The beginning of the 21st century has been all about online gaming, with MMORPGs dominating the landscape. The end of the 20th century, on the other hand, was dominated by the first-person shooter, or FPS games. They were a change from the longer and more complex RPG games that dominated PCs and consoles at the time, like the Final Fantasy franchise or the Legend of Zelda games.
The plot of the FPS game was simple if it existed at all, and the game mechanics were intuitive and consisted of only two or three buttons. This worked well with the graphic capabilities of the earlier computers and gaming consoles, since the monsters, explosions, and gore weren’t that sophisticated. Music was often a deciding factor and the gory gameplay seemed to call for it. The popularity of the FPS game also gave rise to another popular genre, survival horror.
Updated January 09, 2021 by Thomas Bowen: The FPS genre is one of the largest and most popular in all of gaming. Titles like Call of Duty continue to sell millions of copies each year while new IPs are springing up all the time. This might not have been the case though had it not been for some of the trailblazers that came before them. The nineties was the decade when first-person shooters really began to find their footing with titles like Doom and Quake pioneering this growth and development. Were it not for these titles, the current gaming landscape would likely look very different today.
15 Unreal Tournament (1999)
There’s some debate among series fans as to which of the Unreal Tournament games is better, but there’s a strong argument to be made for the original. More than 20 years on from its original release and the game remains incredibly fun to play. It’s obviously lacking the polish of a modern title, but compared to games like Doom and Wolfenstein it’s aged pretty gracefully.
With Epic games currently focusing most of their attention on Fortnite, it seems unlikely that the developer will be returning to the Unreal franchise anytime soon. The game’s legacy continues to live on, however, both through its groundbreaking engine and the inspiration that it provided to the developers of countless other FPS titles.
14 Shadow Warrior (1997)
Unlike Unreal Tournament, the original Shadow Warrior game hasn’t aged well at all; nor has the game’s main protagonist Lo Wang. Truth be told, the game was already a little dated at the time of its release but was still able to provide an incredibly enjoyable experience even in spite of its often offensive dialogue and last-gen visuals.
Much like John Romero’s Daikatana, had the game arrived just a few years earlier it would have likely been considered groundbreaking. Even so, its wonderful environments and challenging combat helped to set it apart from much of the competition and provided hours of fun for those willing to give it a shot.
13 Team Fortress Classic (1999)
Team Fortress started life in 1996 as a Half-Life mod before eventually being given a full release in the late nineties. With nine unique classes and a wide array of weapons, it was one of the biggest titles of the decade and laid the groundwork for many of Valve’s future games. The most notable of these was obviously Team Fortress 2; a game that still remains incredibly popular to this day.
Any fans of the sequel looking to see where it all began should definitely consider checking out the original. Unfortunately, the game’s dated mechanics and poor visuals make for a frustrating and lackluster experience. As a piece of gaming history, however, it serves as a great reminder of a bygone era and offers an interesting insight into the series’ roots.
12 System Shock (1994)
System Shock shares a lot of similarities with Looking Glass Studios’ Ultima Underworld games; particularly when it comes to the general look and feel of the title. Where it differentiates itself though is through its fantastic 3D engine which was streets ahead of anything else being used at the time. Its gameplay was also ahead of the pack, going far beyond the typical point and shoot mechanics that were prevalent at the time.
The game’s sequel and an enhanced edition released in 2015 undoubtedly provide a far superior experience to the original, but neither were anywhere near as innovative nor influential. Games like Half-Life and Doom rightfully receive a lot of plaudits for their impact on FPS gaming, but System Shock was every bit as important in shaping and kickstarting the evolution of the genre.
11 Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil (1998)
While Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark are seen by many as the best FPS titles on the N64, neither were able to match the high quality visuals on display in Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. It looked more like a PS2 title than a cartridge-based game and features one of the best multiplayer experiences of the nineties. It did suffer from some occasional frame-rate issues due to how hard it pushed the system, but that was a small price to pay for what was on offer.
Although there were multiple sequels released over the following years, Turok 2 is easily the best that the series has to offer. It still holds up fairly well today and thanks to the 2019 Switch remaster, it’s easily accessible to modern gamers. The lack of multiplayer does hold the remaster back a little though as this was one of the original game’s strongest assets.
10 Doom (1993)
The phrase “Doom helped me get through high school” could be a meme. It was simple, savage, and deeply satisfying. The original Doom took the gaming world by storm, and it could be argued that it blew the whole genre wide open.
Virtually everything in first-person shooter games of the present day, including the satirical levels of violence, elaborate weapons, and multiplayer options all started with this game. Every FPS has a BFG these days, but it was Doom that invented that joke.
9 Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
FPS games had their golden age during the 1990s, but that wasn’t when they started. It was 1981 when a game called Castle Wolfenstein was released, and it mixed old-school video game lore and storylines with the FPS genre. It’s easy to get behind an intrepid WW2 hero who’s out to kill Nazis and recover stolen relics.
