Best Shooter of the Year

[Great Deceiver]

Unfortunately the Shinobi trailer also made me think of a metroid-like structure instead of straight up action/platforming, which I'd much prefer. I loved the early 2000s 3d reboot by overworks, it was very gameplay oriented and extremely fast. But there's no place for that kind of ambition in the industry now, and SEGA are extremely clueless so they'll go for the easy hackneyed fad.

Streets of Rage seems to be inspired by Spikeout, which was a great and sadly underappreciated game, and the natural evolution of the beat 'em up formula of the 90s.

Golden Axe looks boring as shit and will probably play like a nu God of War clone. Crazy Taxi looks bland but I've never cared about CT.

All of the games look like low-effort outsourced cash grabs. I'm not sure why people seem excited about them. I grew up with SEGA arcade games and I have absolutely no positive expectations about them at all. It would probably be better if these franchises remained dead.

Personally Shinobi has me stoked, even as a Metroidvania from the clips of the game they very much "get" the series much like Streets of Rage 4 got the originals.

The rest are certainly a mixed bag though, but either way it certainly shows that....alongside games like Streets of Rage 4 and the fact that other Arcade based games such as Afterburner & Outrun have been trademarked in recent days...modern arcade gaming is far from dead.

Let me make clear though just how much I have been loving Streets of Rage 4 the past month or so now. This fucking game TOTALLY gets the genre, the series, the feel etc....for me it's top tier stuff, and so SEGA have credit in the bank with me there. I've not enjoyed co-op gaming in any other modern game as much ever. Also, I recently played the 2019 Sakura Wars and, whilst it wasn't amazing, it had a bit of something special about it and made for a refreshingly cheery eand surprisingly funny experience too. So I've probably more faith in SEGA than others have on the back of what I've been playing.

I liked Streets of Rage 4 even though I didn't care for the artstyle, but I think the game has one fatal flaw: it's just way too long. I also don't like the fact that it didn't incorporate some crucial additions to the genre, like hitting downed opponents (best use of down attacks in a beat em up for me is Double Dragon Advance, so many options there).

However, it was obviously a labour of love and I greatly respect the team (they also did the recent Wonder Boy 3 remake that was really good). If they maintain the same level of quality for Shinobi I'm sure there'll be something to like there, even if it's chasing a fad that's really tired by now (I can't stand Metroidvania games bar very few exceptions anymore).

 

[Viata]

I can't stand Metroidvania games bar very few exceptions anymore

Same here.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

There's nothing bad about games being developed for a certain niche

There is, if the priorities of the niche supercede the priorities of good game design
Which is what happens, when your niche is comprised of autists (which often is)

That's because it's their preferred niche, you mongoloid.

You know, your lack of reading comprehension explains alot
I'll make it simpler for you halfwit

Racing games today, are one of the most stagnant videogame genre, because for the past decade the so called ''niche'', has become the primary audience
The ''niche'' has overtaken the genre (seriously, non-indie arcade racers are pretty much dead)
Most AA and AAA racing games being released nowadays are "simulators" made to cater to very specific tastes and there's been barely any kind of deviation (outside of very few indies and AA titles), because it's bemoaned by the autists that form this ''niche''

If the RPG market were this bad, Infinitron would be out of a job and this site would be as populated as Greenland

if i want to play a flight simulator it's unreasonable to expect an accurate rapresentation of the flying model

It's unreasonable if the "simulator" is ok with the complete sacrifice of everything else, just to achieve the intended accuracy of a specific aspect of the ''simulation''

apparently doesn't make for a "good fucking game", whatever the hell that even means.
...
"fun" (whose fun, exactly?).

Oh, I dunno...
How about, the fun of having a well put together videogame that just works?

