Updated: 06/16/13
Note: The list has been updated with Call of Duty: Ghosts replacing the rumored MW4 and Aliens: Colonial Marines being replaced with the PS Vita exclusive, Killzone: Mercenary.
First person shooters have been a staple of videogames since the release of Doom two decades ago, and they've remained on the forefront of videogames ever since. The development of first person shooters has not only driven the medium as a whole, but it's also had a significant impact on technology and the development of graphics cards, CPUs, and the physics engines that power these games—in addition to the countless other applications that they're used for.
Without the first person shooter, 3D wouldn't be as advanced as it is, and we'd never have games like Half-Life to push the FPS as a narrative vehicle. No other perspective allows us to perceive the world through a more "immersive" lens than the FPS, which has served to deliver some of the most powerful gaming experiences to date.
The year 2013 is set to offer a wealth of gaming choices in the first-person shooter genre. The games are expected to offer innovation and reasons to purchase a powerful gaming rig as many of them are being developed not only to make the most out of current-generation platforms, but also the next.
These bleeding edge first-person shooters will offer unparalleled open-world environments, tough moral decisions, and in one case, even a return to giant mech combat.
Without further ado, these are the most wanted FPS games of 2013. Click on the next slide to read on!
In Call of Duty: Ghosts players will take the role of Hesh in the Ghost military outfit. However, Hesh won't remain the character's final name as Infinity Ward's Executive Producer, Mark Rubin, states that Hesh will stay as a placeholder until the studio decides on something more suitable. Mark Rubin explained that the name comes from a skater term that the studio used throughout development.
As for the overall story, Infinity War informed Gamefront that America continues to fight a war with the South American Federation of Countries. America's crippled state and the Federation's access to resources, allowed the Federation to become a world superpowers in the year 2023. As for weaponry, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 took place only two years after, but did not face a catastrophic event to delay scientific advancement.
Platform: PC, PS3 & Xbox 360.
When Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Patriots was first revealed—by accident, I might add—in target footage, many felt uneasy with the content. The trailer showed a group of men taking a wealthy man's family hostage and strapping him up with high explosives. In addition to the threat of physical and sexual violence to his wife, the man was driven to a bridge, whereupon the viewer then assumes the role of one of the members of Rainbow Six, an elite counterrorist organization sent to deal with the issue. Upon killing the hostage-takers after a prolonged shootout on the bridge, the player finds the hostage and is forced to kick him off the bridge instead of disarming the explosive. Needless to say, the whole scenario didn't go down easy with many of its viewers, which found the morality of the player's actions questionable, and the situation as a whole murky—sort of like real life. Since then, the development of the game has been under heavy wraps but Ubisoft has confirmed that it remains in development and will be released next year. Given the Rainbow Six legacy, players should expect to take command of a squad of soldiers in this upcoming FPS.
Platform: PC, PS3 & Xbox 360.
It should come as no surprise that EA has plans to continue the Battlefield series, especially with the success of the third game, which was released last year. Word of the game's development surfaced when EA revealed to users who bought Medal of Honor: Warfighter that they would have the opportunity to participate in a beta test for Battlefield 4. Beyond the fact that DICE is developing Battlefield 4—instead of any other game, much to the chagrin of everyone who wants a sequel to Mirror's Edge—little else is known about the title, except that it will offer more wide-open areas for players to fight in, and that it may be in development as a next-gen title for the next Xbox and PS4 in 2013.
Platform: PC, Xbox 720 & PS4.
Killzone: Mercenary touted as Vita's killer app will pit players in a deadly firefight where players fight alongside the ISA and Helghast.
The multiplayer will support up to eight players competing on 6 different maps. In the multiplayer you will find Shoreline, a fishing village positioned on a low cliff, which then requires players to not mistakenly walk off the edge. The fights on the Inlet map will take place on the Corinth River where the ISA invaded the Helghast. For some more vertical firefights, the Zenith map sits near the open top of a smoke stack where players can ride lifts to the control room of a large Arc Cannon firing into the atmosphere.
Platform: PS Vita.
