I found the papercut, bullet-sponges enemies a step-down to the enemies found in RE4/5.

Wrong. Splinter did that in 2001. 

The best Third Person SHOOTER mechanics list is as follows; 

5. Max Payne 3 

4. Splinter Cell Conviction

3. Ghost Recon Future Warfare 

2. Freedom Fighters

1. Gears of War 3

The above games, are first most shooters, and the way the player moves and enters into over the shoulder in TPS games is very important, whether its straffing, getting into cover or shooting while in motion and general visceral gunplay mechanics. The above 5 games do this perfectly. 

Some games have done great to ''evolve'' the Third Person Shooter genre into Third Person ''.........'' , ie other genres, the pioneer being Splinter Cell way back in 2001.

Since then, you have Resident Evil 4, Uncharted, Dead Space and The Last of Us doing the same for their respective genres. While they are not as good as shooters as the above games, they have integrated and influenced the TPS genre just as much as the top 5. 

Overall 3rd Person games /by series

5. Hitman Silent Assassin / Contracts

4. The Last of Us 

3. Mass Effect 1 - Conviction

2. Mass Effect 1 - 3  

1. Gears of War 1 - 3