Like not having to deal with an in-game UI so atrocious you're better off installing a community launcher to avoid it?
How about not having the game shit and piss itself in an online match with more than 3 people?
How about not being disconnected from a match, just because someone grazed my rear bumper?
You know what? Let's forget multiplayer. How about not having the game hilariously bug out during offline single-player just because I did a bad turn that got me off the track?
How about having AI that works?
How about not having a bare-bones career mode?
How about some music by way? Doesn't even need to be during races, because I know simfags would have an aneurysm if that were the case. But can't we at least have some music in the menus? Please?
How about not having the newest game in your franchise, look worse than the game from 2 releases ago?
How about not having to pay more than 100€ so I can get a third of the content (be it maps, cars or customization options) that a Need For Speed game from the fucking PS2 era gave you for 10€?
Shit, how about simply having a game that's been out for more than 5 years, is still worked on and still generously funded by players, run better than Fallout 76 did at launch?

But hey...
If you're ok with all of this just for the sake of ''realism'', then more power to you man.
Enjoy your sim slop!

Apparently, according to this logic, there's no room for a niche or games that cater to special interests

The irony here, is that there really is no room for niche experiences (i.e. originality) within those autistic niches

 

[Falksi]

Unfortunately the Shinobi trailer also made me think of a metroid-like structure instead of straight up action/platforming, which I'd much prefer. I loved the early 2000s 3d reboot by overworks, it was very gameplay oriented and extremely fast. But there's no place for that kind of ambition in the industry now, and SEGA are extremely clueless so they'll go for the easy hackneyed fad.

Streets of Rage seems to be inspired by Spikeout, which was a great and sadly underappreciated game, and the natural evolution of the beat 'em up formula of the 90s.

Golden Axe looks boring as shit and will probably play like a nu God of War clone. Crazy Taxi looks bland but I've never cared about CT.

All of the games look like low-effort outsourced cash grabs. I'm not sure why people seem excited about them. I grew up with SEGA arcade games and I have absolutely no positive expectations about them at all. It would probably be better if these franchises remained dead.

Personally Shinobi has me stoked, even as a Metroidvania from the clips of the game they very much "get" the series much like Streets of Rage 4 got the originals.

The rest are certainly a mixed bag though, but either way it certainly shows that....alongside games like Streets of Rage 4 and the fact that other Arcade based games such as Afterburner & Outrun have been trademarked in recent days...modern arcade gaming is far from dead.

Let me make clear though just how much I have been loving Streets of Rage 4 the past month or so now. This fucking game TOTALLY gets the genre, the series, the feel etc....for me it's top tier stuff, and so SEGA have credit in the bank with me there. I've not enjoyed co-op gaming in any other modern game as much ever. Also, I recently played the 2019 Sakura Wars and, whilst it wasn't amazing, it had a bit of something special about it and made for a refreshingly cheery eand surprisingly funny experience too. So I've probably more faith in SEGA than others have on the back of what I've been playing.

I liked Streets of Rage 4 even though I didn't care for the artstyle, but I think the game has one fatal flaw: it's just way too long. I also don't like the fact that it didn't incorporate some crucial additions to the genre, like hitting downed opponents (best use of down attacks in a beat em up for me is Double Dragon Advance, so many options there).

However, it was obviously a labour of love and I greatly respect the team (they also did the recent Wonder Boy 3 remake that was really good). If they maintain the same level of quality for Shinobi I'm sure there'll be something to like there, even if it's chasing a fad that's really tired by now (I can't stand Metroidvania games bar very few exceptions anymore).

I completely agree with that flaw on the length. Ideally it should have been split into 2 40-ish minute scenarios. The other additions I don't miss myself though, but agree they would have been the icing on the cake.

And yeah, WB3 remake was mint too, forgot about that. Actually says so much for the original that so few changes were made to the gameplay.

I would 100% prefer pure arcade action over Metroidvania for Shinobi too.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

How about not having to pay more than 100€ so I can get a third of the content (be it maps, cars or customization options) that a Need For Speed game from the fucking PS2 era gave you for 10€?

Need for speed, Gran Autismo, Mario Kart 64, Destruction Derby are all leagues apart in terms of gameplay and were all popular during the PS1/N64 era. There is clearly a market for these genres but everything you said is correct. Everything is now trying to be realist and compete on how shiny the cars are rather than gameplay. And they've all taken the Train sim autism business model where you sell tiny bits of the game to players.

 

[Lyric Suite]

It's unreasonable if the "simulator" is ok with the complete sacrifice of everything else

This is such a colossal load of shit there's no reason for me to even engage in this conversation.

