Hey guys, I once again need your advice and opinions :)

After refusing to play shooters for years (because I'm unskilled at shooting, not because I believe they're actually harmful), I found myself enjoying the gameplay of Mass Effect 2 a lot. So I'd really like to try out other third-person shooters, but I'm totally uninformed when it comes to releases of that genre. I know that the RPG part of ME is a big reason why I enjoyed the game as much as I did, but I think I could also do without it if the plot is good and or/ the gameplay is fun enough. Of course, if you know any TPS with RPG elements, throw them at me!

I can remember stopping to play Uncharted 1 because I sucked at the shooting, but I probably have to try again. However, I appreciate easy aiming, or auto lock-on using a button, much like in ME, or the VATS in Fallout 3 and NV.

Titles that got my attention so far are:

Spec Ops: The Line

Binary Domain

Quantum Theory

Vanquish

But I haven't played any of them yet. I'd appreciate any recommendations of games meeting my criteria :)

Oh, and the PS3 is my only console btw.

Is your PS3 backwards compatible?

Then I suggest you play Psi-Ops.

Other than that, if you haven't played it yet maybe Saints Row: the Third? Granted, I'm playing it on PC so YMMV. Personally I can't stand Dual Analog for any sort of shooting. KB&M all the way baybeh!

Uncharted 1,2, and 3?

I love vanquish, and have heard real good things about Spec ops and Binary Domain. Wasn't Quantum Theory kind of crappy though.

Quantam Theory is generally considered a bad game.

On the subject of Uncharted 1, don't feel bad for not being able to shoot well in it. Its shooting feels kind of wonky in the first place, which isn't helped by some wildly varying difficulty spikes. Sometimes I felt like I was playing on the piss-easy difficulty, and other times I felt like I was playing on the "fuck you" difficulty, when I was really playing on what was supposedly normal.

And I'm the guy who ran through Gears of War 3 on Hardcore, first time, with only something like 12 deaths. I'm no stranger to shooting games.

Anyway, I recommend Vanquish, it's pretty fun though its story is incredibly stupid, and apparently Binary Domain is something special.

EDIT: Also Dead Space, if you don't mind gore and disturbing horror. Like, lots of gore. And lots of disturbing things. Also it doesn't use a cover system and takes place in a lot of dark corridors, so it's a little different than what most other TPS games do.

Alpha Protocol is a third person shooter with a good story. You should try infamous since it is kind of a TPS, but with other elements.

Uncharted 1 2 3, Dead Space, RE5.

@StarvingGamer:

No, it isn't, but I stopped playing games without trophies a while back anyways ^^

I actually have SR:TT on my Amazon wishlist :D

Good god, man. Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3 are THE shooters that you should be playing on your PS3. That said; I'd also recommend Shadows of the Damned. The action is surprisingly solid and the humour is absolutely great. Feels like a very nostalgic trip back to the days of Pain Killer for reason. The game itself is clearly structured after Resident Evil 4, mind.

Actually, you know what? Strike all that. They're all really great games, but you should, without a doubt, hop on the Dead Space bandwagon before anything else. Spectacular atmosphere and truly great controls. Probably the only shooter in the last generation that doesn't have you crouching behind walls, and god, is that refreshing. Both Dead Space 1 and 2 are great games, though the second one is clearly more action-oriented than the first. And no, you do not need to have played the first in order to enjoy the second, but it'd help sure enough.

Mass Effect 2's shooting and general difficulty is pretty easy compared to other actual third-person shooters like Vanquish, so you may trouble jumping into a game like that. I think that Mass Effect 3's shooting is a lot better and more fluid than Mass Effect 2's shooting, though, so maybe try that too. As for other third-person shooters I'd go with Vanquish, Dead Space 2 (Dead Space 1 has more exploration), Warhammer 40K: Space Marine, and maybe Resident Evil 5. 
 
