An anatomy of the FPS genre

When everyone thought that SRK alone had the capability of tormenting us with stereotyped soapy movies, would you believe that even FPS (first person shooter) action games suffered from clichés and predictable game-play? For those who came in late; FPS is the class of action games where the camera hides the central character and projects the world directly before you. Readers who are ardent fans of anything other than action games need not navigate away from the page as ‘the other Devdeep’ shows you, why you need to hate them even more:

1. 1.       The central character: The central character in most FPS games is male. It has the simple logic that if you design a game with a female lead then it better be in third person.  The game would then attract lot more buyers if it were sold with the catch-line: “We know our game kind of sucks but look: she wears less as the game wears more!”
2. 2.       The environment: Even if the scenario of the game is set up in the distant future, it is sure to have many ladder climbing exercises.  I remember playing a game called ‘Project IGI’   which came with the added realism of the inability to shoot while climbing a ladder. Also, the environment of FPS games must have the following:
   

·         Long empty corridors

·         Rooms full of crates

·         Long corridors full of crate

3.   Guns, lots of guns: FPS games usually come with an inventory of guns and weapons. From assault rifles to snipers to rocket-launchers they have it all. Also no FPS is complete if they don’t supply you with a crowbar and a knife as well (who cares!) Certain games such as ‘Mortyr’ and ‘Return to castle Wolfenstien’ also allow you to kick enemies; probably to satisfy the urge to humiliate a bad guy rather than riddling him into a leaky piece of meat. It doesn’t stop here. An FPS must allow you to sprint, climb, strafe and jump around and at the same time allow you carry the aforementioned inventory along with a perennial stock of grenades and ammunition.

4.    Resources and goodies: You will find lots of resources and goodies while exploring the FPS world. One can pick these up by simply walking over them. Picking up stuff must cause a loud bonky noise. Also resources will be kept in high inaccessible places and usually would come in two flavours- health and armour; health and manna or anything similar. I once collected a big keg of health (worth 200 health points) from the centre of a reactor and another time from a rock amidst a lava pool in ‘Unreal Tournament’.

5.    Bad guys: All throughout the course of your journey in the FPS world, you will come across a variety of bad guys. Few of them will be the ‘bosses’ who as the name goes; must be killed before advancing further in the game. The size of the boss is proportional to the level you are playing. Therefore the final boss must really be huge. In that case, I really appreciate the creativity of the developers of ‘Half-Life’ who designed their final boss as a huge baby that fired green bolts from its head.

6.    Women: Now this is a cliché that is worth carrying ahead. Women in FPS games are usually veterans in martial art and animated eye-candies with tight outfits and curves. You would usually see them in the role of elite guards and shrewd conspirators or confederates.  I have never met a motherly character in an FPS.

Now that I have cut open the FPS genre of action games, next time you see or play one you know what to expect.  Dear John Carmack (founding CEO, ID Software, and the god of FPS) forgive me, I have no grudge against you.