Games - First-person shooter

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	Games - First-person shooter

A first-person shooter (FPS) is a combat computer or video game genre, which is characterized by the player’s on-screen view of the game simulating that of the character or First Person view.

Games like Battlezone, or many flight simulators might at first seem to be included in this broad definition, however, in the early 1990s, the term came to define a more specific type of game with a first-person view, almost always centered around the act of aiming and shooting weapons and usually limited ammunition. On-rails shooters are often viewed from a first-person perspective but are a sub-genre of FPS rather than a FPS proper.

The modern FPS genre emerged during the early 1990s, at the point when home computers became sufficiently powerful to draw basic 3D graphics in realtime. The breakthrough games were id Software's Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. The latter, in particular, defined the genre so emphatically that FPS games were commonly referred to as "Doom clones" for a significant period after its release.

First-person shooters have been subject to substantial controversy due to the levels of violence included in most games, and the visual realism that can be more inherent in the shooting of things in a first-person perspective.

Overview

The first-person shooter can be considered a sub-genre of shooter games, though almost all other two dimensional shooter games, especially shoot 'em ups, are more concerned with the gameplay mechanic of dodging than of precise aiming. The term FPS has recently come to refer to games where the player has full control over a character and can interact directly with the environment, although any game in first perspective that is a shooter is considered an FPS, for example Duck Hunt is an FPS game.

Many third-person shooters (where the player sees the game world from a viewpoint above and behind the main character) are commonly treated as first-person shooters, due to similarities in gameplay. In some cases (for example, Unreal Tournament 2004, Command & Conquer: Renegade, Star Wars Battlefront II, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath or Duke Nukem 3D) it is possible to toggle the game between both viewpoints.

Sub-genres

The realism in FPS games can vary from arcade shooters, which are fast paced and have unrealistic elements (such as the player being able to shrug off bullets or falling large distances) to levels approaching reality, where players are routinely killed by a single shot. In practice, most games fall somewhere between the two.

Distinct FPS sub-genres exist, which use a similar viewpoint and mechanics, but emphasise different aspects of FPS gameplay.

The stealth-based game or "first-person sneaker" centers on avoiding detection by opponents (for example, Thief, Splinter Cell).
The tactical shooter emphasises tactics (Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and other games based on novels by Tom Clancy; and games such as Counter-Strike
, America's Army, Operation Flashpoint , Killzone and Tactical Ops)
Run and gun
first-person shooters are fast-paced and action-focused. They often contain a large number of enemies, and allow the player to sustain unrealistic amounts of damage without dying. Many of the older FPSs such as Doom and Quake
are in this genre, as well as many more recent titles like Serious Sam, BLACK and the Halo series
.
The action/adventure shooter has larger environments and a greater emphasis on puzzle-solving and exploration (System Shock 2, Deus Ex, and Metroid Prime being examples).
There have also been games that blend Real-time strategy
gameplay to FPSes. Some of the early pioneers were Golgotha
and Battlezone. In these games, the player appears on the field as a single unit, but is able to give commands to other units, construct new units, and control the overall strategy. Some RTS/FPS hybrids use teamplay approach where one player is the commanding officer, responsible for the strategy part, and the other team members are ordinary soldiers. Some newer examples include Natural Selection and Savage
.

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