Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Socom, SWAT, Brothers in Arms, Full Spectrum Warrior, and Operation Flashpoint were famous for their realism, and strategic gameplay.

Call of Duty, MOH, BF these games are not.

But now they dwindled.

Rainbow Six and others pretty much been dumbed down, or changed into generic FPSes,and only 2 so far, Arma, and Red Orchestra, are still the real deal, but it is not enough to keep life to the genre imo and the 2 kickstarters Ground Branch and Takedown, even though they are in development, their Kickstarters barely sold with Takedown only getting the same amount they petitioned, while ground branch failed, which ends with this genre is too niche, hell most gamers never bothered with Arma 2 until that DayZ mod came out and only played it for DayZ.

I've never really liked realistic nor semi-realistic shooters. I'm more of an Unreal Tournament kind of guy. I find the "bang, you're dead" gameplay of realistic shooters extremely boring.

I have completed all of the ghost recon games except the latest one, By pain in the ass I am assuming you're referring to the original? It most certainly is a pain in the ass but after a few missions it really is quite fun.

I do love a bit of Rainbow six, SWAT 4 and Brothers in arms. They're alot more interesting and more challenging then that generic modern warfare crap!

Because the first-person/third-person perspective is too limiting for me. I like my tactical games when I can see it top-down or isometric all of the time (I know that some tactical FPS provide top-down map view, but it doesn't feel the same).

I dunno. I guess because they generally aren't funny, aren't filled with imaginative colorful worlds to explore, don't have monsters or aliens, don't have magic, don't have scares, don;t have great stories,don't have jump pads. don't have crazy race tracks, don't have puzzles, don't have crazy combo mutlipliers which makes me want to keep playing to top my high scores etc. Those are the types of things that make me enjoy playing videogames.

That's not to say I totally hate realistic tactical shooters, I did enjoy Brothers in Arms in 2004 or whenever. I'd just rather play something else

Nope that isn't true. I actually quite enjoy them but I reckon that it is something of an acquired taste. It may not be up everyone's alley for the same reason that combat fighter sims cater to a more niche audience while a more accessible red baron or crimson skies has more takers in the mainstream. It's all about the learning curve and not many gamers are very patient owing to a paucity of time and the need to find instant gratification.

I have never particularly liked the auto-health regeneration mechanism first introduced in cod 2 - after all it doesn't quite make sense since your just an average solider not a genetically enhanced cyborg like the master chef in halo.That being said it is somewhat astounding to note the success of the cod and the battlefield series .

Btw I am fine with games like ut or quake 3 - A game does not have to be uber realistic to be fun.

I've played Brothers in Arms and I liked many things about it, such as the effect of covering fire. Unfortunately there were too many appallingly unrealistic things; the side plate of a Panzer IV was apparently able to take FOUR Panzerfausts, and machine gunners were completely invulnerable unless you flanked them - spraying the living shit out of them with automatic weapons, throwing grenades or firing a goddamn Panzerfaust at their ass has no effect unless you're approaching at least 90° from the side.

EDIT: Mind you, apart from the AI which seemed to be fitted with NVGs and see-through-vegetation-and-walls magic, and, to a lesser extent, the quirky vehicle controls, I liked Operation Flashpoint a lot.

Loved Rainbow Six 1, loved GRAW 1. I think what killed the genre for me is the removal of the planning phase, and a lack of offline multiplayer bots.

I have little interest in jumping around corners unrealistically against others who do the same. If I am playing a tactical shooter, I want to plan operations against a target, and execute.

Well, Interstellar Marines promises to bring back tactical combat, so it might be worth checking out. They are also planning a Kickstarter, so be on the lookout.

I played the original Ghost Recon last year for the first time and really enjoyed it. Ordering my assault teams to clear out an enemy camp while I provided sniper support from a cliff was some good fun.

SWAT 4 is great too, although it was kind of frustrating having to start missions over every time I made even the slightest mistake.

And where's the love for Full Spectrum Warrior? Oh, well, it's not a shooter :D

The principle of tactical shooters is wonderful, but actually putting together a team that actually supports you and works as a team is a rare thing indeed. Single-player team bots are fucking idiots at the best of times, wandering into the line of fire, refusing to carry out orders, and getting killed doing the easiest of tasks. Multiplayer is just as bad, where you'll always have some asshat fuck it up for the rest of the team under the pretense of just having a laugh.

I like these 'tactical shooters' but put Brother in Arms next to Rainbow six is evil! BiA is nor tactical and it is as realistic as CoD. (Yeah, i hate BiA games)

RO2 was best fun i have in years and I am waiting for those expansionalones

What a fantastic word :-D