Wolfenstein 3D was inspired by the original Wolfenstein and was produced by id Software, the same folks who made Doom and Quake. This version was faster, bloodier, and more visceral in every way than the previous installment, but the title is slightly misleading. Today, 3D might mean actual 3D or even virtual reality, but in this case, it was just an expression about the improved graphics and gameplay.
8 Goldeneye 007 (1997)
Most video games based on movies are poor, but Goldeneye is a famous exception to this rule. When it comes to FPS games of the 1990s, this is the one that everyone knows, even if they haven’t touched a video game for decades. The film of the same name was a smash hit as well, the first in which Pierce Brosnan took on the role after years of dithering, which definitely helped the marketing department.
The original idea for this game made it a classic side-scroller, but the success of FPS games at the time inspired the team at Nintendo to develop another type of game from a first-person perspective. Multi-player modes had existed before, but Goldeneye improved the whole “deathmatch” concept and raised the bar.
7 Half-Life (1998)
Half-Life has an interesting place in gaming history. Not only was it the culmination of everything that made FPS games so great in the late 1990s, but it was also the debut title from Valve. By this time, the “shooting gallery” concept had fallen out of favor for the same reasons that it had been so popular at first; the simple viewpoint, in-your-face gore, and lack of a plot.
This game reversed all those trends and included a sophisticated storyline. The game was so influential that it inspired several mods and third-party remakes and sequels in the last two decades, including Black Mesa, which was released in 2020.
6 Quake (1996)
The successor to the Doom series of games and another offering from id Software, Quake combined the FPS format with the best features from other popular genres, namely survival horror and medieval fantasy RPG settings.
The whole game was also beautifully rendered, beginning a trend in which FPS players would start demanding more of graphics and game design, something that hadn’t been a priority in the past. This game tested the true depth of the third dimension in video games, and every single FPS created since has followed suit.
5 Duke Nukem 3D (1996)
It’s easy to get confused between the Duke Nukem games and other franchise titles like Wolfenstein 3D or Doom because the basic look, premise, and gameplay are so similar. What makes this game stand out is the protagonist, Duke, who has his own dedicated fan following. Some of that drama stems from ongoing copyright issues with the game that have literally gone on for decades. Duke Nuken 3D is the third game in the series and the first one that used the FPS design.
The game was originally intended for PCs, but its popularity caused an explosion that spread it to virtually every platform in existence. As a simple two-dimensional shooter, it leaned heavily on the less sophisticated side of the FPS genre and became extremely popular as a result.
4 Chex Quest
First shooter games were so popular in the 1990s that everyone was trying to get on the bandwagon. It’s not a surprise that things got weird with this promotional game that came with a box of cereal. What’s even stranger is how this simple game was actually pretty good and still enjoys a dedicated fan base.
Chex Quest bucks the trend of ultra-violent games with its family-friendly content, and it does so in really smart, self-aware ways. One of the most lethal weapons in the game is a spoon and the ultimate enemies are green aliens who make nice, crunchy cereal soggy.
3 Heretic (1994)
Given that RPG and fantasy games dominated the 1980s, it was obvious that the games of the early 1990s would also adopt that genre. Fans of more modern fantasy titles like Skyrim will recognize a similar concept. There are some advantages to the fantasy setting, including a variety of medieval weapons and spellcasting, which made it unique from other FPS games of the time.
Heretic is another offering from id Software, who apparently recognized they had found a proverbial golden goose in the genre and used the same software engine as Doom to complete it.
2 The Terminator: SkyNET (1996)
Speaking of Skyrim, Bethesda took a shot at the FPS genre at about the same time the Oblivion saga was getting off the ground. The release of the very popular film Terminator 2 in 1991 powered this trend for years to come. Terminator-themed games have a long and twisted history that touches virtually all video game platforms and spans several decades, and this is one example from that messy pile. What makes it unique is how good it is compared to the others.
The Terminator: SkyNET was originally supposed to be part of a previous game but developed into a stand-alone one instead. It turned out that was a good move. This game received some critical acclaim for the improved graphics, an immersive storyline, and a deathmatch multiplayer mode that included detailed maps.
1 Forbes Corporate Warrior
Returning to the “And Then it Got Weird” file, there’s Forbes Corporate Warrior. There are lots of games in which the player wins by accumulating enough resources through commerce, trade, or even more nefarious themes like thievery or fraud, but none of those games are first-person shooters.
This one is noted not for how good it is, but for how laughably awful it is. The whole game is a satire of 1990s cutthroat corporate culture, and the weapons aren’t anything conventional like guns or missiles. Instead, the player fires “Ad Blasters” and “Marketing Missiles.” It’s a fun trip down nostalgia lane if you’re running a PC with Windows 95.
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