Shooter game
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Shooter games cover a fairly broad spectrum of sub-genres that have the commonality of controlling a character who is usually armed with a firearm that can be freely aimed.
There are many criteria to determine the type of shooter, listed below are some of the major divisions. Using the following, it is possible to categorize almost all shooters developed.
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Perspective
The player usually views the events from behind the eyes of the character (a first-person shooter) or from a camera that follows the character, usually a few feet behind (a third-person shooter). It is also possible, though infrequently used in this genre, for a game to have a fixed camera.
Realism
Games that attempt to emulate life-like ballistics and character damage are called tactical shooters. Those that use a more lenient model of physics are generally referred to as arcade shooters. This more of an analog division as most games simply tend to lean one way or another.
Number of characters
While most shooters are played as Solo ventures, several offer the players the opportunity to control a Squad of characters, usually directly controlling one and giving orders to computer controlled allies. Games which feature Non-player characters that fight on your characters side but aren't directly controllable or appear infrequently are not considered Squad games.
Focus
This is often an optional way to categorize a shooter, but in some cases it's needed to help distinguish it. A game may quite often heavily rely on stealth as opposed to direct action. Others might have large horror elements to them.
Rail shooter
Rail shooters are a very specific sub-genre of shooters, and cause the players to give up control of the characters movement almost entirely and instead only guide where they are aiming. Often this is done through the use of a gun-like peripheral, but for home use on consoles, a controller can usually be used to manually move to aiming reticule. Many shooters include rail shooting segments.
Hybrid
Additionally, shooters can quite easily be combined with other major game genres, most often role-playing or strategy.
Multiplayer
If a game is available online, there are several other sharp divisions it can take. Team games are where players are assigned to one of two (sometimes more, but very infrequently) factions which are competing for some goal. Co-Op games have several players on the same faction playing through either the single player or custom missions. Individual has all players competing with each other. Many times a game will offer differing modes which allow players to choose from among these various types.