I'm not much for FPSs. While they can be fun, they lose my interest because I don't have a sense of growth. Now, Fallout 3 combines both worlds. The fun of FPSs, and the RPG factor. AWESOME!
Gears of war (along with many others like Dead SPace) are third person, not first person. Some shooters may not have much growth ability, but they make up for it in different ways. The big multiplayer ones like CoD (i hate the CoD series, Halo, Left 4 Dead, and Gears offer a really amazing social experience. Don't get me wrong, I prefer Mass Effect over Halo any day, but something about going Zombie slaying with some buddies or starting online fights with random gangstas or british people holds aplace in my heart.
Duke Nukem was taken off life support today, May 6th 2009. He went into a Coma 1997. He is survived by his stripper wife and his many grandchildren, every modern FPS. The debate over the morality and legality of removing the Duke from his feeding tube rages on, but whatever the case at least we know, Duke is going on to a more peaceful place.