The Hot Topic Returns

[AndyKurosaki]

BMX XXX. 

 

Nah. I’d like to see a Tenchu remaster. Dead Space. And Dante’s Inferno.
 

 

[shinymcshine]

Surely the only option here, and I'll even put it in caps is:

 

VAGRANT STORY 

 

Maybe it's going to happen too:

https://screenrant.com/vagrant-story-2-details-yasumi-matsuno-square-enix/

[Nag]

 

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Readers discuss the best first and third person shooters, with classics including Half-Life 2 and Titanfall 2.

 

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Paulie, who asked which shooters are your favourite and why? Do you prefer first or third person views and do you primarily play them single or multiplayer?

 

We had lots of different answers, but most people agreed that first person shooters in particular don’t age well, and so there were relatively few nominations for anything older than last gen.

 

[OCH]

I always choose 3rd person view, out of preference. Mostly the headache thing. But also I don't really like the 'hands only' perspective of FPS. Psi-Ops or Freedom Fighters immediately come to mind as favourites.

 

I can't think of any multiplayer 3rd person shooter that I've played, off the top of my head. But the last FPS multiplayer title was probably Timesplitters: Future Imperfect, back in 2005.

 

[bellow]

Half life 2 for FPS, and that's a clear, clear winner for me, with the caveat that I haven't played that many. For TPS I'd have to say that remake of Gears 1 and maybe TLoU 2.

[Maryokutai]

I haven't played that many either, but each for very different reasons I'd say Timesplitters 2 & 3, Halo 4 and Titanfall 2. Timesplitters in this case being the pure fun game, Halo 4 having my favourite storyline of any FPS and Titanfall just for being extremely accomplished on many levels, from pacing, to gunplay, to the overall implementation of unique ideas that go beyond just enemy and level design.

 

For third-person I can more easily pick a single favourite, which is Vanquish.

[one-armed dwarf]

Yea I dunno I don't actually play FPS all that much. I thought Titanfall 2 was kind of brilliant but also something that I forgot about quite quickly, it's mostly a couple levels in that game where the level design is really good, but I also didn't really enjoy the weird Portal stuff it did later on and kinda trailed off on it. Ultimately I think I don't enjoy the genre as much as others cause the games that would more likely appeal to me are twitch shooters like Doom Eternal and Valorant but I am too rubbish to get into them in the first place.

 

The shooters I'm into tend to have something else going on in them that appeal to me, like the Half Life games (of which I include HL Alyx cause that is a first person cover shooter, just in VR and slower paced than most). 'Pure' action shooters like Gears of War are things I get bored of quickly

[DANGERMAN]

depends on what the game is as to whether I prefer 1st or 3rd person shooters. I wouldn't want to play Vanquish in 1st person, I wouldn't want to play Doom Eternal 3rd person

 

In terms of my favourite, Doom 2016 would be right up there, as would the original Quake. Half-Life 2 Episode 2 is probably my favourite of those

[mfnick]

I definitely lean more 3rd person shooter. Especially One/PS4 gen, I’ve barely played any first person games. But really I don’t mind, so whichever is best for the game you’re making.

 

As for favourites.

 

3rd Person - Vanquish at number 1. After that’s it’s basically the mainline Gears games. In particular 3 & 5. Uncharted 4 if that counts? 

 

1st Person - Probably CoD 4 at number 1. After that it’s Bad Company 2, Titanfall 2, DOOM Eternal and Modern Warfare 3 - yes MW3. I know people don’t like that one but I thought the campaign was brilliant OTT fun. 

[DisturbedSwan]

My FPS list:

• Prey
• Half-Life 2
• Doom Eternal
• Titanfall 2
• Area 51
• Rainbow Six Siege
• Overwatch
• Bioshock
• Destiny
• Halo 1-3, Reach
• Apex Legends
• Wolfenstein: TNO & TNC
• Doom 3
• CoD 4: Modern Warfare
• CoD: World at War

 

As for TPS':

• Uncharted 4
• The Last of Us Part II (if that counts)
• Tomb Raider 2013 (if that counts)
• Max Payne 1-3
• The Division
• Red Faction Guerrilla 
• Resident Evil 4-6
• Control (if that counts)
• Dead Space (if that counts)
• Watch Dogs 1 & 2
• Gears 1, 2 & 4.

[spatular]

for multiplayer - halo, destiny, titanfall, splatoon

for single player - ^ these are still good for single player, especially halos/titanfall 2. but i guess i'm not really that into fps single player as the first person games i think of are more stuff that doesn't really count like deus ex/dishonoured/prey/mirrors edge/ghostrunner. you can play dues ex/prey like an fps but i don't really. half life 2 i guess but not sure how well it holds up. if stuff in vr counts - pistol whip is amazing but is more light gun/rhythm game. 

 

struggling to think of third person games, well splatoon, and as already mentioned vanquish, and re4 but i'm not sure that counts. that old metal arms was good too.

