This Year's Best FPS?

[Drunkagain]

In what is, IMO, the best year for FPS's since the 97/98, what was everyone's favorite? I think I've added all the big ones, and yes, I know Halo 2 is a console game, and United Offensive is an expansion pack, but decided to throw them in there anyway.

My pick is Far Cry.

[extarbags]

Painkiller.

[Warning]

Half-Life 2. I'd go with Painkiller for second. It would have been a close second if I hadn't been hit with a terrible bug that prevented me from loading my saves near the end of the game. I never got to finish the damn thing.

[Mattc0m]

I voted Halo 2, but CoD: UO comes a close second. I liked Half-Life 2 a lot, and it had a much better single-player, but the replay value is so limited. But I'm sure over time that will change.

[mutt]

This is a problem. Whenever I vote for an FPS, I'm always just voting for the single player game, since I couldn't care less about multiplayer. Others apparently vote on the basis of multiplayer or both. So what are we voting on here?

Based on single player, I give the nod to HL2.

[mono]

Half Life 2 was a great FPS experience. Although now that I finished the game, nearly a week ago, and it was so linear, there's simply no reason to revisit it. Fun for a few days at least.

[Mattc0m]

Half Life 2 was a great FPS experience. Although now that I finished the game, nearly a week ago, and it was so linear, there's simply no reason to revisit it. Fun for a few days at least.

Yeah, thats my exact problem. With both Halo 2 and CoD: UO, theres multiplayer that offers up a ton of replay value. I know HL2 is going to have tons of mods and add-ons, but its not really the same thing. I really wish there was some sort of multiplayer component in Half-Life 2, CS excluded.

[Drunkagain]

Half Life 2 was a great FPS experience. Although now that I finished the game, nearly a week ago, and it was so linear, there's simply no reason to revisit it. Fun for a few days at least.

Yeah, thats my exact problem. With both Halo 2 and CoD: UO, theres multiplayer that offers up a ton of replay value. I know HL2 is going to have tons of mods and add-ons, but its not really the same thing. I really wish there was some sort of multiplayer component in Half-Life 2, CS excluded.

Same here. I cant think of a game more deserving of DM. God it would be fun to use that gravity gun in DM.

[Hump]

Painkiller + HL2 = tie

[Shadari]

You omitted Unreal Tournament 2004. How can this be? :wink:

[Creole Ned]

Actually, omitting UT2004 and Battlefield Vietnam is a pretty good slip-up considering they both shipped on the same day. :)

HL2 is my pick and UT2004 would have been my #2 choice. It simply sets the standard for a polished multiplayer shooter with a ton of variety and excellent support from both the developers and community.

[Tyjenks]

Where is the "Fuck FPSs" option?

An shouldn't the plural still be FPS? or RBI?

[MattKeil]

Multiplayer factor hands it to Halo 2.

[graller]

Thief?

[extarbags]

Aw HAIL no!

[mutt]

Wow. No love for Pacific Assault at all. How the mighty have fallen...

[Sean Tudor]

I'd like to give an honorable mention to Joint Operations.

[christopher]

Wow. No love for Pacific Assault at all. How the mighty have fallen...

Yeah, I think people are getting tired of the overly scripted shooters, as well as World War 2 games in general.

[Kaigen]

Half-Life 2.

Honorable mention goes to Tribes: Vengeance.

[xahlt]

Same here. I cant think of a game more deserving of DM. God it would be fun to use that gravity gun in DM.

oh my, and look at this: http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=news&archive=yes&id=358

Seriously though, come on, Half-life 2.

[Xaroc]

Half-Life 2 any other choice would be uncivilized.

My list then goes:

2) Far Cry -- best stealth in a true shooter plus giagantic amazing levels only knock is the ending levels.
3) Halo 2 -- single player that is fun but too short and seemed to be ready to take it up a notch when it ended abruptly. Multiplayer is also fun.
4) Doom 3 and Painkiller -- Painkiller was like a bag of chips, you can just keep eating them but ultimately it doesn't fully satisfy you. Doom 3 was like a vat of chocolate moose, incredibly rich but you can only eat so much before you can't eat anymore or want something different.

All of this IMO of course.

