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Where are the 3rd person multiplayer shooters gone?

Skelterz

Member
Back when my primary console was an Xbox 360 it seemed 3rd person shooters were rife, Obviously Gears of war was the stand out with its groundbreaking cover system and fantastic multiplayer.

I know own a PS5 and It seems with latest trends development teams are trying to emulate games like Fortnite, Pubg etc by making halfway house battle royale’s.

But what happened to the tried and true 4v4 or 5v5 on a symmetrical map with weapon spawns where you had to use map control and communication with friends to win games, One death and it’s over you let the team down you have to master the mechanics/movement to earn your place among the winners.

The last game I played online that followed this formula was last of us and it was fucking brilliant, I’ll always have my soft spot for Gears of war but I have a PS5 these days and the lack of 3rd person multiplayer experiences in the vain of GOW & LOU is a true shame.

I don’t feel like this type of experience is outdated either as gears of war is still going strong and you can find a slew of satans own demons lurking in Last of us factions waiting to feed.

So where are they? I’m starved…
 
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anthony2690

Banned
I think they realised they couldn't keep up with the gears series & that third person competitive shooters are just not that big.

& I know a big part of what people love about gears is wall bouncing, gnasher & fighting for the power weapons like sniper, torque etc.

Gears 5 still does that, but like you said you're on ps5, so you're unable to play this.

& I imagine gears 6 will come one day.

There is plenty of third person shooter games, but the multiplayer ones seem to be battle royale, or PVE focused games.

There is rogue company, third person shooter, but it's okay at best and doesn't feel anywhere near as good or satisfying as gears.

You don't fight for power weapons or anything like that, your characters have abilities etc, so probably not what you're looking for.

But it is free and on ps5.
 
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Skelterz

Member
I think they realised they couldn't keep up with the gears series & that third person competitive shooters are just not that big.

& I know a big part of what people love about gears is wall bouncing, gnasher & fighting for the power weapons like sniper, torque etc.

Gears 5 still does that, but like you said you're on ps5, so you're unable to play this.

& I imagine gears 6 will come one day.

There is plenty of third person shooter games, but the multiplayer ones seem to be battle royale, or PVE focused games.

There is rogue company, third person shooter, but it's okay at best and doesn't feel anywhere near as good or satisfying as gears.

You don't fight for power weapons or anything like that, your characters have abilities etc, so probably not what you're looking for.

But it is free and on ps5.

Again, played rogue company and for free you can’t complain yet it lacks the intensity of GOW and LOU, Reminded more of like uncharted online guns were very static reticle barely moved, No weight to it etc.

Again I appreciate the recommendation.

It leads me to wonder are devs scared to make a 3rd person shooting game like GOW or LOU in this climate because there scared the modern gamer won’t respect or appreciate the fact you have to master mechanics to be successful online, As opposed to the myriad of online shooters now where there’s virtually no punishment for death and no real challenge to speak of.
 
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I too miss SOCOM.

That said I'm very annoyed that IW doesn't have a SnD/Hostage/etc 3rd Person Playlist for Modern Warfare II. Third Person plays exceptionally well in that game.
 
I think Gears hit peak strategic level on the 360. Last of Us same generation was also incredible until they ruined it with pay to win nonsense and completely shifted the meta away from tactical. SOCOM was also very good for this style.

Someone already recommended it but Rogue Company is third person, team based and tactical. It’s not amazing but it’s not bad.
 
There are tons of third person shooters.

Off the top of my head there is;

The Division and The Division 2
Outriders
Gears of War series (5 games)
The Last of Us Part 1 and 2
Max Payne series (3 games)
Fortnite
Days Gone
Rogue Company
Red Dead Redemption 2
Crackdown series (3 games)
Evil West
Mafia series (3 games)
Warframe
Star Wars Battlefront and SW:BF2
DayZ
Mass Effect series (4 games)
PubG
Dead Rising series (4 games)
Dead Space series (3 games)
World War Z
Resident Evil 2 and 3
The Evil Within 1 and 2
The Order 1886
Sniper Elite series (5 games)
Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint
Splinter Cell Series (5 games)
Just Cause series (3 games)
Callisto Project
Returnal

Even MW2 has a fully functioning third person game mode.

Now, I acknowledge not all of these are conventional shooter games, as some have horror elements, RPG elements etc...

But, they are all in third person and all have varying degrees of gunplay as their core combat component.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
There are tons of third person shooters.

