Continuing what has become somewhat of a tradition here at Sharky Extreme (and now Sharky Games, of course) we present you with the official 2000 First Person Shooter Shootout. This year, we decided to tighten the criteria for what gets in. In other words, the focus of the game has to be largely on shooting, and add-on packs and “gold edition” re-re-releases don't count either. As a result, the superb Thief 2 is nowhere in sight as although it was a first person game, the only shooting you did was occasional and with a bow and arrow. And as for Deus Ex, brilliant as it was there was a little too much hacking, lock picking, conversing and other pseudo RPG elements for it to qualify.
This year there unfortunately weren't a lot of FPS games released, although thankfully there were just about enough good ones for this year to at least not feel like a complete downer. So, much as we'd like the Shootout to have ten great games, since there weren't a huge number of FPS titles to choose from, a few stinkers managed to sneak their way in at the lower end of the shootout. Don't say I didn't warn ya...
Starting at the bottom of the list…
Though you'd think it impossible, High Impact Paintball did in fact turn out to be worse than Daikatana. Hoping to capitalise on the success of other “extreme sports” titles such as Tony Hawk and countless snowboard games, High Impact Paintball had you running around a virtual field with a painball gun. The result? While it cost much less than the real thing it ended up being a lot less entertaining and somehow even more painful to experience. Sure, in real life those balls of paint hurt when they hit you, but doing it for real is still a million times more entertaining that this title. Unlockable weapon upgrades did nothing to make up for bland graphics, bland sound, bland gameplay… I think you you get the idea. If you're looking for a harmless game for the kids, pick up Nerf Arena Blast. The well designed levels with their vibrant textures are actually fun to run around and the varied weapons keep things interesting. Do not, by any means, go near this game if, for some obscure reason, it has still yet to be taken off the shelves at your local computer store.
- Well, it doesn't hurt as much as the real thing. In one sense anyway
- So thoroughly uninspired and unentertaining that you almost suspect they made an effort to make it this bad for some reason