-- Xaroc

[Jim Preston]

While the gameplay in Painkiller is rock solid, and I never got tired of impaling things to a wall with a big wood spike, I've noticed in the many impassioned defenses of this (overlooked?) game is the complete absence of the discussion of its "story." I don't remember the exact details other than the fact that I was giggling at a proud graduate of the Todd MacFarlane school of moronic cosmologies. The central premise of some heartbroken badass enlisted by someone untrustworthy go-between in an ultimate battle out of the book of revelations is right out of the execrable Spawn fiction. And the silly plot twists involving Eve and the pudgy demon who may not be what he seems didn't really elevate the rather ordinary CG cutscenes.

By contrast, Half-Life 2's story is vastly superior, with interesting reversals, returns, redemptions, runners, and other staples of good videogame writing (including the rarest of all videogame characters: realistic women in sensible clothing). There have been dozens of posts in other threads about the story, and while there have been some fair criticisms, I think most people found the story compelling enough to investigate it outside the gameplay experience. Can anyone say the same about Painkiller?

If the poll is about best FPS gameplay, I still think Half-Life 2's is better and more varied, but if it includes the complete experience -- including production value, music, multiplayer, story, etc. -- then I feel Half-Life 2 is much better than the very good Painkiller, and much better than anything else this year.

[Drunkagain]

Actually, omitting UT2004 and Battlefield Vietnam is a pretty good slip-up considering they both shipped on the same day.

I figured I'd leave out the MP only games. So no BF: Vietnam, UT2004 or Joint Operation. I also leftf Vampire: Bloodlines off the list since I'm not sure if its a FPS or an RPG?

[Kalle]

Painkiller does the frantic action much better than Half-life, but Half-life has some set-piece battles that are just awesome. In the end I feel that Half-life 2's gameplay suffers a bit from the storytelling. There's a bit too much downtime. As an overall game Half-life just blows Painkiller away in the production, but at the core I enjoy Painkiller more.

[John Reynolds]

Painkiller.

[BobJustBob]

Aww, shit, I forgot about UT2k4. That one definitely wins over Painkiller.

And it's hardly MP-only; I almost never play it multiplayer.

[Chris Nahr]

I voted for Half-Life because...

1. It's better than Doom 3.
2. Thief 3 wasn't on the list.
3. I don't have an Xbox to play Halo 2 on.
4. I played a demo of Painkiller, and it sucked.
5. I don't care for the other games on the list.

[Sten Friberg]

Where's the SHIT BONERZ choice?

[Ch. Hasslbauer]

I voted for Half-Life because...

1. It's better than Doom 3.
2. Thief 3 wasn't on the list.
3. I don't have an Xbox to play Halo 2 on.
4. I played a demo of Painkiller, and it sucked.
5. I don't care for the other games on the list.

...which leads us straight to the problem with polls such as this. Nearly all of the people voting didn't play all of the games and thus can't really make an informed decision.

I mean, you can say, of games X, Y and Z I played Y and liked it very much, so Y is the best of them. But it's still entirely possible that had you played game X you had enjoyed it more.

Ah, to hell with me. I'm probably just still grumpy because of the Shadow Magic vs. Dom2 poll. :)

[Incendiary Lemon]

...which leads us straight to the problem with polls such as this. Nearly all of the people voting didn't play all of the games and thus can't really make an informed decision.

I'd guess the sample will be large enough to ignore that, none of these are really the indie title DOM was.

My vote was for Far Cry. I thought it did the most to expand the single player game, large levels that allowed for several methods of completion. Half Life was my disappointment, rail shooters are losing my interest.

[Marcin]

My vote was for Far Cry. I thought it did the most to expand the single player game, large levels that allowed for several methods of completion. Half Life was my disappointment, rail shooters are losing my interest.

While HL2's rails are feeling quite constricting after FC's openness, they're still very fine rails. The world is also far more interesting than the generic monster island ... I'm playing as much to see what happens next as for the entertaining gameplay. Plus, well, gravity gun. :) HL2 gets my vote.

[RickH]

Haven't liked anything this year more than Tron 2.0.

I'd vote for Chronicles of Riddick, but that's more adventure game than shooter.

[Lake]

Have not played any of them so I guess I can not vote.

[Sean Tudor]

Have not played any of them so I guess I can not vote.

LOL! A little voice is saying to me "then why did he post" ?

[Albert Woo]

1. Half-Life 2
2. Painkiller
3. Unreal Tournament 2004