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Tactical Shooters

Carrion

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I've been itching to play a good tactical FPS for a while, but I can't really think of any games to cure that itch. I'm looking for something in the vein of Rainbow Six, Hidden & Dangerous, SWAT, OFP/ArmA, Ghost Recon etc.: squad-based combat, some kind of tactical elements, a fair amount of realism and a good single-player campaign. The setting doesn't really matter, although some urban combat would definitely be nice. Preferably from the early 2000's, but older and newer games are fine if they exist.

Is H&D2 any good? What about the single-player campaign of Operation Arrowhead? Are there any Ghost Recon games after the first one that are worth playing? Any less-known gems I should be aware of? Help me out here.
 

Derek Larp

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H&D2 is awesome. Definately recommended. I also had some fun with Ghost Recon:AW.

I remember there was a game where you commanded a squad of murrican grunts. I don't remember the name, but it was a weird mix of FPS and RTS, where you popamole behind cover with one team and supress the enemy while the other team flanks them. Had fun with that one too.

Operation Arrowhead was full of derp.

:retarded: LISTEN UP, WE'LL FLY YOU TO THE AIRPORT AND DROP YOU OFF ON THE RUNWAY WITHOUT COVER NO 100 YARDS FROM THE ENEMY TROOPS I THINK THAT'S A GOOD INVASION PLAN.


:retarded: YOU, AMERICAN SPECIAL FORCES DUDE, WE'LL FLY YOU WITH A CHOPPER TO A ZSU AA GUN, MAN IT AND SHOOT DOWN THE INCOMING FROGFOOTS BEFORE THEY DESTROY OUR TANKS!


Maybe the campaign got better after that, dunno...
 

Carrion

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Naturally I've played Arma 2, that's why I was asking about Operation Arrowhead. I actually thought the single-player campaing of Arma 2 was pretty decent for what it was, so my standards shouldn't be too high. If OA's campaign is even on the same level with the first few missions of Arma 2 and it doesn't have that Warfare crap, I might consider getting it.

H&D2 is awesome. Definately recommended.
Cool, maybe I'll check it out. How would you compare it to the first one?

I remember there was a game where you commanded a squad of murrican grunts. I don't remember the name, but it was a weird mix of FPS and RTS, where you popamole behind cover with one team and supress the enemy while the other team flanks them. Had fun with that one too.
The popamole thing sounds like Brothers in Arms. Not really what I'm looking for. I'd prefer the "one shot, one kill" approach.
 

hoopy

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Larp is probably talking about that modern warfare game that was based on a training sim or something like that. I can't remember the name.
 

Derek Larp

Cipher
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Naturally I've played Arma 2, that's why I was asking about Operation Arrowhead. I actually thought the single-player campaing of Arma 2 was pretty decent for what it was, so my standards shouldn't be too high. If OA's campaign is even on the same level with the first few missions of Arma 2 and it doesn't have that Warfare crap, I might consider getting it.

Well your mileage may vary. I played the arma 2 campaign all the way until those awful RTS-basebuilding missions, but I only got a few missions into the OA campaign before losing interest. You can tell they tried to do some (un)cool COD:MW shit and that fell flat on its face since scripted action scenes isn't exactly a strong point of the arma engine. On the other hand you now drive tanks and helicopters to mix things up. Maybe you should 'demo' it to see if you like it.

H&D2 is awesome. Definately recommended.
Cool, maybe I'll check it out. How would you compare it to the first one?

It's been a very long time since I played the first one, so I can't really comment on that. H&D2 also has that planning mode map thing, but I remember it being pretty convoluted and useless, I either had the squaddies following me or switched between characters advancing one by one. You can also give them direct orders a la Raven Shield (like open this door etc.) and tell them to hold fire until you shoot first. IMO it has a great atmosphere and the close quarter battles are quite tense since the enemies are sneaky fucks. At some points you can steal german uniforms and the game becomes a bit hitmanish. I remember a few levels being big corridors, but most are large sprawling locations with multiple ways to get in and out and around. You can sometimes drive vehicles, but it always felt like an afterthought, like they put them in just because the engine can handle them (but I think that was already in the first one).

Edit: There´s a demo with a full level, maybe try that first.

I remember there was a game where you commanded a squad of murrican grunts. I don't remember the name, but it was a weird mix of FPS and RTS, where you popamole behind cover with one team and supress the enemy while the other team flanks them. Had fun with that one too.
The popamole thing sounds like Brothers in Arms. Not really what I'm looking for. I'd prefer the "one shot, one kill" approach.

