Modern(ish) F/TPS with good single player

[Phlakes]

Battlefield Bad Company (yes, the first one) had a pretty decent campaign. I mean one of the missions takes place on an 18 hole golf course outside a mansion. With tanks.

Since you said you like Far Cry, the openness of it also might help.

 

[Gandanga11]

Medal of Honour 2010 has a realistic story based on an actual battle in Taku Ghar, Afghanistan. The story is about fighting taliban without over the top nuclear explosions or invasions of europe that other games suffer from. I have Battlefied and COD for multiplayer, but that is the only shooter with a solid campain story that ive replayed multiple times.

 

[shrekfan246]

Well it turns out, a friend was willing to part with his copy of COD4, so I gave it a shot. (/rimshot)

The campaign lasted me 10 hours, tops. I can't believe how short it was. A better player would probably breeze through the entire thing in two or three. But me, I kind of suck. I have difficulty aiming precisely due to RSI in my right hand and using a trackball.

On to researching/finding the other things on my list now.

Actually, I think I have an idea what I'd really like: something like Far Cry, but without the fucking mutants. I liked that game up until it started trying to be Doom. Not that I don't like Doom, but if I want to play Doom I'll play Doom.

So you want a realistic shooter that doesn't focus on multi-player, and has a campaign well over 10 hours long? Well... uh... yeah, I got nothing.

Slightly more seriously, Bioshock is surreal but it's frequently lauded for the story and overall aesthetic of Rapture. If you can get past having magical powers caused by genetically engineering mutations and fighting guys in massive diving suits who are protecting psychotic little girls that have giant sea slugs controlling them (no, really), you'll probably have a great time.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is probably the closest thing I can recommend... and even then, it emphasizes stealth over run&gun Rambo-style game-play.

Uh... Bulletstorm? I wouldn't really say the enemies are "mutants", just bat-shit insane people, and it did put a fair amount of work into the campaign.

Just Cause 2 doesn't really have a good story, but it's an excellent open-world sandbox that encourages you to explore the massive map and wreak havoc everywhere you go. The PC version supports a fair amount of modding too.

The Syndicate FPS, maybe? It's another cyberpunk-y thing, I suppose the campaign isn't really too much longer than the average CoD game, but the story is pretty interesting and the little gimmicks it uses can keep it fresh too.

If you don't rule out aliens entirely, then Crysis 1/Warhead/2 and Half-Life 2/Episode 1/Episode 2 get recommendations as well.

I suppose you could look into the various Tom Clancy's Assorted Games That Plaster His Name On The Title For Brand Recognition games. (Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell.) Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon are both tactical squad-based shooters, Splinter Cell emphasizes stealth.

Alpha Protocol is a third-person/stealth/RPG hybrid thing. Haven't done anything with it myself in a long time so I don't know exactly how stable it is now, but it was made by Obsidian Entertainment so it was pretty predictably buggy when released. The writing is pretty much rock-solid (provided you don't mind the main character acting like a massive ponce), but everything else was a bit "eh".

Another science-fiction game that kind of emphasizes stealth, you could try either of the Chronicles of Riddick games (Assault on Dark Athena is essentially just a remake of Butcher Bay with an added campaign that isn't quite as good).

The Operation Flashpoint games apparently take a pseudo-realistic tactical approach to the campaign, that requires you to examine the situation, but I haven't actually played them so I can't give any personal experience on them.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are shooter/RPG hybrids. They do include mutants, being based in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, and they are fairly buggy and very unforgiving in difficulty, but still pretty great games.

Another sci-fi game, with aliens and all that good stuff, is Prey.

For pseudo psychological horror, there's the F.E.A.R. series (though they get progressively less scary with each sequel).

I suppose if you care about Star Wars at all, Republic Commando would still count (it was released in 2005, has some great squad-based single-player).

And it's more of a brawler mixed with psychological horror, but Condemned: Criminal Origins was pretty good, but its sequel never got a PC release for some reason.

