Top 3… First Person Shooters
Admittedly FPS (First Person Shooters) is not my favourite gaming genre, but every now and then I like to submerge myself in its frantic action. And, really, there is nothing better to play at a LAN than a FPS. Unlike RTS (Real Time Strategy), which stings when your carefully crafted army lies decimated on the screen, defeat at FPS isn’t nearly as painful. You die, you respawn, and keep on going.
I’ll confess right now that even though I started PC gaming with Rise of the Triad and Heretic there are plenty of FPS, old and new, that I haven’t played – even though I have watched others playing them. I’m sure titles like Bioshock, Half-Life 1 and 2 (I finished the classic first game), Halo, Gears of War (I gave up with the console version VERY quickly), Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, Counter-Strike, Alien Vs Predator, Doom, Prey, the Unreal Tournament series, Medal of Honour, Delta Force, Far Cry, Crysis, Joint Operations, Call of Duty 4, Daikatana (just kidding ;)) and many, many others – AND all their various mods, and expansions – would pop up on other gamers’ lists. I just can’t include them on mine.
I would probably have included the deliciously dark, twisted Condemned: Criminal Origins on my list below if it weren’t for the fact that it’s more of genre mix, combining survival horror, adventure puzzle-solving and traditional FPS. And given the amount of time I’ve devoted to playing it in order to improve my FPS reflexes, Quake III, probably the fastest paced FPS ever, is also worth mentioning. Friends could always hear my loud-mouthed Harley Quinn character bouncing across the stage. Wheeeeeee!
3) Doom 3
Hmmm, I had to choose between this game and Quake 3 for the No. 3 slot. It’s essentially a tie though. Doom 3 makes the list though for several reasons.
For one thing the game is/was visually stunning. For another, the story was a decent stab at sci-fi horror in the vein of the Event Horizon film. And finally there was the “fear” that reduced gamers to nervous wrecks. Jump moments abounded in Doom 3 – intestine-spilling zombies lumbering out of the shadows to swing wrenches at you, the stress of having to switch between your weapon and torch in the pitch darkness… and you just knew that trail of armour shards would end in an ambush.
I remember all the fanboy mouth-frothing that accompanied this game’s release, and the great joy I experienced annoying the bf with my strafing ineptness. So many times he wanted to wrestle the keyboard away from me when those crusty flame-throwing imps would appear before me. Hehehe.
2) Battlefield 1942
"Yeah, yeah...", I’m hearing all the FPS addicts mutter, "What about Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142"? Well, I’m afraid they’ve never really interested me. I don’t care about squad control, registering on the Net and all that crap. I care about getting out there and popping my enemies in the head. As long as I had access to Battlefield 1942 and the Desert Combat Iraqi Vs USA mod (Basrah’s Edge anyone?), I was set. The intro video and theme music still get me excited.
Admittedly I never mastered flying planes and helicopters, but I loved leaping into the tanks... once I got used to the swaying motion of the Sherman and Panzer. Who knew a video game could teach you so much about WWII era military hardware?
I started playing the game, my first proper multiplayer FPS, as a sniper. That phase ended when the bf decided to drive over my prone body in his jeep – he was my team mate for the record. Now I’ve moved onto heavy assault, spraying bullets everywhere. The decimated urban Berlin stage remains my favourite.
1) FEAR
FEAR is my Half-Life. I don’t have any way else to describe it. No shooter has ever had as much of an emotional impact on me as FEAR; and simultaneously satisfied all my gaming needs. Doom 3 was scary at times but FEAR took terror to the next level thanks to its combination of gory bump mapped visuals, a sharp little cinema-style story and frequent out-the-corner-of-your-eye glimpses of various supernatural horrors... usually one scary little girl called Alma.
I admit I didn’t find the game overly challenging but the ability to enter a slowed-up bullet time mode, and weapon choices that included a shotgun, rocket launcher, plasma gun and a little something called the Penetrator, meant you were more than willing to replay stages like the Helicopter Landing Pad over and over again to maximise your carnage.
As for the multiplayer, I challenge anyone to find a game that is more fun: pinning an opponent to a wall with a stake through the head, attaching sticky grenades to your best friend, letting off a rocket launcher in close quarters and sneakily laying land mines over an armour kit. By the time you reach the end of a round, there are blood splatters, lingering smoke and damaged walls everywhere.
Best of all, gamers can get hold of FEAR’s multiplayer mode completely FREE. FEAR Combat presents the game’s multiplayer mode as a standalone game, available for download here.
