Why are there no Half-Life or Counterstrike clones?

[V da Mighty Taco]

When you look back through gaming history, you can't help but notice that the biggest games get countless knock-offs and clones. Most of us that are at least in our twenties remember the surge of Mario and Doom clones from back in the day, and even the younger ones can list off notable Unreal Tournament and Halo clones. Today, it's CoD and WoW that's being mimicked all over the place and I've even heard that TF2 had a poor-man's knockoff with Brink (though I haven't played that one).

While I may be new to PC gaming, I can't help but notice that no game out there seems to try ripping off Half-Life or Counterstrike and wonder why. Normally publishers and devs jump all over copying whats big, so how in the world did two of the biggest PC franchises in history go without a plethora of wannabes? Maybe I just don't know about them, but that's the way it seems to me. Anyone got any answers to this?

Captcha (after 2 refreshes because screw ad-captchas): jump the gun

EDIT: When I say clone, I mean a game that copies most or all the original game's main features. Half-Life may have started the whole "storytelling in FPS" thing, but I don't see many games out that actually play and feel like Half-Life. Many of the other iconic mechanics and design choices from HL don't seem to get copied nearly as much. On the other hand, quit a few games have been released in the past few years that one could be genuinely mistaken for a Call of Duty or Activision game.

Watching gameplay of Counterstrike: Global Offensive is actually what inspired this thread, since outside of CS I couldn't think of another game that plays like it. CoD games in particular feel radically different from CS, with the former's mechanics creating a focus on mindless Rambo gameplay that discourages strategy while still making players incredibly sluggish during combat - it's basically the opposite of Counterstrike gameplay-wise.

 

[Judgement101]

Counterstrike was pretty much cloned for Combat Arms and Half-Life was cloned by, in my opinion, BioShock. (I loved BioShock, it does have original ideas, I just feel that it played very much like Half-Life 2)

 

[Lilani]

Well, it depends on what you mean by "clone." Counter-strike was basically repurposing of models from HL1 and put into a multiplayer shooter in the Source engine, and then you can take your pick of what multiplayer FPS's you want to compare it to.

I guess you could call Bioshock a lot like HL, it utilizes a lot of the same storytelling methods, and it feels rather the same being in first-person. Though I'm not sure I'd call it a "clone." I feel like a clone is a negative term because it either doesn't add something new, or it failed to duplicate whatever made the original successful. But I feel like Bioshock is on the level of the HL series as far as story, and the elements they took in that kind of storytelling were just as successful as HL.

It's like trying to decide of Mario or Sonic is more successful as a platformer. They are similar, yes, but successful for different reasons.

Apart from that, the only reason I can imagine there aren't more HL clones is because what sets HL apart from other FPS's is the storytelling. That sort of visual storytelling and setpieces that never rely on cutscenes require a lot of planning and clever programming to pull off, things that developers trying to make a quick buck don't want to go through. Developers who deliberately copy known, successful models are doing it for speed, and while we know the model that makes HL work it isn't a particularly speedy process no matter how you look at it.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Half-Life -got- imitators. They just failed so miserably that you'd never know they were trying to copy Half-Life.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I guess they didn't get any because they weren't overly popular, it wasn't the surefire success an accountant would look for, the originals only came to PC so that is a huge gap in the market left out.

This is actually far better because then people simply learned to use HL concepts in their creations rather then just copy/paste, Bioshock did good things with it, so did Singularity, and Resistance, DNF to some extent... and I'm sure many others that weren't quite so obvious.

 

[octafish]

All FPS games with a story that develops through gameplay clone Half Life. Bioshock clones System Shock...very badly.

 

[Mirroga]

Ummm, are we talking about sequels or outright plagiarized clones, or are we talking about milder spiritual successors. Because if I was to talk about CS clones, then most of the FPS multiplayer games are spiritual successors of the Quake, CS, etc. games.

 

[CityofTreez]

Though I'm not sure I'd call it a "clone." I feel like a clone is a negative term because it either doesn't add something new, or it failed to duplicate whatever made the original successful.

Yep.

I hate the "clone" word for things. It mostly implies that it's a knock off (for lack of a better word) and fails at what the original did.

Yes say the Bioshock series (and others) could be considered a clone considering it does take away what HL did, but it also does a great version of it.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Counterstrike was pretty much cloned for Combat Arms and Half-Life was cloned by, in my opinion, BioShock. (I loved BioShock, it does have original ideas, I just feel that it played very much like Half-Life 2)

Err Bioshock is more of a clone of System Shock 2.