Tribes: Vengeance is a ***** to get running in a stable state (the old Unreal Engine it runs on is pretty crap when it comes to compatibility) and the series is famous for its multi-player more than any form of campaign, but it was made by the same guys who worked on System Shock 2 and Bioshock so the story is actually okay and the game-play itself is vastly different from most other FPS' (being based around the "arena shooter" style of games like Quake and Doom, so it's very fast paced and requires you to master how you can move around with the skis and jetpack you have).

That's all I've got.

EDIT: Actually, for hyper-realism you could try Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.

 

[hoboman29]

Did you like Goldeneye for 64? Try Timesplitters 2 or Future Perfect, same guys from Rare made a very similar playing game with a lot more stuff.

Saved me a lot of time mentioning timesplitters so thanks.
I would suggest Fallout 3 or New Vegas (people go either way as to which is better) the guns are good, has replay value, you fight humans and other human like things, and playthroughs last more hours than most other games.
Capatcha jump higher: yes I will

 

[Baralak]

Max Payne 3 has a stupid long single player. This only is so because single player campaigns are laughably short, so the length of MP3 is a refreshing breeze.

Don't forget 1 and 2! Seriously, those games are AMAZING.

 

[evilneko]

Well it turns out, a friend was willing to part with his copy of COD4, so I gave it a shot. (/rimshot)

The campaign lasted me 10 hours, tops. I can't believe how short it was. A better player would probably breeze through the entire thing in two or three. But me, I kind of suck. I have difficulty aiming precisely due to RSI in my right hand and using a trackball.

On to researching/finding the other things on my list now.

Actually, I think I have an idea what I'd really like: something like Far Cry, but without the fucking mutants. I liked that game up until it started trying to be Doom. Not that I don't like Doom, but if I want to play Doom I'll play Doom.

So you want a realistic shooter that doesn't focus on multi-player, and has a campaign well over 10 hours long? Well... uh... yeah, I got nothing.

Yeah, I guess it's a bit too much to expect. But then, 10 hours to me is different from 10 hours to the average gamer. I guess I'm just spoiled on games I can sink dozens (Mass Effect, Saints Row 2, Battlefront 1-2) to hundreds of hours into (Bethesda Fallouts).

I have looked over your list and added several games to my list of titles to check out. With the slim pickings I got before your post I was about to just give up on the whole idea.

Also, I would like to nominate you for some sort of award. A medal. A badge. Something. Not only did you read the OP but you've apparently read my other posts in this thread. Several posters didn't even bother to read the OP (wtf is up with people like that?) and just blurted out some random game. And, while some of your suggestions were already made previously, you provided additional context for them, making yours superior to any post in this thread.

You sir, win this thread.

Spoiler: You win one....

...hug from Rin!

And you probably thought it was an internet.

 

[Doclector]

I heard Ghost Recon Future Soldier was pretty good.

Yeah, I definately agree with that. Does a good job of nailing the big set pieces without making them the only interesting parts.

 

[shrekfan246]

Yeah, I guess it's a bit too much to expect. But then, 10 hours to me is different from 10 hours to the average gamer. I guess I'm just spoiled on games I can sink dozens (Mass Effect, Saints Row 2, Battlefront 1-2) to hundreds of hours into (Bethesda Fallouts).

I have looked over your list and added several games to my list of titles to check out. With the slim pickings I got before your post I was about to just give up on the whole idea.

Also, I would like to nominate you for some sort of award. A medal. A badge. Something. Not only did you read the OP but you've apparently read my other posts in this thread. Several posters didn't even bother to read the OP (wtf is up with people like that?) and just blurted out some random game. And, while some of your suggestions were already made previously, you provided additional context for them, making yours superior to any post in this thread.

You sir, win this thread.

Spoiler: You win one....

...hug from Rin!

And you probably thought it was an internet.

Well, you're very welcome.

And my reading of the thread is mostly an OCD thing I have, I have far too much free time these days and I've sunk in the time to read the entirety of threads that stretch more than 15 pages on multiple occasions.