EDIT: Fuck, how could I forget about the Uncharted trilogy? They would be my number one choice.

@Phatmac said:

Alpha Protocol is a third person shooter with a good story. You should try infamous since it is kind of a TPS, but with other elements.

I was pretty interested in Alpha Protocol when it came out, it seemed like the perfect game for me, but user ratings were rather low. I also read that it was advertised as having freedom of choice, which it didn't have in the end. Mind to give your opinion? ^^

I also played Infamous a while back and just recently picked it up again for some trophy hunting, so getting Infamous 2 is definately a possibility ^^

Thanks!

Valkyria Chronicles! (I know) but technically is a shooter right?!, though it doesn't have trophies .... you should still play that game.

@Do_The_Manta_Ray said:

Probably the only shooter in the last generation that doesn't have you crouching behind walls, and god, is that refreshing.

Space Marine!

Remove Quantum Theory from your list.
 
I recommend playing the Uncharted games on easy.  All enemies in Drake's Fortune are bullet sponges, I don't remember having problems with Among Thieves, and Drake's Deception has some really frustrating scenarios where they throw a ton of enemies at you of varying difficulty.
 
Dead Space games are good, though I recommend the first over the second.
 
Infamous 2 is good if you don't mind the open-world thing.  Again, I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had played it on easy.  Later in the game you'll find yourself getting hit from off-screen by rocket-snipers a whole lot.
 
Metal Gear Solid 4?  Hard to universally recommend a Metal Gear game.
 
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is awesome.
 
Sniper Elite V2 is pretty cool.  If you like to shoot things with sniper rifles, this game is for you.  Checkpoints suck though.
 
Starhawk is another great game, but it's primarily a multiplayer game.  Not well balanced, but still a ton of fun.
 
Twisted Metal?  I don't know if that counts.
 
EDIT: And I'd also like to reassure you about trying Vanquish.  It's super-cool.

@Do_The_Manta_Ray:

Well as I said, I might have to try to get into the Uncharted franchise after dropping the first one. Back then, I wasn't very successful at shooting anyone... :D

I watched a video about all the death scenes in Dead Space 2 on Youtube, and, erm, that's not really the kind of game I want to play. It gave me nightmares! Well, not exactly nightmares, but my dreams that night were definately inspired by it :D

I stopped playing Shadows of the Damned because I didn't like it. Maybe it's aimed mainly at a male audience, and while Garcia Hotspur is nice to look at, the game itself didn't appeal to me at all. But I also don't like other Suda51 games...

@Morrow: I haven't played it, but have heard good things if you want a decent story. I think you'd like infamous 2 since it doesn't rely too much on third person accurate shooting. Also Dead Space 2 is a must.

The Tomb Raider Trilogy will give you three "shooter light" games with auto-aim and lots of exploration to pace out the combat.

Ratchet & Clank are fun shooters with some platforming. They're not that hard and you can always level up and upgrade the weapons to give yourself an edge.

Alpha Protocol is a bit Mass Effecty with a spy twist. It can be a bit clunky, but the trick is to rely on stealth and your activated skills to get yourself through the tougher combat scenarios.

Also, there's no shame in playing on easy. I do pretty well on third person shooters, but FPSes eat me alive and I rarely bother with higher difficulties.

shadows of the damned

@AngelN7 said:

Valkyria Chronicles! (I know) but technically is a shooter right?!, though it doesn't have trophies .... you should still play that game.

Oh, I played it :) And I liked it. A trophy patch would probably make me play it again (and finish it) but that will probably never happen...

Quantum Theory is garbage, I wouldn't waste my time with it.

Vanquish is pretty great, but the story is ridiculous and stupid. It's also a very fast paced TPS due to all the dashing around so if you have a hard time with shooting it may be very hard for you. You should give the demo a try before you spend any money on it.

I believe Max Payne 3 has several auto lock options and a lot of people seem to like that game, so it may be an option.

