In terms of its current status, though, the first-person shooter is heavily maligned and culturally embraced in equal measures. This divisive quality is wholly typified by Activision’s Call of Duty. What was once considered to be a mere Doom clone when it debuted on the PC in 2003 has, in turn, gone on to spawn its own like-minded games over the last decade. Not only does this highlight how trends drift in and out of fashion through time, it also underlines how the industry capitalizes on said trends by, in this case, implementing the FPS mechanic into an array of titles. An example of this process is BioShock Infinite; Irrational Games’ much-admired, cerebral shooter. What is undeniably a great game is hampered by the fact that it was designed as a first-person shooter. The third entry in the prestigious franchise excels in almost every other department —from environmental storytelling to art direction— yet fumbles the basic combat mechanics that can result in a jarring, game-breaking experience.
It’s a process that has been seen across both genres. As the budgets for triple-A titles balloon, developers tend to splice various elements from different gaming categories together in order to attract the largest audience possible. It’s simply the nature of the industry as it continues to ape Hollywood through expensive advertising and high-profile talent. In September, Grand Theft Auto V surpassed Star Wars: The Old Republic as the most expensive game in history; clocking in with a reported budget of $266 million, whereas The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim cost a total of $85 million to develop and market. Both of these titles were developed by Rockstar and Bethesda, respectively; two studios that have long been considered as the gatekeepers of stellar open-world experiences. In fact, their free-roaming heritage echoes that of id Software and Rare, who guided the first-person shooter into the mainstream in the 80s and 90s.
With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how studios usher this legacy into the next generation. Ubisoft, for example, have been bullish in their plans to weave open-world components into the majority of its upcoming releases, thereby capitalising on a “deep-seated market trend.” And though it’s not representative of every studio’s ideology, it’s a notable sign of the current ascension; a swell in popularity that can be automatically paralleled with the console generation cycle. As the next-gen machines creep ever closer, developers are either perfecting their software on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 —the iterative progression from Grand Theft Auto IV and V is a case in point —or, as they begin to gauge the potential of the new processors, hone and perfect the formula for persistent open-worlds.
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