Despite a Few Failures, 2024 Showed Us That Shooters Still Have Gas Left in the Tank

The world of shooter games has come a long way from where it was when I was first introduced to Halo and IGI. Back then, multiplayer shooters were not what I thought I would end up loving so much. With time and more than 50 shooting titles under my belt, I realized that some games just had a better grip on the market. This also means newer titles could never survive the onslaught.

Thankfully, that isn’t the case, as we saw 2024, which was filled with shooters that captivated gamers while being enough shades of new. But before the success, we indeed had to face some massive upsets. So, when all is said and done, I still feel some shooters have some gas left in the tank. Here are some of the most pressing factors as to why:

Game Balancing Can Make or Break Shooter Games

One of my favorites at the start of 2024 was The Finals. My Steam Replay 2024 still shows The Finals as my second game in terms of playtime and first in achievements. And if I am honest, The Finals is still a good game. The issue, however, is how the developers failed to manage the balancing of classes.

From the very beginning, I have felt the invisibility in The Finals to be broken, and there are major class disparities in other sections of the game, too. This makes The Finals still as annoying as it was at launch. While there is still time left for the game, I hardly believe they are still listening to the community when it comes to balancing.

The same situation happened with XDefiant as well. While I initially loved the fun Ubisoft universe in XDefiant’s Call Of Duty-style shooter, the game started to feel unfair. It was almost certain the devs loved some classes more than the others. While The Finals is still trying to crawl back to the shooter scene, XDefiant is shutting down in 2025.

Balancing in shooter games is a key component, which is why I see Deadlock shine even as an early development. And as it turns out, even the Pros agree. With each hero regularly getting updates, no Deadlock hero feels superior to the other. So, even if a meta is built, it does not guarantee wins in every game.

Now, I get that Deadlock is a MOBA game, but I assure you that many of my friends jumped into the game in the hope of a shooter experience. With no recoil system, great movements, and regular updates, Deadlock has shown how to maintain a shooter in 2024 without even being officially released.

Community Feedback Does Wonders

But some games aren’t just about game balances; they are about taking the right feedback from the community. Deadlock has taken all the right feedback throughout the year and implemented it while doing its own patching.

Whether it is the global rank system or just a mere Shiv Nerf, the developers always listen to how the community reacts to a certain update. Deadlock also added more movement speed to all heroes because the game felt a little slow, something I wish Spectre Divide did.

Do not get me wrong. Shroud’s Spectre Divide is unique and refreshing but suffers from the classic Valorant or Counter-Strike syndrome. The gameplay feels slow, and no matter how much you ask the devs, there is no response. This is where community feedback starts to feel more important in terms of the growth of a shooter game.

Another shooter game that takes community feedback correctly is Delta Force. Initially starting as a playtest, Delta Force has undergone countless changes without needing to hinder the core gameplay loop.

Whether the classic battlefield experience or the unique player class, the game meets the community’s needs. Along with the feedback, it also matters how the developers take an idea to make it even better, and Delta Force is one of the prime examples.

Adapting an Idea to Make It Better

Despite the game feeling too chaotic for my taste, playing it on launch felt buttery smooth. This shows how much the developers listened to their audience during early access. Delta Force definitely comes with a true Battlefield sauce that even Battlefield no longer has.

From the exceptional new classes making the gameplay loop fun to the countless possibilities in the warzone, Delta Force truly inherited where Battlefield’s original concept left. While some games do surpass an original idea with their new product, a lot fail miserably.

Failures but Not Without Potential

While some shooters are grand successes, others fail no matter what. Yes, we are talking about the worst video game ever, Concord. There is no absolute argument on why Concord failed miserably. But we have a few guesses. Well, those and except for the fact that players chasing the rare platinum achievement, the game tried to be Overwatch and honestly, the gameplay had nothing new.

The boring character design and, most importantly, the repetitive classes made it hard to digest. I feel the hero shooter genre can be conquered, too, and Marvel Rivals shows us that.

No matter how many people deny it, even Overwatch is not the true inventor of hero shooters. Yes, I said it. So, with a little blessing from Team Fortress 2, Netease Games created Marvel Rivals, and oh, it didn’t disappoint.

While many people will say that Marvel just used its popularity, the gameplay is way more fun than a typical hero shooter. The first thing you will notice in Marvel Rivals is your childhood favorite characters in Marvel Rivals.

However, the Marvel characters aren’t a gimmick. The Marvel Rivals characters showcase what the heroes or villains are. From the comic-accurate abilities to the history of cosmetics, the development team has put all its love for Marvel into this game.

This will also make you fall for Marvel Rivals, even if you are not a fan of hero shooters. But does it contribute to the shooter genre? Yes. Here’s how.

Content and Cosmetics Combines Perfectly with Shooters

Well, the first thing I must say is that Marvel’s massive reach adds to its popularity. A huge portion of the players love to inspect their Marvel Rivals skins due to their comic or movie references. The developers added the first appearance to each of the skins, making you familiar with or nostalgic for the history of a Marvel character.

Gamers or non-gamers both can enter the game with zero expectations about shooters. But as a shooter fan, I get a fun game where I can stay casual while donning the boots of my favorite Marvel heroes or villains.

Along with the gameplay, Marvel Rivals also incentivizes you to play the game through its lineup of good free skins. You get skins for completing challenges, watching the Twitch game, or using Marvel Rivals codes. On top of the skins and cosmetic items, the game already started adding new content.

Now, if you look at the history of great shooters, all of them are massively known for their cosmetics. Whether it is the constant skin selling in Counter-Strike or the showing up of the collection in Fortnite or Valorant, cosmetics are key.

With the Winter Update in Marvel Rivals, we are getting the first limited-time game mode within two weeks of the game’s launch. We are also getting Christmas skins for select characters. This shows how much the developers want to grow the game through updates, content, and community feedback.

Similarly, Deadlock added Holiday skins as a part of its final update for 2024. As there were no official patch notes for how to claim the skins, the community immediately got involved in finding the way. This makes the regular content update more valuable in any shooter game.

Free Offers More, so Why Pay?

To wrap up my thoughts on shooters, I will end with free and paid shooter games. Numerous gamers will say that paid games aren’t bad at all. Well, I do not deny that sentiment. However, in my shooter game experience, I have almost always come across free games that offer more.

The best examples are titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Valorant. Long been considered to be one of the best shooters, they deliver more than what any paid game offers. And while I agree that COD is still selling its multiplayer, they even had to ship Warzone for free. This shows that a free game can make players more interested in a full franchise.

This is also one of the biggest reasons why Concord failed. I will still not deny that the game is bad, but if it had been free, players might have at least tried it. This could help them gather the right amount of feedback to make a better game. With so many shooters in the mix, offering the games for free is the only way to get enough steam.

With 2025 coming, I can see Deadlock, Marvel Rivals, and Delta Force making their dedicated fanbases. Their constant updates, patch balancing, or just communicating with the community properly put them ahead of any game in 2024. If this trend continues, my hope for shooter games will remain, and then some.

What are your thoughts on shooter games in 2024? Do you think they still have a lot to offer? Do tell us in the comments below.