Third-person shooter
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Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of
Definition
A third-person shooter is a game structured around shooting,[1] and in which the player can see the avatar on-screen in a third-person view.[1][2] Third-person shooters are distinguished from other shooter games that may present the game from a third-person view such as shoot 'em ups, as the game is presented with the player's avatar as a primary focus of the camera's view.[3] Third-person shooters are analogous to first-person shooters in terms of immersion, but simply displace the camera from being at the eyes of the character to a point slightly above and behind them in most cases.[3][4]
Design
It is a 3D genre that grew to prominence during the 2000s, especially on
Relationship to first-person shooters
These games are closely related to
Third-person shooters allow players to see the area surrounding the avatar more clearly.[6] This viewpoint facilitates more interaction between the character and their surrounding environment, such as the use of a tactical system in Gears of War,[10] or navigating tight quarters.[11] As such, the third-person perspective is better for interacting with objects in the game world, such as jumping on platforms, engaging in close combat, or driving a vehicle. However, the third-person perspective can interfere with tasks that require fine aiming.[12]
Third-person shooters sometimes compensate for their distinct perspective by designing larger, more spacious environments than first-person shooters.[13]
The boundaries between third-person and first-person shooters are not always clear. For example, many third-person shooters allow the player to use a first-person viewpoint for challenges that require precise aiming, while others simply allow a player to freely switch between first and third-person perspectives at will.
Alexander R. Galloway writes that the "real-time, over-the-shoulder tracking shots of Gus Van Sant's Elephant evoke third-person shooter games like Max Payne, a close cousin of the FPS".[17]
History
2D and pseudo-3D shooters
2D third-person shooters have existed since the earliest days of video games,
3D polygon shooters
In 1993, Namco released a two-player competitive 3D third-person shooter vehicle combat game, Cyber Sled.[36] A year later, Elite Systems Ltd. released Virtuoso on the 3DO. This was an early example of a home console third-person shooter which featured a human protagonist on-foot, as opposed to controlling a vehicle, and made use of polygonal 3D graphics along with sprites in a 3D environment.[37] Fade to Black (1995) was also a fully 3D third-person shooter released around this time, but as well as featuring an on-foot protagonist rather than a vehicle, utilised entirely polygonal 3D graphics.[38]
Syphon Filter (1999) by Eidetic (now Bend Studio) combined the perspective of Tomb Raider with action elements of games such as GoldenEye 007 (1997) and Metal Gear Solid (1998).[50] Richard Rouse III wrote in Game Developer that the game was the most popular third person shooter for the PlayStation.[51] The Nintendo 64 version of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes by The 3DO Company was released the same year as Syphon Filter, and is an early example of a popular third person shooter which introduced the player being allowed to control aiming of their weapon themselves by means of two control sticks. In Tomb Raider and Syphon Filter, on the other hand, the protagonists automatically aimed at antagonists.[8][51] Forcing or allowing the player to control aiming themselves, either using control sticks or a mouse, would go on to become commonplace in later games in the genre, such as Oni (2001), Max Payne (2001) and SOCOM (2002).[51] Max Payne (2001) was acclaimed as a superlative third person shooter, inspired by Hong Kong action cinema.[52] Several platform games with third-person shooter elements were also released during that time; examples included Ratchet & Clank and most of the games in the Jak and Daxter series, both of which were designed for younger audiences than most third-person shooters.
The third-person shooter genre is still quite popular in contemporary gaming circles. In 2012, Rockstar Games released Max Payne 3, which was praised for its refined gameplay. In 2015, Nintendo published multiplayer third-person shooter game Splatoon for the Wii U, which was followed by two sequels for Nintendo Switch in 2017 and 2022 respectively, with Splatoon 2 being one of the console's highest selling games and Splatoon 3 becoming one of the fastest selling Switch games. In the late 2010s, the third-person shooter battle royale game Fortnite Battle Royale saw huge popularity. The survival horror games Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis were remade in 2019 and 2020 respectively, featuring third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4.
See also
References
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Clearly this early third-person shooter [Spacewar] paved the way for the FPS proper. The rockets are drawn on the screen against a 2-D backdrop of stars.
- ISBN 978-1-4411-9144-1.(1962) and commercial games based on it like Galaxy Game (1971) and Computer Space (1971) also involved shooting . . . [T]hese games featured shooting from a third-person perspective.
Some of the earliest video games, such as the mainframe game Spacewar!
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Radar Scope owed much to the popularity of Space Invaders and Galaxian, but nevertheless felt original thanks to its 3D third-person perspective.
- ^ Therrien, Carl (December 2015). "Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First-Person Shooter Genre". Game Studies. 15 (2). Retrieved 16 October 2017.
[Tempest] corresponds to a third-person shooter, by contemporary standards.
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Even Flashback's own sequel, Fade to Black, was a fully 3D third-person shooter.
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