Nothing whatsoever is being sacrificed in the name of "realism". To the contrary, it is realism that is being sacrificed for this supposed "everything else" which generally just amounts to dumbed down bullshit. Take the Codemasters F1 games. Wow, muh great gayming experience, amrite? And what of that nice bussiness model of having to pay full price every year for the same fucking shit so teh great amrite?

You are literally regurgitating the same fucking argument that is being used to dumb down every single genre in existence.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Gran Autismo

Gran Turismo 5 is a 10/10 simulator wrapped up in a 5/10 game​

Really this quote not only somehow got worse with time, it can now be applied to most racing games...

This is such a colossal load of shit there's no reason for me to even engage in this conversation.

Thank you for your concession!

 

[Lyric Suite]

Like not having to deal with an in-game UI so atrocious you're better off installing a community game launcher that skips it?
How about not having the game shit and piss itself in an online match with more than 3 people?
How about not being disconnected from a match, just because someone grazed my rear bumper?
You know what? Let's forget multiplayer. How about not having the game hilariously bug out during offline single-player just because I did a bad turn that got me off the track?
How about having AI that works?
How about not having a bare-bones carrer mode?
How about some music by way? Doesn't even need to be during races, because I know simfags would have an aneurysm if that were the case. But can't we at least have some music in the menus? Please?
How about not having the newest game in your franchise, look worse than the game from 2 releases ago?
How about not having to pay more than 100€ so I can get a third of the content (be it maps, cars or customization options) that a Need For Speed game from the fucking PS2 era gave you for 10€?
Shit, how about simply having a game that's been out for more than 5 years, is still worked on and still generously funded by players, run better than Fallout 76 did at launch?

What the fuck are you even talking about? Are you a bot too like that other retard?

I don't have the slightest, faintest clue of wtf any of that shit applies to.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

What the fuck are you even talking about?

The current state of the so called Racing Simulator (lol) ''niche''

 

[Lyric Suite]

What the fuck are you even talking about?

The current state of the so called Racing Simulator (lol) ''niche''

Except that's the current state of jack shit because i have no idea what any of that applies to. Be fucking specific.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

You know you can always play them yourself and find out, I would rather not spoil that surprise.

 

[Lyric Suite]

You know you can always play them yourself and find out, I would rather not... spoil that surprise.

I played some. I got hooked into rFactor and used to play all the SimBin games back in the day and i found them all amazing. I also played Assetto Corsa for a while (the heir of rFactor in terms of custom cars and tracks) and i also own Automobilsta, but i haven't played the latter much as i no longer have a wheel with me.

Never had an issue. And i found all those games to be FAR more entertaining than any dumb shit that sacrifices realism for the sake of this supposed "everything else". You know, all the simcades or arcades that are propular among consoltards and the like. I guess those are the great racing games in your view. I guess this Michael Bay shit is your definition of a good game:



Muh fun amirite?

 

[Viata]

What a shit trailer. Amazing that they are able to put all that slow motion videos to the point it must be quite boring to play the game if every other second you have slow motion videos taking the gameplay away from you. Fuck modern devs.

 

[Atlet]

I didn't play any 2023 shooter, since I'm mostly enjoying a Turn Based Tactical/Strategy ride this year, but Blood West seems like a fine title, if there ever was one in this genre.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

Were there any good (fps) looter shooters released this year?I'm still hunting for a game as fun to play as Borderlands without Anthony Burch ruining it.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

rFactor

Ah yes, let's talk about its better sequel which is widely aclaimed as the simulation king for it's great physics

average rFactor2 offline race

Man don't you just love when a game wastes all its resources in gimmicks like "tyre deformation" instead of trying to at least make it playable?

inb4: "rFactor2 is best played online."

online requirements

All for this awesome and very stable multiplayer experience

Yeah...
I think I'll pass mate

Assetto Corsa

What riveting gameplay!
Truly this is the height of the genre
How can those dirty console racers - that actually have working UIs (and music by the way) - can even compete?

By the way, are you keeping track with the bingo?

