So Call of battleduty ninety12 is just about to be released. yay. not.
the first fps i played was wolfenstein 3d. and i've played like 500 titles since... yeah... so.... i'd just like to say that COD is bad for you! this style of shooter is stale and has nooooo innovation. you can hardly call a few new killstreaks and "support for pro gamer community" innovative.
I can honestly say that the last good multiplayer experience i had was with rainbow six vegas. This game sucked at so many levels but had a good cover mechanic and some good multiplayer stuff. everything i've played since has just sucked a lot more than this game. let me tell you why.... its because they threw in something which was fairly unique and mashed it into an absolute killer online mode. Im talking about the terrorist hunt mode. the sad thing is that out of all my friends who played online 90% of them never even tried it. SHAME ON YOU! assholes!
Basically you and 3 other chumps/friends took on a small to medium sized map filled with 25 - 70 AI opponents. As a team you had to destroy them. even if just one of your team survived and cleared the map then XP would be shared between the whole team, unless you quit in which case you lost all XP. and if everyone died... well no=one got anything. XP bought you custom kit and was like gold dust if you wanted to make elite rank. In game the the AI spawned slightly differently depending on where you decided to travel etc so there was always a rough idea where your opponents would come from but not a precise idea, It was random enough. the game also usually threw up a few glitches which added to the variety.... unintentionally. The terrorists were very good at hiding... sometimes.
The way this was set up promoted comradery and teamwork. and it felt like a breath of fresh air to have your friends spur you on, or complete strangers honestly urging you to do your best to finish what they failed to start. The tension was unbelievable at times.
Picture losing all your team mates... theres 1 terrorist left. your teammates desperately want you to find this guy but he's hiding like a bastard. 2 bullets = death for you. the pressure was immense at times. but the elation of clearing a map single handed whilst having a genuine appreciative audience was truly an amazing feeling. i made 10 times more friends online playing this than any other game! hand on heart. Yeah there are co-op modes in many games but they all seem to lack the solid tension filled pressure and emotion filled atmosphere of vegas terrorist hunt.
I guess my point is i have not found an online experience like this since. I feel it was a rare gem which was largely undiscovered and has now been lost and forgotten. Ultimately... most online games these days have a large measure of uber competative hostility, trash talking, noob bashing and unsporting conduct.
I think if fps developers wish to inspire and truly wow people they need to get back to basics.
RANT!!! I dont want new guns, i dont want 40 slight variations of deathmatch, i dont want needless gore, i dont want to purchase a new title and find out its its the same game as 50 others released the same year, i dont want a stupid gimmick inserted into a game to try and create sales, i dont want to be spawn trapped by a group of people who think they are harder than Chuck Norris because they are good at cheating.... and i dont want graphics over substance! goddammit!
I AM a fps veteran, and i hate most modern fps games. developers... take a leaf out of the terrorist hunt book and promote this style of online fellowship. it proves that a real average game can become amazing just by being original in the online department. and taking someones XP away if they quit like a mardy sore loser is just one way of promoting healthier attitudes online. Please. im depressed. i just want a fun fps game. is that too much to ask?
Sorry for the wall of text. dont take it down. thanks.