Incline & Decline of realistic tactical first-person shooters [with actual singleplayer]

[milsiming]

I really like to concept of Incline and Decline and I think it can apply to a genre that I really love: realistic tactical FPS. And I think we can split it in to 2 periods, 1998 - 2005: where you had shitloads of games to choose from and 2005 - today: where basically we have the ArmA series and that's it. I didn't mention expansions and left out games that are multiplayer only: Red Orchestra 1 & 2, Project Reality, Insurgency etc.

Disclaimer „realistic tactical FPS”
The games presented here are usually described by gamers just as “tactical shooters” without mentioning ”realistic”, but for me a shooter can be tactical without being realistic, like Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (1996) for example. That’s why you see the term „realistic” being mentioned a lot, I’m only interested here in this certain type of tactical shooter.


1998 – 2005, Genesis & The Great Incline
Great period to be interested in realistic tactical FPS. Every year you had something new to play and, unlike today, we were getting proper PC FPS. Back in the day, the consoles were getting the shitty ports and the games didn't’ become more and more “consolised” with each sequel.

[INCLINE] Rainbow Six | August 21, 1998 –
You coordinate the operations of an elite counter-terrorism unit and by "“coordinate"” I don'’t mean you just start a mission and hope for the best. There is a planning stage, where you setup waypoints on the map for your squads, you choose the operatives that participate in the mission, their weapons, armor, grenades, camo etc. The CQC environment and the extremely low time-to-kill make this an unforgiving game, frustrating a lot of times but hugely satisfying when you complete the mission.

[INCLINE] Delta Force | September 30, 1998
Compared to Rainbow Six this is a more simplistic game, there is no planning stage or squads to choose equipment for. Depending on missions, sometimes there are some friendly AIs but they’re really irrelevant, so mostly it’s just you against dozens of enemy soldiers. Sounds like Rambo a little bit...… not a very good start for a realistic tactical FPS, right? Wrong, what makes this game good it’s the environment that the action takes place in. We are talking about huge areas where, depending on missions, you will encounter occupied villages, enemy bases, enemy patrols etc. Mix that with a low time-to-kill and we have a game that made history in this genre.
This in fact is my 2nd favorite game on this list, because of the impact it had on a 12 year old me. I even remember now, trying the 1st mission on Peru, slowly reaching the top of a hill and seeing before my eyes an enemy base that looked like the ones in Rambo movies. It had guard towers, soldier running alerted by my presence…. My jaw dropped.

[INCLINE] Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear | August 31, 1999
The engine had been improved to allow more larger maps and greater detail in their design. In terms of single player, this one is considered to be the best in the series.

[INCLINE] Delta Force 2 | October 31, 1999
They added grass.

[INCLINE] SWAT 3:Close Quarter Combat | November 30, 1999
A realistic tactical shooter called SWAT3: Close Quarter Combat; kind of sums it up what you can expect from this game really. Unlike Rainbow Six there is no planning stage where you setup waypoints, but it makes it up with an interface that let’s you issue orders for your team: breaching, covering, moving etc. What makes the SWAT series unique is that when dealing with armed suspects the preferred approach is to convince them to drop their weapon and then arrest them, not shoot on sight. Remember you are not a soldier in this game, you are a police officer.

[INCLINE] Delta Force: Land Warrior | November 7, 2000
The 1st Delta Force with graphics that don’t make your eyes bleed. Why is it “INCLINE”? They didn’t ruin it.

[INCLINE] Operation Flashpont: Cold War Crisis | June 22, 2001
This is so much more than a simple realistic tactical FPS, this can be a considered a battlefield simulator. Almost any military operation that your imagination produces, you can make it happen. You can drive tanks, fly planes, be a simple soldier, be a squad leader, be a gunner in a HMMWV, whatever your war hungry hurt desires this game can provide. Not only is this the 1st ArmA game, but it’s a proper ArmA game, most things you can do in ArmA3 you can do in this game as well and it has the best campaigns in the series.
It doesn’t do CQC well though, but we have Rainbow Six and SWAT for that.

