Recommend me a nice easy FPS

[Ophiuchus]

Greetings.

I turn to you, dear Escapist community, as the sort of people who know stuff about stuff. Specifically, this kind of stuff.

Thing is, I've never been an FPS player. I'm really bad at them, which is why I don't enjoy them, which is why I don't play them, which is why I'm really bad at them. It's a big ol' circle of failure. However, after an entertaining (if slightly intoxicated) session on Team Fortress 2 with my housemate yesterday, I've decided I'd like to make more effort with the genre as a whole. So... could anyone recommend a decent FPS on the PC or 360 that would be nice and easy for an idiot like myself to practice on? Preferably with a single-player campaign, since my connection isn't always reliable enough to make multiplayer an option.

I've already got the following: Bioshock (too much RPG to really count as an FPS), Fallout 3 (same) and The Orange Box (which I'm borrowing but am horribly bad at).

Cheers to one and all.

 

[curlycrouton]

For you, I'd recommend Left 4 Dead. It has the potential to be both very easy and very hard.

 

[PrinceMarth]

Stick with Team Fortress 2. It can be simple or complex depending on how you want to play.

 

[NeedAUserName]

CoD4 is still one of the best FPS' available at the moment, although with MW2 coming out soon(ish? Dunno release date) might as well wait for that...

 

[Abedeus]

Hal... Okay, okay.

Try Counter Strike Source. Not that it's easy, but it's easy to grasp the basics.

 

[ArcWinter]

MW2 is god. Blauergh.

In a related note, I'd say Halo 3. You'll gain the reflexes needed to play an FPS, but you won't need all the strategy of a COD game.

I'm average at both COD and Halo, and still sometimes TF2 confounds me.

 

[megapenguinx]

For the 360 get yourself some Halo. It's basic enough that if you have some FPS experience you should do just fine online. Remember to mute the annoying kids!

 

[TaborMallory]

If you had a gamecube, get Metroid Prime 1 and 2. They're easy to play and they're still excellent games.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Left 4 Dead is probably one of the best shooters ever. Shame it's not on the PS3.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Cheers folks, I'll give some of these a go - turns out I already had Steam installed for some reason so that makes life easier on the PC front... and I'll wander down to Gamestation tomorrow, see if there's any cheap used copies of the 360 suggestions.

 

[Erana]

Yes, Halo. Its essentially the checkers of the FPS world. Not too complex, but generally easy and fun.
And by Halo, I meant Halo: Combat Evolved. If you don't have the bare-bones 360, this should be cheap, easily available, and if you're just looking for some action, enjoyable.
Left 4 Dead is another wonderful option, but you may have to put up with online players who won't have the patience for you to learn the ropes of FPSs.
(If you do experience that, just invision me smacking them with an ootsuchi. I really want to do that....
Wait, I need to get an Ootsuchi first...)

 

[StigmataDiaboli]

Cheers folks, I'll give some of these a go - turns out I already had Steam installed for some reason so that makes life easier on the PC front... and I'll wander down to Gamestation tomorrow, see if there's any cheap used copies of the 360 suggestions.

Left 4 Dead wont be cheap. £35 pre-owned...

 

[Ophiuchus]

Cheers folks, I'll give some of these a go - turns out I already had Steam installed for some reason so that makes life easier on the PC front... and I'll wander down to Gamestation tomorrow, see if there's any cheap used copies of the 360 suggestions.

Left 4 Dead wont be cheap. £35 pre-owned...

In that case I'd probably go for the PC option - it's a fair bit cheaper on Steam and I'd have the added bonus of my housemate already being a seasoned player who'd put up with me being a novice for a while.

 

[StigmataDiaboli]

Cheers folks, I'll give some of these a go - turns out I already had Steam installed for some reason so that makes life easier on the PC front... and I'll wander down to Gamestation tomorrow, see if there's any cheap used copies of the 360 suggestions.

Left 4 Dead wont be cheap. £35 pre-owned...

In that case I'd probably go for the PC option - it's a fair bit cheaper on Steam and I'd have the added bonus of my housemate already being a seasoned player who'd put up with me being a novice for a while.

Good call.

 

[balimuzz]

I know that by saying this I am basically turning myself into a large, dry bale of hay sitting next to the sparking candle of a flame war, but try out Halo 3. It's really simple and easy to get the hang of, and once you do, you can have a lot of fun with it. You can probably find it cheap, and if you do, go for it.

 

[Zeldadudes]

Could always try the Rainbow Six Collection.
Its a slow paced FPS but would help you on the aiming front.
If not get a copy of Duck hunt

 

[Hutchy_Bear]

If you had a PS2 I would recommend Timesplitters 3, one of my favourite FPS ever.

 

[Agrosmurf]

I will have to go with Halo 3, It's fairly simple... Just shhot at the aleans untill they die. Maybe get your mum to help you kill the giant spider robots.
=D

 

[Rack]

Gears of War and Halo 3 seem to be pretty easy going for beginners. I don't know about the 360 version, but don't touch the PC version of TF2 until you're seriously good, because it won't do to be learning how to aim while bunny hopping and working out which class does well at what in what situation against which combination of classes.

 

[Ethereal.Frog]

Halo 3, everybody's doing it. Gears of War if you feel the need to challenge yourself, 2 is easier. TF2 on pc is serious, so be careful if you're thinking about that, there's lots to learn and nobody is going to tell you where to learn it. COD4 might be good for a new fps player, but I would personally introduce somebody to the fps genre with either Halo: Combat Evolved or TF2 on pc, but I haven't actually introduced anybody to fpses and I was already a good fps player when I got TF2 so I'm not really sure about that though.