Once upon a time, long long ago, shooters were fast paced and more about in your face fun, than KD ratios. Things like health bars reigned supreme, and medkit pickups, ammo, powerups and weapons covered the landscape. It was a glorious time, where carrying 10 weapons at once was encouraged, and things like dodging and rocket jumping were tactics. Gibbing was the norm in this magical realm, sprinting was the default speed, skill was based on reflex and precision, and anything less than 60 frames a second was just too slow. Yes, It was a wondrous time, a Golden Age of gaming......but that was long ago.

Since then, the world of shooters have fallen into a Dark Age. Health bars have been replaced by "take cover before you die" systems, making you virtually invulnerable if used correctly. Players are forced to choose from a fraction of the weapons available, rather than have access to all of them. Tedious actions such as aim down the sights were introduced, detracting from the fun, visceral gunplay of yesteryear. A rocket to face, which used to result in a glorious display of bloody chunks, was replaced by a lackluster animation of a body dropping to the floor...and remaining in one piece. You won't find a single medkit or ammo crate, the only weapon pickups are off of dead bodies, and sprinting was not only mapped to a button, but in certain cases, you have a limited amount available to you. 30 frames is now deemed an acceptable framerate. Sometimes, players only require a couple shots to kill, throwing skill out the window, and players are more infatuated than ever with leaderboard stats, KD ratios and talking trash, rather than just having a good time.

What happened? The FPS genre has been turned on its head, and the games off the past have been swept under the rug like a dirty secret. I want my health bars back. I want ammo and medkit pickups. I want my Quad Damage and over the top gunplay, and dammit, I want guns that are unconventional and don't make sense! These "tactical shooters" of today are a dime a dozen, and most of them have nothing "tactical" about them. So for all the Quake 3's, and the Unreal Tournaments. The Serious Sam's, Team Fortress's, and Painkillers. Here's to hoping that the gaming world has not totally forgotten you, and we once again bathe in all your gaming glory.