Geist

2006, Age 24

Oh, Geist. Poor Geist. Poor, poor Geist. This poor game tried so hard to appeal to two audiences: the FPS audience, and the environmental puzzle/adventure audience. In this attempt, I feel it excluded BOTH audiences.

I loved the puzzley parts, and the idea of having to use the environment in order to scare a person or animal enough so that I could possess them, but then I'd get to the shooter parts and was annoyed. I wanted to get back to the puzzle part! I imagine the shooter crowd was bored and annoyed with the puzzles, and just wanted to get to the shooting.

Hogan's Alley

1988, Age 6

I don't remember too much of playing Hogan's Alley, other than using the light gun. But looking at it in retrospect gave me two insights:

1) The game ONLY used "cardboard cutouts" of guys, never "real" people. Could something like that fly today? Imagine the training level in CoD4, only a whole game of it.

2) Reading up on it, its use of the light gun was described as a novelty. But I do not remember it that way. Young Lisa brain interpreted the light gun as a perfectly normal input device. We should remember the difference between a new experience and a novel one, and remember that what is novel to us (say the wiimote) can be viewed as something completely normal to a child that is learning it for the first time.

Unreal Tournament 3

2007, age 25

I was nervous about playing this, as I hadn't played a PC FPS since Doom II, but I fell into the swing of things quite quickly.

The best thing, of course, about this game was the social context. Playing together in the bullpen as a form of stress relief was an incredible bonding experience, especially since most everyone played (even having never touched a FPS in their lives).

The fact that we were all together in the same room sealed the deal, as the physical aspect of shouting and cheering and people laughing in half-shock when I rambled out obscenities really connected us.

Ghost Recon

2003, Age 21

This game stresses me out worse than Perfection.

I review the mission, get my one little band all set up with their objectives, and send them along. Then I set out with the second band. A few steps out, I'm like "Wait…I'd better check on the other band...I don't know if I trust the computer not to do anything stupid..." so I switch over.

All is well here...then I'm like "Well...I really should check in on my first band..." and switch over.

Still, the nervousness remains, and...what? Gunfire? FIRST BAND! What did you DO?? I switch over "Stupid computer, I told you not to engage!"

A notice that someone in my other band has been killed. Shit! Switch over. What the hell, guys? I TOLD you not to engage....SHIT! TANKS! SHIT! SHIT! Mission failed.

And yet...I still play....maybe I like stress?

Halo

2002, Age 20

This game became a staple of my junior year of college, wherein I started off as the underdog to be picked on. The second underdog and I decided to train by playing the co-op mode, and I discovered my love of FPS co-op.

The game seemed be set up just perfectly for a pair such as us. He was the sort of "rush into the fray guns 'blazin" player, whereas I was more of the cautious, "hang back, calculate the scenario, and snipe" sort of person. Together, we were unstoppable!

I'm all for a game that supports vastly different playstyles, especially when opposing ends of the spectrum benefit each other (2 of the guns blazin variety would merely die repeatedly, 2 of the cautious types would never get anywhere in the game).

Doom II

1995, Age 13

The first PC first-person-shooter I ever played, I'm not even sure how I obtained it…I think my dad brought it home from work, where one of his employees lent it to him, because he thought I might enjoy it (I love my parents).

This was a whole new perspective on video games for me (wah wah waaah), and I was very easily immersed in the world. It got to the point where I would creep nervously up to a corner, then physically lean out of my chair, attempting to physically peer around the on-screen bend.

I usually caught myself and felt rather silly and embarrased, but Doom set up enough stressful surprises that it had me well trained in caution.