[INCLINE] Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon | November 13, 2001
Although, king of large scale warfare, Operation Flashpoint did not make every other game in this genre irrelevant. Because it could do almost everything, meant it didn’'t do anything perfect. So games that focus only on a specific part of warfare, will do a better job than Operation Flashpoint when it comes to military scenarios they were designed for.
Like Ghost Recon for example, which specializes in small scale special forces operations. Depending on missions the action takes place in relatively medium size maps, not a bad thing since they are nicely designed (quality vs quantity). It has many similarities with Rainbow Six: you can choose the operatives to participate in the mission, their gear etc, but instead of the planning stage it has a very functional interface for you to issue orders for your squads, so your tactical needs are covered.
Sadly no other Ghost Recon game ever lived up to the this one.

[INCLINE] Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield | March 18, 2003
Many fans of the series say that Rogue Spear is the pinnacle of the series, not this one. Gun balance and map design being the main reasons, although many agree that this one has the best multiplayer. But don’t be fooled this is still a very good Rainbow Six game, all the things that made this series great are still here. The biggest change is the engine, making it look more modern (like gun models in first-person for example).
One thing is certain, this is the last good Rainbow Six game.

[INCLINE] Delta Force: Black Hawk Down | March 23, 2003
Considered most polished Delta Force and one of the best campaigns in the series. After this one, Novalogic went full retard with the series.

[INCLINE] Vietcong, March 26, 2003
One of the very few FPS (or maybe the only one?) that people who are fascinated by the Vietnam conflict could enjoy. Amazing jungle maps, decent AI, nice realism elements translates in to a great Vietnam experience in singleplayer and coop.

[INCLINE] Swat 4 | April 5, 2005
They took a brilliant game and made it better. Sadly this is the last one… or maybe we should be thankful, the series died with some honor and didn’t get turned in to some shitty popamole shooter.



2005 – today , The Great Age of Fuck your favorite series PC Player


[DECLINE] Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown | June 9, 2005
Aka Rainbow Six: FUCK YOUR PC CLASSIC.
Planning phase? Gone. Clever AI? Gone. Nonlinear levels? Gone.
Basically what they did is remove all the features that made this series great and turned Rainbow Six in to a GENERIC LINEAR FUCKING SHOOTER. How awesome is that?

On the next installments Rainbow Six "evolves" from a generic linear shooter to popamole shooter, it’'s not even worth mentioning them. RIP Rainbow Six.

[LITE DECLINE]Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter | May 3, 2006
The process of consolisation has began. The game got simplified: the number of squads got reduced from 3 to 1, AI misses a lot of shots now, the map is a little bit more linear etc. Funny thing this is not a bad game, a Ghost Recon fan can play it and enjoy a little bit, but it’s still decline compared to it’s predecessor. I can actually recommend this game to someone who wants a more relaxed realistic tactical FPS.

[INCLINE] Armed Assault | February 16, 2007
Not the most loved in the series, I give you that, but Bohemia didn’t compromise so that this game could be played on consoles or simplify it so arcade FPS player can enjoy it.

[MILD DECLINE] Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 | July 13, 2007
GRAW 1 was a simplified version of Ghost Recon. This is a simplified version of GRAW 1. So things got worse, but still better than Rainbow Six: Lockdown.

[INCLINE] ArmA2 | 17 June 2009
Rainbow Six, GhostRecon and Operation Flashpoint got violated by executives, SWAT got executed by executives, Delta Force’s creator went full retard. Only one series survived the great massacre, the spiritual successor of Operaton Flashpoint: ArmA.

[DECLINE] Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising| October 6, 2009
I never heard of a fan of the original Operation Flashpoint say „Damn, I wish this game was more arcade”. But Codemasters did it anyway.

[DECLINE] Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier | June 26, 2012
Popamole shooter confirmed. RIP Ghost Recon.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

This came out in 1993.

 

[milsiming]

Damn didn't know about that game and I can't edit the post. I also just found out about Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way that got released in April 30, 1998, so before Rainbow Six.

My biggest fail is that I totally forgot about Vietcong, March 26, 2003. A proper realistic tactical FPS, amazing in COOP.

 

[:Flash:]

What about Project I.G.I. and Hidden & Dangerous?

(I have no idea about this genre; all I remember is that those games are in the same genre in my head, because back then I knew that these were the games that I hated on lan parties for getting me killed immediately.)

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

Oh look it's another one of those worthwhile threads that contribute enormously and totally don't see a resurgence with each years' newfag wave.

 

[milsiming]

What about Project I.G.I. and Hidden & Dangerous?

