Tag: fps

  • Deadlock Review – Who Asked For This?

    There’s something about shooters (FPS or third-person) that has led them to become one of the most popular types of games for as long as we’ve been able to put pixel to screen. Valve was and continues to be at the forefront of FPS development and can be somewhat to blame for the last decade of team-based shooters trying to bite Team Fortress 2’s success. Concord and Overwatch 2’s failures to launch make me wonder what the heck Valve is trying to do with their latest FPS project, Deadlock.

    Similar to Counter Strike and Team Fortress Classic, Dota 2 has also helped pushed Valve to the front of the ARTS space. Deadlock adopted much of the lessons that they’ve learned from the sequel to Defense of the Ancients and the sequel to Team Fortress to create a combination FPS ARTS. Deadlock’s current state of development reminds me a LOT of the state of the ARTS scene prior to the release of League of Legends. Valve is clearly playing it very safe, but at the same time, they are fusing two genres together in a way that doesn’t speak to a team trying to replicate the success of Riot Games in the 2010s.

    If Valve’s goal is to capture the wave of casual players that gave Tencent a reason to buy Riot Games in the first place, I don’t think that Deadlock will succeed. Not only is it more similar to Dota 2, which leans more complex and competitive, but the hybrid nature of the game will likely present too many barriers to entry for those who would prefer to cosplay or draw fan art than to grind ranked. In this regard, Marvel Rivals has Deadlock beat. Having to find five other players to play with is enough of a hassle, never mind having to aim, plan item builds, and coordinate with those team mates to achieve collective goals.

    If the goal is to create a new FPS that competes with games like Team Fortress 2, Apex Legends, or Counter Strike, then why is so much of the game focused on aspects other than aiming at your opponent and shooting them? So far, it feels that Deadlock borrows about 70% of its DNA from Dota and the remaining 30% from Team Fortress 2. This leads to drastic shifts in survivability, damage output, and utility can change how the game is played through its different phases and between matches. I don’t assume to speak for all FPS players, but it feels like they generally prefer the mechanical core of their games to be more in focus than what some might call “fluff.” I don’t see why an FPS player would pick Deadlock over a game that actually values the skills and abilities that they’ve specifically honed.

    At the end of the day, Deadlock will either end up as an ARTS with guns or an FPS with special abilities, and I don’t suspect either will be able to necessarily bridge the gap between the genres. I also don’t think more of a combination of the two styles of games will be all that appealing after a while. When I played Counter Strike mods that included special abilities back in the day, I preferred that they assisted me in accomplishing my goals of shooting my opponents and not getting shot myself rather than supplementing the traditional gameplan of an FPS with spinning around like a cartoon character or putting up giant walls to block my opponents only path of retreat. That shit is whack as hell.

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – The Ultimate Christmas Guilty Pleasure

    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – The Ultimate Christmas Guilty Pleasure

    Despite my lukewarm response upon its initial release in 2008, I have kept up the tradition of playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare exclusively during the winter holiday season for years now. There’s something incredibly satisfying about the arcade-style, fast-paced FPS action that keeps me coming back. Although the military propaganda and gun violence stand in stark contrast to the traditional Christmas aesthetic, I find it fills a hole in my holiday spirit that can only be satisfied by hiding from relatives and repeatedly queuing for Shipment over and over.

    To make things better, the original Modern Warfare had holiday-specific maps and special effects. “Ho! Ho! Ho!” signals the coming of Santa on his sleigh, ready to airstrike your opponent’s position at your command. On specific holiday-themed maps, players explode in puffs of red and green smoke and snowflakes. Lots of games have holiday content, but there’s something oddly appealing about the way that the original Modern Warfare decked the halls despite it being over a decade old and glorifying US military imperialism.

    Taking advantage of the influx of new players around the holidays is definitely a perk, but there must be a reason I’m not coming back to Counter-Strike: GO, Apex Legends, or other, more modern FPS to get my fix. What about COD: MW has created this permanent connection in my mind with an otherwise wholesome human holiday?

    It could certainly be the map familiarity, but if that was the only case I would be playing cs_office or de_dust on a 24/7 server instead. My previously established legacy skill could be another factor, but I am traditionally a PC player, am currently playing Call of Duty on my PlayStation 4, and have a tough time mastering the controller.

    After wondering why I’ve associated Call of Duty with Christmas for years, I think I may finally have a grasp on the situation. First, I suspect that for something to be considered a guilty pleasure, it would have to be outside of the norm for that specific individual. For myself, jumping over to Call of Duty from Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament, and Quake 3 Arena was enough of a step out of my comfort zone to qualify. Now that I’ve come to love Modern Warfare, playing it on a console brings back fond memories of grinding for prestige over holiday breaks when I was younger.

    The instant gratification of Call of Duty’s signature arcade-style approach to FPS also helps keep the good times rolling when combined with soy eggnog and Christmas cheer. Explosive damage, the potential for racking up huge killstreaks, and near-instant respawn timers help grease the wheels a bit, making the bad times feel less bad while accentuating the good times with flashing lights and fanfare. Being able to turn my brain off, not feel as invested in my kill/death ratio, and relax while fragging randos online is my Christmas guilty pleasure, I guess.

    I hope you’ve had a very happy holiday and an eventful New Year!