The shooter immediately sets its tone with an incredible start where the game’s protagonist emerges from a sarcophagus to fight a demon invasion. The campaign that stood out the most was id Software’s stellar DOOM reboot. This completely changed in 2016, as FPS campaigns came back in a major way. A brief look back at major titles will see disappointing campaigns in Black Ops IIIand Battlefield 4, Star Wars Battlefront‘s total lack of a proper campaign, and the original Titanfall lacking any sort of single-player at all (although it thankfully had some of the best multiplayer ever to make up for it). Campaigns Matter Againįirst-person shooter campaigns have not been in a good spot recently. From the fast-paced sci-fi action of Infinite Warfare to the historical accuracy of Verdun, there really was a shooter for every type of gamer this year. There is enough room for a wide variety of first-person shooters, and 2016 showed that. The great thing is that Overwatch‘s global appeal doesn’t mean that there are less offerings for hardcore fans of the genre. More traditional shooters such as Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 both found their usual fans, and ended up exceeding already high expectations. There’s a reason that half of my Twitter timeline is still shipping Overwatch characters while nobody is talking about who the DOOM Marine is shacking up with on Mars (although I personally think he’d make a cute couple with a Revenant if they could stop trying to kill each other for a moment). That’s why it’s important to have alternatives, and Blizzard showed that a shooter could find success while spreading cheer. While I absolutely love the over-the-top gore in a game like DOOM, not everyone will. Perhaps Overwatch‘s greatest accomplishment was getting rid of the gritty feel that most first-person shooters have. This was largely due to the wide appeal of Overwatch, whose wide range of characters offered up a fun time for seemingly everybody. From Soldier 76’s traditional shooter layout to more unique characters like the mech-riding D.Va, my friends were able to find colorful characters that they enjoyed using. One of the most exciting parts of 2016 was getting to see my friends that don’t regularly play multiplayer shooters fall in love with the genre. Thankfully, that has changed, as 2016 was filled with so many surprises and was the best year ever for first-person shooters. Almost every shooter, no matter how technically sound, started to feel all too familiar.
It’s not that shooters have been bad per se, as the yearly releases in Call of Duty and Battlefield have never been outright bad, but they lacked the ability to surprise gamers.
That’s why it’s been disappointing that such a key part of gaming has been in a bit of a rut lately.