What would be your stand out SP FPS picks from the last 5 years?

[smarteyeball]

Lets face it. There have been some stellar single player First person shooters over the last 5 or so years.

Games that not only looking fantastic, but also have replay value thanks to enjoyable mechanics.

To start the ball rolling I'm nominating the excellent Metro: Last Light (redux)

Adapted from from the highly enjoyable Metro 2033 and Metro 2034 books, both Metro 2033 (redux, thanks to it's vastly improved performance) and it's follow up Metro: Last Light, both games are much more improved performance wise and are still visually very impressive. Both manage to encapsulate the "post apocalyptic" feel of factional survival and the supernatural/sci-Fi elements of the books.

While metro 2033 is a good game, it's major downside was pacing issues. - However Last Light managed to improve upon the formula by removing the "boring bits" while delivering a stunning atmosphere AND a balance of gameplay not found in most other titles.

There are two main approaches. You can play it the "easy way" in Spartan mode with plenty of ammo and a more traditional run n gun feel. Fun, but ultimately lacking the horror/survival aspect that's the Metro ethos. Where both shine is playing it on the survival / Ranger hardcore mode which adds a whole new depth to it. Truly the way it was intended to be played.

Instead of going in guns blazing, you discover a deep stealth, ammo conserving "plan ahead' method of play reminiscent of early Splinter Cell/Thief games that is infinitely more rewarding. A well placed thrown knife, or silenced head-shot that doesn't alert all enemies on the map is far more enjoyable than a triple headshot which alerts every damn enemy on the map like the COD series gives you. Head shots alsofeel like headshots and not 1,2,3 headshot.

Even within the linear setting of the levels, there are multiple ways of completing a section. Playing peek a boo with intelligent foes is far more enjoyable than shooting at "pop up" kamikaze soldiers with obvious hit point tallies. Enemies don;t have supernatural vision. You can actually hide from them and then flank, pop a shot and slink away to attack from another direction.

Even with the performance tweaking that has lowered some of the particle effect ambience, it still looks superior to the the cartoon-esque look of other "AAA" titles. With all bells and whistles - it simply looks the goods. If you have the grunt on a single screen, the Super Sampling AA looks gorgeous.


Metro LL uses the proven formula of of recreating the fun bits of gameplay in virtually all scenarios. Visually impressive, satisfying gameplay mechanics and weapons that feel unique and not simply re-skinned "same feel pop pops" trumps any sort of humdrum that certain other franchises continue to churn out.

Is it the best FPS ever? No. But neither it is it a gimmicky regurgitation like Chore of Dookie: Advanced Same thing.

If you didn't enjoy the original metro 2033 - Give the redux version a go. The performance tweaks alone are worth it. If you never played it on the Survival hardcore Ranger level - prepare yourself for a different game. Then enjoy the extra improvement of Last Light.

if this game disappoints you, then I'm afraid you have no discerning taste and are quite happy to accept 2nd rate AI, inferior visuals and enemies that soak up bullets like a sponge.

 

[RoasterMen]

I'm nominating Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1,2, and 3.


Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A handheld game was made for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America, Australia, and Europe in November 2007 for video game consoles and Microsoft Windows. It was released for the Mac in September 2008, then released for the Wii in November 2009, given the subtitle Reflex Edition. It is the fourth installment in the Call of Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs, and is the first in the Modern Warfare line of the franchise, followed by a direct sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as the first game in the series to have a Mature rating. The game breaks away from the World War II setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern times. Developed for over two years, the game uses a proprietary game engine. On September 10, 2009, it was re-released in Japan by Square Enix.
The story takes place in the year 2011, where a radical leader has executed the president of an unnamed country in the Middle East, and an ultranationalist movement starts a civil war in Russia. The conflicts are seen from the perspectives of a U.S. Force Reconnaissance Marine and a British SAS commando, and are set in various locales, such as the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Ukraine. The multiplayer portion of the game features various game modes, and contains a leveling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons, weapon attachments, and camouflage schemes as they advance.
As opposed to earlier games in the Call of Duty series, the game features modern equipment and new features, many exclusive to the multiplayer part of the game, such as "killstreaks"; killing a number of enemies without the player dying in between kills allows access to various assets including airstrikes and helicopter support. A character can be positioned in one of three stances: standing, crouching, or prone; each affecting the character's rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage. As such, there are no armor or health power ups. When the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glow red and the character's heartbeat increases. If the character stays out of fire, the character can recover. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player to either flee or toss it back to the enemy.
Campaign

