If I have to play one more game with thickheaded marines...

So I've recently been playing through a lot more FPS games than usual since I just got a new system (PS3) and I've come to realize just how ridiculously cliche the genre has gotten. Every game has a bunch of bloodthirsty marines with more bullet wounds and scars than IQ points. Every game has you taking the role of the super soldier ("super" because he's so skilled or special in some other way) who leads said ragtag group of braindead bulletjockeys as they cleave up aliens/enemy soldiers. Along the way there's bound to be at least one helicopter crash that you'll pull yourself out of (I dare say that MW2 set a record for most helicopter crash scenes...in that game if you got inside a helicopter you knew it was going to get shot down), at least one lame plot-twist and at least one character death that only a franchise fanboy would care about, and of course there will be PLENTY of chatter about "bravo team" and "alpha squad" and how you two need to meet up at (insert location here) about 50 times throughout the game. Also, needless to say you will have to secure god only knows how many arbitrarily named and numbered sectors. You'll do this all with the help of some sort of an assault rifle (most likely with a grenade launcher attachment on it), sniper rifle, shotgun, grenades (frag guaranteed, flashbangs likely, and there's a decent chance the game will have some sort of sticky grenade), and pistol (9mm is all but guaranteed to be your starting sidearm, but don't worry because you'll get to upgrade it to a magnum sooner or later).

Does anyone else share my feelings in that they've seen everything the FPS genre has to offer? Sure, it's not like this trend is anything new, but at least back in the 90's and early 00's there was still some originality to be found. FPS games weren't always about marines. Take Duke Nukem, Turok, Half-Life, and Deus Ex for example (although granted Deus Ex is more of an FPS/RPG hyrbid). None of those games had any of the cliches listed above. Sure, weapons like shotguns, sniper rifles, and assault rifles made apperances, but they usually took a backseat to the games' more exotic and creative weapons.

Now before anyone says "blog it", the main point of this topic is to ask if anyone else is getting tired of FPS's. They've been dominating gaming for the last 10-15 years now (especially this gen) and I'm curious to see if maybe trends are starting to change again to where gaming will diversify a bit more, like what it was back in the 90's. Or maybe people are just as crazy about FPSs as they were 10 years ago. Let's find out.

There always seems to be a tendency to have a glut of one genre. I still remember the glut of fighting games back in the 90's. I just ignored them. There are games in other genres that are still plentiful enough.

Most people don't like playing as weaker characters. I dunno. Isaac in Dead Space suited the role well though, you could tell he was terrified, but it was third person. What about Bioshock?

I also took a long break from FPS games (the last were Battlefield 2 and Far Cry) and concentrated on flight/combat sims from 2006-2009. I didn't resume playing FPS games until last November. I felt totally refreshed and bought Crysis Maximum Edition plus Bioshock/Oblivion. I even reinstalled my old FPS games (Battlefield 2, HL2, Doom 3, Far Cry).

If you're tired of those games. Don't buy them. I didn't. Pretty simple and they cost much less when I resumed playing the genre.

OP, you make some good points. I thought about all the FPS games I have played, and in the end, I am happy shooting and killing people.

When playing with/as Marines, the generic Marine is a given. The Super Marine is also a given. Without the Super Marine, how would we distinguish our character from the run of the mill characters. Wouldn't be much fun to play, if we were just an average Joe.

In Bioshock, you find out that Jack is a bit "super". In Dead Space, Isaac thanks to a Suit becomes a Super Engineer. Half Life, and others use Suits or "Powers" to make the main character able to kick some booty. The point is; all games seem to have something to make the main guy Super. Military themed games are no diffferent. The Thickheaded marines are there to fill out the story/action, and as cannnon fodder.

Now, I don't play much of FPS, buit I find that in Medal of Honour, you ARE the "super" soldier if you will, because your "team" is utterly USELESS!!!!! Next time in a FPS, put in some allies who will actually pull their weight in a fight and help you in your campaign.

RPGs>FPSs

Personally i hate the walktrough nature of a FPS games.The environment always has to change by the seconds.Clear out one spot , move on , clear out another one , move on , clear out another area , move on.Thats it... for the most part of a game.I would like to see how its possible to implement "static battle" into a FPS shooters ;) At least i would like to see it , i dont know about others.And it would need to have stats in it , like kills and so on.

I know how formulaic they can be mate and in all fairness it gets irritating quick. I personally preferred the brothers in arms series for its squad based tactics and superior storytelling. Saying that i started to lean towards gears of war for online play but i found halo is more enjoyable as long as everyone is muted on both teams (stops them calling me bad names)