One of the best game design trends in recent years is, practically speaking, a little boring. I can’t stop thinking about the firing range – an old staple of videogame tutorials that, in the age of the service game, has taken new form as a reactive training ground for beginners and veterans alike.
We’re in the middle of a competitive shooter golden age, and I’d argue one crucial indicator of a developer that really ‘gets it’ is a fully-featured firing range. If your practice range is little more than a few plywood targets with a bullseye, you’ve messed it all up. The best videogame firing ranges are closer to training compounds, packing Willy Wonka levels of extravagant features and doohickeys purpose-built for experimentation, fact checking, and aim training.
In 2023 it’s increasingly common for shooters to come with useful firing ranges, but there is one that stands above the rest.
THE GOLD STANDARD
Despite being one of the newest faces in the FPS scene, Riot’s competitive FPS Valorant comes stock with one of the greatest shooting ranges I’ve seen. The gun range includes not just stationary dummies to shoot at, but a timed reflex test, moving target, and replayable bot scenarios that teach the basics of checking corners and planting the Spike.
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
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