The player takes on the role of various characters during a single-player campaign. The characters' involvement in the plot occurs simultaneously and overlaps the events in the game. As such, the player's perspective changes from one character to another between missions. Each mission features a series of objectives; the player is led to each objective with the heads up display, which marks its direction and distance. Some objectives require that the player arrives at a checkpoint, while other objectives require the player to eliminate enemies in a specified location, stand their ground to defend an objective, or plant explosive charges on an enemy installation. After the credits, a special epilogue mission is unlocked for play, featuring a four-man squad retrieving a VIP from terrorists who have hijacked an airliner. The SAS rescue the VIP and escape before the plane is destroyed.[3]


These games was a fun game to play and also sad because of the story line (Soap, Grinch, Truck, Roach, and Yuri all died leaving Cpt.Price alive after killing Makarov in MW3).

 

[Squid]

Both very good choices IMO. I thoroughly enjoyed both Metro games and have played 2033 a few times through. I need to get started on a second play through for Last Light as I actually liked that one a bit better.

Modern Warfare 1 & 2 were the best in the COD series for me. The story for 3 didn't pull me in as much as 1 & 2 though. I have logged about 300 hours each multiplayer for these games so I think I have gotten my money's worth (can't say that for a lot of games I have purchased).

Now if you would have said the last 7 years then I would have a favorite without even thinking - the original Crysis + Warhead will be my all time favorite FPS. I have played them through at least a half dozen times maybe more.

If I am to pick a favorite in the last 5 years then I would have to say Far Cry 3 + 4. I enjoyed 3 so much that I have played it through 4 times and will probably give 4 a go that many times maybe more. That is quite a feat since it takes me about 40-45 hours on each play through. I think they more than make up for the crap pile that 2 was.

 

[AstaLaVista]

Unfortunately for me, horror movies or games is something I don't normally enjoy. Being said that, I did enjoy Fear and also Crysis but to a point, more than that and I don't even feel the need to spend 5 bucks on Metro Last Light Redux as I know that as far as I will get is to install it.

I must agree that even though CoD MW games are not at all Stealth and more of a Run and Gun walk through here and get bombarded with dogfights that make no logic sense, the ergos of the weaponry is what brought me to them and I thoroughly enjoy them over and over again. The Solo Missions after the Campaign are awesome as well and I have played those even to this day waiting for something similar.

FC2 was one of those games that I did tried, a few times and I couldn't even finished or pass the 2 map. FC3, initially was a non playable game but once you start to recognize it that it may not be a pure first person shooter and you enjoy the exploration and cutting flowers and animal skins, well, you do enjoy it but I wouldn't categorize it as a normal or std FPS game. FC4 is a total different animal and by what I am reading on the UBI forums I think I will wait even longer to get so I can't say much about them.

Sniper Elite is one of those weird games that even on Third person view, oh wait... we are only talking of First person shooter. Sorry.

Crysis 3 was very much enjoyable until you get to the Bosses parts, making it almost annoying at times because, unless you pay attention to the scripted parts, you won't be able to pass and all you get is wasted time of dying and starting the session again. There were some things that I would have loved they change, things like a damn red dot on the Bow so you can really go more stealth would be awesome. Bullet penetration was another downer for me, having to waste a full mag before you drop an enemy AI is no fun, sometimes even a headshot would take 2 or more shots to take down, some other times you got lucky and the enemy ai or the alien would drop and you didn't even know how or why... Nonetheless, they were enjoyable and open world in is nature.

MoH Airborne was also enjoyable even though I still hate the reasoning or logic of getting XP to get a better weapon I am starting to go with the flow. I do wish that once you get to a higher level, when you start a new campaign on a harder level, you must keep your XP from the previous campaign and not have to start the whole process again... after all, isn't the whole thing of buying a game to enjoy it thoroughly and not just get annoy by it?

MoH Warfighter 1 & 2 were also good, albeit, with less than desirable weapon ergos. I must admit, I still have a hard time swallowing the fact that a member of the team dies at the end but I believe that is part of their plot now. 1 was definitely better than 2 in my opinion but as FPS shooters go, you will have plenty of wasted and enjoyable hours.

