I should probably start this off by stating that I am a hardcore gamer. I even have the flaccid abs and pencil arms to prove it. So when I say the first person shooter is on it's last legs, you can rest assured that I know what I'm talking about. Seriously when was the last time you were actually pleasantly surprised by a shooter? When was the last time you felt an emotion other than apathy? Some gamers would point out the emotional impact of a title like Bioshock. They would tell you that Bioshock is the future of the first person shooter. They would have you believe that Bioshock is only the beginning of what will become a Mecca of emotion in gaming. To those people I say that Bioshock is just a fluke, an exception to a steadfast rule. How else can you explain the emotional boredom one feels while playing the generally well received sequel? Emotion doesn't even truly have a place in the FPS's that regale today's gamers. Can a story really have an emotional impact after blasting the face off a Super Mutant? Where does one make the disconnect between the so realistic that it is almost cartoonish violence and the serious weighty emotion of a title like Bioshock? In my experience you can't make that disconnect without seriously taking the the time to change the way that we actually play the first person shooter. So then what does the first person shooter have going for it besides gameplay? The short answer to that is nothing. But I am here to give you the long answer. Beyond gameplay no one should actually expect to find anything of intrinsic value in an FPS. The only problem when relying solely on gameplay is that one day you will reach a point when a game concept can't be taken any further. As far as I am concerned the FPS reached that point long ago. I mean really what more can you do with the concept of pointing and shooting. When Keiji Inafune said that Japanese game development was basically dead, he could have easily said the same thing about the FPS scene. To bad no one else is pointing this out besides a high school student who doesn't even shave daily. Should we expect more from the shooters we play? No. Do I wish we could? The jury is still out.