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Megamur

Decent SP FPS Games of the Last Decade

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Singleplayer FPS seems to be fading away. SP campaigns--if they even exist in the game--are often a fraction of the length they were in older FPS titles, usually feature limited (if any) replay value, and occasionally aren't really "singleplayer" at all and are basically just botplay disguised as a campaign. These campaigns are treated as little more than extended "training courses" for multiplayer.

But I can't imagine all new first-person shooters suffer this fate. So what are the best singleplayer FPS titles you've played that were released between 2004 and 2014? (Or, if not the best, just ones that were okay.)

If a game had a multiplayer mode, it's still okay to mention it here, as long as the singleplayer was enjoyable enough on its own to merit a purchase.

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Honestly, I kind of wanted to hear about everything from 2005 until now. I know 2004 was the big year when Doom 3, Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 came out, and I wonder what the big SP games were after those titles were released. But a decade seemed like a nice round number, and it won't be 2013 for much longer.

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Prey is certainly one. I've heard good things about FEAR but I've yet to play those. Some like stalker, though I didn't. Beyond that I do not know.

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Well if you started it at 1992 for Wolf 3D I guess it would be 1992 to 2002 so then the next decade would be 2003 to 2013, I'm not so sure if that does make sense though.

Anyways as for decent fps games I would say: the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series not including Clear Sky, perhaps Crysis 1, Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon were okay I guess I also thought FC2 was okay but I'm sure it was not everyone's cup of tea, I liked Republic Commando also but it's certainly a much better game than Halo 1, the Star Wars Battlefront games were great but mostly the second game, Goldeneye: Rogue Agent. I can't think of many at the moment.

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geekmarine said:

I enjoyed Star Wars Republic Commando, FEAR, Far Cry, and Crysis.

I loved the original FEAR and both of its expansions. Republic Commando was that game that was sort of like a Star Wars-themed Halo clone, right?

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Megamur said:

I loved the original FEAR and both of its expansions. Republic Commando was that game that was sort of like a Star Wars-themed Halo clone, right?


It's a squad based shooter but heavier on the action then games like SWAT. It is a pretty good game.

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Here's my list of FPS games from the last 10 years that I've enjoyed playing the single player on enough to say they justify the purchase (I've not listed any DLC or expansion packs):

Doom 3
Half-life 2 (and Episode 1 and 2)
Goldeneye: Rogue Agent
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
Serious Sam HD (TFE and TSE)
Serious Sam 2 (plays almost as well, IMO, and goes for peanuts on steam but the cutscenes and humour suck)
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Bioshock
Far Cry
Rise of the Triad 2013
Quake 4 (better than D3, IMO)
Portal (both of them)
Bulletstorm
Resistance 3


The CoD games do tend to have a reasonably good campaign in terms of dumb spectacle and macho action, but aren't worth 45 quid for it. Things like Spec Ops and all of the extras in BlOps do kind of help a bit on that front, but I'd say you're better off getting them cheap or not bothering at all in favour of any of the above. Likewise, the Unreal Tournament games make for a good playing experience if you do the "campaign", but it's just glorified bot matches.

Honourable mentions to Harmony and Urban Brawl, plus Duke Nukem Megaton Edition, which is only a repackaging, but has a modern source port and loads of extras that really help the purchase.

I appreciate there are a lot of FPS games I still need to check out. I own AvP 2010, Wolfenstein 2009, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Painkiller, Rage and Thief: Deadly Shadows that qualify, but I've not gotten round to playing (as well as older games and plenty in other genres)

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Loved Blood Dragon. Sure it was short, but it was priced to be short, so not much to complain about. Far Cry 3 was good to. STALKER is amaze-balls. FEAR still has the best mans shooting though the 'spooky bits' are annoying. Bioshock is still a pretty good game, Bioshock 2 and infinite both have top notch single player DLC.
Rise of the Triad 2013 made me happy (but ouch that platforming what where they thinking). Shadow warrior 2013 is good so far.
and though it's not strictly a First person 'shooter', you do spend some time shooting a gun in first person, so what the hey; Condemned Criminal Origins. The combat is tense as fuck and genuinely terrifying.

And you know what? so far my replay of Doom 3 : BFG edition has been pretty fun. In some ways it's aged better then Half-Life 2.

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my personal list: bioshocks, killzones, resistances and not really fps games but shooters: fallout 3 and new vegas and dead space trilogy and extraction

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Fallout 3
Deus Ex: HR
FEAR series
Condemned: CO
Clive Barkers Jericho

I recently discovered the Syndicate reboot, as far as I can tell it got some good ratings and looks very deus ex'y which is appealing, I have yet to try this game myself but the time will come

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Deus Ex Human Revolution is probably my favorite game in about a decade. I'd still recommend seeking out a copy of the original and playing that for your first playthrough, rather than the Director's Cut. It's not a perfect game, there are a ton of things they could've done better, but it's still a really enjoyable experience if you ignore how much the engine was apparently limiting it.