 

[Dude]

I have MOH Warfighter 1 but never played it. I might give it a go soon. I loved the COD MW games, and crisis games. I lost interest in Far Cry after part 1, and the Metro games were not for me either

 

[Phill3990]

Metro was a brilliant game which I enjoyed but I found its replay-ability lacking against other FPS games such as Fallout.

My favorite 'good' graphics shooter would have to be Call of duty 4, at the time this game released it was revolutionary to the shooter genre and its only real competition was halo. CoD4 will always be one of them 'classics' that will live on in many gamer's hearts and minds.

Another brilliant FPS that I personally loved was Half life + Half life 2. I bought the whole pack on steam and have played all of them several times. I spent many years as a young gamer spas 12'ing head crabs and using the crowbar to batter people zombies.

Lately though I feel FPS losing its foothold, with games like Watchdogs and GTAV taking a high spot in the 3rd person genre with huge worlds and much deeper story than most fps can dish out.

My twocents ;D

Phill3990

 

[Wishmaster]

Bioshock Infinite

 

[MrNeeds]

My nomination is FarCry 3, by far the best iteration of FarCry to date, stealth and FPS mixed similar to Metro 2033 but set in a tropical Island with fantastic visuals, engaging game play and massive amounts of replay-ability, it ran with problems but it had a certain charm.

Skyrim comes in at a close 2nd for me, even though it was more of a fantasy-adventure title, it is still FPS but not in a traditional sense, medieval FPS is suppose

MrNeeds

 

[blackroseMD1]

For me, it's Bioshock Infinite. While I feel that the first two games are better in terms of atmosphere, Infinite combined the classic FPS elements with a story that really pulled you in to Columbia. The Burial at Seas DLCs that close out the game are just icing on the cake. I'm a sucker for a FPS with a great story.

A very close second goes to Far Cry 4. I loved FC3, but Far Cry 4 has grabbed me to the point where I can go days without doing a single story-advancing mission, because I'm too busy hunting or just doing random stuff.

 

[sygnus21]

my thoughts...

When I first started PC gaming I started in First Person Shooters (FPS). From that respect (and this is outside of your last five years criteria) for me, my all-time favorites are:

• Unreal – The graphics in this game were ahead of their time. The first time I saw moving sky in a game was here. To this day I always check out the sky in a game as it shows a level of attention to detail. Also loved the story of the lone survivor of a downed ship on another planet. This game made you think as it was well balanced with puzzle based as well as action packed missions or tasks. This game looked beautiful with 3Dfx and Glide. It had a killer soundtrack which is still sort after today. NO... I ain't selling mine.
• Bioshock (first one) – I love the story line here. This game is more about a story than an action packed game and it works very well here. I absolutely love the way atmosphere, environment, graphics, and music come together to tell its story. This is one of the best I’ve seen to date.
• Far Cry (first one) – Action, jungle science, great story, graphics, weapon's sound, environment. This and Half-Life 2 has some of the best weapon’s sounds in a game.
• F.E.A.R. (the first one) – This game definitely game me the jumps and kept my attention. I don’t know how many times Alma made me jump when least expected. You actually felt like you were there, fear and all. Great game.
• Dead Space (first one) – Like Fear, kept my attention and gave me the jumps as well. Additionally the atmospheric and environmental sounds of this game was one of the best in sound effects. Everywhere you went you had stuff falling or moving and never knew when something was about to happen. The fear factor was very well done in this game.

Atmosphere in this case being when everything fits and comes together to enhance the story and environment. This is the time period, style, look and feel, even the music and environment. Environment is simply the conditions of the period the game is set in. Example Bioshock where the art deco style of Ryan’s city, also shows the decay and destruction of a city being fought over for control. This is a city where Andrew Ryan’s creed is "A man creates. A parasite asks, where is my share?" Somehow you feel and see that creed throughout the game as you fight to survive a city gone mad through the use of genetic enhancements.

