Shooter games

Shooter games are a subgenre of action game
Action game

An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand-eye coordination and reaction-time. Action games are a vast genre that includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, first-person shooters, and platform games....
, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. Because "shooters make up the majority of action games", it is a fairly wide subgenre. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common resource found in many shooter games is ammunition.

Characteristics of shooters
There are many criteria to determine the type of shooter; listed below are some of the major divisions. Using the following, it is possible to categorize almost all shooters developed.

Perspective
The player usually views the events from behind the eyes of the character (a first-person shooter
First-person shooter

File:Freedoom aaa.pngFirst-person shooter is a Video game genres, featuring a First person , with which the player views the action as if through the eyes of the protagonist and in which the primary element is combat based around shooting....
) or from a camera that follows the character, usually a few feet behind (a third-person shooter
Third-person shooter

Third-person shooter is a video game genre of 3D computer graphics action game Video game in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting....
). It is also possible for a game to have a fixed camera, especially shooting gallery games and some 2D overhead shooters such as Robotron 2084.

Realism
Games that attempt to emulate life-like ballistics
Ballistics

Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance....
and character damage include tactical shooter
Tactical shooter

A tactical shooter is a video game genre of video game derived from the first-person shooter or third-person shooter genres that generally attempts to simulate realistic combat....
s. But many shooter games involve varying levels of realism, with some verging on complete fantasy
Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of Plot , Theme , and/or Setting . Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three ....
.

Number of characters
While most shooters are played as solo ventures, several offer the players the opportunity to control a squad
Squad

In military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition this organization is referred to as a section ....
of characters, usually directly controlling one, and giving orders to computer-controlled allies. Games which feature non-player characters fighting alongside the player, but which are not directly controllable (either by switching player control, or issuing orders to the character) are not considered squad-based games.

Multiplayer
If a shooter game is available online, there are several other sharp divisions it can take. Team games are where players are assigned to one of two (sometimes more, but very infrequently) factions which are competing for some goal. Co-Op games have several players on the same faction playing through either the single player or custom missions against computer-simulated enemies. Individual(often called Deathmatch) has all players competing with each other. Many times a game will offer differing modes which allow players to choose from among these various types.

Focus
This is often an optional way to categorize a shooter, but in some cases it's needed to help distinguish it. A game may quite often heavily rely on stealth
Stealth-based game

A stealth game is a video game in which the player needs to avoid detection. The genre was introduced in 1981 in video gaming by the game Castle Wolfenstein, but was not popularized until 1998 in video gaming, with the release of Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation....
as opposed to direct action
Action game

An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand-eye coordination and reaction-time. Action games are a vast genre that includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, first-person shooters, and platform games....
. Others might have large horror
Survival horror game

Survival horror is a video game genres inspired by horror films in which the player's primary objective is to survive and/or escape a threat typical of horror fiction, usually zombies or supernatural beings of some sort....
elements to them. However, the one thing in common with all shooters is that combat with a gun or similar long range/projectile weapon is the primary focus of gameplay itself.

Sub-genres

Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up

File:ProjectStarfighter.jpgShoot 'em up is a subgenre of Shooter game video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often a spacecraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks....
s are a specific sub-genre of shooters, wherein the player has limited control over their movement; if done with 2D
2D computer graphics

2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them....
gameplay, an example being Ikaruga
Ikaruga

is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Treasure . It was released in the arcades in on the Sega NAOMI, subsequently released on Dreamcast in Japan and then worldwide to the Nintendo GameCube, and was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 9, 2008....
, this means that a moving background continually pushes the player forward, though they may move up and down and left and right around the screen, typically firing straight forward.

