Third-person shooter
[5][8] Thus, the third-person perspective allows the game designer to create a more strongly characterized avatar[6] and directs the player's attention as in watching a film.
[6] This viewpoint facilitates more interaction between the character and their surrounding environment, such as the use of a tactical system in Gears of War,[10] or navigating tight quarters.
[11] As such, the third-person perspective is better for interacting with objects in the game world, such as jumping on platforms, engaging in close combat, or driving a vehicle.
[16] Many games in the genre such as the ARMA series and its descendants (including the popular battle-royale shooter PUBG) allow players to freely transition between first and third-person perspectives at will.
Alexander R. Galloway writes that the "real-time, over-the-shoulder tracking shots of Gus Van Sant's Elephant evoke third-person shooter games like Max Payne, a close cousin of the FPS".
[25] and JJ (1987)[26] Third-person shooters for home computers include Dan Gorlin's Airheart (1986)[27] and Paul Norman's Beyond Forbidden Forest (1986).
This was an early example of a home console third-person shooter which featured a human protagonist on-foot, as opposed to controlling a vehicle, and made use of polygonal 3D graphics along with sprites in a 3D environment.
[37] Fade to Black (1995) was also a fully 3D third-person shooter released around this time, but as well as featuring an on-foot protagonist rather than a vehicle, utilised entirely polygonal 3D graphics.
[38] Tomb Raider (1996) by Eidos Interactive (now Square Enix Europe) is claimed by some commentators as a third-person shooter,[39][5][40][41][42] and Jonathan S. Harbour of the University of Advancing Technology argues that it's "largely responsible for the popularity of this genre".
[5] Other commentators have considered it influential on later third person shooters such as BloodRayne (2002),[40] The Contra Adventure (1998),[43] MDK (1997),[44] Duke Nukem: Time To Kill (1998),[45] Burning Rangers (1998),[46] and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.
[8][47] Mega Man Legends (1997) by Capcom is another early 3D third person shooter which took a different approach to the genre, mixing this with a role-playing game influence.
Syphon Filter (1999) by Eidetic (now Bend Studio) combined the perspective of Tomb Raider with action elements of games such as GoldenEye 007 (1997) and Metal Gear Solid (1998).
[57] Gears of War (2006) employed tactical elements such as taking cover,[58] influenced by Kill Switch,[59] using off-center viewpoints inspired by Resident Evil 4.
