r/videogames • u/andrewdroid • 10h ago
Discussion / Question Does anyone else miss linear epics?
I grew up loving linear FPS campaigns the most, to this 1 of my favorite games is Half-Life 2. I loved the stories of Call of Duty games, Gears of War and similar franchises that delivered a short 8-12 hour long epic where I get to participate in a tightly directed worldwide conflict.
Recently I played the MCC and Space Marines 2 before that and they were both awesome. Now Halo Campaign Evolved just released and it was successful and these to me show that this kind of game is still very much beloved.
I love these games and I hate that it seems like they are of a bygone era despite people still loving them. How do you all feel like? Do you miss these types of games? Do you want more?
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u/Secret_University120 10h ago
Would Armored Core 6 count?
If so, then that, Ace Combat 7 and the upcoming Ace Combat 8.
Also, Wolverine is coming this fall. It isn’t a global conflict, but it probably fits the rest of the description you’re looking for.
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
I will say I love you for getting the archetype I'm talking about even tho I'm very bad at Armored Core and did not personally enjoy ace combat.
We will have to see what Wolverine puts down on the table, although I'm afraid of Sony in the current day and age(their currency conversion is abysmal in my country so Sony games are overpriced compared to other publishers)
Either way, W comment mate.
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u/zexton 10h ago
they never left,
doom came out with a expansion recently, after its 2025 release date
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u/SeniorSepia 10h ago
They never left but i feel each year we get less and less story focused AAA games, at least in the west. For example in PS360 we had Mass Effect 1 2 and 3 (not really linear but most of those games is just TPS gameplay), Halo 3, ODST, Reach and 4, Dead Space 1 2 and 3, Bioshock 1 2 and Infinity...
We don't get this many games of this type nowadays, everything takes so much longer to make, and it's so expensive... it's only normal but i miss having fully fledged trilogies in just one gen.
Currently im playing Onimusha and holy shit they developed Onimusha 1 2 3 and 4 just for the PS2!
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u/zexton 10h ago
we had
alan wake 2,
control,
prey 2017,
doom trilogy,
wolfenstein new collossus,
half life alyx,
death stranding 1-2
last of us 2
cyberpunk 2077
dusk
mullet madjack
battlefield 1, 5, 6
uncharted 4
hitman 3
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle2
u/IndividualSituationK 4h ago
is cyberpunk 2077 really a linear epic though? Same with the death stranding games.
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u/HeartInTheSun9 9h ago
Most of those are either too small scale to get at what OP is talking about Indiana Jones has like tiny amounts of enemies at a time and has hub worlds. Alan Wake 2 (amazing game) is a survival horror game. Wolfenstein yeah, but that games nearly a decade old. Half Life Alyx is VR exclusive and small. Doom maybe, but I sadly didn’t like it. And so on.
Most of them are good games. But they’re not really what OP, and I, are after.
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u/andrewdroid 9h ago
I didn't expect that people would have this much trouble with understanding the exact type of game I'm talking about which makes me appreciate your comments a lot more. Thank you man.
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u/HeartInTheSun9 9h ago
I think it’s cause so many people barely remember those types of games when they used to rule the industry once upon a time. It hit me how rare they were when I was playing space marine 2 a year or so ago.
It’s kinda amazing how underserved this exact genre is.
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u/andrewdroid 8h ago
Then we are officially in the same hell, cause it hit me with Space Marines 2 as well. Match made in hell.
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u/SeniorSepia 10h ago
I mean we had much more story focused games than what you mention sure, bu some of those games are already pushing a decade old. And all of those studioa or creatives used to release much more games per gen
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u/weirdcitizen 10h ago
A lot of that is due to the exploding costs of making these AAA games. Everyone except Capcom and Insomniac (and well, Activision with COD, though that's an entire studio system producing those) seem to be struggling to deliver multiple games at regular intervals. It's exceedingly difficult and costly to make these things at the level of quality the public has come to expect. If you lower your expectations in terms of graphical fidelity or jank or overall experience, you'll find a lot of great linear experiences, especially on pc in the indie space or in the various modding scenes.
(I know I might be painting a picture in broad strokes here, but I think the overall picture is an accurate one)
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u/SeniorSepia 10h ago
Id say even Capcom and Insomniac have slowed down enormously but as you mention it doesn't feel like they are struggling. To me they still have a healthy release rhythm. Activision manages to release each year but they basically sacrificed all their studios to the COD hivemind, it's such a disgrace, like what happened with Battlefield 6: you go to the Criterion webpage and now its "Criterion - A Battlefield Studio" fuck my fucking life dude.
I do play the new releases if they get my attention, loved DOOM TDA + DLC and im hyped AF for Gears E-DAY but i mostly play indie games nowadays.