XCOM is a reimagining of the XCOM franchise, which was recently revisited in Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Set in the 1950s instead of the early 2000s, players take on the role of an FBI agent sent to investigate strange sightings of aliens, who—as it later becomes apparent—are poised to take over the earth. The US government then forms a unit known as XCOM to investigate the extraterrestrial invaders and repel them. This 1950s-influenced game appears to share influences from the likes of the X-Files and the sci-fi series Dark Skies. The game is currently in development at the studio which created Bioshock 2, so expect to see a lot of RPG-like elements in the game in addition to some amount of resource management and team-based elements like Mass Effect.
Platform: PC, Xbox 360 & PS3.
Hawken is an upcoming first-person shooter that's different from every other game on this list. Instead of taking the role of a soldier or of a single man, players take on the role of a mech pilot who controls a giant, mechanized robot—not unlike the classic MechWarrior games from Activision. Unlike those relatively slow-paced games, Hawken will offer an intense, fast-paced experience while retaining the feeling of controlling a gigantic mech. Primarily developed for multiplayer, Hawken takes place in a dystopian human-colonized planet industrialized to the point of collapse, in which the hunt for resources has become a battle for survival. Four game modes are planned for release: team deathmatch, free-for-all deathmatch, "siege" and another yet-specified unique team game mode. Like the MechWarrior series, players will be able to control a mech from three mech classes; a heavy type, a light type, and a versatile all-rounder.
Platform: PC & Xbox 360.
Metro: Last Light is the sequel to Metro 2033, a Russian post-apocalyptic game set in the ruins of post-nuclear Moscow. The first game emphasized survival against mutants of unknown origins (also known as "dark ones") and the use of nuclear weapons against their nest to protect what was left of mankind. In the midst of the player's mission with the Rangers, we were introduced to various factions of survivors, including communists and neo-nazis, all of whom are attempting to retake the city and assimilate other groups of survivors—often by force. With the dark ones seemingly out of the picture, the various factions have come to a head and the city of Moscow is plunged into all out war. Which is where the player enters the picture. Expect more post-apocalyptic goodness with strong elements of horror and first person shooter combat in Metro: Last Light.
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC & Wii U.
Arma III is the third game in Bohemia Interactive's series of realistic first person shooters. It's the closest thing you'll get to a lifelike military experience short of washing APCs and shining uniform boots.
There's lifesized battlegrounds, one-hit kills, and all sorts of logistical considerations that make the game a seriously enjoyable experience for serious gamers who want more out of their shooters.
Arma III, like its predecessors, is set to deliver a world-class military experience that you won't find outside of the Arma—and previously, Operation Flashpoint—franchise. Is it any surprise that the makers of Arma also worked on the aforementioned game?
Platform: PC.
2. Crysis 3
Crysis 3 offers a return to the open-world environments of the original Crysis, which had been discarded for a much more linear experience in its sequel. Though the sequel wasn't a bad game, it was maligned for its lack of open-ended maps and close-quarters battles—which were two elements that no fan of the Far Cry and Crysis series ever expected to see in the game. Rather than making a Call of Duty clone, Crytek intends to take the series back to its roots and deliver an open-world environment—in this case, a New York City overrun by jungle. Taking on the role of Prophet once again, players will stalk through a variety of terrain with a host of armaments at their disposal, including a powerful composite bow, where they'll have to face Cell mercenary operatives and intelligent aliens alike.
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3 & PC.
1. BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite is the third game in the Bioshock series, and is set outside of the underwater city of Rapture, aboard the flying city of Columbia. Taking place several decades before the events of the first two games, Infinite presents a "what-if" scenario. What if America built a flying city inhabited by patriots, to live out the ideal of an Exceptionalist America way back in the 1900s? BioShock Infinite is an attempt to answer that question staged aboard the flying city. All is not well with the city, however, as it finds itself in the midst of a civil revolution between a xenophobic Tea Party-like faction and communist anarchists who believe in opening the city's gates by any means necessary. The scenario weighs heavily upon the current war of ideology between Tea Partiers and the Occupy Movement (and Anonymous). Beyond having an extensively well-developed setting, BioShock Infinite is also set to offer first person combat with weaponry from the 1900s and magical abilities not unlike the Plasmids in the first two Bioshock games.
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3 & PC.
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