Automobilsta

Ah yes
The game whose sequel is still as broken as the first game (that's nearly 10 years old), despite running on a suposedly more polished version of the engine


Also none of these games have the extremely complex online functions of: online parties, matchmaking, custom lobbies.
You know what game had these?
Motherfucking Halo 2 for the original Xbox almost 20 years ago.

any dumb shit that sacrifices realism for the sake of this supposed "everything else".

Yeah, I guess all this focus on realism paid up in the end, right? Right?

Former professional race driver - Joseph Burton Harris:

After awhile I started to realise, we are actually driving a Sim anymore, we are turning it into an Arcade.

Oops
And iRacing is supposed to be the cream of the crop of Sim Racers

You know, all the simcades or arcades that are propular among consoltards and the like.

F-Zero GX is the best and most fun racing game of all time, yes.



Not to mention as hard as nails...

Also the best soundtrack of any racing game:

 

[Viata]

Infinitron should move the "is racing sim killing the rest of racing games genres" posts to another thread. It has nothing to do with shooters at this point.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Saying that racing simulations like rFactor killed arcade racing games is like saying the original Operation Flashpoint killed the FPS genre. The faggot claims racing sim enthusiasts don't "tolerate" anything other than "simulators" when in reality he seems to be the one who cannot tolerate anything other than his very narrow conception of what a racism game ought to be.

I for one find this far more exilarating than that turbo twitch stuff:



But yeah, this conversation is too retarded to continue.

 

[ferratilis]

 

[Feyd Rautha]

The only one from this year that I played was Quake 2 Remaster and also it's brand new campaign Call of the Machine. It was actually loads of fun!

 

[Ivan]

from what I played this year:
Blood West
Rollerdrome

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Saying that racing simulations like rFactor killed arcade racing games is like saying the original Operation Flashpoint killed the FPS genre.

Easy on the false equivalences there pal
That statement would be true, if it weren't for the fact that the racing genre today is demonstrably dominated by Sim Racers

Arcade racers, which once enjoyed multiple yearly releases even by most big studios, have now nearly vanished and all the big productions are for franchises that cater primarly to audiences more inclined towards sims
The genre is currently so deserted of variety, that we're lucky to get a one throwback arcade racer like BallisticNG
And as you can check, these aren't made by AAA or even AA studios anymore, but always by small indie devs (sometimes literally made by just 1 guy that one day also asked himself, "Hey, what happened to all these games?")


I'll repeat myself in even more simple terms:
My main issue of contention here, is that the racing genre as a whole, for the last decade, has become increasingly more stagnant
The reason for that, is the observable fact that just one of it's subgenres has become overwhelmingly predominant
And to make matters exponenially worse, the newest and most sucessful releases in that subgenre are, far too often: barely functional, overpriced, severely lacking in content and even basic QoL features

This level of incompetence was not present in older Sims
And in any other game genre it would be endlessly critized and ridiculed
Yet the audience for these games, seemingly don't mind this deplorable situation, as they keep paying and making excuses for this shit

The faggot claims racing sim enthusiasts don't "tolerate" anything other than "simulators" when in reality he seems to be the one who cannot tolerate anything other than his very narrow conception of what a racism game ought to be.

>Implying

The disdain you showed towards other more arcadey racing subgenres is a common behaviour among simfags
Admitadly, I prefer high stakes turbo arcade racers like F-Zero, but I have no animosity towards Sim Racers as a genre (just the shit they put out today)
In fact there used to be a Simulator bar, somewhat near my 7th grade school, me and the lads used to go and race for the next 3 hours (and unlike rFactor and Assetto Corsa it actually fucking worked without any issues lol) - good times!

And yes, most simfags don't tolerate that a racing game with sim elements (even one that isn't trying to be pure sim) should deviate from the ideals of pure Sim Racing, as it make the game "inferior"
Very much like grognards

But yeah, this conversation is too retarded to continue.

Agreed
I make a simple point, you fail to comprehend it and proceed to throw the strawman at me

 

[Lyric Suite]

The disdain you showed towards other more arcadey racing subgenres is a common behaviour among simfags

That's because those games deserve to be scorned, namely, because they are trying to usurp the place of real simulators. I am of course talking about simcades here, not that arcadey thing you posted which no racing fan has ever even looked at, let alone said anything about.