Thinking about the original FEAR now makes me very excited for the first “proper” FEAR sequel, Project Origin, which is due for release later this year.
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So, what are your favourite shooters?
I’ll confess right now that even though I started PC gaming with Rise of the Triad and Heretic there are plenty of FPS, old and new, that I haven’t played – even though I have watched others playing them. I’m sure titles like Bioshock, Half-Life 1 and 2 (I finished the classic first game), Halo, Gears of War (I gave up with the console version VERY quickly), Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, Counter-Strike, Alien Vs Predator, Doom, Prey, the Unreal Tournament series, Medal of Honour, Delta Force, Far Cry, Crysis, Joint Operations, Call of Duty 4, Daikatana (just kidding ;)) and many, many others – AND all their various mods, and expansions – would pop up on other gamers’ lists. I just can’t include them on mine.
I would probably have included the deliciously dark, twisted Condemned: Criminal Origins on my list below if it weren’t for the fact that it’s more of genre mix, combining survival horror, adventure puzzle-solving and traditional FPS. And given the amount of time I’ve devoted to playing it in order to improve my FPS reflexes, Quake III, probably the fastest paced FPS ever, is also worth mentioning. Friends could always hear my loud-mouthed Harley Quinn character bouncing across the stage. Wheeeeeee!
3) Doom 3
Hmmm, I had to choose between this game and Quake 3 for the No. 3 slot. It’s essentially a tie though. Doom 3 makes the list though for several reasons.
For one thing the game is/was visually stunning. For another, the story was a decent stab at sci-fi horror in the vein of the Event Horizon film. And finally there was the “fear” that reduced gamers to nervous wrecks. Jump moments abounded in Doom 3 – intestine-spilling zombies lumbering out of the shadows to swing wrenches at you, the stress of having to switch between your weapon and torch in the pitch darkness… and you just knew that trail of armour shards would end in an ambush.
I remember all the fanboy mouth-frothing that accompanied this game’s release, and the great joy I experienced annoying the bf with my strafing ineptness. So many times he wanted to wrestle the keyboard away from me when those crusty flame-throwing imps would appear before me. Hehehe.
2) Battlefield 1942
"Yeah, yeah...", I’m hearing all the FPS addicts mutter, "What about Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142"? Well, I’m afraid they’ve never really interested me. I don’t care about squad control, registering on the Net and all that crap. I care about getting out there and popping my enemies in the head. As long as I had access to Battlefield 1942 and the Desert Combat Iraqi Vs USA mod (Basrah’s Edge anyone?), I was set. The intro video and theme music still get me excited.
Admittedly I never mastered flying planes and helicopters, but I loved leaping into the tanks... once I got used to the swaying motion of the Sherman and Panzer. Who knew a video game could teach you so much about WWII era military hardware?
I started playing the game, my first proper multiplayer FPS, as a sniper. That phase ended when the bf decided to drive over my prone body in his jeep – he was my team mate for the record. Now I’ve moved onto heavy assault, spraying bullets everywhere. The decimated urban Berlin stage remains my favourite.
1) FEAR
FEAR is my Half-Life. I don’t have any way else to describe it. No shooter has ever had as much of an emotional impact on me as FEAR; and simultaneously satisfied all my gaming needs. Doom 3 was scary at times but FEAR took terror to the next level thanks to its combination of gory bump mapped visuals, a sharp little cinema-style story and frequent out-the-corner-of-your-eye glimpses of various supernatural horrors... usually one scary little girl called Alma.
I admit I didn’t find the game overly challenging but the ability to enter a slowed-up bullet time mode, and weapon choices that included a shotgun, rocket launcher, plasma gun and a little something called the Penetrator, meant you were more than willing to replay stages like the Helicopter Landing Pad over and over again to maximise your carnage.
As for the multiplayer, I challenge anyone to find a game that is more fun: pinning an opponent to a wall with a stake through the head, attaching sticky grenades to your best friend, letting off a rocket launcher in close quarters and sneakily laying land mines over an armour kit. By the time you reach the end of a round, there are blood splatters, lingering smoke and damaged walls everywhere.
Best of all, gamers can get hold of FEAR’s multiplayer mode completely FREE. FEAR Combat presents the game’s multiplayer mode as a standalone game, available for download here.
Thinking about the original FEAR now makes me very excited for the first “proper” FEAR sequel, Project Origin, which is due for release later this year.
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So, what are your favourite shooters?
Comments
CHAOS QUAKE 2.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein was a classic. Duke Nukem 3D. Shogo ... The list goes on