With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and teasing a campaign to rival some of its greatest efforts, fans of first-person shooters still have plenty to be excited about this year. Call of Duty titles can have a tendency to divide fans, some of whom think it represents the worst of the genre and some of whom think it consistently provides some of the best FPS offerings.
That's not the only issue that has divided FPS gamers, though, and Reddit is full of hot takes and unpopular opinions about the genre. From whether Borderlands are overrated series to if cheating can actually be a good thing, these are some of their most interesting takes.
Player-Operated Servers Are Better Than Online Matchmaking
In an age where triple-A games that use player-operated servers to deliver online content are becoming rarer than ever, it can be nostalgic to revisit titles like Garry's Mod and even Minecraft, which thrived as a result of the player-owned server model. However, many would argue the greater reliability and safety ensured by games running their own multiplayer servers is still better.
Redditor teeth_03 is one person that disagrees with this. They say that player-run servers are "far superior to matchmaking in FPS games." It's true that almost everyone has had bad experiences with this in online FPS games, whether it's due to unbalanced matchmaking or bad teammates, and it arguably lacks the sense of community that player-run servers can foster.
Halo Has Always Been Average
After the disappointment that accompanied the release of the iconic sci-fi FPS series. However, Redditor Dronin thinks that fans are still looking at the series with rose-tinted glasses.
According to them, even the highs of the series have been "just average" and, worse, they feel the series "never innovated in any way," largely just following in the footsteps of other big FPS titles at the time. It may be true that the games are given too much credit, but it's fair to say this is a heavily unpopular stance given just how excellently executed the early Halo titles were.
Call Of Duty: WWII Is Heavily Underrated
Call of Duty: WWII was moderately well-received when it was released in 2017, the response from fans was generally a little muted, perhaps because of a perceived lack of innovation and relatively safe choices in most areas. Redditor AC03115 disagrees with this popular view of the game, however.
They argue that it's "one of the most underrated games in the series" and that the elements that many derided as being taken from other games like "a gun area and war mode" actually "should've returned" in later titles. In a fiercely competitive market, taking cues from rival games isn't necessarily a bad thing, and it's arguably a part of what makes WWII one of the better Call of Duty games.
Half-Life Is Overrated
There are few classic FPS games spoken about as reverently as Half-Life, the game that established Valve as a force to be reckoned with in the gaming world, but some would argue this reputation might not be completely deserved in hindsight. One of those people is Redditor Hartvigson who says they "never thought Half-Life was very great."
Obviously not everything about a game over two decades old has aged well and critics have particularly looked back more harshly on the game's AI in the intervening years. With that said, fans still consider the series' immersive storytelling some of the best in video games and that's why many will continue to call it a masterpiece for a long time to come
The Battlefield Series Went Downhill Because It Tried To Compete With Call Of Duty
DICE's first ever Battlefield 1942. The general consensus is that its decline has been fairly recent and rapid, but Redditor rover963 has a different take.
According to them, the series went sharply downhill with Bad Company, one of the series' first titles to be released for consoles rather than PC, "because it tried and still does try to compete with COD." Ever since then, the series has struggled with comparisons to its larger rival and some think it's a direct result of this choice.
Cheating Is Fun (In Single-Player Games)
For the most part, anyone defending cheating in FPS games is likely to get a lot of flak and, for the most part, that may be deserved. Redditor DarthLysergis, however, has a good reason for offering this unpopular opinion. They comment that "cheating in single-player games is fun and totally acceptable."
They use ostensibly straightforward games can be deceptively difficult so perhaps there are others that could benefit from this more tolerant approach to cheats, at least in a single-player environment.
Battle Royales Are The Least Skilled Form Of PVP
In an FPS landscape dominated by huge battle-royale titles like Apex Legends, it's understandable that some players have become tired of this form of PVP that draws on a very specific skill set compared to other kinds of competitive game modes. Redditor DrDoomSkywalker is particularly unhappy with this trend.
Their hot take is that battle royales and even hero shooters like Overwatch are the "least skilled PvP experience you can have" and that they "killed the chance for arena shooters to make a comeback." The chaos of the battle royale format can sometimes make it feel like luck plays far too big a part in the outcome, but arguably the strategy behind it can be just as intense.
Short Campaigns Are The Best
For a lot of players, single-player campaigns are one of the best parts of FPS games and more of a good thing is usually always better. For some players, however, the perfect length for a campaign has a pretty strict limit. Redditor mtarascio is one who says they "love 9-hour succinct campaigns."
The Call of Duty campaigns, for example, nearly always clock in at under 10 hours and many consider it one of the most consistently good parts of the series. More content is theoretically better, but it often means more padding and a worse balance between gameplay and storytelling.
The Borderlands Games Aren't Good
The huge amount of critical praise for the Borderlands series has led to some gamers suggesting they're among the most overrated triple-A video games out there, but the consensus is still that the series is one of the better first-person shooter RPGs. Redditor HDV-Arg isn't even willing to give it that much credit.
They argue that the games "are boring, have empty scenarios and the gunplay is bad." Critics of the games would certainly agree with the latter point, and, though it was refined with Borderlands 3, too many boss fights still ended up feeling mediocre. For some, it's an issue that overshadows everything else the game has to offer.
Cover-Based Shooters Make The Genre Less Fun
Aside from notable exceptions like Doom, which rewards the player for constantly moving forward and punishes them for saying still, cover mechanics are crucial to a whole host of FPS and shooter titles. Though it adds an element of extra strategy in choosing when to move, not everyone is a fan.
Redditor ShuQi's hot take is that the entire concept makes things less fun, commenting that "Spending more time in cover trying to replenish health than actually shooting at things is just boring." This is an extreme example but it does highlight the major issue players have with cover mechanics, which is that they ultimately just mean less time fighting overall.