Non-violent FP Action Games
Quiet_Blowfish
Join Date: 2017-09-11 Member: 232955Members
Join Date: 2017-09-11 Member: 232955Members
Don't get me wrong - I'd still play Subnautica after they brought in low yield tactical nuclear weapons. But I'm kinda intrigued with this experiment to make a popular carnage-free first-person action-game.
I'm also pretty curious to see it if goes on to influence the direction of game design in the future. Or is that already happening and I've just had my head in sand of 4546B too long? I know and love the Portal series (check). I realise that most of my beloved stealth games can be played murder-free (more of a niche option for the most hardcore players though).
Thoughts / recommendations?
I'm also pretty curious to see it if goes on to influence the direction of game design in the future. Or is that already happening and I've just had my head in sand of 4546B too long? I know and love the Portal series (check). I realise that most of my beloved stealth games can be played murder-free (more of a niche option for the most hardcore players though).
Thoughts / recommendations?
Comments
Crossworlds: Escape comes to mind http://store.steampowered.com/app/511430/CrossWorlds_Escape/
The Long Dark could fit the bill as well: http://store.steampowered.com/app/305620/The_Long_Dark/
Eternal Winter: http://store.steampowered.com/app/325210/Eternal_Winter/
Stranded Deep: http://store.steampowered.com/app/313120/Stranded_Deep/
Take On Mars: http://store.steampowered.com/app/244030/Take_On_Mars/
I can't speak as to the quality or length of fun of most of these given I've never played them, but they do have a focus on exploration and survival over carnage and violent confrontation as a main goal.
Edit: A couple more I remembered
Rising World: http://store.steampowered.com/app/324080/Rising_World/
Lost in Pacific: http://store.steampowered.com/app/655290/Lost_in_Pacific/
Planet Explorers: http://store.steampowered.com/app/237870/Planet_Explorers/
You play a technical engineer tasked with investigating various public works sustaining a modern city with water and electrical power. Your only weapons are a torchlight and a camera to snap pictures of damaged infrastructures and other unsafe situations. The game goes to great lengths to showcase believable locations such as a power station, a dam or even an abandoned steel factory. It's linear but also a pretty neat experience to play too.
Alien Isolation: It's set in the same universe as the Alien film franchise, and features creative and tense gameplay. There's a great story throughout as you try to explore the space station and learn what exactly Weyland-Yutani has been up to lately... It's very "Metroidvania" in so far as having to acquire tools and unlock abilities to progress, craft items/devices to survive, and it features very few "weapon" options. In fact, the only real weapon you get is the Flamethrower, but that's best to be used to take down Working Joes (your most common enemy, but they're androids) and scare off the eponymous Alien... which I should point out it CAN NOT ever be killed! If you think it's nearby, you better pray you can hide... or run... or have saved recently.
This game was deliciously covered by Markiplier in a Let's Play series - definitely worth watching it!
SOMA: Another stealth/survival game I greatly enjoy, this one features a game with a very interesting story twist (which I won't reveal much as SPOILERS!). But suffice to say, you end up in an enclosed area following up a visit to the doctor; a calamity has occurred that you must try to remedy as best as you can... The game has a very "Subnautica" feel because of its design, and features almost NO conventional weapons at all - you must survive by your wits and cunning, or face a quick (and very creepy) Game Over. I should point out at a few times there are offensive tools that are used as weapons in certain parts of the game, but those are mostly scripted events that by the end of it, remove/destroy said weapon after that section is completed. The game is truly worth playing, and various decisions can influence how certain parts of the story play out.
This game was also deliciously covered by Markiplier in a Let's Play series - I say go watch it now!
Firewatch: Firewatch is an interesting game, as it is first-person but there is no FPS gameplay, or any combat of any sorts to be found. Instead it's an engaging story of a man who has set out on a journey of discovery (the introductory sequence determines your 'backstory' and which certain days/story segments you uncover). The primary gameplay is that you're a fire watcher in the Wyoming wilderness, who must report on potential fires and other strange occurrences. Your only companion is with a fellow fire watcher, who communicates with you over shortwave radio. Together you progress through the story and help each other out with personal issues, all the while some sinister force appears to be causing issues in the area. It's more of a psychological thriller than your typical first-person game, but the story is very compelling and multiple decisions can alter how things turn out as you complete each task. Personally I feel it's a great game worth playing, and one that can challenge your notions as you work your way to the end.
