On First Person Shooters

In my last post, I mentioned that the first video game I really remember being awestruck by was 007: Golden Eye. This game still means a great deal to me for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that it introduced me to a genre quite near and dear to me: the first person shooter. In my childhood, video games and, particularly, first person shooters were always taboos. I was not fortunate enough to grow up with staples of the genre such as Doom and Quake. I, however, came to love this genre as much as anyone who had.
The First Person Shooter encapsulates what video games are all about: transporting the player into a new world, giving them new life through the character on the Tv screen. The first person genre, by simply changing the camera to the character's view allows the player to almost become the character, seeing through his or her eyes, literally and metaphorically. The player not only sees what the character sees but begins to actually think like the character would. How much closer does one feel to Master Chief as one follows his story through his eyes than looking down at Solid Snake? In my opinion, this is one of the key differences between the mediums of video games and film. While one simply watches a film, one actively participates in the story of a game. We are not watching the characters defeat the baddies and save the princess, we are the characters defeating the baddies and saving the princess. This spirit is exemplified by first person shooters in that they truly transform the player into the character as opposed to leaving the player a third party observer.
As I mentioned before, first person shooters are very important to me; not because I love seeing the blood of my enemies first hand, but because I love the sense that I truly am Master Chief or Samus or a soldier in Normandy or a noble adventurer in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. I love the sense that I have left my world behind and have entered a whole new one. For me, this is what gaming is all about: the abandonment of everyday life in favor of a few moments in someone else's skin.
It goes without saying that the sole reason for the success and popularity of the FPS is not due entirely to their quality of bringing players deeper into the game. The popularity of the First Person Shooter can also be attributed to it's innovation in multiplayer and it's wide variety of sub-genres. I will reserve the discussion of the reasons, dear reader, for another post. I hope I have let you into a very important part of my gaming life: the first person shooter.