Anyway I can’t really see too many FPS games of today supplanting those classics but that said, my last five years I’ll go:

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut - I love this game, the story, as well as game play. I like the fact that you can build your character for a multitude of play styles and I usually use stealth, mixed with kill everything and explore. I also like the fact that some missions are puzzle based which is a bonus. I’ve played this game at least 3 times and will probably play it again.
• Dishonored – Like Deus Ex, I’ve play this a number of times. This another of those games with a great story. The graphics here are pretty good and the gameplay is outstanding. You can challenge yourself anytime by completing the game, mission or task in complete stealth without being noticed or killing anyone, or at least as few as possible. And depending on your overall kill status, affects the game's ending. Great, great, game. The DLC here completes the story as you get different perspectives with each of the two releases.
• Bioshock Infinite – Though nowhere near the caliber of Bioshock 1 in terms of story, the game play is outstanding and the atmosphere and graphics were outstanding.
• Borderlands (first one) – Yeah I know there’s probably more enjoyment in play multi vs. SP, but I really loved the graphical look of this game with made me enjoy it a lot.

With that I’d say a good game is one in which you thoroughly enjoyed and would be happy to play again, and again.

My two cents.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Max Payne 3 to be driven to the edge of insanity to find out you were really sane :shock:

 

[AstaLaVista]

Max Payne 3, I was so looking forward to this game and I was not able to last for more than 45 minutes... I think I got to a Cruise Line firefight and that was it. It sucks to get old people!

 

[M1GU31]

I'm more of a rpg guy though if we're talking about more recent fps I would say borderlands 2. Though for fps of all time for me would be TF2 since I still play that game a lot.

 

[Victor S]

The Saboteur, Far Cry 3 & 4, Watchdogs, Hitman Absolution. Assassin's Creed: Black Flag were all good.
But the only ones I've replayed - twice- is the Saboteur and Hitman. The Far Cry's might deserve a replay when I get around to them.

 

[AstaLaVista]

Far Cry 3, if you can get all the issues fix ed and wrap your head around the fact that you will do more exploration than actual killing gets to be more enjoyable for a second or third pass...

There are plenty of Mods and fixes you can do to your GamerProfile.xml ... google is your friend.

 

[sygnus21]

I'm more of a rpg guy though if we're talking about more recent fps I would say borderlands 2. Though for fps of all time for me would be TF2 since I still play that game a lot.

I've turned more into an RPG guy myself. I love the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Not an E.A. fan but they did these titles right. Also a big fan of Oblivion and Skyrim.

I started out FPS and never thought I would get into RPG's, and especially a fantasy series!

 

[Victor S]

Far Cry 3, if you can get all the issues fix ed and wrap your head around the fact that you will do more exploration than actual killing gets to be more enjoyable for a second or third pass...

There are plenty of Mods and fixes you can do to your GamerProfile.xml ... google is your friend.

I don't recall having any "issues" with Far Cry 3. Maybe it didn't alt-tab well. Far Cry 4 goes into windowed mode sometimes when I alt-tab. Minor hassle resetting it to full screen. Many games don't handle alt-tab well, but lately only Far Cry 4 has this minor issue for me.

 

[Victor S]

I'm more of a rpg guy though if we're talking about more recent fps I would say borderlands 2. Though for fps of all time for me would be TF2 since I still play that game a lot.

I've turned more into an RPG guy myself. I love the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Not an E.A. fan but they did these titles right. Also a big fan of Oblivion and Skyrim.

I started out FPS and never thought I would get into RPG's, and especially a fantasy series!

IMO Morrowwind was the best of the Elder Scrolls, but it's kind of dated now. I have more hours on Morrowwind than any game by far. Gothic II is probably next. I loved the ability to have multiple followers in Gothic II and in the Fallout series.

 

[RoasterMen]

I might just add: Grand Theft Auto IV for being a next-gen game way back in 2008, Still kicking Watch Dog's ass. First GTA Game and First HD Universe game to have a decisions in a middle of the storyline.

 

[sygnus21]

I'm more of a rpg guy though if we're talking about more recent fps I would say borderlands 2. Though for fps of all time for me would be TF2 since I still play that game a lot.

I've turned more into an RPG guy myself. I love the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Not an E.A. fan but they did these titles right. Also a big fan of Oblivion and Skyrim.

I started out FPS and never thought I would get into RPG's, and especially a fantasy series!

IMO Morrowwind was the best of the Elder Scrolls, but it's kind of dated now. I have more hours on Morrowwind than any game by far. Gothic II is probably next. I loved the ability to have multiple followers in Gothic II and in the Fallout series.

I have Morrowwind but never played it. It came with one of my video cards some years back. Lost the PID number so I can't even install it now. Oh well.