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By Chris Kavan - 11/14/12 at 01:09 PM CT
Even though there may be people who disagree, the FPS genre is not only here to stay, it's apparently more popular than ever. Sure, you can complain that all the games are the same: brown, bland with a focus on multiplayer where you're more likely to get tea-bagged by a 12-year-old, who is spouting some racist slurs at you, than anything else. But despite this generic characterization, it seems that people just don't care - and, in fact, two recent releases may just be the shot-in-the-arm the video game industry needs.
If you haven't been playing attention, the video game industry has been been in a slump. I don't know about you, but 11 months of declining sales is bad no matter what business you happen to work for. Yet November looks to finally reverse this trend - and not just because of the WiiU.
I'm talking about two juggernauts of FPS glory being released within weeks of each other: first up, we have Halo 4, which has already broken records as the best-selling game in the Halo series, by topping out a $220 million in its first 24 hours - and should near $300 million in sales by the end of its first week. It's not surprising, given this is Microsoft's flagship exclusive series for their Xbox 360 console. Not only that, but it's getting good reviews, enjoying a healthy 87/100 on Metacritic.
Yet as big as Halo 4 is, there may be an even bigger game to dethrone it. That would be the next game in the Call of Duty franchise: Call of Duty: Black Ops II. A lot has been built up about how this game isn't just your average FPS game: a Hollywood connection, attention to detail and an impressive zombies mode because - well, because zombies are really popular. This isn't just a game anymore, it's an event. With robust multiplayer, a story that takes into account current political trends (thought he whole Secretary of Defense Petraeus is a bit of a lark given the current scandal). With the original Black Ops rounding up $650 in five days, and by all accounts Black Ops II garnering equal to better responses - this should be a huge hit as well. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up to Halo 4.
As for myself? I am a fan of the FPS genre, though I tend to gravitate towards games that have another aspect: the Fallout Series, Borderlands, BioShock, Dead Space - I have played Resistance 2 and even the original Halo - and they were enjoyable as well. I think you have to realize that as much flak as these type of games receive, they also sell the most. Black Ops II proves that at least video game designers are taking things seriously - yes multiplayer will still have annoying people, but at least they are consulting the right people and hiring talent to craft something other than a brown-shaded bland mess. Keep an eye on those sales, with these two games and the WiiU leading the charge, I think the game industry will finally be able to notch a win after 11 straight months of disappointment.
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Jonzor
Wrote on11/18/12 at 02:05 PM CT
There's a difference between not liking a formula and knowing a game is garbage.
I don't care for Madden. It just doesn't interest me. But what I DON'T do is badmouth the game itself as being terrible slop. Or badmouth the game for its user-base, because video game user-bases are all the exact same; CoD players aren't "worse" than Halo players, or Madden players, or World of Warcraft players. Hating those people is a reason to not play multiplayer games in general, but not avoid CERTAIN games.
And I what DO do is remember that I happen to like some games who stick pretty close to the formula (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, sadly not Final Fantasy, Gradius, Red Alert, etc...) so I shouldn't get carried away when I use rehashing of a formula as a reason to piss and moan about a game.
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Nelson Schneider
Wrote on11/17/12 at 05:51 PM CT
The difference is that I LIKE the Mario formula and don't care for the Halo formula.
I don't bag on all FPSes either (I generally don't say anything bad about BioShock or Fallout, and I gave a good review to Red Steel 2), just the ones that are turning themselves into the videogame equivalent of CSI. Modern war games are all really similar to each other, just like space marine games are really similar to each other. Settings I either hate (modern) or am apathetic to (space marine) combined with gameplay that frequently consists of holding 2 guns while following a compass dot just doesn't do anything for me. Where these games are becoming like CSI is that they are not only all very similar to each other, but they seem to the the only thing being made anymore.
The reason I all but stopped watching TV several years ago was that I couldn't get away from all the samey police procedurals. Now that consoles are powerful enough to support FPSes, I can't get away from those either, whereas I used to be able to ignore them by simply ignoring PC gaming.
