Squad. Looking for a more serious FPS game other than the popular shooters like CoD or Battlefield. Got a rec for it, so why not. Went to buy it and it’s $50. Well, the reviews looked mostly ok, and so did the screenshots… so I bit.
Man, the game plays like it’s 10-15 years old. Slow, clunky and the graphics leave room for improvement. Very dated. I don’t think I’d mind this game for the $15-25 range, but not $50. I returned it. I think probably the second game ever I returned.
If by "more serious" you mean more mechanically complex than "point and click", I recommend trying arena shooters if you're willing to get your booty cheeks slapped into the dirt for a bit while learning to play. Quake Champions is free and has the best GFX, but it has hero shooter aspects that a lot of people don't like. Quake Live is a paid (but cheap) alternative with no bullshit. (And I'd recommend the original Quake if it weren't so dead...still might be fun with friends, though.)
Half-Life 1's multiplayer is my favorite and it recently got a 25th anniversary update, but tbh it's still a chaotic and broken mess lol. But if you're into that, I highly recommend it.
I would recommend Counter-Strike as a more straightforward yet still mechanically complex FPS, but they recently removed a LOT of content. Lots of game modes and maps are missing, but if you're in it for the competitive experience you might still like it.
Speaking of Counter Strike I saw a line saying Arms Race was back but I haven't had time to reinstall and rejoice. I uninstalled specifically because it got removed so I'll be giving it another shot this week.