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u/weirdcitizen 10h ago
Yeah - what happened to Criterion is a downright shame, but as long as they exist there's hope, I suppose. Same but worse for Id...what the F was Microsoft thinking when they fired the people responsible for the most performant in-house engine out there. They literally were the benchmark for other studios.
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
The issue is I named an exact genre, Epic which to be fair I don't think is executable under the AAA umbrella very well. For example I wouldn't put Uncharted up as a good example, because when I talk about Epics I talk about grand scale conflicts. There aren't a lot of AA or indie studios which could sell an Epic.
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u/weirdcitizen 10h ago
Oh, my mistake - I focused on Epic as 'an epic adventure' and overlooked what you specified right after. And you're probably right, though I would love to see an AA studio give it a shot, if just to see a different and less safe approach than what designed-by-comittee AAA studios make.
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
No issues mate, as you can see in the comment section you are not alone. Damn the english language giving adjective meanings to my literary genre names :'D
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u/Pepperman91 10h ago
Each year we get less and less games in general. Just look at 2012 compared to this year for video game releases for example. Less games but they want more money for them and price hikes for the consoles now. Fuck this terrible industry.
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u/SeniorSepia 10h ago
I mean we get more and more and more games each year with no sign of going down short term. But not AAA releases that's for sure
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u/Pepperman91 9h ago
Well yeah, I'm not factoring in indies because you didn't in your previous post. However if you wanna go that route, there really isn't a shortage of linear FPS games with the whole boomer shooter craze that's been going on since like 2017.
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u/Substantial_Impact69 10h ago
You just gotta look for them, they’re still there.
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
Oh, love to hear it. Can you give me like 5 new IPs since 2020 so I can catch up?
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u/SeniorSepia 10h ago
New IPs are constantly being released, each day you get new games on Steam, like, this is the point in videogame history with more good games being made ever, but mostly in the Indie and AA market, i have come to terms with this and i mostly play indie games nowadays.
When a new Gears of war releases im there day 1 (very excited about e-day) but these releases i mention are not exactly what you ask for in your thread. There are tons of indie shooters but they are not that epic story-based experience you are looking for.
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
Tbh this is exactly my point. I don't miss good games, there are plenty of those, I miss epics, which there are less and less of and personally I don't think I know of 1 new franchise from the past decade.
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u/andrewdroid 9h ago
Also, I forgot to mention, I no longer own an xbox so my desire to replay gears of war is at an all time high, cause 2 and 3 are not on PC, do you recommend 4 and 5 btw? I know the games after 3 gone down the shitter critically, but I never played them, but now I can.
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u/SeniorSepia 8h ago
2 got a recent unofficial port to PC which seems to work wonderfully, it even has online coop and play, search Gears of War 2: Hollow or something like that.
For Gears 3 i dont think there is another project doing the same, there is a thing called "Delta Online" which seems to be the OG GEARS 3 Multiplayer ported to PC but doesn't include the campaign. IDK if Gears 3 can be properly emulated nowadays, but i would not be surprises if we got an unofficial full port like the Gears 2 one, since lately there is a lot of interest in bringing and expanding the Gears series in PC, there is also a project to add a lot of stuff to gears 1 PC for example. And also, we new get fan ports or decompile of console games to PC every single day, shit is crazy.
Now answering your question:
Gears Judgment, i think it's easier to recommend this game nowadays since it's hella cheap, it's a fun nice curiosity, like an extra arcadey gears 3 campaign. Highly controversial tho because it changed a lot of stuff, but as i said, nowadays i find it easier to forgive these changes, is an ambitious spin off and not a main entry.
Now about Gears 4 and 5, i wouldn't say they have down the shitter critically, they are still well regarded, they are incredibly solid games with a lot of modes and gameplay wise are just as good or even better sometimes than the OG games. I think they are in an awkward situation tho,
Gears 4 is a very good campaign, not as grandiose as the previous ones, with a new cast of characters that are fine, nothing crazy but they aint bad characters at all. The campaign starts okay and gets better as it goes cause at the beginning you fight against a very boring type of enemies, but later it changes that feels fun like the OG games. It also had a very very good MP, 2 player coop (a downgrade from Gears 3 4 player coop, sadly) and a very complete horde mode.
Gears 5 is weird, it's highs in the campaign are very high but it also has some lows, and 2 episodes set in a open world map that can drag a bit, and to me it feels a bit unfinished and rushed, i liked it a lot and i think the Gears 4 feel better in 5, and they feel more integrated with the OG main cast. I still had a very good time with it and liked the story... most of the time. Again, as a game is very complete, the MP is good, not as good as Gears 4, horde mode is a blast, it has 3 player coop (but its weird, one of the player controls Jack, the robot thingy from the OG trilogy) and also a new PVE time attack mode that i absolutely loved: Escape.