(I have no idea about this genre; all I remember is that those games are in the same genre in my head, because back then I knew that these were the games that I hated on lan parties for getting me killed immediately.)

I haven't played IGI since the year it came out. I remember it being frustrating in singleplayer due to the lack of save feature, but realistic... I don't remember it like that. Need to replay to make sure. Wasn't it more focused on stealth than realism?
Hidden & Dangerous, heard good things about it back in the day, but never got the chance to play. So no clue.

 

[Carrion]

I wouldn't really count Delta Force, IGI or Vietcong as part of the same subgenre, as they're lacking in both realism (although I think Delta Force had pretty deadly combat, at least on those rare occasions when the AI somehow managed to hit you) and the squad management department that I consider a vital part of the subgenre.

H&D definitely belongs in the incline category, though. I don't think it has aged as well as something like Rogue Spear, being quite clunky and very buggy even at the time of its release and being just outright broken in some places, but it had all the right elements of a great tactical shooter from squad and gear selection to lethal combat and also some rarer stuff like the use of disguises, all in a WW2 setting that included a wide variety of objectives and challenges from sabotage to infiltration missions and from infantry combat to destroying armored vehicles. The sequel toned down the realism a bit and had more forgiving combat from what I remember, and while I wouldn't necessarily consider it incline by 2003 standards it was still a decent game in its own right.

 

[SniperHF]

Last week I was checking into what some of the original Devs of the original R6 series were up to.

The lead from the original Rainbow Six burnt out but kept working through Ghost Recon then disappeared for awhile. Resurfaced a few years back as some sort of design equivalent of a "script doctor" and helps out with various projects. Most recently that was the Tale of Tales walking simulator Sunset .

The blurb from his book:

......Game designers are better at answering small questions (“Why is this battle boring?”) than big ones (“What does this game mean?”). In this book, the game designer Brian Upton analyzes the experience of play—how playful activities unfold from moment to moment and how the rules we adopt constrain that unfolding....

The rest of the designers rode the decline train through Vegas or jumped to the CoD track.

 

[Astral Rag]

Seal Team is the daddy of this genre, me and my brother played played that game to death, I replayed some of the game's early missions last year. I posted about it here.

A proper modern spiritual successor would be heavan.

:drool:

 

[milsiming]

I wouldn't really count Delta Force, IGI or Vietcong as part of the same subgenre, as they're lacking in both realism (although I think Delta Force had pretty deadly combat, at least on those rare occasions when the AI somehow managed to hit you) and the squad management department that I consider a vital part of the subgenre.

H&D definitely belongs in the incline category, though. I don't think it has aged as well as something like Rogue Spear, being quite clunky and very buggy even at the time of its release and being just outright broken in some places, but it had all the right elements of a great tactical shooter from squad and gear selection to lethal combat and also some rarer stuff like the use of disguises, all in a WW2 setting that included a wide variety of objectives and challenges from sabotage to infiltration missions and from infantry combat to destroying armored vehicles. The sequel toned down the realism a bit and had more forgiving combat from what I remember, and while I wouldn't necessarily consider it incline by 2003 standards it was still a decent game in its own right.

Funny, I was thinking yesterday if Delta Force can be considered a tactical FPS. The problem was I didn't have the genre "tactical FPS" clarified in my head. I was thinking that it's not about squad management, but the way you can approach the missions and the combat flow. The problem with this interpretation is that suddenly a shitloads of FPS become tactical overnight. All you need is a non-linear level and a game design that encourages restraint in combat and suddenly it's tactical. Or non-linear stealth games can be considered tactical as well now. And a genre should be more restrictive to actually have an identity (my english is limited, hope this makes sense).
So you are right, my logic is flawed, tactical FPS should mean squad management and deadly combat (I would add non-linear level design as mandatory as well).

So either I take some games out or edit out "tactical" from the title.

The problem with Delta Force is that back then it was considered properly realistic, but looking at the game now it might seem a little bit arcadish (except the damage, level design). But I still think it deserves a spot in this list though (if we take "tactical" out of the equation).

I remember Vietcong as being realistic and I remember IGI as not being realistic. I haven't touched this games in ages, so I need to replay them to participate in a debate if they fit in this list or not. Also I need to actually play H&D, I remember gaming magazines in my country calling it a 1st/3rd person Commandos.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

What is Arma 3 like?

 

[milsiming]

What is Arma 3 like?