You can skip Uncharted 1 and go right to Uncharted 2, it's a much better game.

If you can tolerate some rough edges Alpha Protocol is a TPS/RPG and is pretty incredible.

Saints Row:The Third and The Saboteur don't really fit your criteria, but they're essentially open world TPSs so you have some other stuff to do rather than just shoot all the time and they're both great.

@Morrow said:

@AngelN7 said:

Valkyria Chronicles! (I know) but technically is a shooter right?!, though it doesn't have trophies .... you should still play that game.

Oh, I played it :) And I liked it. A trophy patch would probably make me play it again (and finish it) but that will probably never happen...

Awesome! yeah I woudn't expect SEGA to do something like Konami is for MGS4 , I can think in many cool trophies for that game wich is a shame it isn't getting any.

@BlackLagoon said:

The Tomb Raider Trilogy will give you three "shooter light" games with auto-aim and lots of exploration to pace out the combat.

Oh, now that sounds really good! :D

You mean the HD Collection? Might give that one a go, thank you! ^^

@believer258 said:

EDIT: Also Dead Space, if you don't mind gore and disturbing horror. Like, lots of gore. And lots of disturbing things. Also it doesn't use a cover system and takes place in a lot of dark corridors, so it's a little different than what most other TPS games do.

Yeah, people throw Dead Space at me, but I watched a video on YouTube showing all death scenes in Dead Space 2, and I was pretty grossed out... however, I never really played any horror games, so I might try it sometime. Does it at least have some other tasks and is the plot good? It seems to be rather popular so I take it's not only mindless shooting?

Oh, oh, oh!  I got one!
 
I think the Ratchet and Clank games might be just what you're looking for.  They're platformers/shooters with weapons that upgrade as you use them.  The HD collection comes out at the end of August in the US (I think it's out everywhere else though) and the PS3 games are great too.  A Crack in Time is probably the best in the series, but you can try Quest for Booty for relatively cheap via the Platystation Store to see if it scratches your itch.
 
@Morrow said:

@believer258 said:

EDIT: Also Dead Space, if you don't mind gore and disturbing horror. Like, lots of gore. And lots of disturbing things. Also it doesn't use a cover system and takes place in a lot of dark corridors, so it's a little different than what most other TPS games do.

Yeah, people throw Dead Space at me, but I watched a video on YouTube showing all death scenes in Dead Space 2, and I was pretty grossed out... however, I never really played any horror games, so I might try it sometime. Does it at least have some other tasks and is the plot good? It seems to be rather popular so I take it's not only mindless shooting?

@Spoonman671:

Oh yeah, Tools of Destruction was actually one of my very first PS3 games, and I enjoyed it a lot! I might get further into the franchise, thanks! :)

Play Uncharted 1 on easy. That's what I did and it was great.

I played a bit of the PC version of Alpha Protocol and it seemed pretty good. I think that even though there is a lot of character upgrade paths, there are a few specific skills that are probably wiser choices than others as from what I understand the boss fights can leave you fucked if you don't pick the right skills. Also I was playing that on easy too.

If you really don't want games without achievements then Saints Row 2 is disqualified.

Ok looking over my achievements...

Orcs Must Die? Maybe... I liked it a lot, but might not be what you're looking for. Eh, that's all I got. EDIT (aw crap, not even out on PS3... sorry.)

While Alpha Protocol is very good if you get around its rough edges, it's not really a third person shooter. It's more of an RPG through and through. You can't even shoot straight until you level up the appropriate skills. So, if you like RPGs, which I gather that you do, give it a try sometime. It's pretty cheap now. And you may be surprised by how good it can be.

However, since you're looking for TPSes now, and since you played and liked ME 2, I would recommend continuing to ME 3. It's much better and more fluid than 2 and it will be a good stepping stone towards "purer" 3rd person shooters.