I will echo tentative recommendations for the Max Payne series if you haven't already played them as well, and if you can get into the gritty, "film noir" style of storytelling that it uses (think similar to, well, L.A. Noire or Sin City).

I spend a pretty inordinate amount of time playing games, and a lot of them are RPGs or shooters, so it's always nice to be able to actually... use that knowledge for something every now and then. But yeah, first-person shooters aren't usually concerned with overly long campaigns, because after the ten-hour mark it becomes harder and harder for them to keep it from becoming repetitive, unless it's an open-world game or it has pretty heavy RPG elements included.

[sub]It's too bad that you don't mention anything about having a PS3, otherwise I would shamelessly plug the Metal Gear Solid franchise like I always do for threads asking for games to play. Though I'm not sure it would be fitting in this particular situation, for as much as I absolutely love how the games play, they really are stacked far more towards cut-scenes and exposition dumps than letting you control things, which can be frustrating for a lot of people.[/sub]

Spoiler: I'm winner!

Oh boy, he's so excited about hugs!
>.> Of course, for all of my useless knowledge about video games and music, Dragonball Z is about the extent of my knowledge on anime. And I don't even remember hardly anything about it either.

 

[evilneko]

But yeah, first-person shooters aren't usually concerned with overly long campaigns, because after the ten-hour mark it becomes harder and harder for them to keep it from becoming repetitive, unless it's an open-world game or it has pretty heavy RPG elements included.

Well, the Battlefront games had decent campaigns IIRC. At least, I don't recall them being overly short like COD4 was. But they also had that Instant Action mode which I played tons of, and the Galactic Conquest mode that was kind of a build-your-own campaign.

Spoiler: I'm winner!

Oh boy, he's so excited about hugs!
>.> Of course, for all of my useless knowledge about video games and music, Dragonball Z is about the extent of my knowledge on anime. And I don't even remember hardly anything about it either.

And that picture isn't even from DBZ either. Dragonball--where Goku was a kid--was way better than Dragonball Z. Not that I watched very much of either.

The girl pictured is Rin Kokonoe of Kodomo no Jikan, my favorite manga. Most would be disgusted by the subject matter, but underneath the humor and the ecchi is a story about dysfunctional and often disturbed children and adults. It's not for the easily offended.

 

[shrekfan246]

But yeah, first-person shooters aren't usually concerned with overly long campaigns, because after the ten-hour mark it becomes harder and harder for them to keep it from becoming repetitive, unless it's an open-world game or it has pretty heavy RPG elements included.

Well, the Battlefront games had decent campaigns IIRC. At least, I don't recall them being overly short like COD4 was. But they also had that Instant Action mode which I played tons of, and the Galactic Conquest mode that was kind of a build-your-own campaign.

Oh, I loved the Galactic Conquest mode. Hours of fun. I need to find Battlefront II again...

And that picture isn't even from DBZ either. Dragonball--where Goku was a kid--was way better than Dragonball Z. Not that I watched very much of either.

And I totally knew that. [sub]*cough*[/sub] I just don't usually differentiate Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT. The only reason I actually know anything about them in the first place is that a friend that I grew up with was crazy about everything related to Dragonball in the slightest, so he'd get all of the videos of the original dubbed anime and all of the movies and video games, and I'd watch them and play them with him.

The girl pictured is Rin Kokonoe of Kodomo no Jikan, my favorite manga. Most would be disgusted by the subject matter, but underneath the humor and the ecchi is a story about dysfunctional and often disturbed children and adults. It's not for the easily offended.

The more you know!

I'm pretty desensitized by most of the things I've seen on the internet, it takes a lot to disgust me these days. I have the feeling that if I bothered to actually look up and read any decent manga/watch any decent anime I'd probably like them, but it's never been something that I've looked up myself. Partly because I'm hilariously lazy...

 

[piinyouri]

Modern Warfare 1's single player was brief but brilliant.
Farcry 1 and 2 are always great, just have to be prepared to overlook a few things in the sequel.