Pure incline, because when making a sequel Bohemia doesn't remove features, they add more. Of course, like all ArmAs the game has it's fair share of problems, but it's a small price to pay for what this monster of a game can do.

 

[DraQ]

The games presented here are usually described by gamers just as “tactical shooters” without mentioning ”realistic”, but for me a shooter can be tactical without being realistic, like Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (1996) for example.

Actually, are there many tactical FPS that aren't (near) contemporary or historical?

I would love to see some more of those not-realistic ones (although still striving for realism within their setting) but they seem awfully scarce.

 

[milsiming]

Actually, are there many tactical FPS that aren't (near) contemporary or historical?

I would love to see some more of those not-realistic ones (although still striving for realism within their setting) but they seem awfully scarce.

I didn't play it so don't quote me on this but from what I've read Star Wars Republic Commando might fit the bill?! Depends how advanced is the squad command interface, someone who actually played can shed some light.

 

[:Flash:]

Actually, are there many tactical FPS that aren't (near) contemporary or historical?

I would love to see some more of those not-realistic ones (although still striving for realism within their setting) but they seem awfully scarce.

Ironically, two games that were never released come to my mind: X-Com: Alliance and the 1999 remake of Hired Guns.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Star Wars Republic Commando is fun, but completely linear and commanding is limited to context sensitive stuff. For example ordering squad mates to take predetermined sniping positions or concentrate fire on specific enemy.

As for other futuristic ones; the only ones that come to my mind are old Space Hulks.

BTW.
Does Full Spectrum Warrior fit in this genre or is it somehow different?
Haven't played it (yet).

 

[DraQ]

I didn't play it so don't quote me on this but from what I've read Star Wars Republic Commando might fit the bill?! Depends how advanced is the squad command interface, someone who actually played can shed some light.

Haven't played it.
I don't know, the only two games that (very partially) fit the bill for me so far were TN:SFC (which was more of a proof of concept than full realization of it due to being very short, limited despite fair amount of systemic depth, and largely beatable using vigorous backpedaling or strafing) and STALKER (which was at very best semi-realistic being relatively forgiving and featuring contracted engagement ranges with weapons changed to match and simple HP based damage model - still, shooting was fun, so was ballistics).

Generally my thing is that while I'm partial to simulation and weapon-porn I'm not really a fan of modern day or historical military settings. OTOH something trying to match Flashpoint in terms simulation complexity and hardcoreness, but sci-fi, cyberpunk or even fantasy (but not heroic variety with mechanics and killing potential of most stuff well researched and approximated using historical weapons and armor or closest RL counterpart) would probably really suck me in.

tl;dr
Why are there no games that try to be to a milsim what Rogue System tries to be to a hardcore flight sim?

 

[milsiming]

Does Full Spectrum Warrior fit in this genre or is it somehow different?
Haven't played it (yet).

It's not an FPS, it's real-time tactical game. Although, if you have the mindset for the games presented here you should definitely try it out.

 

[milsiming]

Haven't played it.
I don't know, the only two games that (very partially) fit the bill for me so far were TN:SFC (which was more of a proof of concept than full realization of it due to being very short, limited despite fair amount of systemic depth, and largely beatable using vigorous backpedaling or strafing) and STALKER (which was at very best semi-realistic being relatively forgiving and featuring contracted engagement ranges with weapons changed to match and simple HP based damage model - still, shooting was fun, so was ballistics).

Generally my thing is that while I'm partial to simulation and weapon-porn I'm not really a fan of modern day or historical military settings. OTOH something trying to match Flashpoint in terms simulation complexity and hardcoreness, but sci-fi, cyberpunk or even fantasy (but not heroic variety with mechanics and killing potential of most stuff well researched and approximated using historical weapons and armor or closest RL counterpart) would probably really suck me in.

tl;dr
Why are there no games that try to be to a milsim what Rogue System tries to be to a hardcore flight sim?

It all depends on what is your interpretation of tactical. Any fan of the genre presented here would be a fan of STALKER, because of it's gun mechanics and "realistic feeling" combat. But is it tactical?

So what you are looking for exactly is a realistic game in a alternative universe, correct? I would recommend Evochron Mercenary: decent Newtonian physics, real planetary landing ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rPlmD7Nk4c ), open world etc. Pure fucking incline this game.

EDIT: Sorry for double post.

