13. Advancing Warfare: The Wheel of Shooter Evolution

Paul Tassi discusses how the shooter genre for videogames has been changing over time, but not each in the isolation of its own franchise. Rather, the various shooter series – among them Destiny, Titanfall, Call of Duty, and Halo – have drawn new and inspired elements from each other, resulting in many "borrowed" imporvements and merging characteristics. Paul Tassi interest himself in how the "DNA" of these games can be traced back around to each other, and how even the original games in these franchises emerged from older shooters, such as Doom and Goldeneye. He details examples of how each game takes from or gives to the others. For example, Call of Duty's unreleased Advanced Warfare takes much of its mobility increase from Halo and Titanfall. Halo itself has taken inspiration from Call of Duty in its weapon customizations. Titanfall's reduction to essentials came from the early Halo games, and Destiny's gunplay and mobility takes elements from Halo as well. To Tassi, this blending nature is not an annoyance but a benefit; as games learn from each other, they will have more opportunities to innovate and bring the best of the genre to its players.
Author Paul Tassi makes good use of supporting evidence to back his claims. Though most of these examples are somewhat general, he nonetheless uses them all very effectively to strengthen his argument. Also, Tassi makes use of counterarguments – ideas conflicting with his opinion that are later debunked – as a menas of strengthening his point. He also is unbiased in his exemplification, presenting both pros and cons of the coevolution of games. An aspect of who Tassi's target audience is can be seen in the abundant use of videogame jargon, such as "gunplay," "freerunning," and "loadout." While it is sometimes difficult for non-gamers to keep up with what he is saying, he still manages to make his message clear. Finally, Paul Tassi's article concludes very well, being that it restates his claim and wraps up the piece, connecting back to the introduction and giving an overall conclusion of the matter, along with his predictions for the future of shooters.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/10/18/advancing-warfare-the-wheel-of-shooter-evolution-between-call-of-duty-halo-titanfall-and-destiny/