@Morrow said:

I was pretty interested in Alpha Protocol when it came out, it seemed like the perfect game for me, but user ratings were rather low. I also read that it was advertised as having freedom of choice, which it didn't have in the end. Mind to give your opinion? ^^

It's an utterly fascinating game to replay, because you can constantly see how even your choices and even in mission behavior affect things. While the actual missions don't change that much, the details surrounding them can differ wildly. Also, Steven Heck.

It can be a bit hard to get to grips with though, and it's very possible to spec your character in a poor way, so I'd recommend starting on easy and just have fun. Learn how to charge up critical shots and use the various skills effectively and it becomes a breeze (for an example how not to play, check out the Quick Look - they spec the character for stealth / pistols - the most powerful build in the game - then don't use the skills, get discovered, and run around shooting from the hip).

Both of the infamous games have fantastic upgrade systems and they are third person shooter/platformers if that's your thing. Maybe I can trick you into playing Valkyria Chronicles? It's kind of a shooter sort of (but not really).

@VoleMaulder:

I guess I'll give Alpha Protocol a try, even though user ratings are low, people here seem to appreciate it. And RPG is my fav genre anyway :)

I thought about continuing with ME 3, but there was such a controversy about the ending, I remember all the threads made here, which was kind of a put-off.

@Hunter5024 said:

Both of the infamous games have fantastic upgrade systems and they are third person shooter/platformers if that's your thing. Maybe I can trick you into playing Valkyria Chronicles? It's kind of a shooter sort of (but not really).

Played Infamous, Infamous 2 is on my list :) I played Valkyria Chronicles and enjoyed it, back then I didn't get it for the shooting, but for being Strategy with RPG elements ^^

@Morrow said:

@Phatmac said:

Alpha Protocol is a third person shooter with a good story. You should try infamous since it is kind of a TPS, but with other elements.

I was pretty interested in Alpha Protocol when it came out, it seemed like the perfect game for me, but user ratings were rather low. I also read that it was advertised as having freedom of choice, which it didn't have in the end. Mind to give your opinion? ^^

I also played Infamous a while back and just recently picked it up again for some trophy hunting, so getting Infamous 2 is definately a possibility ^^

Thanks!

As a fellow person who loved Alpha Protocol, the game suffers from Deus Ex syndrome (which, hey, you should also get Deus Ex: Human Revolution), which is to say that you can build your character out in any way you want, but boss battles are all about shooting, which sucks. Compared to the rest of the game, though, it's a very small portion, and the character relationships and storytelling are top-notch. Think of it as Mass Effect 2, but the shooting is worse and everything else is better.

As for the freedom of choice vanishing, that is somewhat the case. The entire home-run section of the game is a huge shoot-out, essentially. You can stealth it if you want, but it's ball-bustingly hard to do. There are several huge, deep moral choices you need to make during the sequence, so you can still act in line with how you've built your cahracter in regards to the story beats, but it's a lot of shooting.

If you need perfect gameplay to enjoy a game, then Alpha Protocol isn't for you (or just toss it on easy mode and hear a story), but if you value ideas and interesting mechanics over gameplay, then you will love love love it.

@Morrow: Well awesome! But I am no help to you in that case because my only other recommendation would be Uncharted which I'm sure you're well aware of. Maybe Resident Evil?

Quantum Theory is les terribles. 
 
The Uncharted trilogy is great. 
 
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a stealth game, but it's third-person, you can take cover, left trigger aims and right trigger shoots so it qualifies. 

Infamous

@The_Nubster: Due to many recommendations, I just ordered Alpha Protocol on Amazon for 9 Euros. So I'll see if I'll like it :) If not, it's just another D rank on my achievement list here on GB, and 9 Euros wasted isn't a lot. But if it's RPG-y, I'll probably like it.

Oh, and I have Deus Ex: HR by the way, I haven't played a lot of it yet because I'm a bit too impatient for it's stealth and get shot easily... ^^; But I definately plan to get more into it sometime.

