Opinion: The Witness and Firewatch are the sorts of slow-paced first person experience VR needs

By Dom Reseigh-Lincoln

First-person experience in vogue

Back in the ’90s, when everyone wore brightly coloured trousers and worshipped the cult of Spice, gaming in first-person was split into two very different camps: the first-person shooter (powered by the rocket launchers, shotguns and BFGs of Doom, Quake and more) and the first-person puzzle game.

The classic run-and-gun shooter provided a visceral gateway into violence of the most intimate kind.

The corridor FPS was a beast of speed and unrepentant violence – littered with jump pads, multi-kills and bodiless screams of, “Godlike!” Times were simpler then.

Even the popularity of the stealth-minded Goldeneye 007 on Nintendo 64 (a sub-genre in itself inherently designed for slower, more protracted gameplay) found its cult following in the sprinting, proximity mine-smattered madness of its local multiplayer.

Then there were the first-person puzzle adventure games, a la Myst and Riven. Lacking the direct controls of their corridor shooter brethren, these exploration sims were bound to the older trial and error world of point and click, but were no less engrossing.

Instead of burning your retinas off with gunfire, they offered their wares in measured tones rather than pools of shell casings and gore.

They were a breath of fresh …read more

Source:: techradar.com – Gaming