To quote the pilot in Return of the Jedi, "There's too many of them!"

For me it's mainly down to control scheme, button layout and god-like AI. But if they simplified it, i'm afraid it won't be that tactical, such as Operation Flashpoint on consoles. Miles behind Bohemia's OF:CWA and ArmA.

Most memorable tactical shooter I've seen is Evolva.
And why is Hidden and Dangerous not mentioned in the thread?

Ah yes but thats a normal complaint from gamers. There's always too many of something til they stop making them and then the stupid bastards moan because there are none haha.

One of the reason why I dislike so many tactical shooters is because they often fall on the frustrating side of things. One lucky hit from an enemy can result in death of a team member, and sometimes the games don't give enough indication of where enemies might be.

Still, I love Hidden & dangerous (even though I'm horrible at the game) & SWAT 3 & 4.

I played a lot of Delta Force, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon years back, but I eventually grew tired of FPS's in general not just the tactical ones.
Since the focus of most shooters is the online play nowadays, I can't really say I'm eager to jump back in.

I think with today's tech we can make the AI 10x better now, also the closest best ai ever for that kind of gameplay was Star Wars: Republic Commando. That is the point of the games they are suppose to be realistic, and I am pretty certain there are ways to look at top-down like radar to spot enemy tanks.
???

unless you mean its a simulator?

I don't like... thinking in my shooters. I want my thinking from the top-down perspective, mostly. Of course the view is different, but things are much more fun to control from there.

The reason I don't play Arma (I have it on steam) are the clunky controls. I think I would get over them with time, but I just don't have the energy.

Nonetheless I understand what you are saying -- I hate it when the publishers or developers alter the basic idea of a series for better marketing. It makes me kind of sad.

The problem isn't the tech - the tech's been there for years. The problem is the development, as AI is possibly one of the most time-consuming programming tasks there is. Studios just aren't willing to invest the money and time to make good AI. There have been some notable exceptions, but for the most part, computer AI that works alongside and reacts appropriately to human behaviour is still a rare thing.

PCs get more powerful, but the average capability of an AI programmer remains the same.

We need an AI to code AI.

It was a game about tactics and planning. You could beat the game without pulling the trigger.

ah yeah, why would I need to shoot when my AI programed allies can do it.

You mean like...Skynet?

plus SHODAN and GLaDOS and EDI there to help aswell.

The game unique strength was (and still is, unsurpassed) the planning stage. You could meticulously plan every step of an entry operation with several teams acting simultaneously like clockwork. And then watch it like a real operator.

The shooting part itself was fairly interesting at best. If I wanted to play a shooter, Rainbow Six was a bad choice.