Maybe it’s because I never owned an Xbox and therefore missed out on the Halo craze, but I am absolutely terrible at FPS games. When I was younger, I played older ones like Doom and Goldeneye and enjoyed them thoroughly, but I missed the next step. Newer FPS games never really clicked for me the way older ones did because I wasn’t playing them nonstop like the rest of the FPS crowd. Maybe my skills have dulled with time, but I just can’t seem to keep up with a younger generation of gamers (and I’m only 25). I’m missing out on an entire social avenue of gaming (through online gaming or local matches) simply because I suck at FPS games. Here’s why:
Aiming
Aiming has always been a huge issue for me. The ability to run in one direction while shooting in another at a moving target never really worked out for me. I’ll pick up the sticks every now and then to try my hand at a newer game like Call of Duty or Halo 3 and ultimately get my ass handed to me by a 12 year old, mostly because I can’t aim right. Maybe it’s because my right thumb isn’t as skilled at operating a control stick as my left one is due to its years of training on an N64. Maybe it’s because I’m left handed and my left thumb is just naturally more agile than my right. Whatever the reason, I am terrible at aiming using a controller stick. Now, give me a light gun and it’s a completely different story.
First Person vs. Third Person
For some reason, 3rd person perspective makes a lot more sense to me. I feel like I have a greater understanding of my surroundings and I won’t get attacked from behind as easily. Even non-shooter games that utilize 1st person perspective throw me off. For example: Mirror’s Edge. I tried to get into that game because the free running idea interested me. But I couldn’t see where my feet were due to the 1st person perspective and I never landed jumps correctly.
Conversely, I’m really good at games like Metal Gear Solid or GTA4, which let you switch between 3rd person and 1st person when each different perspective is necessary (moving around vs. looking through a gun scope). Maybe not the best player ever due to my aiming issues, but just the fact that I can literally know where I am standing helps out a ton in terms of my feeling of immersion in the game. I know that the idea is that I’m supposed to be more immersed in a 1st person game, but I never feel like I am actually part of the game the way I’m supposed to. I look forward to a day where all shooter games give you the option of 1st or 3rd person perspective at the push of a button.
Deathmatch
Unlike single player story driven games or teamwork-oriented games, FPSes tend to be geared towards Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch competitive online gaming. It’s literally kill or be killed in these games and when you already aren’t good at a game genre, the fact that other players are actively killing you in order to improve their own scores only serves to create an environment in which you don’t want to participate. For all the frags a great FPS player has, there are that many lesser players who have fallen under his gun. This fact can be appealing to the good player and very disheartening to a crappy player like myself.
Lazy Developers
This last one is more of a gripe about FPSes than a reason why I suck at them, but I just find it to be a lazy development technique to not have the person you’re playing as represented on screen. The fact that you’re in the eyes of the character means that they developers didn’t have to spend as much time on character design, motion capture, pixel animation, etc. as a 3rd person game’s developer might have had to spend.
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Age is no excuse!! I didn't play my first full FPS game until I was 44 years old... it was Resistance on the PS3!
I played a bit of Quake on the Dreamcast, but more or less was just goofing around... other than that, I had managed to avoid FPS games in most of my gaming... though when I got the PSP I did try the SOCOM versions and Syphon Filter, but they were more third person view.
Yes, when you start playing FPS games you will get your butt kicked. It will get sore. You buy yourself a butt pillow and keep playing. Eventually you actually start to win the rare game, then you actually start having fun... then the addiction sets in....
:)
I like both FPS and TPS games, but they are very different. FPS games are supposed to have a restricted view... the gamestyle tends to rely more on fast reactions. TPS games tend to be a bit more strategic as you have the broader viewpoint. Both are fun though!
I love FPSs and personally I find them to be one of the easiest genres to get into, skills wise, yet one of the hardest to master. The shit talkers in the community also tend to be greater in number than in the RTS, RPG or Fighting Game communities, making them very noob-unfriendly.
As far as aiming goes, the only tip I can give is to aim along the y-axis using the right stick and aim along the x-axis by strafing with your left stick. That's what I do and it's very effective once you get the skill down. You'll still have to make major adjustments along the x-axis with he right stick but for those minor ones, just strafe, it's much easier.
Also, if you don't like deathmatch, don't play it. The first FPS I really got into was Unreal Tournament on PC. I honed my skills mostly in single player but when the CPU had nothing left to teach me, I hopped online and played a lot of Capture the Flag. Sure, people are still trying to shoot you there, but it's not the sole reason for the game. If you hang back around your flag, you will find lots of moving targets coming right to you. Perfect place to hone your shooting skills.
Accuracy is really a matter of motion prediction and reaction time. Reaction time comes with experience and practice. Motion prediction is a little more difficult.
If you do anything visual for long periods of time, studies have shown that your brain essentially converts to a different "mode", one that is visual in nature. We use it for interpreting size, shape, and motion. Usually it kicks in without us noticing, like when you're driving or doing something else that's visually intensive (drawing, taking photos, etc). So it might be worthwhile for you to investigate ways to get yourself into that visual "mode" before you play.
You should try Bioshock. I consider myself pretty decent at FPS titles, but I think Bioshock is one of the almost-perfect examples of a title that allows newer folk to get into it as well. My girlfriend, who normally hates and does not play FPS games, loved Bioshock and thought it was the easiest to play FPS overall when matched to her skill level.
In terms of deathmatch, though, the problem is that so many people literally spend their lives playing these games. So, when a newcomer pops in, it's almost impossible to get the hang of a game when everyone else is some sort of savant who plays endlessly. Additionally, the problem with people like that is they never want any change, so when you try to mix things up a little by making games that limit weapons or something else fun, no one ever wants to play because all they can do is be master of one weapon or one technique and if they can't constantly be dominating on their own terms, they take their toys and go home. So, it's not much that you suck at deathmatch, but rather that you do other things with your time instead of playing Halo 3 20 hours a day.
I really hate FPSs. I would probably have more love for the series if the entire community didn't treat you like crap when you first started out. Whenever I go on a FPS there's always that one guy who just makes everyone feel like crap. =[
@Goldengamerxero
Yeah, I agree, that's always been my experience. To them, if you're not up to their skill level, they make it seem like you might as well not even bother playing.