming game huh?
innovative? sure, show it and we'll tell you if its not 'boring'

Simple11 02/25/2010 4:07 AM
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Counter-strike is all we need

ninjanik 02/25/2010 4:48 AM
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I have a question for him, have you played mass effect 2?

math1337 02/25/2010 4:48 AM
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So he's talking about a game where enemies stand in the open and shoot at you, and where you run around in the open and shoot back? This seems familiar for some reason. This concept must be ultra-revolutionary.

I think EA is acting really stupid recently.(or maybe for a long time, you pick)

ailgatrat 02/25/2010 5:37 AM
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jomofro39 :
The entire environment needs to be destructible. Then there eventually will be no cover. And you should only be allowed to reload entire clips at a time, none of this 30% clip leftover automatically put into another clip in .05s.



Have you played the Bad Company 2 demo? Though I haven't actually watched the reload process to discern if you get ammo back with the reload.

theubersmurf 02/25/2010 6:11 AM
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I think his comment sounds ridiculous, but, I'm curious to hear him elaborate on the point, or make clear what he means. I actually liked Black back on the PS2...While I'm incredulous of his comment, I'm curious what he would supplant them with such that they would be vastly improved, though I suspect his game wouldn't supplant all other FPS with it's "innovation" whatever that innovation is.

Lozil 02/25/2010 6:14 AM
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The fun factor in the games is missing these days. The game publishers are trying too much to increase the graphic detail, match the physics to real world. Where as for a Gamer, At the end of that shot he just needs that damn evil person dead in an FPS game, not his head blown out or limb fall down. It's the story which used to keep the FPS alive earlier. Now a days it has just become a blood spill on screen.

RooD 02/25/2010 7:22 AM
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MAG seems pretty real compared to alot of fps i play too bad ita not pc

anamaniac 02/25/2010 7:28 AM
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Most are boring, but when games like Borderlands, Halo etc. are released, it's all good. =)

I hate 3rd person shooters though. >=(