Going back to broad strokes genres, this week’s topic concerns the FPS (First Person Shooter), a staple of the overall gaming scene.

A First Person Shooter is the type of game where you play from a first person perspective (big shocker) and focuses around shooting (bigger shocker there). It’s nice for a genre to be so plainly self-descriptive! FPS games also involve the navigation of a 3D environment, and often times incorporate standard concepts that are ubiquitous at this point like ammo management and loadouts of different weapons. This genre was heavily shaped by Doom (the original, released in early 90s), to the point where before the name FPS fully took hold, one term often used was “Doom clones”. Nowadays there are many subgenres and styles paired with the FPS - class-based shooters, “boomer shooters”, milsim and/or tactical shooters, twitch shooters, and others.

Here are some questions and subtopics that I encourage people to discuss:

  • What are some of your favorite subgenres or styles of FPS, and your favorite games from them?
  • Do you enjoy secondary concepts often associated with FPS games like ammo management and loadout adjustment?
  • What genres do you like to see crossed over with an FPS?
  • Do you prefer multiplayer or singleplayer FPS games? For multiplayer, Co-op or PvP?
  • What are some of your favorite weapons from FPS titles? What’s been memorable?

Also feel free to bring up anything you like related to the topic! If you have suggestions for future discussion topics, leave them in the suggestion thread.

Additional Resources

- List of first-person shooters from Wikipedia