In
August 2006, the editors of Gamasutra asked its readership of game
industry professionals to chime in and vote for which game in the
first-person shooter genre "brought the genre forward" in the biggest
way - whether it be an early game that helped define the FPS, or a more
recent one which took those core ideas and developed a more rewarding
experience than before. Specifically, we asked:
"Which
first-person shooter/action title over the entire history of the FPS
game do you think has made the biggest 'quantum leap' in the genre, and
why?"
On the following pages, we'll first present
eight "honorable mentions" - games that, while certainly innovative and
important, did not receive enough votes to make it into the top
echelon.
Following this, we'll present the top
five first-person shooters voted for by our readers, in reverse order,
ending with the overall recipient of Gamasutra's first Quantum Leap
Award, which received the largest amount of votes from game
professionals.
[Please note that while many
games received small amounts of votes in this survey, we could not
possibly give adequate attention to each of them. 'Honorably mentioned'
games also voted on by our readers, but not making it into the top five
_or_ receiving detailed commentary alongside the voting included Halo,
Star Wars: Dark Forces, FarCry, Tribes, and Quake III.]
Honorable Mention: Doom
Although
Wolfenstein 3D basically invented the genre, it lacked variations in
height and had no textures. Doom took things to a level where the
player was immersed in a believable 3D environment, and added addictive
network play to boot. There was nothing as satisfying as blasting your
cube-mate with a BFG in the back. As far as I recall, it was also the
first use of the term "Deathmatch" in video games as well. Since Doom
nothing has been the same.
-Ken Carpenter, Pervasive Media Co.
Doom
started the multiplayer frenzy. Of course, if it had not been Doom, it
would have been only a question of time before another FPS would take
the flag and bring to the audiences the wonderful experience of
multiplayer gaming. But in the end, Doom did it, not another game. Duke
Nukem 3D? Plenty of weapons, lots of humour, hours of play with
friends. Plenty of features, the premises of a real story, mainly
through a step by step level design. But no major leap to be found
there.
In the end, I'd choose a game which defined the premise of what is now so important to FPSes: the multiplayer. And it's Doom.
-Anonymous
Doom.
I remember sitting with my friends, motion sick after playing marathon
sessions, thinking "Oh my God, this is unbelievable!"
-Anonymous
Honorable Mention: System Shock
I would argue that 'pre-Shock', shooters defined a narrow category of
player experience more or less unchanged since the days of Wolfenstein
3D. It wasn't until the genre was 'post-Shock' that richer titles - in
terms of game mechanics, story design and emergent gameplay - started
to appear (notably Half Life and Deus Ex).
In
terms of shooter mechanics, System Shock was the first FPS to really
attempt to create physical immersion beyond just the camera POV. It
introduced a full range of movements (most of which we take for granted
now) and avatar hit location to give impact to damage effects. The
weapons system, in addition to giving unprecendented levels of
customization, also offered greater control modality than had been seen
previously. System Shock wove in enough elements borrowed from
adventure/RPG to elevate its design beyond the basic shooter tropes. It
offered a robust system for the player to upgrade his weapons,
equipment and skills; and it integrated a well-realized 'VR' hacking
game that gave authenticity to its cyberpunk theme. The fact that so
many of these features are now virtually de rigor in modern sci-fi
shooters is a testament to the influence exerted by this one game.
-Patrick Redding, Ubisoft