Well, yeah, cod4's version of chernobyl certainly had a better atmosphere and feeling.That is a fact. Now on stalker, cant say i find anything impressive in the series including atmosphere.haha no
Level design, enemy design (including AI), and general control and gunplay.
All elements of an FPS are important, but if one of those I just listed is not there, then the game just falls short. A lot of games have some great level design, and some aweosme enemy design and AI just lack on the weapon feel and maybe have sluggish controls.
honestly if it just "FEELS" good shooting and seeing the damage that it causes to the enemy then I will like the game. FEAR was a repetitive corridor shooter in a way, but it was fun because the act of shooting the enemies just felt good. The guns need to seem powerful and the hit detection needs to be perfect.
constantly rewarding MP and optional challenges you can complete without looking up. In terms of single player, satisfying to kill enemies quick thinking without it seeming obvious. For the so called "epic" moments in CoD, don't EVER take control from the player. The coolest stuff happens as long as you have control of everything. Think Uncharted 2's collapsing building where even when you briefly loose control, it felt seamless. Definitely include coop, but make the characters work together. Army of Two (40th day atleast) really did this well, I loved it for coop, but you can't make the mistakes that one did too.
Oh and innovation is your enemy for the most part if its not on PC. Use standardized controls and don't change how the shooting works. The only thing I'd recommend changing is the player should need to think, like Mirror's Edge without the horrible level design and shooting part.
For an FPS to be good in my opinion, it needs to have a learning curve of some kind. I hate games like Call of Duty where you can jump into a game and instantly be on the same level as everyone else. I prefer games like Red Orchestra where it takes practice to get better.
Atmosphere is definitely what is the most important in an FPS for me. I like to be completely immersed in the game's world when playing and not detached which is the case with a lot of games out there.
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