Online Games to Come: Shooters

I've been on a bit of a MMO buzz lately. I've not been satisfied with what exists right now, especially when considering MMORPGs that are out. Rusty battle systems pale in comparison to many of the single-player games that exist (especially Bethesda's titles), and gameplay doesn't seem as immersive and enjoyable as I feel MMOs have the potential to be. So, in a series of entries I will write up on future MMO titles, I hope to outline a few titles that are currently in development and what I hope to see.

So, to start, let's cover shooters.

The FPS genre of game was really the genre that brought games into the multiplayer phase. In fact, the very first game to be played between two computers was Maze War, a game that involved players navigating through a maze and shooting each other in a First-Person perspective. Major titles to push the multiplayer envelope after that were certainly of the FPS type, including the Doom and Quake series.

First person gaming created a real-time gaming experience that allowed players to feel as though they were actually in the game. Reaction time was melded with a realism that to this very day influences titles from shooters, to RPGs, and everything in between and has brought us not only into an age of multiplayer titles, but has brought us into 3D graphics as well. Unfortunately, major MMO titles don't seem to have taken advantage of the gameplay elements FPS titles have brought to the scene, until now.

I've mentioned games like Darkfall, which brings real-time battle elements straight into the fantasy MMORPG settings we have come to love. But, titles that are taking even more directly from the FPS genre are in fact MMOFPS titles such as Huxley and Global Agenda.

Huxley is a title I've been following for a while, and frankly, it looks great. Developed using the Unreal Engine 3, the game aims to bring all of the action of tournament shooters into a vast and changing MMO world.

Global Agenda is very similar, and is even being developed on the same engine, but looks to have a bit more of an open approach to its game world. Huxley has two factions, or races, that players can join and fight for. One is a group of humans, called Sapiens, and the other is a type of mutant human group called the Alternatives. Through the use of battle instances, Huxley allows for large-scale battles to occur between players from each side.

Global Agenda, on the other hand, employs a system where players become members of "Agencies" which interact with one another to try and take control of certain parts of the game world and establish reputation amongst other Agencies. The idea and how it will be implemented looks fun, especially as it is explained in this video at WarCry.

Huxley is supposed to be released in the near future, and Global Agenda is still very much in the middle of development. These titles, though, will likely draw its users from the same base and compete directly with one another. While the two are very much MMOFPS titles, they employ many RPG features and will certainly draw MMORPG fans to them, especially for those who want a title that provides more action to a vast game world.

Another title that is certainly worth mention here is Sony Online's "The Agency". The title is a spy/espionage/shooter MMO that differs from Huxley and Global agenda as it focuses much less on PVP and much more on instance missions. The game is very stylized and looks to very fluidly employ the FPS gameplay style that so much needs to be in MMO games. Oh, and an interesting side-note, The Agency will also utilize the Unreal Engine 3.

So, what does the future hold for MMOs? Certainly more action and improved battle systems that will make the boring point-and-click-to-attack-and-wait style most MMO games currently use a thing of the past. Thank goodness! Change is certainly going to be an important thing, especially considering how much major MMO titles of 2008 bombed. Let's hope we don't see that happen again.

Look for more articles on my blog in the near future on what's coming up in MMO titles!