This game was also deliciously covered by Markiplier in a Let's Play series - I would recommend having a peek at it!
Until Dawn: Man, I had almost forgot about this game until now! Sadly, it is PS4-only and as of yet has not been ported to PC or Steam... which sadly means it likely won't ever by by this point.
This game was also deliciously covered by Markiplier in a Let's Play series - Definitely check it out if you can't play it! (And don't forget: Ashley was the COOL one!)
(What's that? I'm focused too much on "deliciously covered by Markiplier" anchor links? Why, th-that's um... it's not what you think! It's not like I don't think of being alone with him or anything... Oh my, look at the time!)
*Dashes away to hide his Markiplier body pillow*
...
(Don't worry, I don't actually have a Markiplier body pillow... yet.)
... Eh, not that.
Lemme see... well, you've probably heard of minecraft, but two other lesser-known games in that vauge genera come to mind: Starmade and From The Depths.
Don't expect minecraft from either one, mostly they are just similar in that you make things out of voxel objects, most of which are cubes.
They are rather similar to each other though. They are building games centered around constructing vehicles, one in space and the other in the sea (I'll give you three guesses which is which). There is a lot of combat involved, but it's all pretty much machine-on-machine, and blood is entirely absent.
Starmade has functional multiplayer, but the community and their servers have their own complex politics that mean that servers with tags like "PvP" and "Survival" should be approached with caution, as several forumside factions that can be rather toxic exist, and serverside factions, well, who knows?
FTD has semi-functional Co-op mode, but is mostly a singleplayer game. Building is VERY complex, and it can take a LONG time and considerable effort and patience to make something functional, and I have about 300 hours and I still can't make anything properly effective.
They are both pretty much made by a single guy, and their developers and employees are far friendlier and more active on their forums than subnautica's, as well as actually acknowledging players concerns and often implementing suggestions.
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Good times indeed
Links to offiial vids:
Starmade is better, and also has logic gates that people have used to do things that SE programable blocks could never do, such as interactable "AIs" and simple games.
Sounds like something that could be cured with some decent mods, if they exist for SE.
Some of the issues with Space Engineers go beyond what mods can fix. The explosions @sayerulz is talking about are likely part of the clipping and geometry problems I and others have seen in the game. Worse for on-planet bases, but can be an issue even in space. Haven't touched SE for a while, so some of this may have been addressed by base game updates.
However, mods can't really do anything about the physics issues that cause objects to spazz out and destroy everything in their general vicinity at the slightest provocation, a phenomenon general attributed to "Klang", SE's dark god of collision issues and general glitchyness.
They also can't really do much about the inferior level of ship design options. That's just a part of how SE is set up. To give an idea of what can be done in starmade:
That's not just an object or a static building either, it's a fully functioning ship with an interior, weapons, engines, everything a spaceship needs to be a spaceship. Note that this is not something I can do, but creations like this are definitely not atypical of the community content section. SE.... you just can't do this sort of thing in SE. If you tried to make a ship that large, not only would it not have the same level of custom detail (as SE blocks are larger), but the game would crash like 10% of the way through.
FTD can't handle things on this level either, but what it does have is a vastly greater engineering aspect than SM or (ironically) SE. Actually, of those three, SE is probably the one with the least actual engineering.
Hey @Tarkannen , great little mini-reviews there - you've really got a knack for it.
I've put a couple of hundred hours into Empyrion Galactic Survival and definitely agree the AI is pretty basic. That game has a big multiplayer element that seems to get most the focus. It's a fun little game because you can build some really and truly beautiful bases and build your own hover crafts, small spaceships, large spaceships, space stations, etc. They are continuing development, and it continues to improve.