Forgotten PS3 FPS Games

Highlights

• The PlayStation 3 had some standout FPS games, despite initially over-promising on graphics.
• Games like Haze and TimeShift had potential, but faced issues and competition from established franchises.
• Reboots like Syndicate and Turok faced challenges, but still provided unique experiences for players.

The PlayStation 3 might have over-promised with its initial showing, demonstrating incredibly unrealistic demos that did not represent how the final products would look. All the same, it still managed to become a beloved console and had a ton of great games. Even if Killzone 2 did not end up looking like it did in its debut trailer, it was still a magnificent game.

In addition to that FPS, the console also had a lot of contributions from the genre that are not remembered all that well. The games below were either bogged down by issues leading to lackluster reviews or they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Though some of the games below have less than flattering Metacritic Scores, they still have something of value to offer that one does not find in every FPS.

8 Haze

Metacritic Score: 55

Fans would have loved nothing more than to see Free Radical jump into the PS3 generation with another TimeSplitters. However, they went with a new IP called Haze. The campaign could be played in 4-player co-op and the gameplay gimmick involved being able to inject oneself with a combat-enhancing drug.

The story was quite interesting and dealt with exploiting third-world countries for their natural resources and the protagonist’s eventual realization of his part in it before switching sides. However, this was not explored well enough within the plot, and technical issues prevented the best parts from really shining.

7 TimeShift

Metacritic Score: 70

Saber Interactive has since gotten back on its feet with the well-received World War Z, but it could have become a big name much sooner if TimeShift had been the success it deserved to be. For some reason, the time manipulation mechanics did not grab audiences, despite the gameplay possibilities it opened up.

Being able to stop and rewind time created an interesting playground. In 2007, though, FPS games had to compete with juggernauts like Halo 3 and the Call of Duty franchise so it left little room for new IPs to even have a chance.

6 Syndicate

Metacritic Score: 74

It does not matter how good a reboot is, if it makes a radical shift in genre it will turn hardcore fans away. Syndicate was an isometric stealth game. When it was rebooted in 2012, it became a first-person shooter. It was a solid entry in the genre, but it was not what fans wanted for a return to the franchise and those unfamiliar with the series were not interested.

As such, it failed to make any waves and did not kickstart a reboot. The same year, XCOM: Enemy Unknown came out and retained the same unforgiving and difficult gameplay of its predecessors, proving that reboots true to their roots can find an audience.

5 MAG

Metacritic Score: 76

Starting with the launch title Resistance: Fall of Man, Sony was pushing for large-scale multiplayer matches on the PS3. They went all out with the multiplayer-only MAG or Massive Action Game. In its largest mode, 256 players were on the same map battling it out over different objectives.

It is difficult to maintain an active community when a single match requires this many players, though, and the servers were shut down just four years after its 2010 release. Those who played it commend its ambition and unique style. Those who didn’t will never know, since it is impossible to play.

4 Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

Metacritic Score: 77

The first game in the Call of Juarez series was not on the PS3, but the sequel made its way to Sony’s console. It was a prequel that let players choose between the two McCall siblings as they ventured on with their third brother, a pacifistic man of the cloth. The story explains how Ray McCall becomes the man he is in the first Call of Juarez.

The gameplay feels heavy and brutal, with the period-appropriate weapons lacking automatic rifles. The third game in the franchise brought the action to the modern day, but a spin-off, The Gunslinger, returned to the past with a more arcade-like and cartoony presentation.

3 Turok

Metacritic Score: 69

After Turok: Evolution‘s poor reception in 2002, the series was considered all but dead. Developer Propaganda Games tried to get its heart started again with a reboot in 2008. It had a character named Turok, but it was a different plot altogether and the setting was not on earth in the past but on an alien planet.

It received okay reviews but sold enough to start development of a sequel that would never come to be. Fortunately, Turok was brought back to life by Night Dive Studios who remastered the first two games, reminding everyone what was so special about the series in the first place.

2 Dust 514

Metacritic Score: 59

EVE Online is an almost comically grounded space simulator where players’ hard work can go up in a flash during a battle. People don’t play EVE Online, they live it. For a time, PS3 owners could get in on this dynamic world where the games are set by playing Dust 514.

The battles in Dust 514 were influenced by events in EVE Online and the PC MMO would similarly be influenced by the multiplayer FPS. Battles would even take place at the same time in both games in space and on the planet below. While an interesting idea, it only lasted about three years, closing down in 2016 after being released in 2013.

1 Aliens Vs Predator

Metacritic Score: 64

Everyone remembers Aliens: Colonial Marines for all the wrong reasons. It was hyped up for ages and released in a buggy, broken mess of a state. It was not the only game in the series released on the PS3, though. This is not referring to the later release, Alien: Isolation, but to 2010’s Aliens Vs. Predator.

Like the older games under the same name, there are three separate campaigns following the two titular creatures and then the space marines. Though its reviews were not the highest, it came out during a dry spell in the series both in games and cinema, so it was enough to hold fans over until newer stories came along.

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