Explanations for key terms
Can a work of art be objectively good or bad?
It is a surprisingly hard question to answer.
Some people say that all art criticism is subjective. Nothing is objectively good or bad. It all comes down to subjective preference.
Others say that art can be objectively measured. Personal opinions can be removed from the discussion and a hard number can be assigned to works of art according to quality.
Grand Theft Auto 3 had such a huge impact on gaming that it essentially created a genre of its own. Since then, Grand Theft Auto’s presence in gaming has only gotten bigger and its domination of the genre has remained uncontested. A few competitors have sought to challenge the GTA series. So far, none have succeeded, with most failing to survive the attempt. Other games, meanwhile, have not sought to challenge GTA’s dominance but have nonetheless taken heavy inspiration from the GTA games and created experiences that are recognisably GTA in style yet different enough not to be seen as direct competitors.
Every FPS falls somewhere on a spectrum. At one end of this spectrum are ‘movement shooters’, and at the other end are ‘positional shooters’. Most shooters fall somewhere between these extremes though they tend to lean in one of either direction. It is helpful to both players and developers of shooters to know the difference.