Tactical Shooter - History

History

The tactical shooter genre was pioneered in 1998. One key title was Delta Force, which emphasized real-world weaponry and quick kills. The genre was also influenced by the SWAT series, a spin-off from the Police Quest series of adventure games. But the game industry generally credits games such as Rainbow Six with defining and refining the tactical shooter genre.

Rainbow Six has been credited as a revolutionary game, which defined the conventions of the genre. The game was inspired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Rescue Team, and was designed to replicate a team of specialists performing a skilled operation. The game was designed to emphasize strategy in a way that would be fun for players without the best reflexes. The series has since become a benchmark for the genre in terms of detail and accuracy.

Tactical shooters such as have Soldier of Fortune feature graphic depiction of gore and violence, which both proponents and detractors consider to be more realistic than most first-person shooter games. Among one of the first first-person shooters to feature real world rather than futuristic weapons, it included single-player and multiplayer gameplay with the concept of playing as a mercenary.

Some of the most notable tactical shooters have been total conversion mods of first person shooter titles which have been released for free. Infiltration, a total conversion of Unreal Tournament (1999), has been described as "turning Unreal Tournament's wild cartoon action into a harrowing game of cat and mouse". Infiltration has been noted for detailed aiming system including hip ("hippie") and scope/iron fire while lacking a crosshair, different movement stances (running, walking, crouching, and prone, leaning around corners), and a customizable loadout system that allows configuration of weapons (including attachments) with a weight penalty. Half-Life: Counter-Strike, a mod of Half-Life (1998), was the most popular multiplayer game of its era.