Shoot 'em ups share common gameplay, but are often categorized by viewpoint. This includes fixed shooters on fixed screens, scrolling shooters that mainly scroll
Scrolling

In computer graphics, movies, television, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves panning or Tilt the user's view across what is apparently a larger image that is not wholly seen....
in a single direction, top-down shooters where the levels are controlled from an overhead viewpoint, and rail shooters where player movement is automatically guided down a fixed "rail". This genre also includes "run and gun" games which emphasize greater maneuvering or even jumping.
Shooting gallery
Often interchangeable with light gun
Light gun

A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a controller for arcade game and video game console.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun.... games, although many could also be played using a regular joypad and an on-screen cursor to signify where the bullets are being aimed. When these debuted, they were typically played from a first-person perspective, with enemy fire that occurred anywhere on the screen damaging or killing the player. As they evolved away from the use of light guns, the player came to be represented by an on-screen avatar, usually someone on the bottom of the screen, who could move and avoid enemy attacks while returning fire. These sorts of shooters almost always utilize horizontal scrolling to the right to indicate level progression, with enemies appearing in waves from predestined locations in the background or from the sides.

As light gun games became more prevalent and started to make use of fully 3D backgrounds (such as the Time Crisis
Time Crisis

Time Crisis is a video game initially available in arcade game and later released for the PlayStation and cell phones....
or House of the Dead series), these sorts of games fell out of popular production, but many (like NAM-1975
NAM-1975

NAM-1975 is a war-themed action game shooting game released by SNK Playmore. It bears the distinction of being the first game released for Neo Geo arcade and home platform....
) still have their fanbase today.

Example shooting galleries — Blood Bros.
Blood Bros.

Blood Bros. is an arcade game, released in 1990 in video gaming by TAD Corporation. It is the "wild west" sequel to Cabal , with almost identical mechanics....
, Cabal
Cabal (arcade game)

Cabal is a 1988 arcade game by TAD Corporation . In this game, the player controls a commando, viewed from behind, trying to destroy various enemy military bases....
, Laser Invasion
Laser Invasion

Laser Invasion is a video game developed by Konami and published by Ultra in 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Its most notable feature was the inclusion of a headset called the LaserScope, which acted like a light gun but was activated by the voice....
, NAM-1975
NAM-1975

NAM-1975 is a war-themed action game shooting game released by SNK Playmore. It bears the distinction of being the first game released for Neo Geo arcade and home platform....
, Operation Wolf
Operation Wolf

Operation Wolf is a one-player shooter game arcade game made by Taito Corporation in 1987 in video gaming. It spawned three sequels: Operation Thunderbolt , Operation Wolf 3 and Operation Tiger ....


Light gun shooter
Duck Hunt Screenshot
Light gun shooter
Light gun shooter

Light gun shooter, also called light gun game or simply gun game, is a video game genre in which the primary design element is aiming and shooting with a Light gun....
s use a pointing device
Pointing device

A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer. Computer-aided design systems and graphical user interfaces allow the user to control and provide data to the computer using physical Mouse gesture ? point, click, and drag ? for example, by moving a hand-held Mouse across the surface of the...
for computer
Computer

A computer is a machine that manipulates Data according to a list of Code .The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century , although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier....
s and a control device
Game controller

A game controller is an input device used to control a video game. A controller is typically connected to a video game console or a personal computer....
for arcade
Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, public houses, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers....
and video games
Video game console

A video game console is an game development that produces a video signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game. The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal computer, which has many other functions, or arcade machi...
. The first light guns appeared in the 1930s, following the development of light-sensing vacuum tubes
Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , thermionic valve, or just valve is a device used to amplifier, switch, otherwise modify, or create an Electricity signal by controlling the movement of electrons in a low-pressure space....
. It was not long before the technology began appearing in arcade
Video arcade

A video arcade is a venue where people play arcade game that are housed in colourfully-decorated cabinets. The cabinets consist of a video monitor, gameplay controls and buttons, computer hardware and software, and a coin-, Token coin-, or magnetic card-based payment mechanism....
shooting games, beginning with the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite
Seeburg Ray-O-Lite

The Seeburg Ray-O-Lite was the first light gun game. It was made in January 1936 by Seeburg Corporation. Gameplay involved shooting a flying duck which would then drop when hit....
in 1936. These early light gun games used small targets (usually moving) onto which a light-sensing tube was mounted; the player used a gun (usually a rifle) that emitted a beam of light when the trigger was pulled. If the beam struck the target, a "hit" was scored. Modern screen-based light guns work on the opposite principle -- the sensor is built into the gun itself, and the on-screen target(s) emit light rather than the gun. The first light gun of this type was used on the MIT Whirlwind computer. Like rail shooters, movement is typically limited in light-gun games.