Most shooters with stories could be considered clones of Half Life, before it many FPS'es had minimal story that was tucked into the manual.

 

[Tallim]

Half-Life -got- imitators. They just failed so miserably that you'd never know they were trying to copy Half-Life.

I think they call those games "modern FPSs". But I may be way of base there.

 

[wabbbit]

I dunno if someone else mentioned it, but there's "global operations" on PC which is a CS clone (pretty much) Just allows respawns every few mins.

Also, people won't copy CS these days because it wasn't *that* great. I still can't believe people are buying the new one!
EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I loved it back when it was the only decent online FPS around! bit dated though and bad game mechanics

 

[Tohuvabohu]

I thought the first Red Faction game was as bonafide Half Life clone as it could get. I did like Red Faction though.

As for CS clones.... It's tough to say. The basic format of it (1 life per round, limited gametypes, nigh-instant deaths for fucking up) seems to give it less of a casual appeal than CoD does. I can't see many other games taking the CS format and improving/emulating it without changing it's unique appeal entirely.

The only game that comes to mind that really does seem like a CS 'clone' is.... Shadowrun???

 

[Arfonious]

Isn't the call of duty series a bit like a clone of counterstrike?

 

[FallenTraveler]

CS has been copied by most modern shooters, the COD games especially, but they are all much simpler than CS, preferring to copy the gameplay instead of mechanics. Pretty much every shooter borrows from halflife, and numerous other sources, it's just a fact of the creative market. Like in film, a good filmmaker copies, a great filmmaker steals.

Maybe that phrase isn't exactly correct, not sure, but it gets the point across.

 

[WanderingFool]

...even TF2 had a poor-man's knockoff (Brink).

Okay, someone fucking explain this, because if having classes is enough to quantify a game as being a clone of TF2, wouldnt that mean damn near any game that has defined classes is a TF2 clone? Or is there something Im missing?

Also, any competitive FPS[footnote]i.e. games that refer to themselves as competitive FPSs[/footnote] could be considered a "clone" of Counter-strike. Just like any FPS with a story rich Singleplayer is a "clone" of Half-life.

But if we are talking about direct clones, as in basically the same game but with different names for everyone, I dont think anyone really tries to copy HL or HL2. But that comes from a personal bias that I dont see HL or HL2 as anything special...

 

[sextus the crazy]

...even TF2 had a poor-man's knockoff (Brink).

Okay, someone fucking explain this, because if having classes is enough to quantify a game as being a clone of TF2, wouldnt that mean damn near any game that has defined classes is a TF2 clone? Or is there something Im missing?

People think it's a clone because it's a class-based, team-based shooter with a cartoony art-style and good deal of personal customization.

OT: I heard that legendary for the PC was a Half-life clone.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Edited OP to clarify what I mean by clone.

...even TF2 had a poor-man's knockoff (Brink).

Okay, someone fucking explain this, because if having classes is enough to quantify a game as being a clone of TF2, wouldnt that mean damn near any game that has defined classes is a TF2 clone? Or is there something Im missing?

Also, any competitive FPS[footnote]i.e. games that refer to themselves as competitive FPSs[/footnote] could be considered a "clone" of Counter-strike. Just like any FPS with a story rich Singleplayer is a "clone" of Half-life.

But if we are talking about direct clones, as in basically the same game but with different names for everyone, I dont think anyone really tries to copy HL or HL2. But that comes from a personal bias that I dont see HL or HL2 as anything special...

I admit I've only heard that Brink was a TF2 clone, I haven't bothered playing that one. It's is a complaint I hear often about Brink, but I don't have personal experience to back that one up. I also haven't played Doom, but we all know about the Doom-clones.

Captcha: one hit wonder

EDIT: I also re-edited that Brink line to emphasize the above.

 

[babinro]

Neither were worth cloning?

If the game is good enough or brings enough innovation to the genre, it'll be cloned.
We've seen it with Metroid, Zelda, COD, KOTOR, GOW, GTA, WoW, etc.

 

[BelfastSpartan]

Half-Life was cloned by, in my opinion, BioShock. (I loved BioShock, it does have original ideas, I just feel that it played very much like Half-Life 2)

My immediate thought on half-life clone was bioshock and having a quick scroll down it seems to be a general consensus. It's not a bad thing in some cases as long as they take the best bits, make them better and put their own great spin on things. Then it's acceptable.

When they completely screw it up then it's bad.