Shooting Games I've Played
Shooting games are categorized by a primary gameplay loop of aiming and firing. I've played 34 games in this genre so far.
You can also go back to all genres.
DEATHLOOP
Extremely cool concept. It plays out like a heist, where everything is planned, cased, and adjusted. The different time slots do a good job making each of the 4 levels feel distinct and each is built with the signature level of Arkane detail. There's not a ton of gear or weapons, but it leaves space to experiment without penalty. The characters and story are good. While one could argue it holds your hand too much, I think too little direction would also be frustrating. So at least this way, you have the opportunity to see all they've built. They also knocked it out of the park with the visual and architectural style, so I'm glad I was able to spend more time with it.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Very gorgeous game. Haptics are really well done. Graphics are stunning. Story is ok, doesn't quite live up to its promise. But, it's fun exploring the world. Definitely felt like it was on the easy/formulaic side at this point, but you know what you're getting into when you play it. Certainly glad I did.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Pretty tight. Good story, definitely kept it moving. Tropy as hell. Some great action. A little repetitive; I feel like the shooting still adds very little. Still though, had a good time. Definite comfort food.
Control
What a neat game. Presentation and world design was superb. Enemies were creepy. Story was fine. Bosses were ok, but honestly sort of a weak point. Exploration was pretty good. Powers were very cool- great power fantasy. Worldbuilding was a standout. Finished the story in ~ 13 hours, kept playing for the plat.
DOOM
Really fun! Awesome level design and secret hunting. Appropriately gross throughout. Cool enemies. Thrilling and intense. Pretty good gameplay. Decent weapon variety. Enough of a story to tie missions together and give purpose, but not so much that it was overbearing. Didn't take itself too seriously. Just like, fun!
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Really amazing storytelling. Good plarforming. Shooting still boring. Gameplay aside though, the game itself is gorgeous and the character development and storytelling continues to be unparalleled
Titanfall 2
Pretty awesome! They did a really good job making the mech feel big and the movement fluid. Probably the best parkour since Mirror’s Edge. The time travel in one of the middle missions was the standout, as was the sense of scale. Some good guns, cool loadouts for mech time. Short but tight campaign. I enjoyed it.
Ratchet & Clank
Really really phenomenal. Probably the prettiest game I've ever played. Pro had upgrades and it looked great. Gameplay was the most refined version of the R&C formula to date. Nothing really new, but a great experience. No arena, but lots of racing. Maybe because the original was like that.
Risk of Rain
I play this every once in a while with friends. I would guess the first time I beat it was christmas break one year in college, maybe?
Superhot
Neat idea, interesting execution. To their credit, they picked an art style and ran with it. Interesting "game within a game" approach that was a little abstract, but a nice enough way to set it all up. Certainly an interesting premise, though I do wish time was _frozen_ frozen when you were stationary. It's just "nearly paused" instead.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
Characters were standout good. Writing high overall, as were the environments, humor, and scenarios. Great, if underused, licensed soundtrack. It had the same problem Uncharted did- combat feels really same-y and just distracts from the main interest in the game- everything else. So, way too much combat. Upgrades were blah and collectibles didn't motivate exploration much. Puzzles were also fairly weak. But, there's a good core there.
Valkyria Chronicles
A very interesting game. There's a lot to like- it's original, it's got good music, it's characters are pretty cool. Conversely, the cutscenes are unskippable, difficultly curve is weird, and the map and load outs are imprecise and frustrating. I'm also not sold on the timing being a factor in a tactics game and the aiming being quite so finnicky. I ultimately got to the last level and gave it up. It was hard and I didn't care quite enough.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
This game is... something. Cinematic is probably the best word. It seems like gameplay take a back seat to storytelling, which isn't a inherently a bad thing. the core issue is that the story is confusing at best. There's some cool elements in there but it's very hard to follow. Sneaking is good but it feels like a collection of gameplay elements (magazines, knocking, sound, camo, weapons) that are pretty indepenant and also don't matter. The controls are pretty good, but can be overwhelming at times. There are also too many cutscenes and they run too long. Like, I get they're telling a story, but enough is enough. The final fight is very neat, especially if you've played other games in the series. Most of the gameplay time is watching.
Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop
Fun co-op, but pretty hard! Lots more content from the original, though we didn't get to it. Beat the original campaign, didn't play any extras.
Resistance: Fall of Man
Pretty fun game. Some frustrating parts, but cool guns and some decent level design
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Georgous, cool story. Fighting got a little tedious at times, but overall enjoyable.
Half-Life
I can see why it was impactful at the time, but it doesn't hold up as well when compared to modern games. That's the hard part about these classics - they sometimes fail to rise above the games that stand on their shoulders.
Midnight Fight Express
It's a well-tread concept implemented snappily, but forgettably. There's a lot of named enemies, but they don't seem to be different in significant ways. Gameplay got pretty same-y over time. That said, I liked the writing a lot and there was more level variety than I expected (there's a lot of environments vs things like Hotline Miami which is mostly same-y houses). So there's things there, but I didn't stick with it.
Star Fox 64
As a measure of how well the game plays, I don't think it holds up. The controls are tough and the constant mindless chatter of friends gets grating quickly. There are cool secrets to find to help replayability, but it's pretty thin otherwise.
My Friend Pedro
Cool style, almost like playing "Kick-Ass". Had some interesting platforming sections, but the controls weren't tight enough to support those sections. Gameplay was really cool at first and then got pretty repetitive. Difficulty curve was either "pretty easy" or "way too hard". Story was a little cutesy, but a little to meme-y for my tastes.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Interesting art, and I liked the notion of light and dark worlds that interact. Lots of backtracking and the combat was boring. Good controls (wii) but shooting was repetitive. Some neat story in there, but not worth the time.
Hitman: Sniper
Fun concept. Paid game, but lots of ads and micro-transactions. Sometimes confusing objectives, gets pretty repetitive.
Zombie Playground
Doesn't feel finished. Big focus on cosmetic purchases, not much on gameplay or graphics.