Third-person shooter

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Third-person shooter (TPS or 3PS) is a genre of 3D computer and video games in which the onscreen character is seen at a distance from a number of different possible angles, as opposed to the more realistic first-person model in which the player views everything in the game world as if through his own eyes.

Leon S. Kennedy in Salazar's Castle in Resident Evil 4.

Owing to the general nature of the term, many games are placed outside of the third-person shooter genre because their style is covered by a more specific genre label. The Socom series for the Playstation 2 is one of the most successful TPS till this day and for the Playstation 3 there will also be a 4th installment in this game genre, though there is not much information about the game as it isnt officially announced. The Resident Evil series, though it incorporated both third-person gameplay and shooting, was not considered a third-person shooter until Resident Evil 4; because of the emphasis on fear and survival, this was called survival horror. In contrast, the GTA series from Grand Theft Auto III on has been labeled by some as a third-person shooter, but combines driving and RPG elements along with elements from the other description. Examples of traditional 3rd person shooters include MDK, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, and Gears of War.

There are advantages and disadvantages of TPS games. A third-person perspective gives the player more awareness of his surroundings, as in the Splinter Cell series. However, this leaves the camera disconnected from movement as in an FPS: poor camera control can leave the player viewing the wrong area, having their line-of-sight covered by an enemy behind them, with the illogical ability to see through walls, or worse. Many solutions to these problems have been both proposed and implemented, but camera control continues to hinder the genre.

This has lead to many 3rd person shooters, such as Gears of War, Star Wars: Battlefront, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing and Metal Gear Solid, to give the player the option to enter a 1st person view. This option solves the problems inherent in a third person view, should the player deem them troublesome, while allowing them to remain in a third-person view the rest of the time.