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Jonzor
Wrote on11/17/12 at 03:07 PM CT
Oh no, I remember you playing it. For like 15 minutes. I'm shocked you're trying to use THAT as an excuse here. Well... not that shocked. Somehow that was enough to determine that a game three releases later is just a rehash? What does the first 15 minutes of ANY Mario game look like? Same old, same old. Oh, with a new way that Mario flies/floats. Somehow, the Mario-formula gets a pass.
And we won't even get started on how playing Goldeneye means you've played CoD.
If you want to hate on the people using multiplayer as a consequence-free outlet for hate-speech, more power to you. But that's not the same as the game being poorly-made. If I'm playing a decent single-player mode that doesn't get touched by the masses... you can't really pin the blame on the developer. They did their part. What do you want them to do? Make the multiplayer worse so more people play single-player?
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Nelson Schneider
Wrote on11/17/12 at 02:30 PM CT
Jonzor, you seem to be the exception to a lot of rules when it comes to multi-player, and your friend cohort shares your abnormality. Most people who play FPSes online don't give a fig about single-player or co-op; they just want to create YouTube videos of themselves "pwning n00bs." The newest CoD hasn't even been out for a week yet and Kotaku already posted an article about all the great footage of sniper scope abuse.
And for the record, I do have some experience with Halo... on YOUR 360 nonetheless! It just didn't do anything for me. And I have experience with CoD in the form of the new GoldenEye remake (which is just a Bond skin on the CoD engine).
Don't be a Troll.
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Jonzor
Wrote on11/16/12 at 10:30 PM CT
"You can't blame all of that on bad taste."
Don't underestimate him, Chris. He can trash all sorts of games he's never played!
I don't have a lot of experience with Call of Duty, I only played the original Modern Warfare, and only the single player. CoD is beginning to resemble Madden's business model because of the essentially annual releases, but Halo isn't there yet. Also, aside from reviewers who actually HAVE to, I never hear CoD players talk about the single-player.
Having enjoyed all of the Halo titles to date (but not quite through Reach) I can add that Nelson's not-backed-by-his-own-experience-with-the-single-or-multiplayer statements about merely updating your multiplayer have nothing (I'm not kidding, actual NOTHING) to do with why I buy or play the games. I actually know more people that just do PvE Halo than people who do competitive online. And everything that I've heard about Halo 4 claims this to have been the most ambitious story campaign yet.
But naturally, I'll personally withhold actual judgement on the game till I've played it.
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Chris
Wrote on11/16/12 at 08:54 PM CT
Just to update, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 sold $500 million in its first 24 across all platforms, making it the "biggest entertainment launch" of 2012.
Obviously I don't think the FPS is dead - it's just that so many people (cough Nelson cough) condone the FPS as a lazy, rehashed genre - the numbers don't lie. If a "mandatory update" was all you needed to sell games, then why isn't Madden or NHL or any other game you can slap a 2012 on instead of a 2011 not dominating sales? You may not like it, I may like it - but these games apparently have pretty broad appeal. You can't blame all of that on bad taste.
Also, the blog title is play on The King is Dead - Long Live the King! I'm so witty.
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Nelson Schneider
Wrote on11/16/12 at 08:18 PM CT
Just because something is popular does not mean it is good. The masses like terrible, stupid things, like Call of Duty, FarmVille, and Twilight novels.
And I don't really see how 2 rehashed releases of the same old slop is going to revitalize an industry that is being choked to death by a glut of that same swill.
Pretty much the only reason these games sell is because they are seen as a "mandatory update" for online play. If you don't "upgrade" to the latest sequel, you won't have anyone to shoot online.
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Nick
Wrote on11/15/12 at 06:29 PM CT
The FPS is Dead? I have no idea how your blog title relates to your article... Sounds like you think exactly the opposite of your title?
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