[DANGERMAN]

oh yeah, forgot about Splatoon, that's a great game

[Sly Reflex]

Halo and Battlefield come to mind with first person stuff.

 

I've been playing Halo a bit recently (with MIkeHagger, remember him?) and although bits of it are a bit saggy and outdated, for the most it really stands up. I think most if it comes down to how the AI works in that game with each enemy  posing different threats and being dealt with accordingly.

 

Battlefield, specifically Bad Company 2 exemplified how you should do shooters. It was as close to perfect as you can get, real lighting in a jar.

 

For single player stuff, I think people will struggle to come close to Titanfall 2.

 

Third person stuff. It's got to be Gears. 1 through 3 are amazing. 3 especially since it was so fluid in it's movements, the feeling of control and how the mechanics slot together just feel so right.

 

Finally EDF, the complete opposite of Gears. A game that has a budget of £20, £10 of which was spent on a 12 pack of cheapo beer. It's the best shit game. 

[Nag]

4 minutes ago, Sly Reflex said:

MIkeHagger, remember him?

 

I was thinking of him the other day actually... it was a sad day when he dropped gamesTM.

[Whiskey_chaser]

I much prefer first person over third (something about 3rd person that throws my aim off).

First person games, Halo, Half-Life, Bioshock, and more recently, purely because it's possibly the best multiplayer FPS games i've ever played, The Hunt: Showdown (i'm becoming obsessed with this game).

 

Third Person, Gears 1 & 2, Outriders (loving the craziness of it) and as @Sly Reflex EDF.

[Nag]

 

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Readers reveal the last time they bought a physical copy of a game, as opposed to digital, and for some that means going back quite a while.

 

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Grant and asked whether the last boxed copy of a game you bought was brand new or second-hand? Why did you buy it physically instead of a digital version and is that your usual reasoning?

 

Most readers admitted that because of the convenience, and increasingly the price, they buy the majority of their games digitally now, although interestingly many didn’t realise quite how much until replying to this Hot Topic.

 

Not too long for me, it was a brand new copy of Cyberpunk 2077 (since traded)... I think what with probably buying less games nowadays and the closure of my local branch of Game I'm just gonna go full on digital from now on... in the last month I've pre-ordered and paid for four games digitally over the two consoles.

 

I've also gotten really lazy in regards to fucking about with discs.?

[OCH]

I've bought four brand new (technically) physical games so far this year and only one digital game. I have less of a problem with discs since having to archive most of my games on Switch to make room for Valkyria Chronicles 4. That did irritate me a little. 

[Maryokutai]

I still buy most major releases as a physical version, so the last one was probably Monster Hunter Rise. I'm not too big of a fan of buying digital code that is locked to my account from a specific company versus having a physical media that I can use pretty much how I want (unless it's a PS4 with a dead CMOS chip, ha). Switch in particular has the problem with limited storage space as well so if a game is available on cartridge for that system I'll probably go for that version.

 

That said I'm not quite as black and white about it as just a few years ago. If an indie game comes out digitally now with a physical release down the line I'm still going to download it if I want to play it right away. Or if a big game is ridiculously cheap, like the RE games I bought earlier this year.

Plus with all the environmental issues it's probably better to let a server transmit a couple of data for a few minutes than having a plastic box being shipped a couple of hundreds or thousands of kilometers to my home. In fact the latter might, at the end of the day, be the reason why I might eventually make the jump with a clear conscience, not because of whatever supposed advantages digital distribution has according to the industry.

[mfnick]

Physical the vast majority of time for me. Just the last 2 PS5 games I bought I saved £50 just on the asking price. Then sold them on and saved a further £70. £140 to buy them digitally, in the end I payed £20 to experience both. I don’t care how convenient it is, I’ll never pay above £50 for a digital copy of a game. 
 

I have definitely started buying more digitally though as I’m happy to wait most of the time and they finally started doing good sales mid way through last gen. If they’ve got a good deal on the digital version I’ll happily buy that one now whereas before I’d still refuse to buy the digital version even if it was cheap. I’ve definitely come round a bit more. I’m very wary of buying digital games on Playstation now though - in fact I have been since they were so non commital about PS4 games working on the PS5. Recent developments have just cemented this. I’ll wait and buy the Xbox version when available. 
 

Game Pass should be mentioned with this too. Basically I’m buying less games and experiencing more I wouldn’t have tried because of that service. With all the convenience of digital and none of the cost drawbacks (apart from when they’re removed - a which reminds me of another example of the cost issue, Darksiders 3 was removed, it was £45 on the Xbox store - I payed £5 on ebay then sold on when done for the same). It’s fantastic as a service. 

 

[Sly Reflex]

Mine was Division 2 just after it released.

 

I guess you could count the Switch games I've bought as presents, but yeah, I am not longer tied to a physical media. Everything comes through the pipe.