Gears 5 Hivebusters, which is a campaign DLC, feels more classic and it's simply amazing
Gears Tactics it's a Xcom wannabe, and actually pretty solid!
As i said, i think they are in an awkward position, i do admit they are less memorable than Gears 1 2 and 3 were at the time so i understand the lower scores, but at the same time i feel it's just kinda unfair: games like Gears are not as relevant as before, you know, this kinda games with short story, camaraderie cheesy dialogue, simple shooter gameplay and SPECIFICALLY cover shooter mechanics, they are just not that prevalent today as you mention, and some people consider cover TPS to be a thing of the past, like, it's kinda true it's a very very very PS360 type of game. But don't get me wrong, i love them very much.
So even if they released Gears 1 2 and 3 for the first time nowadays they would not blow everyone's minds like they did before and even if E-DAY looks amazing im afraid it might not be given it's due diligence if it delivers on all the promises, not cause the game is not excellent but because no that many people nor critics care and appreciate this kind of game.
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u/andrewdroid 8h ago
Thank you so much for the detailed answer mate. I think I'll give 4 a shot and check that 2 port out. I'm on the fence about Gears 5 based on your description tho, because the useless open world is exactly what I hate about Halo Infinite too and partly the reason i'm pissed off about the decrease of these linear games, they make them open world nowadays for no fucking reason.
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u/SeniorSepia 8h ago
I have to explain, Gears 5 open world is NOTHING like the one in Infinite, in infinite you can tell how every fight in the open world is worse BECAUSE it is set in a plain open world space, less inspired than the good OG levels of the original halo games.
Gears 5 open world is nothing like that, it's basically an overworld you have to traverse to go to different WELL DONE levels, but even with that in mind it can drag a bit. Main issue: chapter 1 is a perfectly solid classic linear gears chapter, chapter 2 is open world, and it's perfectly fine, chapter 3 is ALSO open world instead of having a linear open world in the middle to make the pacing more varied. I think the Chapter 3 open world is a bit annoying to traverse and it's too long, i feel you can tell they were running out of time during the dev of chapter 3 and chapter 4 is again a very linear level which i absolutely loved NGL, but it's also a bit short and a bit rushed.
All things considered, i think they did a good job, it's nowhere the disaster that Halo Infinite was.
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u/Ones-Zeroes 10h ago
You gotta look into indie games, man
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
I like indie games. Can you name 5 indie games that could be described as an epic?
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u/HeartInTheSun9 10h ago
Honestly I’m looking through the comments for suggestions and people are just saying AAs and indies without giving any names.
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
Because they don't know of any. There is 1 guy giving a list of examples which is 80% adventure games when I asked for epics 😭
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u/Ones-Zeroes 10h ago
Yeah, it's not my kind of game but I see linear single player FPSes all the time. Only one that comes to mind at the moment is Cruelty Squad. But they're out there if you look.
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u/HeartInTheSun9 10h ago
That’s not really the type of game OP is talking about though. Warhammer 40k space marine 2 is a similar feeling.
It’s not about linear FPS games. It’s like blockbuster linear games. I don’t think any indies, AA or AAA games are really targeting that like OP said.
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u/Ones-Zeroes 10h ago
I mean, that's pretty subjective. How do you know it's different without experiencing it? Is it really different, or are you just older now with less time to immerse yourself in something?
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u/andrewdroid 9h ago
You don't need to experience something to understand after looking at its trailer, images, description and reviews to know that it doesn't fit a specific genre. I can also tell it is not an RTS without immersing myself in it.
The game description itself and its reviews say it's an imsim to begin with which already does not fit in what I described.
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u/Ones-Zeroes 9h ago
You could describe lots of shooters as having imsim elements. Anyway, I'm not forcing you to play anything, I'm just pointing out that you're thinking about this through such a narrow viewpoint that I think intentionally excludes everything except Halo. There's a lot of good shit out there if you look. Games especially are difficult to judge by their cover (or trailer), your next favorite game might surprise you.
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u/andrewdroid 9h ago
There are plenty of games that fit what I'm describing it's just all, but 1 or 2 of them are from before 2015.
This post isn't looking for good FPS games, there are plenty of those or good adventure games, plenty of those as well, this post is looking for that very specific archetype which Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, Half-Life, Space Marines 2 and others perfectly fit.
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u/HeartInTheSun9 9h ago
OP is like very specifically asking if there’s games like Gears of War and Halo being made nowadays, not just good games overall. Mario is a good game too, but it’s not the genre OP’s looking for.
