A tactical shooter is a subgenre of video game derived from the first-person shooter (FPS) or third-person shooter genres that generally simulate more realistic, squad-based or man-to-man skirmishes. This may come in the form of police fighting terrorists or other criminals, military combat in the recent past or hypothetical near future, and so on. The emphasis is on realistic modeling of weapon effects, terrain, and character capabilities; this leads to the possibility of other tactics, such as stealth, being used in play rather than more conventional FPS gameplay (which emphasises overt individual heroism).^[1][2][3]

Popular and/or influential tactical shooters include: America's Army, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs series, Brothers in Arms series, Delta Force series, Hidden & Dangerous, Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, SWAT series, Rainbow Six series, Ghost Recon series, Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and Vietcong series, Deadly Dozen series.

A multiplayer tactical shooter focuses on team cooperation to achieve objectives, rather than simply eliminating the enemy (as in traditional deathmatch games). The tactical emphasis is thus on joint goals and assisting team members, rather than individual skill and heroism. Games of this nature include Counter-Strike or Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.

Tactical shooters involving military combat are sometimes known as soldier sims.^[4][5] This genre usually tries to create a pseudo-realistic virtual environment and often simulates historical battles or military operations with historical background. A 'Soldier Sim' encourages quiet, stealthy movement to a particular target, usually while planning an assault strategy and finding a beneficial firing position, followed by the swift execution of said strategy. This process, very similar to actual small-unit combat tactics, also allows for improvised maneuvers to be thought of and executed faster should an unexpected variable or unplanned enemy counterattack be encountered. In some 'Soldier Sims', this process of stealthy movement, planning, and quick assault is the only viable way to win a given mission without sustaining heavy casualties.

Tactical realism community

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A strong community has emerged around tactical shooters with the goal of encouraging realistic play. This community is centered around games and modifications with a high degree of realism.

Games, modifications, and game servers enforce and encourage realistic gameplay through rules the players on a server must follow, as well as restrictions within the game itself. Typical rules and restrictions on a tactical realism game server may restrict the following:

Movement

• Bunny hopping - Some games have completely removed jumping or being able to shoot during jumps.
• Run and gun (RNG) - (a similar term is spray and pray) When one runs towards the enemy while using the spray and pray technique, with no regard for one's (virtual) life.
  • Suicide runs - Synonymous with RNG, except this also includes crashing a vehicle into an enemy, which usually results in the destruction of both the vehicle and the enemy.
• Snaking/Worming - When one adopts the prone position in an open area with no cover and immediately fires at an enemy. Also when one repeatedly switches between two different stances (ie. prone and standing) without lapse of time.
• Map exploits - When one travels to places on the map where a soldier in real life would not be able to reach.
  • Ledging - When a player stands on a windowsill or a shelf that is less than 6 inches (150 mm) in width.

Weapons

• Weapon spam - Also known as spray and pray. This should not be confused with suppressive fire.
• Grenade spam - The act of throwing grenades, rather than firing traditional weapons, as a primary means of offense. Generally frowned upon by the gaming community as there is generally less skill involved in killing by this method, and there is often little means of countering a grenade spamming opponent.
  • Jumping before throwing a grenade - Unrealistically extends the distance thrown.
• Number of weapons carried - A typical soldier carries one primary weapon.

Head-Up Display

• Crosshairs - Many games have no crosshair to indicate where the weapon is pointing. The player is expected to use the iron sights or telescopic sights on their weapon.
• Ammunition counters - The player must check the magazine themselves to be sure of the number of rounds left, certain games measure ammunition left with a weight indicator.
• Weapon status indicators - Such as the temperature of the barrel or the firing mode of the weapon.
• Health indicators - Health is not based on 100 hit point systems.
• A compass or map which is displayed permanently on the HUD - The player must press a button to display the compass or map.
• In-game maps that show the locations of friendly or enemy players
• Killcams - A term coined from Call of Duty, when a victim is able to see the exact movements of their attacker when they "make a kill" on the respective person's character. This term has been extended to cover any vision of the battlefield after dying.

Related genres

Tactical shooters are first- or third-person shooters, but are distinguished by being emphasising realism and team tactics over action and one-player-one-unit.

Realistic military simulators where individual soldiers or units are not directly controlled by the player are often real-time tactics games.

Notes and References

The11thAB.com

External links

• Specforce, a competing tactical shooter review site
• Dslyecxi: Best of tactical, a complete and very technical test site with videos