9 First-Person Games That You Need To Play
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The first-person perspective has almost become synonymous with the FPS, but there are many different great experiences to be had from the viewpoint. We look at a few of the greatest.
5. Mount & Blade
Yes we know that Mount & Blade allows you to switch between first and third-person perspective. But when you are charging into battle on your horse, or up a siege ramp to take on a load of armed NPC’s, you know damn well that the first-person perspective compliments the combat system so much better. Transforming your mouse into a direct control for your swings makes dealing the blows to the enemy so much more immersive. The first-person perspective only adds to this immersion and allows you to almost taste that medieval air as you march across the battlegrounds with shield and sword in hand. Every satisfactory swipe, every stab to the stomach can be felt from the first-person perspective. The rest of the game really helps to flesh out this world as you travel from settlement to settlement engaging in the free roaming warrior lifestyle. Take it from us, the graphics may not be amazing, but if they were upgraded enough we would likely leave our bodies behind and take up a digital life inside Mount & Blade.
6. Mirror’s Edge
Mirror’s Edge is another obvious one for this list, simply because it proved that parkour techniques were best realised in a game from the first-person perspective. As with many others on this list, the choice of the developers to go with the first-person perspective while running over obstacles across rooftops is not the most user-friendly, but it is by far the most immersive. There’s not anything quite like being chased across skyscrapers, dodging and ducking across the various obstacles and then leaping from the edge towards an adjacent building to only just grab hold of the drainage pipe. Looking down allows vertigo to settle in as well, just for that extra kick. Mirrors Edge is still a completely unique take on the platformer genre and certainly a memorable one for its sleek style and very smooth movement. Add to this a pretty decent combat system, an artistic visual style and a likeable protagonist, and it is easy to see why Mirrors Edge is so adored by gamers.
7. Thief II: The Metal Age
Although there are many other stealth-based games that make great use of the third-person perspective, none have come close to the likes of the Thief series and its adoption of the first-person perspective. Thief II: The Metal Age stands as the pinnacle of stealth games. The game is slower paced and requires more thought than the original. The first-person perspective is used in the game to provide tension, but it is the way the player interacts with the environment from the perspective that makes the game so thrilling. Picking locks, firing rope arrows and generally avoiding detections feels natural in the first-person perspective. Players into their steampunk aesthetic will not be able to get enough of Thief’s robot infested, medieval setting. The Metal Age is without doubt one of the greatest first-person games ever made.
8. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls series has always provided a great first-person RPG experience. The up-close-and-personal perspective makes the combat challenging on a much different level to the many other RPGs out there; it is more visceral and emphasises quick thinking on a 1-on-1 basis. Another staple of the series is a huge game world to explore, and as we have said time and again, there is no better perspective that enables an enormous sense of space than the first-person viewpoint. Oblivion may falter in other places, but its selling point is allowing players to easily sink into their character and wander around acres of land conquering settlements, slaying beasts and exploring unknown caves. You may also grow addicted to searching every chest and box you find, just in case it contains an all-mighty weapon to which you can bring forth utter destruction.
9. FRACT
FRACT is a puzzle game in the style of Myst, except it is much more crazy-looking. The odd world that the player finds themselves in upon entering this colour coded environmental puzzler is comparable only to a maths student’s imagination during a trip on magic mushrooms. No clear instructions are offered to the player, hence the necessity to explore and push buttons until the cogs start turning and a formulation appears. The player will create music, solve puzzles and observe as a world of geometric shapes unfolds before them. At the time of writing, only an unfinished version of the game is playable, but what has been showcased so far is something great.