 

[LetalisK]

Well it turns out, a friend was willing to part with his copy of COD4, so I gave it a shot. (/rimshot)

The campaign lasted me 10 hours, tops. I can't believe how short it was. A better player would probably breeze through the entire thing in two or three. But me, I kind of suck. I have difficulty aiming precisely due to RSI in my right hand and using a trackball.

On to researching/finding the other things on my list now.

Actually, I think I have an idea what I'd really like: something like Far Cry, but without the fucking mutants. I liked that game up until it started trying to be Doom. Not that I don't like Doom, but if I want to play Doom I'll play Doom.

Stay away from Far Cry 2. I've said it before, but Far Cry 2 is that blonde bimbo in high school that is really fun to look at, but has nothing going on behind the eyes. This might not even hold true for Far Cry 2 anymore since its been a few years. FC2 is a beautiful game, but that's all it has. Instead of having levels, it goes open-world. The side quests are the same 4-5 missions repeated over and over(no, I'm not exaggerating) and the main story line gives you fuck-all reason to care about, is mercifully short, and ends on a pitiful joke of an ending. Kind of like fucking a prostitute while having erectile dysfunction.

Edit: Derp, didn't read your Doom comment, thought you were asking about the series, disregard mentioning Far Cry 1.

Edit2, Suggestions:
Metro 2033(has some mutants though...)
STALKER(has some mutants though...)
Call of Duty Black Ops (I really enjoyed the single player, honestly. It wasn't straight forward and had a couple twists)
Crysis(Has squid aliens at the end...)
Crysis Warhead(Same thing...)
Bioshock series(Has what is essentially magic though, and technically all the enemies are mutants)
Borderlands(some mutants I guess)
Brother's in Arms: Hells Highway(maybe play the precursor games, but Hells Highway is by far the best.)

I'm noticing a trend with FPSes. This may be difficult to find a modernish FPS that doesn't have anything that could be classified as a "mutant".

 

[Snotnarok]

Did you like Goldeneye for 64? Try Timesplitters 2 or Future Perfect, same guys from Rare made a very similar playing game with a lot more stuff.

Saved me a lot of time mentioning timesplitters so thanks.
I would suggest Fallout 3 or New Vegas (people go either way as to which is better) the guns are good, has replay value, you fight humans and other human like things, and playthroughs last more hours than most other games.
Capatcha jump higher: yes I will

Timesplitters 2 and FP are great, I'm stumped why people keep mentioning Golden Eye 64 when there's been so many sequels with more and more awesome content.

 

[CharrHearted]

if you're looking for a good FPS with a decent story


You're going to have a bad time!

 

[Baralak]

Did you like Goldeneye for 64? Try Timesplitters 2 or Future Perfect, same guys from Rare made a very similar playing game with a lot more stuff.

Saved me a lot of time mentioning timesplitters so thanks.
I would suggest Fallout 3 or New Vegas (people go either way as to which is better) the guns are good, has replay value, you fight humans and other human like things, and playthroughs last more hours than most other games.
Capatcha jump higher: yes I will

Timesplitters 2 and FP are great, I'm stumped why people keep mentioning Golden Eye 64 when there's been so many sequels with more and more awesome content.

Well, there was the remake, but it was on Wii and PS3 only, not PC.

 

[Snotnarok]

Did you like Goldeneye for 64? Try Timesplitters 2 or Future Perfect, same guys from Rare made a very similar playing game with a lot more stuff.

Saved me a lot of time mentioning timesplitters so thanks.
I would suggest Fallout 3 or New Vegas (people go either way as to which is better) the guns are good, has replay value, you fight humans and other human like things, and playthroughs last more hours than most other games.
Capatcha jump higher: yes I will

Timesplitters 2 and FP are great, I'm stumped why people keep mentioning Golden Eye 64 when there's been so many sequels with more and more awesome content.

Well, there was the remake, but it was on Wii and PS3 only, not PC.

That's really not the same game though while Timesplitters 2 and FP are literally the same gameplay style but with more more more. Like a redneck cactus man riding robot legs, or a fishbowl that uses a robot body.