Yeah, it is more a tactics thing for squad movement, your guys are invulnerable while in cover, even when shooting at the enemy. But it has some kind of Blackhawk-Down-esque warmovie thing going on that was entertaining, at least for me.
 

bussinrounds

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Yea, none of the Ghost Recon games after the the first one were any good., and Raven Shield was the last good R6 game.
The original OFP had a GREAT single player campaign. You might wanna look into a mod for Arma 2 that lets you play the original OFP in the Arma 2 engine. (from what I heard) Not sure if they finished it though.
 

gromit

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Are there any Ghost Recon games after the first one that are worth playing?
Don't listen to the haters. GRAW PC isn't nearly as varied as the first and its expansions, but it's still pretty good - just be aware the game is mostly toward "preconned" urban combat and the design is skewed heavily to that - drones, killzones, and the occasional dash and slide / dive, are the order of the day.

GRAW2 PC, at least in how I felt to approach it, was a lot more improvisational. The layouts were more conducive to both slow creeps and corner-to-corner firefights, there were more places to snipe if you wished, and the squad control still allowed careful waypoint plotting from the map, but had an on-the-spot alternative with a snapping 3d cursor. You also get more variety than GRAW in the first few levels (but no globe-hopping like the first GR.)

I've heard rumors the console GR games give you cancer - I wouldn't risk it if I were you.
 

Carrion

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bussinrounds: Yeah, the OFP campaign is one of my favorites ever. I've pretty much played it to death. Too bad Bohemia haven't managed to create a really solid single-player campaign after Cold War Crisis and the expansions.

gromit: Thanks. It sounds like I'll at least have to give the GRAW and GRAW2 demos a try then.
 
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Operation Flashpoint still beats arma in my book... and the music simply rocks. Mission where you left alone in the woods was most awesome in whole my gaming expiernce.
 

MetalCraze

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Bro you've named them all.
Unless you are into IGI stuff which is a single-man game you are better off playing non-shooter tactical games.
Like WinSPMBT or JA2

What about the single-player campaign of Operation Arrowhead?

BIS SP campaigns

OFP CWC > OFP RES > ArmA2 BAF (a short version of OFP RES with brits) > Arma1 > ArmA2 OA > ArmA2 > ArmA1 QG > ArmA2 PMC
 

Carrion

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IGI's a really cool game, but I wouldn't really consider it a part of this genre. It's just another piece of early 2000's FPS goodness that happens to offer more freedom and a more awesome sniper rifle than most other games in the genre.

I've heard some good things about the BAF campaign, but how long is it exactly? I might consider getting it along with Operation Arrowhead but if it's just a few missions I probably won't bother.

I definitely disagree on ArmA 1 campaign being better than the Arma 2 campaign. I thought it was a total mess and only got worse after each mission. It didn't seem like they were even trying. Arma 2 at least had a few really solid missions despite having stupid CoD cutscenes and semi-invincible squad mates and being pretty disappointing overall. The first Arma had barely any single-player value at all and Queen's Gambit was even worse.
 

MetalCraze

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it's 4 missions long, but they are Resistance-long. Meaning it's like 1/5 of Resistance. Yes soldiers die forever and don't get transfered into following missions and you get 9 of them besides you. Also only 1 medic (I actually lost him in mission 2 and had to suffer dearly for this in following missions). Yeah it's short but there are also 8 single missions included which are pretty good too (~30 min each which makes for a total of 4 hours)

OA is like ArmA1 but shorter and easier. You drive a tank, run around shooting baddies, fly a chopper etc. - CWC stuff but just like ArmA1 it feels disconnected.
 

Admiral jimbob

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Wasteland 2
This thread reminded me of something that's been bugging me incessantly for years. Back in about... 2003, 2004, I played a squad-based FPS that I borrowed from someone. It was clearly meant to be played multiplayer, I think. There was a fuckyeahAmerica campaign and a terrorist campaign. The second mission involved killing a Mexican terrorist called Jesus in his villa. There was a snowy level and a level involving disarming bombs at a dam. The last level, for some reason, was about saving a random politician hiding in a train tunnel for no clear reason. This was too early in my PC gaming career to really tell how "tactical" it really was, but I remember it being reasonably hard. Anyone know? Sorry for slight hijack, but this has been intermittedly bugging the shit out of me for fucking ages.
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium

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Delta force is good too.

Oh, and there's also Deadly Dozen, but I don't remember if it is any good. It's basically a H&D clone.
 

Random

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If you wanna get old school, how about Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels?
 

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