For those that don’t know, I’m the “shooter guy” at Gamer Horizon. While I do enjoy a wide variety of games, I would be lying if I didn’t say I play a LOT of shooters, especially those of the first-person variety. E3 2013 certainly had its fair share and I saw quite a few of them. I decided to compile a small list of 5 shooters that I saw and give a brief overview of each one.
Titanfall – Respawn Entertainment
Repsawn had a lot to prove when it came time to unveil their first game, Titanfall. When the veil came down, the buzz was nearly deafening. Mechs, jet packs, 60fps, oh my!
What can be said about Titanfall that hasn’t already been said? It looks amazing. It’s ambitious. It’s exciting. It’s a fresh take on the twitch, quick respawn type of gameplay made mega-popular by Call of Duty and is certainly the first real contender for Call of Duty’s throne.
Titanfall is published by Electronic Arts.
Call of Duty: Ghosts – Infinity Ward
Infinity Ward decided to start a whole new sub-brand of Call of Duty having wrapped up the Modern Warfare story in Modern Warfare 3. Supposedly Call of Duty: Ghosts has a whole new story with all new characters, but I’d be willing to bet that a new Price will show up.
What Infinity Ward showed at E3 was graphically impressive if not entirely innovative. And with Titanfall‘s shadow looming over 2014, Call of Duty may be in serious trouble on Xbox platforms.
For more on Titanfall and Call of Duty: Ghosts, please visit the link at the bottom of the page.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is published by Activision.
Blacklight: Retribution – Zombie Studios
Zombie Studios’ free-to-play FPS, Blacklight: Retribution is coming to PS4–hopefully at launch, if the independent studio is to be believed. If you’ve played any recent FPS, then you’ll instantly be able to pick up and play Blacklight.
That is not to say the game is without innovation. In fact, my favorite thing about the game was its approach to the mini-map. Instead of a circle in the corner of the screen occupying valuable real estate, you press R1 and your avatar clicks their visor bringing up an X-ray view of the map for a few seconds. This view shows your enemies in red and gives you their position. Just head in that direction and get in on the action.
I will definitely be playing Blacklight: Retribution whenever it launches on PS4.
Blacklight: Retribution is published by Perfect World Entertainment.
Wolfenstein: The New Order – MachineGames
A few weeks ago I attended a pre-E3 event hosted by Bethesda and got to go hands on with MachineGame’s Wolfenstein reboot and came away very impressed. It looked and played great while combining new school controls with old school mechanics such as health packs and armor pick ups. You can also hold as many weapons as you pick up as opposed to today’s standard of two to four.
With a great sense of humor, excellent performance capture, tight gameplay, and the signature feel of Wolfenstein, I’m genuinely excited for Wolfenstein: The New Order when it releases this fall.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is published by Bethesda Softworks.
Takedown: Red Sabre – Serellan
Takedown: Red Sabre’s is a Kickstarter-funded, hardcore, tactical FPS made by veterans of the industry who have worked on titles in the Ghost Recon, Halo, SOCOM, SWAT and F.E.A.R. franchises. Led by Christian Allen, the former creative director of the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise, the team at Serellan are aiming Takedown: Red Sabre more towards the Rainbow Six military shooter fan rather than the Call of Duty one. In fact, if Call of Duty is all you play, then you need not apply. Takedown is hardcore in every sense of the word. One life rounds, no regenerating health, no leveling up, nothing at all like the multiplayer experience found in Call of Duty.
During the gameplay demonstration for Takedown I saw a realistic game in which simple things like how you throw a grenade and how your gun reacts in close quarters were the focus. For example, instead of merely pressing the bumper to release a grenade, both hands must come off the weapon – one holds the actual grenade and the other holds the pin. When released the player pulls the pin and then can either cook the grenade before throwing or can toss it immediately. Also, when close to a wall, your gun will go down and you can’t shoot. Spatial awareness is key on these maps as getting caught too close to a wall can mean instant death. Also while you can customize your guns completely from the get go, putting a sniper scope on a submachine gun will not do anything other than be a sniper scope on a submachine gun.
If I had one negative to level at the game it would be that it’s not very pretty to look at and in a year full of next gen shooters, it may have trouble finding an audience beyond those that are looking for a more hardcore, almost anti-Call of Duty experience. Which I am sure is just fine for the Allen and the team at Serellan.
Takedown: Red Sabre is published by 505 Games.
Am I Missing Something?
So that’s my quick overview of the shooters I was able to see and play at E3 2013. Unfortunately I was unable to get my hands on Killzone: Shadow Fall and Battlefield 4 because time wouldn’t allow, so sorry about that. Also, Destiny, while impressive, literally didn’t show anything that wasn’t already shown in the Sony press conference.
What shooters are you looking forward to this year? Do any of these make your list? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
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