 

[Markman]

I still place Vietcong as my nr 1 FPS. That game had atmosphere and best sounding AK-47 in any game released at that time.
I wont play it now cause I might ruin the nostalgia but all I remember is having bunch of fun and tons of tense moments in the game.
While making it, they even sent people to Vietnam to record the jungle noises and if I remember correctly devs even got to train with czech spec forces for a day or so to get the feel of combat.

 

[milsiming]

I still place Vietcong as my nr 1 FPS. That game had atmosphere and best sounding AK-47 in any game released at that time.
I wont play it now cause I might ruin the nostalgia but all I remember is having bunch of fun and tons of tense moments in the game.
While making it, they even sent people to Vietnam to record the jungle noises and if I remember correctly devs even got to train with czech spec forces for a day or so to get the feel of combat.

Just reinstalled the game for some multiplayer....

Some games refuse to die.

Although 4 years ago things were looking much better. There was an active coop oriented community called vccoop that played this game in milsim-like way. They played with a squad leader, point man etc people followed orders, no ramboing and their servers had people on them almost 24/7. The best time I had in this game was with them, but it looks like they are gone . Hopefully there is still a milsim community left. Time to find out.

I think it's sequel deserves a mention on the list as decline.

 

[DraQ]

It all depends on what is your interpretation of tactical. Any fan of the genre presented here would be a fan of STALKER, because of it's gun mechanics and "realistic feeling" combat. But is it tactical?

Depends. It has no teamwork, and you can get shot up with relatively little consequence, it also has considerably shortened effective ranges (at least for rifles). It's definitely not a proper tactical shooter. Still, along with TN:SFC it paints quite a decent picture of what I would be after - imagine STALKER altered to feature Flashpoint level of realism (with appropriate gameplay adjustments) or TN:SFC working more like OFP crossed with proper hardcore vehicle sim (but with all cool PBA stuff still intact), with mechanics based on what should be theoretically possible for this sort of powered exoskeleton and weapon systems.
Or a tactical cyberpunk FPS - it shouldn't take much to properly estimate physical impact of cyber implants - they would mostly be made of already known materials and alter user's performance in rather predictable manner. The rest would be HUDs, drones, automated security plus a lot of background fluff and slightly modernized versions of today's gear.

So what you are looking for exactly is a realistic game in a alternative universe, correct? I would recommend Evochron Mercenary: decent Newtonian physics, real planetary landing ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rPlmD7Nk4c ), open world etc. Pure fucking incline this game.

I'm looking for FPS games that aren't set in an RL setting, but are nevertheless designed around same considerations as proper FPS milsim.
Newtonian spacesims are at least an existing subgenre (although barely) and though I definitely appreciate them, I don't want to derail this thread any further then I already have .
Also, doesn't Evochron have downscaled planets?

To be at least somewhat on-topic - I played SWAT 3 a fair bit back in its day (didn't finish but I think I progressed quite far ending my playthrough somewhere around the sewer mission) although it didn't feel terribly hardcore and it was already a bit of what I was talking about with some slightly futuristic gear at your disposal.
I also played OFP demo, but just for a few minutes - way too little to progress beyond "got killed but by whom?" stage.

 

[Explorerbc]

You can add this to your list:

I bought it

 

[DraQ]

You can add this to your list:

I bought it

Did it take let you down?

 

[milsiming]

imagine STALKER altered to feature Flashpoint level of realism

You might be in luck. There is a total conversion for OFP called Conspiracies (try to find Conspiracies Deluxe) that is inspired by the STALKER universe (funny it was released before STALKER) and it has a campaign.
And it's not the only STALKER type mod in OFP, if you search you will definitely find more, not sure if they have campaigns though, they might have missions. Same goes for ARMA 2, there has to be decent STALKER inspired mod.

I'm looking for FPS games that aren't set in an RL setting, but are nevertheless designed around same considerations as proper FPS milsim.

I think you would enjoy this

It's not released yet https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/181720-dune-mod-for-ofpcwa/ , let's hope it will have a campaign.

There is also a Warhammer mod that is highly praised in the community

http://www.moddb.com/mods/ofpwh40k


I'm sure you can find other mods like these for all ArmA series, only problem would be if they have campaigns or not. Did you try any?



Regarding TAKEDOWN, isn't this sack of shit multiplayer only? I would like to exclude multiplayer only games from this list.