Pioneers have always been a very important part of the video game industry, they mark the few occasions where someone tried to do something different and that something different actually turned out to be kinda cool. So cool in fact, that everyone else starts to incorporate it into their own projects. Eventually after enough games use that “something different” it then becomes the new standard that everyone has to adhere to if they want to be taken seriously.
Let’s examine the roots of the cover based shooting mechanic made famous by Gears of War.
Winback was a fun game. I remember the graphics were top notch on it and the 4 player MP was pretty sweet. Goldeneye and perfect dark definitely owned FPS then, but this was a great change of pace
In 2005 a new gaming fad descended upon home consoles that resulted in lots of rock and roll appreciation, a great fusion of music and games, and lots of wasted real estate with plastic instruments both on store shelves and in homes. That phenomenon was developer Harmonix and accessory manufacturer Red Octane’s Guitar Hero. Taking from Konami’s Bemani series of games the rock/rhythm title had you playing lead guitar for influential rock bands over the decades. From there it grew into one of the biggest selling franchises (and even a second franchise, Rock Band) that helped define the last generation of consoles.
Rhys from Awesome Games writes: 'Now hear me out on this one. How bizarre would it be if the first ever third person cover shooter ever made was not, in fact, Western made, but instead by a small Japanese team more famous for the Dynasty Warriors franchise? It sounds like something I’ve just pulled from thin air, but, it’s actually the truth.'
While Guitar Hero/Rock Band is basically a direct rip of GuitarFreaks, Drummania and Karaoke Rev/SingStar...
Gears of War is also a rip of RE4's perspective, WinBack and KillSwith. Even in design, it's like UT.
Then again, I guess no game is completely original.
And what about Metroid? I believe that game provided more than a couple of things to gaming. And Super Metroid perfected the formula.
Winback is the first Ps2 game i purchased.
Blackthorne in 1994 (Blizzard game for 32x, PC, SNES, Genesis) had a pop-out-and-shoot cover system.
Body Harvest :D
Good article actually.