Picking The Top Ten FPS Titles Of All-Time

Thanks to GameSpot for its 'TenSpot' feature selecting picks for the top ten first-person shooter (FPS) games of all-time. The article argues: "So what makes a first-person shooter good? Is it a cohesive story and a well-designed campaign? A creative multiplayer mode? How about a devastating arsenal of weapons? Or fiendishly clever AI enemies? The games in this list exhibit one or more of these qualities and have all affected the way shooters are made in a tangible and lasting way." It goes on to identify top titles such as Duke Nukem 3D ("...good-natured attitude... great level design, and solid engine"), Battlefield 1942 ("...an excellent game made better by retail expansion packs"), and, naturally, Doom ("one of the true classics of computer gaming.")

Comments

Erm... There the hell is Dark Forces?

[paulcammish]

So, where is Dark Forces?

That was truly one of the best first person shooters I ever played - incredibily atmospheric, and for the time had some very nice graphics.

For those of you who didnt play it (no excuse at all), its rather closely linked to the whole Star Wars (it was called that in '77, and so thats what im calling it) - not to mention the fun of running around Imperial Instalations being chased by Stormtoopers shouting "Stop, Rebel Scum!"

For a game released in early 1995, there wasnt much to touch it (apart from Doom) - you could Jump AND Crouch - pretty much a full year before Duke Nukem 3D.

RIP Decent

[grumpygrodyguy]

Decent and Decent 2 were revolutionary for their time, creating an experience so original (and nauseating)

Yes, nauseating. Almost all succesful FPS games of today are constrained to 2 dimensions of play. Sure you can jump, and fly in some games, but for the most part they are simplified to 2d.

Decent was an attempt at marrying legacy flight sims(falcon, wing commander, etc) and games like Wolfenstein. It was very confusing, and quite frankly it didn't work.

Imagine trying to explain to people that you need a PC because the Mac keyboard won't let you strafe down-backwards-left while rotating up-right and firing.

You still can't explain it to people...much less enjoy doing it in a game.

Counter-strike, TFC, Doom, Tribes, Everquest, all of these are popular because they appeal to our nature. Plane contsrained first person perspective is natural and engrossing. If we were a species of fish, or birds instead of homo-sapiens...maybe decent would be more popular(and thus more copied) than it was. But we are for the most part 2-demensional beings, and we like our games that way too.