With Mass Effect 2 just behind us and Alpha Protocol a mere month or so away, I thought we'd look at the best shooter/RPGs. Feel free to add others in the comments or argue a genre definition.

On a personal note, I'm surprised this isn't a better represented genre - and why has noone tried to improve on Deus Ex?

Have at it.

I have a soft spot for No One Lives Forever even if Deus Ex wins. NOLF2 does have RPG stats.

Yep, I loved NOLF (2). It will be interesting to see if many people think it should have been included.

A number of great games here, which is why I'm surprised we don't see more of them. System Shock 2 for me, with a special mention for Bloodlines, being the truest "RPG" of the group.

It's a good list, but the one I play through and enjoy yearly is Deus Ex.

Can't believe that Boiling Point is on there, though. I struggled through that immensely flawed game, wishing all the while that it could somehow be miraculously cleaned up to work decently, but no… The Gothic games were much better than that.

STALKER series for sure, i dont know a single game that comes even close when it comes to atmosphere, maybe System Shock2 though, which i replay every now and then.. those are on the list of games which i've actually cared to play to the very end, which says a lot

Deus Ex was good, never played it to the end though, got tired before that.

Boiling Point was fun and atmospheric but not very engaging.

System Shock 2, such a great game

Bloop. This is Xerxes. Can you not feel the glory of the flesh? Do you not yearn to be free of the tyranny of the individual? Bloop.

I can entertain and understand Deus Ex as it is the closest in spirit and execution to System Shock 2 but I am so passed ME in all its forms that it just makes me sad to see that it is currently beating these games.

Deus Ex..no question there. I've played it through more than dozen times. Storytelling, gameworld, dialog, gameplay, music, exploration..everything works together flawlessly. The atmosphere in this game is just perfect. Its one of the most memorable gaming experiences. The new prequel shows promise though, but time will tell. At the very least it can't be worse than the horrible iw :-)

My second choise would be ofcourse Vampire Bloodlines. An other game that has no rivals in it's sub genre. We obviously need to see more vampire, cyberpunk and scifi themed rpgs. Even if developers aren't able to write orginal concepts. There are hundreds of cool licenses that would make amaizing rpgs. :-)

Tough choice… STALKER, SS2, and Deus Ex are all incredible games.

I don't agree with Bloodlines being on the list, it wasn't enough of a "shooter" imo. I even have a hard time thinking of Deus Ex that way…

I object that there is neither a None of the Above, nor a Other choice. I'm NOT a fan of Shooter/RPG's in general, but for me the absolute standout is the Original System Shock!!

Since I haven't played both Deus Ex and SS2 I won't vote (doesn't seem really fair, does it?) but between these I'd choose S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Yeah, it's more like a shooter with survivalist element that coincidentally look like rpg elements but it's really atmospheric, really open, and the gameplay is really really fun. Fallout 3 is great when it's modded (improving atmosphere and most of all gameplay) but still has an incredibly shitty melodramatic story with horrible writing and some shooters element aren't integrated too well with the SPECIAL system (perception? why should I care about perception really?).

I think STALKER feels more like a "true" RPG than most RPG's, but i do consider exploring and freedom where to go a big (the biggest?) part of the RPG experience. Personally i despise Bioware for their boring level/world design ("crates, crates and hmm lets add some more crates why dont we?") and linear layout of everything.

Vampire: Bloodlines being on the list forces me to vote for it, because for me it is clearly the best game on the list from an RPG point of view.

However it is no RPG/Shooter in my view (at least not on the same level as the others in the list). I would rather classify it as pure RPG when compared to those others.

If VtM:B would not be on the list, I would choose the System Shock/Deus Ex "Franchise".

Originally Posted by bkrueger
Vampire: Bloodlines being on the list forces me to vote for it, because for me it is clearly the best game on the list from an RPG point of view.

However it is no RPG/Shooter in my view (at least not on the same level as the others in the list). I would rather classify it as pure RPG when compared to those others.

If VtM:B would not be on the list, I would choose the System Shock/Deus Ex "Franchise".

I loved VtM:B but I don't feel like it deserves a 1st spot. The gameplay is mostly bad, since it was the first (and last, sadly) attempt of Troika at creating something in 1st person with RPG mechanics and they missed the sweet spot of player skill vs. character skill by a mile.
Really, the RPG mechanics were mostly good, but the combat at the end felt mostly unrewarding and boring. (this would have been mitigated a lot if combat didn't became mandatory after Hollywood).

VtM:B is my favourite game of those but imo it's not really a shooter/RPG.

I voted for Stalker,best atmosphere in a video game since the original Gothic.

Aaah I remember NOLF. That was one fun shooter game. But can it be classified as RPG?

Originally Posted by purpleblob
Aaah I remember NOLF. That was one fun shooter game. But can it be classified as RPG?

Second game.

Originally Posted by WorstUsernameEver
I loved VtM:B but I don't feel like it deserves a 1st spot. The gameplay is mostly bad, since it was the first (and last, sadly) attempt of Troika at creating something in 1st person with RPG mechanics and they missed the sweet spot of player skill vs. character skill by a mile.

You know, talking and questing are also part of the gameplay.

I'm surprised that you didn't put Bioshock up as a choice. Very similar to DX in terms of RPG aspects (character development, story, atmosphere). I've only played a few of the choices, so I won't vote, but I would have picked DX with Bioshock missing.