[vhryptvn] See all around you

Create a first person perspective game in which you can always see 360 degrees around your head, yet projected on a standard rectangular monitor.  No enemy can sneak up from behind.

Which is less disorienting?  A 180 degree front view and a separate 180 degree "rear view mirror", or a single 360 degree view wrapping all the way around?

An even greater challenge is to display an entire sphere around you while minimizing distortion (strictly an impossible task).

200 degree front and rear views aligned to the horizon, circular caps viewing azimuth and nadir. Views overlap. This would be best on a monitor in portrait orientation. The front and rear views might be, say, elliptical instead of rectangular, to maintain equal area as one looks vertically away from the horizon.