Which FPS Games Are The "Most Engaging"?

[wraggster]

You'd think that'd be a subjective question! But science, as always, is here to poop the party, presenting "evidence" that shows which FPS games currently on the market draw the biggest "response" from players.

The research, conducted by San Francisco firm Emsense , looked at eight games - Battlefield 2142, Call of Duty 3, F.E.A.R., Gears of War, GRAW 2, Resistance, Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 - in order to measure "engagement and emotional and cognitive responses to content". Or, in other words, how much players got into it.

To determine this, the researchers used "proprietary brain monitoring EEG and bio-sensing technology" while tracking players engaged in the first 90 minutes of each game, and ended up with over 300 hours worth of data/

Their findings? That "the most successful FPS titles encourage close combat, dangling emotions of reward to compel players into high-risk, adrenaline-pumping scenarios". Think Gears' chainsaw duels, placing satchel charges on tanks in CoD, that sort of thing.

This means that, if you buy into the data, you can certainly draw a correlation between our involvement - and subsequent enjoyment of an FPS- and reviews scores/retail success. Gears of War has chainsaws and blood splatters. Halo 2 & 3 have insta-kill plasma swords. Half-Life 2 has the worlds greatest crowbar. Etc etc.

http://kotaku.com/5101194/which-fps-games-are-the-most-engaging

[goshogun1]

So far the only FPS that has really engaged me has been Halo 3. Those split second moments where you can choose to melee or run or shoot, etc..
Sometimes I feel like I am really in the game! Good times.

[gutbub]

I say Half Life 2 was the best on their list. The whole melee thing isn't why I liked it best though. It had the best story line and turn of events. Oh yea, and it's freakin Half Life.

[m-p{3}]

My favorite is Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. was a nice experience.

[Triv1um]

Half life 2, no doubt the best FPS of all time and the most engaging.

[Shadowblind]

Best imo for engagement and all around shear awesomeness?

F.E.A.R, Half-Life 2, Bioshock, and for me personally the best will always be the original Doom.

[irishwhip]

Since when has gears of war been a FPS?
For me, the half life series had the most engaging storyline, and doom 3 was the most trouser soiling.

[Darksaviour69]

Since when has gears of war been a FPS?


Yeah I was thinking the same thing. BTW I Love getting a "sticky" on someone in halo, good times...

[NeoXCS]

Left 4 Dead is one of very few FPS games that has ever gotten me to be on the edge of my seat, and also glued to my monitor at the same time. I can't get enough of the game, it's absolutely addicting and you can lose yourself in the fast paced action. If you haven't played it yet I highly recommend it for FPSers and avid zombie (aka infected) horror movie lovers out there. :D

[booradley1212]

Half Life 2 including Episodes 1 and 2.

Doom 2

Portal

Terminator: Future Shock

Dark Forces

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Quake

[kjetil1991]

half life 2 because of the story line and gameplay, gravity gun was the most genius weapon ever made. and maybe mirrors edge too. and halo 3 ofcourse ;)

[Pilot_51]

Battlefield 1942 by far, I've had it for about 6 years now and I rarely get bored of it. I just love how epic it can make those WWII battles feel, with the huge variety of vehicles with mostly realistic-feeling physics, and a strong emphasis on teamwork and strategy.
With over 4300 total gaming hours logged on my Xfire profile since January 2004, BF1942 holds almost 1000 hours, about 400 above #2. It obviously doesn't have much of a single player mode, but the multiplayer gives it the best replay value by far.
Before BF1942 and before I upgraded my PC to play it, I played a lot of Quake2, mostly with the No Item Quake (NIQ) mod.

Best single player game is a tough one. There are many great ones out there, some of which I've played through twice or more, and believe me I rarely play through a single player game more than once. I want to say System Shock 2, but it was co-op with a friend twice after playing alone once, and I bet the co-op is what made it so very fun.
There's the Half-Life series (I've played it all, it's about equally good all the way through), Portal, and the C&C series (haven't quite played it all, but what I've played has a good storyline).

A few other games I play frequently (at least an hour per month): UT2004, Raven Shield, Battlefield 2, Garry's Mod, and There.

My budget might have something to do with my opinion, but I find a lot of the newer games to not be very attracting. A lot of them seem to just take a bunch of ideas from other games and slap on the best graphics they can. Then again I've been saying that a lot since around 2004, but most games I play I find to be very enjoyable (though not as much as BF1942 in the long run).

BF2142 to me is one of those cruddy EA sequels from a series they didn't create, they just destroyed what I liked about the Battlefield series, which was mostly the accuracy of real-world objects in the game and/or the sense of action in a historical setting.

So, given all the incredible games I've played, BF1942 really stands out as the best game ever IMO.