There is a reason why most of the popular racing sims rely on old engines. It's because companies no longer bother developing new engines with the aim of raising the bar in terms of what can be achieved with computing technology. Racing games now are intended for your average dude bro, the same kind of retard who thinks Call of Duty offers him a real combat simulation and wouldn't last 10 minutes trying to play Arma before getting bored to shit by it.

Simulation in gaming is a relic from the era where pushing the limits of computing technology was seen as a serious pursuit. That ceased being the case with the advent of multiplatform development, where everything had to be dumped down for the normie crowd. Fuck, flight simulator fans had to wait like 18 fucking years before Microsoft deigned to release a new one. It's no wonder rFactor 2 is still alive despite it's botched release and ongoing troubled development. The damn thing had to be rescued by a completely different company because racing fans don't want to lose their already extremely limited options in terms of genuine physics realism, and they'll gladly pay to support its development because what else is there? rFactor 2's pricing isn't even that bad in the grand scheme of things. DCS World's expansions are priced like full games. And i already mentioned Codemasters selling reskins of the same game every year at full price. That's much better, right?

That statement would be true, if it weren't for the fact that the racing genre today is demonstrably dominated by Sim Racers

It was dominated by Sim Racers since the very beginning bro. Pole Position in 1982 was already a step towards sim racing and in fact was praised as such, and games like TX-1 came with a wheel peripheral and seating:

And some arcade cabinets even went so far as offer hydraulic motion to increase the "realism" even further. By 1988 you even had companies trying to make full blown 3D simulations:



This one was a MASSIVE hit in Japan so stop trying to imagine racing games were all about the "arcade" factor. In reality, racing games were ALWAYS trying to provide a degree simulation from the get go, and it stands to reason this tendency would increase as computing technology became more sophisticated.

I ask, what is even the value of a simcade? It's neither a simulation nor does it offer any challening arcade experience. They are pretty much the equivalent of Call of Duty. Why wouldn't sim racing fans scorn them? Shouldn't you as well?

 

[Viata]

Pole Position in 1982

This game was the shit, loved to play this on Arcade. Only recent I learned that there was a Pole Position 2, which was also great.
Trivia: another thing I learned was that RF 2 (Road Fighter 2) from Konami was also distributed by Namco as an upgrade kit for their sit down Pole Position cabinets.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Feel like we're shifting what we're discussing here
But oh well...

That's because those games deserve to be scorned, namely, because they are trying to usurp the place of real simulators. I am of course talking about simcades here

Oh c'mon man
Simcades have always been middle of the road, they will never any more than that because that's what their audience wants from them

For comparasion (player counts):
F1 Manager 2023 - https://steamcharts.com/app/2287220#All
rFactor2 - https://steamcharts.com/app/365960#All
Assetto Corsa - https://steamcharts.com/app/244210#All

And F1 is supposed to be the most successful simcade series out there

Simulation in gaming is a relic from the era where pushing the limits of computing technology was seen as a serious pursuit.
...
racing fans don't want to lose their already extremely limited options in terms of genuine physics realism

In the last 5 years there's actually been some good releases of more physics oriented vehicular games - BeamNG.drive (this one is pretty much a physics engine), Wreckfest and the MudRunner series

they'll gladly pay to support its development

That's fine
But there needs to be better transparency from the devs, otherwise this is a clownshown worse than StarCitzen
And on this matter I don't even have much a problem with rFactor or Automobilista
Except for Assetto Corsa
Now that game I admit I have an axe to grind

DCS World's expansions are priced like full games.

Don't like Warthunder?

stop trying to imagine racing games were all about the "arcade" factor

I never made that claim dammit
I said that arcade racers, which where once ubiquitous, have been pushed out of the AAA and AA market

I ask, what is even the value of a simcade? It's neither a simulation nor does it offer any challening arcade experience.

The value is exactly that they're neither one extreme, nor the other
And I don't think that's a bad thing, because smart game design can find a way to make it good

I mean, if we're putting this in terms of shooters, we would essentially get the claim that: "Good shooters are either trying to be like Doom/Quake or like ARMA"