Same here.

I would love a new TimeSplitters a new Darkwatch (pretty underrated fps against vampires in the wild west) and a sequel to Black to name even only some of the PS2 era FPS games that showed a lot potential ..hell add even Freedom Fighters and that Die Hard fps game to this small list.

We had basically 2-3x as many games of every big gaming genre during the 2000-2006 years than today where each genre is totally dominated by a couple of games that were developed as "AAA" titles and series (CoD, Destiny) while other series don't even get a chance as sequels or reboots with a smaller budget.

My favourite genre are fighting games as example. Where are the many good but smaller fighting game series of the past now. Remember Bloody Roar? Or how good SoulCalibur once was? Def Jam in New York?

There are a lot of great games released still, but it is a bit sad to see so many good ideas being discontinued now because the gaming industry is truly optimized for financial successes. Good ideas alone have no chance anymore if they don't show a big potential for big money.

@Hoffmann

Haha, I remember playing Def Jam! SoulCalibur was amazing too. I had totally forgotten about how good that first person Die Hard game was. You’re right about good ideas alone having no chance anymore. It’s a shame, really.

@Hoffmann: The entire issue comes down to money. There are no mid-tier titles any more because game budgets are either huge (AAA) or small (indie), with practically no in between. At a certain point, the development budget catalyses the marketing budget, which in turn causes the whole project budget to double instantaneously. Then it's go big or go home. At such high costs, you can't afford to take risks on a mid-tier game that may or may not sell or be well received. That's why every game seems to have a check-list now of proven mechanics (RPG mechanics, fleshed out multiplayer, open/semi-open world structure with fetch quests galore), with similar visual designs and themes, and are often linked to proven or popular franchises (i.e. sequels, license tie-ins like Batman/Mad Max etc.).

There's simply too much money in gaming now and it has been usurped at the upper echelons by the money men. The PS2 generation was seemingly the last time we were allowed to take risks in gaming on a wider scale.

That being said, we're starting to see the mid-tier creep back in, because development tools and engines are maturing and catching up to the demands of modern game design. You can make pretty damn good looking environments easily now thanks to advances like physically based rendering and auto-generation tools, as well as the incredibly mature development tools that come with UE4. Unreal Tournament is back, for one. Shadow Warrior saw a come back recently and has a sequel on the way, and many smaller franchises are getting new life or spiritual successors thanks to Kickstarter, without getting the soul-destroying "AAA remake" treatment.

Considering it was on consoles, I was surprised at how easy it was to make maps using a controller.

LOL almost puked haha

I mean there are small similarities with the HUD and character design but it looks more like TimeSplitters using Counterstrike models than what the game looked like on PS2/XBOX.

One thing I always loved was how they kept it looking like GE007/PD.