First-person games for a third-person veteran

I've been inspired by Patrick to try types of games that I normally avoid. I have always been intimidated by the first-person perspective. All of the games that I have beaten have been third-person or 2D. I played some Halo with my husband but always felt disoriented and uncomfortable. So I'm looking for suggestions for good first-person games to ease me in. Preferably not scary since I'm a total wimp. Thanks for any and all assistance!

Half-Life 2, maybe?

I don't know what to suggest if you've got a problem being disoriented and uncomfortable after playing for a while. Some people say they have issues with FOV (field of view) being too low, which is entirely possible but it's something that you can't change on consoles.

Have you tried any shooters other than Halo? Have you tried Skyrim or any of the other Bethesda RPG's?

@lochnessie82: yeah i don't really like first person either, it feels weird. The only one I've finished is the unfinished swan, it doesn't have combat in it, its like a puzzle/adventure game and pretty fun, on psn. :)

I'm also trying to expand my horizon and play more first person so i played a bit of bio shock 2 as it was free to plus members, its a good game but combat feels weird and scary in first person mode, i also don't like that i cant see whats behind me.

If you're looking to be eased in, I might suggest an old school title, such as Half Life or Half Life 2 (though Ravenholm is a little bit freaky if you're not into scary stuff). Dishonored is a pretty cool little game too, though some of the powers might disorientate you a bit if you're not used to the view. If you want to go properly retro, Perfect Dark is excellent. If you have a 360, there's an HD revamp on Arcade for pretty cheap.

Most newer FPS titles might not suit you, try to avoid CoD and things like that because they're very hectic and fast paced.

Portal would be a good start.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution, it goes into third person when you go into cover so you can get your bearings.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2. I'd also suggest Portal, but @mosdl beat me to it. Vegas 2 is definitely not the best shooter around now, but it's split nearly 50/50 between first-person and third-person. Even more third-person if you spend a lot of time in cover. So if you'd like to ease yourself in, that's one way to go.

To people saying Portal, I would actually not recommend that for someone who is easily disoriented in first person. I think the Half Life games are a good suggestion as they are slower paced. You could also try something like a Bethesda game if you don't want a shooter. Call of Duty is very fast paced but it does have a strong auto-aim feature so it might be a nice way to ease in with aiming in first person. It also gives you very clear objective markers so you won't get as lost or disoriented.

@believer258: I tried Half Life 2 but those guys that hang from the ceiling and suck you up with their tongue creeped me out. I kept emptying whole clips into them to get them to let me go!

@poppy_persona: I was really interested in Unfinished Swan so I'll have to check that one out. Maybe it will be less weird since it isn't a shooter

@ubersmake: I wouldn't have thought of Vegas 2 but it sounds interesting since it is not completely first-person. I haven't really played any shooters except some co-op Halo.

Thanks for all the suggestions! We own Skyrim, Dishonored, Portal and all 3 Deus Ex games but I've only watched my husband play them. I have my own Deus Ex and Skyrim saves but they are super early on. Not because of the perspective but because I was so paranoid that I would "play the game wrong" that I haven't gone back. Too many linear RPGs I guess. I was thinking about going back to Deus Ex when I finish my current game though.

You can't be scared to "play the game wrong". You would have to try to find a way to play Skyrim wrong.

Hit them with the crowbar and/or don't run into their tongues. You must get creeped out really, really easily.

@believer258: She didn't even mention the screaming she did while unloading the clip into thin air. That part actually scared me.

Having known her for some time (being her husband), I think her problem with Skyrim is that it doesn't have specific enough goals. Sure there are missions, but there's also a lot of distractions. I think the kind of game she'd like would be rather linear.

I actually kind of have the same preference for third person games, in that I can never figure out where my body is in a FPS. I never can tell if I'm actually hidden when I'm ducking behind some geometry trying to get my health to recharge. That's why I really liked Borderlands 1 for incentivizing just going straight into combat and using kill skills and second winds to stay alive rather than having to duck.

Maybe that's a good pick? The first Borderlands? Plus you can play it with other folk if you feel like you need help.

@brodehouse: I'd totally forgotten about Borderlands! I've played that to completion with 3 friends. I played the soldier though so I hung back and let my turret do most of the murdering. So I guess I can handle first person exploration but combat is more problematic.

Can't go wrong with Killzone 3, though the multiplayer wont be easy for newcomers.

@brodehouse: Yep, for me First-Person's struggles have always been relative to the environment. As beautiful as Columbia is, I can't help but constantly wish I could flip out to a third-person view so I could take in more of the environment, everything could look more proportional to an actual human being (I'll never get over the feeling that the camera is actually at the waist of your character even though 99% of NPCs are face-level with it) and I could game the environment more by using the camera to see out further. At the end of the day the dual-tone combat of Infinite reminded me of inFamous for whatever reason, except in first-person all I could think about was the gun until I was low on ammo just because it was constantly sitting there on screen.

Antichamber. That would go well.