Notable games of this category include Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, the Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop

Virtua Cop is a First-person shooter arcade game created by Sega-AM2, and headed by Yu Suzuki. Its original incarnation was an arcade game in 1994 and it was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995, and the IBM PC compatible in 1997....
, the Time Crisis
Time Crisis

Time Crisis is a video game initially available in arcade game and later released for the PlayStation and cell phones....
series and House of the Dead series, along with Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt

is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan....
for the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
.


First-person shooters
Doom Ingame 2
First-person shooter
First-person shooter

File:Freedoom aaa.pngFirst-person shooter is a Video game genres, featuring a First person , with which the player views the action as if through the eyes of the protagonist and in which the primary element is combat based around shooting....
is characterized by an on-screen view that simulates the in-game character's point of view. Notable examples of the genre include Doom, Quake
Quake

Quake is a first-person shooter computer game that was released by id Software on June 22, 1996. It was the first game in the popular Quake of computer and video games....
, Half-Life, Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike is a tactical shooter first-person shooter video game which originated from a Half-Life Game mod by Minh Le and Jess Cliffe....
, GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007

GoldenEye 007 is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console, and based on the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye....
, Battlefield
Battlefield (video game series)

The Battlefield franchise is a series of computer and console games that started with the Personal computer/Mac OS game Battlefield 1942, the series is developed by EA Digital Illusions CE, and published by Electronic Arts....
, Unreal
Unreal

Unreal is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes and published by GT Interactive in May 1998. It was powered by an original gameplay and computer engine that Unreal Engine, one that had been in development for over three years in founder Tim Sweeney 's garage before the game was released....
, Call of Duty
Call of Duty

Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game based on the id Tech 3 engine. This war game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II....
, and Halo
Halo (video game series)

Halo is a science fiction video game franchise, created by Bungie and owned and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The main trilogy of games center on the experiences of the Master Chief , a cybernetics-enhanced human super-soldier, and his artificial intelligence companion, Cortana....
.

Third-person shooters
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter

Third-person shooter is a video game genre of 3D computer graphics action game Video game in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.... s are characterized by a third-person camera view that fully displays the player character in his/her surroundings. Notable examples of the genre include Rare's Jet Force Gemini
Jet Force Gemini

Jet Force Gemini is a science fiction third-person shooter game for the Nintendo 64 developed and published by Rare that was released on October 11, 1999....
, the Max Payne
Max Payne

Max Payne is a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award winning third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment, produced by 3D Realms and published by Gathering of Developers in July, 2001 in video gaming for Microsoft Windows....
and Gears of War
Gears of War

'Gears of War' is a third-person shooter video game, developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was initially released as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 in November 2006 in North America, Australia, and most of Europe, and included a "Limited Collector's Edition" with added content and an art book titled Dest...
series.

Tactical shooters
Tactical shooter
Tactical shooter

A tactical shooter is a video game genre of video game derived from the first-person shooter or third-person shooter genres that generally attempts to simulate realistic combat....
is a shooter that generally simulates realistic, squad
Squad

In military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition this organization is referred to as a section ....
-based or man-to-man skirmishes. Notable examples of the genre include Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is the first in a Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six of first hird person tactical shooters computer game and video games. It was developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for the Personal computer in 1998 in video gaming....
and Ghost Recon series and Bohemia Software's Operation Flashpoint.