The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Good FPS For Beginners
Drayven
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I come to you all looking for advice. The girlfriend has agreed to give FPS games a try and I'm trying to think of the perfect game to get her started on. I want something fun but not complex/hard enough that it will scare her off. I'm looking for something on the PC. I'm considering Battlefield 2/2142 but I think maybe something with a little more singleplayer might work better for easing her into it then throwing her online with that crowd. I'm open to any suggestions here, please help me out 
Drayven on
0
Posts
Battlefield is probably a bad choice for a newbie game.
My first real modern FPS passed Doom (never played quake) was Half-Life.
Nothing better than to throw em in the water and tell em to swim
Or one of the Unreal tournaments, with real low level bots.
See if she likes the simplicity of it. Then see if she'll get into something more complex like Battlefield.
I would agree with Halo. The lower difficulties are pretty easy, but it still might seem challenging enough for someone who's not very experienced to not feel like they're just breezing through it.
Half-Life maybe, but it can be pretty brutal. Half-Life 2 is easier, but it's not the first and you have to play them in order because... because.
Edit: Also also, you can get the original game, Second Encounter, or the gold edition with both for under $10. Hard to find, but worth the hunt.
If she loves a good story, Half-Life 2 should do a great job of hooking her and keeping her playing, especially if she's into science fiction. I can't think of a better game for introducing the FPS genre to someone who wants to give it a try for the first time.
Ng Security Industries, Inc.
PRERELEASE VERSION-NOT FOR FIELD USE - DO NOT TEST IN A POPULATED AREA
-ULTIMA RATIO REGUM-
Definitely go for the original and Second Encounter, and avoid 2. The easiest way to get the games may just be online, if you have the capability to make online purchases.
Serious Sam: the Second Encounter is better-designed than the first game, so it might be worth a shot.
Both of those games can get to be a little repetitive, though, especially Halo.
Or if you have to go the PC route, maybe just fire up a multiplayer level with no other players or bots to let her get a feel for how you move in a FPS without having to worry about getting shot up. For someone who has never used it, KB&M can be really strange.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
HL2, however, is sweet. I know girls who are into it, and my non-gaming sister has enjoyed watching me play from time to time, at least when there are characters on screen. Dunno about multiplayer. My impression was the DM was like an even more retarded Quake, and CSS is pretty hardcore (though very addictive).
Halo is good, but the xbox controls are no good whatsoever for a novice, so the PC version might be worthwhile. The PC version is basically the same, but has less lighting effects and lousy performance. However, the latter is not an issue on any remotely modern gaming rig. It's not hard to play on easy, and is fun and has a good narrative.
HL2 is better, but then, the story is lost.
It's ancient, but we used have massive games back in college and we'd get people who never played any games at all involved.
I guess a better answer is Serious Sam, though.
You can't really go wrong with Half-Life 2, although if you just want to introduce her to straight-up mouselook gameplay, Unreal Tournament 2004 would probably make a better first FPS. Not to mention great value -- you get like 100+ maps and a dozen modes with the retail box, and at least 100 more maps in the various free bonus packs available online. Quake 4 might also be a good one to start on, although it is extremely violent.
Metroid Prime?
whoops, PC. Half-Life 1
I already have HL2 so that's certainly on the list, my only concern there is that there are a few points in that game that can be kinda tricky. However she is into good story and sci-fi so those are both good qualities.
I'll also have Serious Same Gold in a couple days so that's on the list.
I thought about trying to get her started with the consoles but I always found KB&M a little easier to figure out, aiming with thumbsticks still drives me nuts
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
It doesn't get more simple than: click the mouse to shoot; shoot anything that moves.
Riddick? Riddick is mostly stealth and it's not exactly and easy game. I really wouldn't recommend it for a while. It does require more than a slight degree of aptitude.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
I second this motion.
I would say Half-Life 2 on easy. The first part where you have no guns you can't die, so she could get a handle on the controls, then they slowly give you bigger and better weapons.
LoL Summoner: infobrains | XBL: cwap4brains | PSN: infobrains
That way, you're there not only to help with the controls and nuances of the game, but you're there having fun with her, too. It's amazing how much having a friend to play with can improve a game, regardless of genre.
Shogo.
It's easy as hell...if you're an experienced enough gamer to know that the AI is absolute shit and you can easily manipulate it. If you're not, you'll take advantage of the AI just enough to get through the game, and (as if to make up for the pathetic AI), the enemies will hurt you pretty nice when they actually manage to tag you one.
It sure won't train her twitch skills, but it'll get her used to the conventions (mouselook, strafing, jumping, etc, etc). Plus, the game has a pretty good sense of humor and a decent weapon selection. Doesn't look pretty, but it might work for this.
Also, UT games. The bots on the lower settings are pathetic, AND you can manipulate the power ups (relics I think they were in the first one, but my CPU won't run any of the newer ones so I'm not sure about them) so that she can try different things, live longer, hit harder, whatever.
I concur.... HL and HL2 add a lot on top of FPS... if you just want to introduce her to the play mechanic, get her going on UT04 or even Q3A. Let her play against the bots at first, just to get into the swing.
EDIT: Also, I say Q3A because it's easy to find and really not very taxing on anybody's system. You didn't say what PC she has, but I'll assume that it can take Q3A without breaking a sweat.
It's actually a 20" Imac running bootcamp. I'm honestly not sure quite yet what we can throw at it but it seems to run WoW with the graphics cranked up pretty darn well. I really haven't looked into the Radeon x1600 to see what it can do.
Mine runs HL2 Episode 1 at 1680*1050 with everything pretty high and no real slowdown. Well, excaept