Screenshots From:
Notable Features:
- Vibes or Mechanics: A little from Column A, a little from Column B
- Text or Graphics: Graphics to the Max!
- 2D or 3D: Almost exclusively 3D
- Primary Perspective: Top-down
- Real-time or Turn-based: Real-time
- Alive or Dead: Deader than Disco
- Back of the Box Blurb: The toppest of top-down shooter.
I wouldn't normally write a big summary for a genre I made up off the top of my head, but I admit the more I thought about this one, the more weight it had. It's also a style of game I wish would return, so here's a completely fabricated genre history to go with it:
When people think of 90s shooters, their mind often turns to genre heavyweights like Doom, Duke, or Quake. But shooters of the first person variety weren't the only ones to enjoy the newfound freedom offered by 3D (or nearly 3D) graphics. The classic top-down shooter, a holdover from the 80s, also experienced a unique resurgence once polies were in and pixels were out. Enter the Vertigo Shooter: a top-down shooter that really emphasizes the perspective that 3D visuals offer!
Where a modern top-down shooter would do the sensible thing by pulling the camera out further and flattening the FOV, Vertigo Shooters boldly demand you invest in the maximum levels of perspective on offer in a way that only a brash 90s games could. Whether this was a limitation of the technology of the era, the lack of standardized "best practices" for 3D cameras, or simply a love for the freedom the third dimension offers, the end result is a bold twist on a time honored classic genre.
One critical way Vertigo Shooters differ from their flatter cousins is that the perspective is often not just for show: you will be expected to move up and down a stage, occasionally firing upon enemies above or below you. While many games in the genre feel like top-down Doom clones, some settle upon simply offering 3D visuals atop a flat world.
Sadly, unlike 90s FPS games, which have undergone a mini-renaissance in the form of modern "Boomer Shooters", Vertigo Shooters have received no such love, with maybe one or two modern examples in existence. The most likely culprit behind their lacking resurgence is self evident: they probably made a lot of people barf.
For those that have read this far, do you know of any other games in this genre, or can think of a better name for it? Please let me know by commenting on this post!
