Shooter

Shooter games cover a fairly broad spectrum of sub-genres that have the commonality of controlling a character who is usually armed with a firearm that can be freely aimed. more...

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Characteristics of shooters

There are many criteria to determine the type of shooter; listed below are some of the major divisions. Using the following, it is possible to categorize almost all shooters developed.

Perspective

The player usually views the events from behind the eyes of the character (a first-person shooter) or from a camera that follows the character, usually a few feet behind (a third-person shooter). It is also possible, though infrequently used in this genre, for a game to have a fixed camera.

Realism

Games that attempt to emulate life-like ballistics and character damage are called tactical shooters. Those that use a more lenient model of physics are generally referred to as arcade shooters. There is no clear distinction between these two game types, and shooters tend to exist on a spectrum between them.

Number of characters

While most shooters are played as Solo ventures, several offer the players the opportunity to control a Squad of characters, usually directly controlling one, and giving orders to computer-controlled allies. Games which feature Non-player characters fighting alongside the player, but which are not directly controllable (either by switching player control, or issuing orders to the character) are not considered Squad-based games.

Multiplayer

If a shooter game is available online, there are several other sharp divisions it can take. Team games are where players are assigned to one of two (sometimes more, but very infrequently) factions which are competing for some goal. Co-Op games have several players on the same faction playing through either the single player or custom missions. Individual has all players competing with each other. Many times a game will offer differing modes which allow players to choose from among these various types.

Focus

This is often an optional way to categorize a shooter, but in some cases it's needed to help distinguish it. A game may quite often heavily rely on stealth as opposed to direct action. Others might have large horror elements to them.

Sub-genres

Shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em ups are a very specific sub-genre of shooters, wherein the player has limited control over their movement; if done with 2D gameplay, an example being Ikaruga, this means that a moving background continually pushes the player forward, though they may move up and down and left and right around the screen, typically firing straight forward. Types include fixed shooters, scrolling shooters, tube shooters, and multidirectional shooters.

Read more at Wikipedia.org