Return of the Arena Shooter

[Stoney Mason]

Seems to be a lot of these coming out trying to make this genre relevant again. Does anybody actually care? Serious question.




Cliff Bleszinski's game




Unreal Tournament




Toxikk




Ratz Instagib

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Seems kinda silly. It's not exactly a genre you can really further evolve. They won't benefit from better graphics since simplicity and minimalism seems to be the preferred approach, and there's not really much you can do with the gameplay. You can add all kinds of wacky guns, but people are always going to use whatever the rail gun and rocket launcher equivalents are.

[thisismyusername]

Seems kinda silly. It's not exactly a genre you can really further evolve. They won't benefit from better graphics since simplicity and minimalism seems to be the preferred approach, and there's not really much you can do with the gameplay. You can add all kinds of wacky guns, but people are always going to use whatever the rail gun and rocket launcher equivalents are.

Eh, more of them the better. The only "arena shooter" right now is CS:GO in a fashion and Q3A's Free to Play version.

[Dickie Dee]

Toxikk

[Great Rumbler]

It's a once-popular genre that's fallen by the wayside but still has a niche of die-hard fans. Like isometric RPGs and arcade racers, it's going through something of a revival right now. We'll see whether it sticks or not.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Seems kinda silly. It's not exactly a genre you can really further evolve. They won't benefit from better graphics since simplicity and minimalism seems to be the preferred approach, and there's not really much you can do with the gameplay. You can add all kinds of wacky guns, but people are always going to use whatever the rail gun and rocket launcher equivalents are.

Eh, more of them the better. The only "arena shooter" right now is CS:GO in a fashion and Q3A's Free to Play version.

But is it not niche enough a genre that more arena shooters = more diluted servers?

[Stoney Mason]

Seems kinda silly. It's not exactly a genre you can really further evolve. They won't benefit from better graphics since simplicity and minimalism seems to be the preferred approach, and there's not really much you can do with the gameplay. You can add all kinds of wacky guns, but people are always going to use whatever the rail gun and rocket launcher equivalents are.

Eh, more of them the better. The only "arena shooter" right now is CS:GO in a fashion and Q3A's Free to Play version.

But is it not niche enough a genre that more arena shooters = more diluted servers?

That's the problem I see. There is a loud vocal demand on forums but we'll see if that translates to an active playing base in actual numbers.

[Bebpo]

Wait, I thought you liked Titanfall?

[Sho Nuff]

Toxikk is a good name

[Stoney Mason]

Wait, I thought you liked Titanfall?

I do but honestly I don't think Titanfall fits easily inside the genre in a pure way. Yeah it has the movement but the guns and mode design have much more in common with COD.

I like some of the arena shooters above also. I just question whether any of them will draw a base large enough to sustain.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I think its like fighting games.  There's a healthy demand for the genre, but threading the needle between satisfying the hardcore types and the less hardcore (no casuals allowed at all) is difficult, and over saturating the market makes everyone lose.

[CatsCatsCats]

PvZ: Garden Warfare is hours and hours of mindless fun. I keep playing just because I need to catch em all.

[Stoney Mason]

Doesn't that last Plants Vs. Zombies game count as an arena shooter?

Not in my opinion. It belongs in the school of shooters like team fortress with some battlefield in it.

But I think there is a definition problem that exists. Is an arena shooter something that highly resembles Quake or Unreal Tournament and specifically ignores a lot of the changes in the shooter genre in recent years. Or is it just a broad catch-word that means a shooter that embraces a fast pace, movement. What about weapon pick-ups/versus loadouts etc.

I mean Halo was inspired by Arena shooters but now its a mix of an arena shooter with a lot more modern elements. COD advance warfare has elements of an arena shooter but its also cod with progression, modern weapons, etc.

Most of the shooters in the op are very much in the vein specifically of those 90's shooters.

[Positive Touch]

dudes I'm gonna play the shit out of these games

[Positive Touch]

i want old-school gameplay with populous servers

I also want no universal banning so I can troll contentedly

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Man I really, really, suck at arena shooters damnit.

[Positive Touch]

gotta go kb/m or go home

[Stoney Mason]

I think the genre is fine although I will admit my tastes have changes. When I was younger I loved these kind of games. I can still sit down and if I have the time put in a 2 or 3 hour cod/battlefield/titanfall session. Not as often as I use to but its still possible.

But if play a modern arena shooter for longer than 30 minutes, my interest starts to rapidly wane. I don't think I necessarily want a small arena. I like the idea of a bigger arena like a lot of the unreal tournament maps or something in the style of big team battle in halo. But if its just a tiny indoor map over-stuffed with people in a free for all, that gets old for me fast.

[Am_I_Anonymous]

I think the genre is fine although I will admit my tastes have changes. When I was younger I loved these kind of games. I can still sit down and if I have the time put in a 2 or 3 hour cod/battlefield/titanfall session. Not as often as I use to but its still possible.

But if play a modern arena shooter for longer than 30 minutes, my interest starts to rapidly wane. I don't think I necessarily want a small arena. I like the idea of a bigger arena like a lot of the unreal tournament maps or something in the style of big team battle in halo. But if its just a tiny indoor map over-stuffed with people in a free for all, that gets old for me fast.

For me I like to be able to hide

spoiler (click to show/hide)

camp

[close]

and pick off people who aren't paying attention.

[CatsCatsCats]

Oh so you really are bad at shooters

[Bebpo]

Doesn't that last Plants Vs. Zombies game count as an arena shooter?

Not in my opinion. It belongs in the school of shooters like team fortress with some battlefield in it.

But I think there is a definition problem that exists. Is an arena shooter something that highly resembles Quake or Unreal Tournament and specifically ignores a lot of the changes in the shooter genre in recent years. Or is it just a broad catch-word that means a shooter that embraces a fast pace, movement. What about weapon pick-ups/versus loadouts etc.

I mean Halo was inspired by Arena shooters but now its a mix of an arena shooter with a lot more modern elements. COD advance warfare has elements of an arena shooter but its also cod with progression, modern weapons, etc.

Most of the shooters in the op are very much in the vein specifically of those 90's shooters.

I guess for me I still see games like Titanfall as an Arena shooter.  I sort of define the genre as fast paced twitch-based FPS while running and jumping and moving at high speeds around a small/medium sized map with no real single player and just being about the frags.  Slower stuff like Halo does feel a bit different and games like Battlefield feels quite different.  I agree the rpg progression stuff & stats does set the "modern" FPS apart, though I feel the core gameplay is still similar.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

"Arena shooter" is a tenuous genre at best. What arena shooter games really are are just UT/Quake 3 clones.