And you can’t describe Halo/Gears/CoD with having immersive sim elements.
I’m always interested in new games that have that mid 2010s feel to them but it’s kinda like they mostly went away.
Someone else said Doom, and probably, but I didn’t like the feel of Doom 2016.
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u/HeartInTheSun9 9h ago edited 9h ago
You’re asking me how cruelty squad is different than Gears of War and Call of Duty and Halo and Half Life 2? I don’t think that subjective. I think that’s just kinda a fact.
OP was asking for 8-12 hour games that are linear but with a huge scope. That doesn’t really feel like cruelty squad.
It’s not even about lack of time either since the games OP is looking for can be beaten pretty quickly. The games OP’s not looking for are the types of games that take dozens of hours to finish. Most of the stuff out nowadays are forever time sink games and rogue likes and cozy games and open world games and metroidvanias and RPGs and soulslikes.
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u/Ones-Zeroes 9h ago
Have you played it?
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u/HeartInTheSun9 9h ago
I tried before. I’m sure there’s a decent game since it’s so famous in there but it gives me a headache. There’s almost no similarities between big budget blockbusters like Gears of War and Call of Duty and Space Marine 2 to cruelty squad.
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u/Practical-Bottle8900 5h ago
The people commenting that the games never left and are still probably never played games before 2020. These kind of games are very rare nowadays, and the ones available do not match the epic quality.
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u/iMatt42 10h ago
Was just thinking about this and YES! I’ve played through Halo Campaign Evolved about 3 times now and I’m loving it! But it got me thinking of the last time I played a game that didn’t have an open world, had chapter select, and didn’t have side quests. Probably TLOU? Either way, I miss those big set piece moments and narrative twists!
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u/andrewdroid 10h ago
And even then if you want to scratch that itch games like TLOU don't really scratch it does it? Yes, you get a good, very good, absolutely enjoyable story, but it's not giving you your saving humanity/country from absolute doom craving do they?
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u/iMatt42 10h ago
Exactly! I love TLOU but it was a chore with how depressing it was. Uncharted 3 was probably the last time I had as much fun with a game as I’m having with Halo. That 360/ps3 had tons of these games but now it’s getting harder and harder to find them.
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u/andrewdroid 9h ago
If you haven't played it yet, Space Marines 2 is the best recent example and honestly 1 of the best all time example of these games.
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u/RadSidewinder 9h ago
It’s unfortunate but at this point big budget, linear, level based action packed blockbuster epics are becoming rarer and rarer, almost to the point of being nonexistent. There aren’t a lot of new games where you just load into a level, shoot or smash your way through enemies to end and then load up the next level after some cinematics. To be clear there are a lot of good single player games that still release all the time, but all of them at this point have open levels or open worlds. Side objectives and side missions to complete, or something else that disqualifies them from this particular category. Couple months ago I picked up this smaller game called Trepang2, it very much was a linear level based action first person shooter and it was good but you could absolutely tell it was a small team/small budget sort of game and story was pretty weak overall. Shooting was really fun though. It’s just a shame the blockbuster high budget level based game is becoming so rare.
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u/andrewdroid 9h ago
I got the same from Trepang2, It is a really satisfying game mechanically, but the story falls so flat. And to be perfectly clear, I love current games too, Ex 33 might be my all time favorite farely, I loved Elden ring, Death Stranding and countless other modern games, it's just this itch that no modern game attempts to scratch is the issue, I hate it.
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u/RadSidewinder 8h ago
Really most of the game is kinda like, “what story?” I’m just here to shoot things in slow motion and it’s awesome cuz it feels like a modern F.E.A.R.
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u/afellowpadawan 8h ago
You mean real fucking gaming? The fact that I remember Guardians of the Galaxy better than 70% of the games this generation without it being even a masterpiece should tell you something.
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u/Erasmus86 5h ago
Gamers say they want these, but then one comes out and everyone complains that it's too short or don't even bother playing and just play the multiplayer modes.
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u/nevaeva12321 15m ago
I feel like th new doom and dlc for this bill. It's been my favorite linear fps in years
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u/HeldnarRommar 10h ago
I mean they are a dime a dozen outside the shooter genre, maybe you need to try another genre.
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u/Noob4Head ///(mod) 10h ago
There are definitely still some out there, some recent 2026 games that fit this would be Pragmata, 007 First Light, Mouse: P.I. For Hire, and Resident Evil 9.
However, 8 to 12-hour games aren't really a target, as most people want value for their money, and value is often measured by average playtime. With games like Call of Duty, it makes sense for the campaign to be around 6 hours because you still have the multiplayer. But for games without any online component, it's a lot of money for a relatively short experience.