The first-person shooter genre sits atop the proverbial sales heap in today’s games industry while simultaneously being blasted for a lack of innovation. This is in part to appeal to what the consumers want in a mainstream FPS title, but there is little doubt that there has been some stagnation in the genre as of late. While one could blame any number of shortcomings for this, one looms above the others: Not taking advantage of unique perspective the games offer.

The term “first-person shooter” is self-explanatory. The player shoots things while viewing the world from the first-person viewpoint. However, most of the biggest franchises put the emphasis on the “shooter” part while completely ignoring the “first-person” aspect. Guns are iterated with small evolutions in order to feel different than what came before. Level design is only concerned with how combat will play out. Most egregiously of all, multiplayer modes are forced into games that have no need of them.

But what of the other part of the descriptor? Where is the first-person perspective being pushed forward? There are so many interesting things you could do with that concept that aren’t explored. The fact that you can’t see who you’re playing as opens narrative possibilities. The unique field of vision offered by the perspective can be exploited in the gameplay. Or perhaps level design complimented with weather effects that smartly obscure vision. And that’s just a cursory view. Just think of what actual designers could dream up.

There have been bright spots punctuating the staleness. Breakdown and Mirror’s Edge attempt to replicate what a person would actually see while he or she was doing things running or picking up ammo packs. Metroid Prime made first-person platforming palatable by using some subtle vision tricks. Bioshock and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare utilized it simply as an immersion aid for powerful narrative moments. Would the golf club scene have been as powerful if you weren’t seeing it from that viewpoint? What about nuclear bomb scene?

Sadly, these are the exceptions rather than the rule. As long as the games that emphasize shooting sell, publishers will continue to encourage future designs to follow suit. But designers should take heed of the other side, as there are endless possibilities to reach new heights simply by taking another perspective.