Off the top of my head there is;

The Division and The Division 2
Outriders
Gears of War series (5 games)
The Last of Us Part 1 and 2
Max Payne series (3 games)
Fortnite
Days Gone
Red Dead Redemption 2
Crackdown series (3 games)
Evil West
Mafia series (3 games)
DayZ
Mass Effect series (4 games)
PubG
Dead Rising series (4 games)
Dead Space series (3 games)
World War Z
Resident Evil 2 and 3
The Evil Within 1 and 2
The Order 1886
Sniper Elite series (5 games)
Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint
Splinter Cell Series (5 games)
Just Cause series (3 games)
Callisto Project
Returnal

Even MW2 has a fully functioning third person game mode.

Now, I acknowledge not all of these are conventional shooter games, as some have horror elements, RPG elements etc...

But, they are all in third person and all have varying degrees of gunplay as their core combat component.
Sure, but how many of those have good multiplayer? Fortnite and PubG?
 

SHA

Member
The industry is not perfect by any means, once I hit rock bottom and get a clearer picture of what's going on in the industry I just build a new Rig, it's not the end of the world, I get its not the perfect choice but contents aren't either.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Those games now suck. No one wants to play them anymore. How many flops in this genre y'all got to see before it clicks?

Rogue Company was the most successful recent one, so that should kinda tell you...
 

Skelterz

Member
Those games now suck. No one wants to play them anymore. How many flops in this genre y'all got to see before it clicks?

Rogue Company was the most successful recent one, so that should kinda tell you...

But rogue company has no weight to it, it’s like a cod clone in 3rd person no gore guns have no recoil the mechanics are basic it’s trash, I’ve played the latest Gears and it’s miles better than rogue I just don’t understand why devs have abandoned the genre in a multiplayer setting.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
But rogue company has no weight to it, it’s like a cod clone in 3rd person no gore guns have no recoil the mechanics are basic it’s trash, I’ve played the latest Gears and it’s miles better than rogue I just don’t understand why devs have abandoned the genre in a multiplayer setting.

There's always an excuse for why these 5 v 5 games bomb. The genre is cooked. Everyone has moved on to more ambitious, more appealing multiplayer games. The 5 v 5 stuff is now a small mode in todays succesful multiplayer games.

What was awesome in 2003 is no longer awesome today.
 

Skelterz

Member
There's always an excuse for why these 5 v 5 games bomb. The genre is cooked. Everyone has moved on to more ambitious, more appealing multiplayer games. The 5 v 5 stuff is now a small mode in todays succesful multiplayer games.

What was awesome in 2003 is no longer awesome today.

I just don’t buy it, things become stale when devs don’t innovate the genre hasn’t been pushed beyond the benchmarks of gears of war the reason the genre is frazzled is because nobody has pushed it to the next level and that’s a shame.
 
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Klosshufvud

Member
Battlefront 2 was fairly enjoyable as a casual TPS game. Not sure how active it is today. And while not a shooter, Chivalry 2 is melee based but really fun and old school in execution.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
I just don’t buy it, things become stale when devs don’t innovate the genre hasn’t been pushed beyond the benchmarks of gears of war the reason the genre is frazzled is because nobody has pushed it to the next level and that’s a shame.

I used to think this way about Spies vs Mercs multiplayer. I thought it was the next big thing and each iteration only failed because they didn't do this one (magical) thing.

Then I realized most gamers don't like stealth gameplay and it all made sense.

Those 5 v 5 team based games are incredibly repetitive and unrewarding. They don't appeal to many gamer types outside of a very specific few.

Todays successful multiplayer games all have warts. None of them are perfect. They're successful because their gameplay loops appeal to more gamers.
 
Sure, but how many of those have good multiplayer? Fortnite and PubG?
Well, to be fair, a good percentage have some kind of multiplayer - and "good" is somewhat subjective.

Some have a more co-op focused play style, while others have the more conventional free for all or team deathmatch game modes.

You are right that some don't really have a multiplayer at all, but I figured they are still third person and so might be of some interest.

Still, I'd say at least 40-50% have engaging multiplayer.

In my opinion, both Star Wars Battlefront games are good, as is Warframe, Fortnite (as you say), Gears of War has a decent multiplayer, as does Outriders, same for both The Division games, Red Dead 2 has an interesting take on PvP, same with World War Z, so this is some variety there if you want it.
 
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