Ten Franchises That Would Rule In First Person

When Rockstar first announced it would release GTA V for the next wave of consoles, I was excited for players who had somehow missed out the first time around. The game would undoubtedly look and run better on the new systems and would probably have some nice extras to tempt fans of the original to buy it again. However, I felt like I didn't need to explore Los Santos again.

Then Rockstar announced a first-person mode for GTA V, and I knew I had to experience that. By placing its open-world opus in the first-person, Rockstar has breathed new life into the title, but the game industry shouldn't stop there. Here are 10 other franchises that could benefit from a first-person mode.

Assassin’s Creed – First-person worked for GTA V, so it should work for one of the industry's other big open-world franchises. Mirror's Edge helped pioneer first-person parkour, so we're sure the platforming would work. The best parts of Assassin's Creed have always been planning an assassination and then working your way through a crowd or scaling the interior of a church unnoticed before dropping down on your target and spilling their blood on the floor; a first-person mode could bring the tension of these scenes to a whole new height.

Mass Effect – Mass Effect became a more and more capable shooter as the series progressed, so why not go whole hog and dive into the action via first-person shooter gameplay? This perspective would help immerse players directly into the firefights, and there could be an option to let players switch back and forth from the new and old perspectives. The Elder Scrolls series has already played around with letting players jump between first-person and third, so it wouldn't be unheard of if Mass Effect did something similar.

Resident Evil – Resident Evil Code: Veronica X experiments with first person in a battle mode minigame that let players re-explore specific sections of the game in – you guessed it – first person! Resident Evil: Dead Aim also explored this perspective, and while that title wasn't great, the idea was compelling. A first-person camera would make Resident Evil's zombie-filled environments even more intense than they already are, and the series' 30-foot-tall boss battles would be even more epic from this angle. [Edit: A lot of people have commented on the fact that I didn't mention Resident Evil: Survivor. Yes, that is a game that exists. It is also terrible. In this feature, I was actually talking about games that we want to play that should have first person modes. There, I mentioned Resident Evil: Survivor.]

Super Mario Bros. – Games like Dying Light, Metroid Prime, Brink, Portal, Mirror’s Edge, Antichamber, and A Story About My Uncle have tried first-person platforming to some success. However, while many games have tried to do first-person platforming justice, we don't feel like the concept has been fully explored, or flawlessly nailed. Why not let the company that has produced the most consistent platforming experiences of all time take a whack at it?

Dark Souls – The Dark Souls series can actually trace its origins back to the King's Field games – a series of first-person action/RPGs that were hard as balls (how hard are balls, really?). Developer From Software should return to this concept. We like the idea of dodging and weaving through a battlefield, and a first-person camera could make the action all the more visceral.

Next up: We get a little carried away as we explore first-person modes for Castlevania, Batman, and Tetris. Yeah, Tetris. You have to see this.

Castlevania – Come on, isn't this list getting a little ridiculous? Aren't we just saying that every game ever released would be better in first person? Yes, we are and that's because first person is the best person. Think about the power fantasy of wielding a whip and seeing it shoot out from your hand in first person. I've never held a whip before, and if you think about it, it's kind of dangerous. What if the whip snaps back and hits you in the face like in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Sure, you'd be left with a cool-looking scar, but it would hurt. You wouldn't have to worry about that in a Castlevania game, and that's the best reason this title should be made.

Batman – Talk about power fantasy; who doesn't want to be Batman? Warner's Arkham games have done a great job placing players into the role of the Dark Knight, but we'd feel even more like DC's iconic hero if we saw the world through his eyes. Dishonored empowered players to sneak through a world and dispense punishment on their foes with style using a first-person perspective; a Batman game could do the same. Sure you wouldn't be able to see the cape and cowl as easily, but imagine what it would be like to step into Batman's head. What would it be like to look down at his arms and know that they were your arms? What would it be like to look down at the muscles on his chest and feel the raw masculinity rolling off his body? I'm sorry, I just want to be Batman so bad!

Gears of War – Nah, let's skip this one.

Tetris –This sounds absurd, because a 3D Tetris played from a first-person perspective sounds incredibly challenging. Actually, you'd have a really hard time keeping a clear view of the overall layout of the well or maintaining a clear understanding of how close your pieces were to the top. A first-person Tetris would be virtually unplayable, but I think it could be done! In fact, games that aren't in first person are a complete sham. Think about it. You see your life through a first-person perspective; games that don't let you do that are completely unnatural. You can’t step outside of yourself; it’s not true to reality. You know how your voice sounds when you hear it recorded? Like some other person talking in your place? That's how games that don't have first person should make us feel – like we're staring into the cold, dark blackness of an unnatural existence.

Doom – "Wait a minute," you say. "Doom was already a first-person game." Was it? Did you really play as Doom? We're envisioning a first-person game where you play as the gun itself. No! As the eye itself, and the eye has a gun, and you run around and shoot other first-person perspectives. Hold on; we see a pattern to this whole mess. If we slowly swap the letters in "first-person perspective" look what we get. First-person perspective. Ftrst pirson perkpective. Ftrht pison perkptive. Ftrlht isn warkptive. Fthulht isn waktine. Fthulhu isn wakine. Cthulhu is waking!

...You cannot talk about anything we've just learned. Go. Never look on this again. I take back everything I just said; third-person games shouldn't experiment with first person. It's an unnatural alchemy, and can only lead to disaster. It may be too late for me, but you can still save yourself.