Warhawk is an awesome game, Starhawk not so much.

@Morrow: There's some great stuff in ME3. The original ending was disappointing, however I felt the reaction to it seemed a bit overblown. Also I don't know what the new ending dlc did to it, because I haven't played it yet, and I've been avoiding any talk of that as much as possible. I can't imagine it fixed everything, though. But still, great character stuff leading up to that. One particular portion of that game might be the best thing in any Mass Effect game ever. It was my favorite part, anyway.

The only thing is ME3 had some real tough parts. Well they were tough for me and my Infiltrator Shepherd, as there were parts with tons of enemies swarming from all directions. I played on default difficulty, so I imagine lowering that or playing a different class would help.

@DonutFever said:

Quantum Theory is les terribles. The Uncharted trilogy is great. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a stealth game, but it's third-person, you can take cover, left trigger aims and right trigger shoots so it qualifies.

Yeah, since MGS 4 got a trophy patch and the HD collection got released, I thought about getting into the franchise :)

@The_Nubster said:

As for the freedom of choice vanishing, that is somewhat the case. The entire home-run section of the game is a huge shoot-out, essentially. You can stealth it if you want, but it's ball-bustingly hard to do.

Oh, I dunno, with fully upgraded Evasion and Shadow Operative, especially with the Below the Radar perk from the CIA listening post, shooting becomes kinda redundant... And the few cases where it isn't, Chain Shot usually fixes any problem.

@The_Nubster said:

@Morrow said:

@Phatmac said:

Alpha Protocol is a third person shooter with a good story. You should try infamous since it is kind of a TPS, but with other elements.

I was pretty interested in Alpha Protocol when it came out, it seemed like the perfect game for me, but user ratings were rather low. I also read that it was advertised as having freedom of choice, which it didn't have in the end. Mind to give your opinion? ^^

I also played Infamous a while back and just recently picked it up again for some trophy hunting, so getting Infamous 2 is definately a possibility ^^

Thanks!

As a fellow person who loved Alpha Protocol, the game suffers from Deus Ex syndrome (which, hey, you should also get Deus Ex: Human Revolution), which is to say that you can build your character out in any way you want, but boss battles are all about shooting, which sucks. Compared to the rest of the game, though, it's a very small portion, and the character relationships and storytelling are top-notch. Think of it as Mass Effect 2, but the shooting is worse and everything else is better.

As for the freedom of choice vanishing, that is somewhat the case. The entire home-run section of the game is a huge shoot-out, essentially. You can stealth it if you want, but it's ball-bustingly hard to do. There are several huge, deep moral choices you need to make during the sequence, so you can still act in line with how you've built your cahracter in regards to the story beats, but it's a lot of shooting.

If you need perfect gameplay to enjoy a game, then Alpha Protocol isn't for you (or just toss it on easy mode and hear a story), but if you value ideas and interesting mechanics over gameplay, then you will love love love it.

The bold part pretty much summarizes my opinion about this game. If this game had ME's gameplay mechanics (somewhat altered, in order for the stealth to work) it would be one the best games of this generation.

I found bosses were easy enough if you had leveled up chain-shot on the pistol skill tree. Pretty boring, as in "shoot, run around while the skill recharges, rinse and repeat", but nothing maddeningly difficult.

@Morrow I haven't finished ME 3 yet, so I don't have an opinion - I've managed to stay away from any spoilers as much as I could - about the ending yet. All I can say, having played about a 3rd, judging from the achievements, of the game, is that it's much better and more enjoyable as a shooter that the previous two.

@DonutFever said:

Quantum Theory is les terribles. The Uncharted trilogy is great. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a stealth game, but it's third-person, you can take cover, left trigger aims and right trigger shoots so it qualifies.

