threevue

Ok, I will.

Via Wonderland

I recently stumbled across the beta for the free, in-browser web-based first person shooter (FIBWBFPS?), Phosphor by Rasterwerks. If you aren’t completely familiar with the concept, as I was an hour ago, these games function as an FPS that runs in your web browser like a mildly scaled down version of any normal game. Think of those annoying “shoot the moving bulls eyes with the crossbow” flash ads that litter the margins of your favorite barely legal furry-sex sites.
The difference here is the amount of detail and depth of play that is available for a game that takes less than a minute to load and costs nothing. The Beta affords the user with a customizable key configuration, five classic weapons, online multi player with bots and/or friends, and last but not least; no monetary bar to entry. The more I played the beta, the stranger I found it to think that the game existed in no physical form and that all that was required to play it was an internet connection. The only shortcomings of the game are the scaled back graphics, which are on par with Half-life 1. The striped down and detail free aesthetic does make for a more streamlined experience though and it fits in well with the stark future-fight scenario of the game. I knock Phosphor here only because it is impossible to play this it and not think how much more awesome it would be with the eye-sexing photorealism of other, costlier titles. With that one minute detractor, Phosphor still has a lot going for it.
Even compared to the few other noteworthy shockwave based FPSs that are either already out or upcoming (Quake Zero, the George A. Romero Zombiepocalypse-o-dethoramablahblahblah or anything by Necromanthus) Phosphor outdoes the competition. Hopefully other companies can realize how well the browser based method can translate games to a broad and hungry fan base.