-edit-

Also, no one mentioned Wrack, Carn's gonna be sad. It's a good SP game and every update's been making it better.

-edit 2-

I lied, Metroid Prime 2 came out in 2004. That's my favorite FPS in the past decade. The entire Prime series is worth checking out - 3's the weakest entry, but 2's the one you'll either love or hate.

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Dragonsbrethren said:

Deus Ex Human Revolution is probably my favorite game in about a decade. I'd still recommend seeking out a copy of the original and playing that for your first playthrough, rather than the Director's Cut.

Uh, why? I've finished both and I don't think there was anything at all I missed about the original.

Those boss battles really, really needed fixing.

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Captain Red said:

Uh, why? I've finished both and I don't think there was anything at all I missed about the original.

Those boss battles really, really needed fixing.

Maybe it's because I can't play on the highest settings, but the lighting in the Director's Cut looks worse than the original. The performance is also a little worse, although no where near as bad as it was at launch.

I also think integrating The Missing Link kind of ruins the "big reveal" at the end of the game. I could easily see someone arguing the opposite, that having it stand alone was worse than spoiling something pretty inconsequential, but it never really bothered me. I appreciated getting to completely redo my character build without having to restart the game.

The boss improvements are the best thing the Director's Cut has going for it, but the originals weren't unplayably bad or anything. I just think the original stands on its own, and Director's Cut should've been done like an add-on rather than replacing it outright.

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RTC_Marine said:

Condemned: CO


This! It is dark, it is scary, it is violent. For me it was the best game in the last decade.

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Numbers for sake of clarity (decade means 2000-2013 and no console titles as I've never had one and only played emulated Metroid Prime):

Fear 1 and addons
Stalker:SoC
Serious Sam TSE (non-HD of course)
Far Cry 1 and 3 + Blood Dragon
Crysis 1
Bulletstorm
Riddick, both games
Call of Juarez 2 and Gunslinger
Halo 1
Unreal 2 (yeah srsly)
Wolfenstein RTCW and 2009
Dead Space 1 (FPS-ish)

Avoid:

Syndicate
Clive Barkers Jericho
Call of Juarez 3
Far Cry 2

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Hate all you want, but I absolutely LOVED... "RAGE".

I only got it this year due to all the negative feedback it had received. I actually believed all the opinions and found it pathetic when ID hid the "Rage" logo in Doom 3 BFG. I was like "yeah... you made a shitty game and now try to market it by all means possible".

A month or so ago, RAGE was finally released on Steam in my region, together with a -75% discount and a "free play" weekend. I decided to give it a shot and I was mesmerized by the game.

To make things clear, it has features condemned by old-school shooter fans: automatic healing with time, iron-sights, being artificially limited to selected level areas (as opposed to the option of full exploration), but all this didn't matter for me as the immersion factor was really worth it. I really felt like a part of this world, I enjoyed talking to various NPCs, playing mini-games etc. Shooting bad guys is very pleasurable as well.

The game has almost no replay value when compared to Doom. However, when it comes to the first impression of a single player campaign, I put RAGE in my all time "top 3", the other two being "Deus Ex" and "Deux Ex: Human Revolution".

There is a chance you look for different traits in a shooter, but don't dismiss the game based on opinions of others (like I did). Give it a shot and develop your own opinion backed by a first-hand experience.

I actually feel sorry for ID that the game flopped and was quasi-responsible for their following problems. I think it's a really good game and it doesn't deserve its notoriety.

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Sorry for double post, but time is of the essence and perhaps someone will be interested in not missing what's available:

RAGE has just been selected for today's "flash sales" on Steam and for the next 8 hours there is a -75% discount on it so if you share my opinion and want to get it, now's the chance.

However, I strongly encourage you to try the game first. I know that my opinion of the game is vastly different from the general feedback of gaming community.

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Belial said:

Avoid:
Clive Barkers Jericho


Oh the horror, these images of anquish keep reappearing in my mind of hours I wasted with this game

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Da Werecat said:

Jericho is good, if you know how to play it. I you don't, it's a clusterfuck. But an atmospheric clusterfuck, I should add.


The ai was comparable to unconcious tetraplegic patient, having fun constantly healing idiotic team mates

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I enjoyed Jericho. Aside from getting pretty repetitive, the frequently shitty AI, and "push x to not die" quicktime events that came without warning, it was a solid experience. Definitely a game that was greater than the sum of its parts.

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