Yeah, since MGS 4 got a trophy patch and the HD collection got released, I thought about getting into the franchise :)

@Spoonman671 said:

@Morrow said:

@DonutFever said:

Quantum Theory is les terribles. The Uncharted trilogy is great. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a stealth game, but it's third-person, you can take cover, left trigger aims and right trigger shoots so it qualifies.

Yeah, since MGS 4 got a trophy patch and the HD collection got released, I thought about getting into the franchise :)

I don't think the trophy patch is actually out yet. I think it just recently got announced that there would be one alongside a new version of MGS4.

Oh. Well, I won't get to play the games anytime soon anyway, so once I cleared out most of my backlog, the patch will certainly be out :) Huge backlog is huge ._.

Just Cause 2 is an open-world 3rd person shooter / action game.  It is definitely worth getting.

@Phatmac said:

Alpha Protocol is a third person shooter with a good story.

The first half of that is a lie. Tt's an action RPG, not a shooter. You definately don't hit where you aim and you can practially hear the dice rolling behind every action you do.

It's got a pretty cool story though. I feel like I'm one of the few who likes the game but the game does have a lot of problems. If I were reviewing it, I'd give it a low score.

I'm just gonna say that as someone who does not enjoy playing a shooter with a controller, I found the first Uncharted to be an abysmal experience that I gave up on 2/3 of the way through. Uncharted 3 was more mechanically sound but just boring, or at least the first third that I managed to slog through was. Uncharted 2 was great though.

RE5 was a ton of fun, probably the second closest I've ever gotten to a Platinum trophy, and seemed perfectly suited for controller. Also it's not really a shooter per se but you really should play Valkyria Chronicles if you haven't already :D.

I'm surprised no one has suggested Borderlands. A Diablo FPS/RPG shooter with 4 classes, a skill tree, tons of loot and an apocalyptic setting. It's cheap now and there's auto-aim for it too.

@Morrow said:

@believer258 said:

EDIT: Also Dead Space, if you don't mind gore and disturbing horror. Like, lots of gore. And lots of disturbing things. Also it doesn't use a cover system and takes place in a lot of dark corridors, so it's a little different than what most other TPS games do.

Yeah, people throw Dead Space at me, but I watched a video on YouTube showing all death scenes in Dead Space 2, and I was pretty grossed out... however, I never really played any horror games, so I might try it sometime. Does it at least have some other tasks and is the plot good? It seems to be rather popular so I take it's not only mindless shooting?

The plot's pretty good for a video game plot, though it's got some holes and questions to answer, but if you were put off by Isaac's death scenes then you probably ought not try it. A good bit of its horror goes for that really gory kind of thing, and horror is half the point of an action horror game. The other half, the action, plays out very well and is pretty fun, but again it's quite gory and attempts to be at least somewhat disturbing.

Oh, yeah, and it's got some basic puzzles here and there, but none of them are that complex and are mostly there as a lull in the combat.

The games have some really cool and memorable moments to see, like getting flung through space from one end of a space station to the other or running from a monster you can't kill or solving a gigantic block-moving puzzle while floating around in space, but all in all it's a gory horror game through and through and if that doesn't float your boat then it will probably be a purchase you'll regret.

There is a demo of the first and second games if you still want to give it a whirl, at least here in the US.

@supamon said:

I'm surprised no one has suggested Borderlands. A Diablo FPS/RPG shooter with 4 classes, a skill tree, tons of loot and an apocalyptic setting. It's cheap now and there's auto-aim for it too.

Because Borderlands is not third person.

@BlackLagoon: I may be remembering the home stretch in a more negative light than what I actually went though, but I remember getting bum-rushed by enemies before my Chain Shot could recharge. It was the only section of the game where I had any difficulty sneaking around, because I had the same things you did (Evasion, Shadow Operative, Below the Radar), but I may have just messed up really hard.

@supamon: Borderlands is an FPS, not a TPS. Definitely a game that everyone should give a go, but it doesn't fall into what OP is asking for.