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'Quantum Leap' Awards For FPS Games Revealed
simoniker writes "As voted by game industry professionals, the results of the Quantum Leap Awards for the first-person shooter genre have been revealed, honoring the titles which 'brought the FPS genre forward' in the biggest ways. The winner is a truly classic title, but there's at least one seminal FPS that, surprisingly enough, didn't make the top 5." The top 5 are, from 1 to 5, Half-Life, Quake, GoldenEye, Wolfenstein, and System Shock 2.
No Unreal Tournament? That was the game that brought forward the genre for me though it was out at a very similar time to Quake 3. Ah well, where's the next stop Ziggy?
Warhammer forums
Very nice quote. In fact, I'd say it was hard, fast and intense.
(no-one will get joke this but me and you.. ok, just me.)
How we know is more important than what we know.
Am I the only one with this symptom?
/. crowd would have a better idea of what i'm talking about than anyone.
When I play HL2, I become terribly nauseous after about 20 minutes of gameplay.
This is unusual because I play plenty of FPS's, and have been doing so for some time. I never have this problem after 3 or 4 hours of UT or Quake. Only HL2. Not even HL1.
I recognize that FPS' tend to cause motion sickness in rare cases... but what the heck could make only a single game have this effect?
Yes, it's a little o/t, but i imagine the
This is not the greatest
Historical Correct: Wolf3D was the first popular First Person Shooter. It was preceeded by Id Software's [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacomb_3D]Cat
Wolf3D's success over Catacomb probably had more to do with Apogee's marketing muscle than with it being truly the first FPS.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
It's surprising to see System Shock 2 in there, considering it wasn't half as revolutionary as the original. The graphics, sound, gameplay and general complexity of the entire game world was something that I found amazing for its time.
Okay, so, if it was a top ten... I'd expect to see Doom, Marathon, and Deus Ex on the list... possibly Duke 3D... and I don't know what the last game I'd pick for the list would be. Maybe that's why they kept it to the top five?
No Daikatana?!
Hovertank 3D
:P
Catacomb 3D
Sorry about that. I'm not awake yet.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I'd put Doom on the list before System Shock 2. Or Goldeneye. Or HL. Or Quake. Or Wolf3d.
Or System Shock 2. I mean, wtf?
I realize they didn't want to weigh down the list with Id games, but if you were going to drop one it would have to be Quake. Or Wolf3d. The BBS's were pretty excited about Wolf - but it was Doom that defined the genre and made it what it is.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
I'm glad to see Marathon and Deus Ex mentioned, but I'm not sure how seriously I can take a list of games that "advanced the FPS genre" which only feels that Doom ranks an honorable mention.
Oh wait, Halo isn't listed....
Future ruler of a small Asian-Pacific island
Where's Doom?
THAT is the game that revolutionized FPS!
Watch the Teaser Trailer for "The Lightning Thief" Her
oh come on. Doom deserves much more than an honorable mention. It may not have brought the FPS genre forward in a technical way, but it certainly drew much more attention to the genre than had ever been there before. how many of the FPS games around today would still be here had doom never existed?
Doom was the first game with graphics good enough for non-gamers to understand what I was so excited about. It basically had the first big mod community, started deathmatch, brought LAN parties and big gaming tournaments into reality, etc.
Think of it this way: There were games before Doom and there were games after Doom. This division is more clear than probably any other game in history. 13 years later (or so) we're still running around in a 3D-ish world and pointing at what we want to die.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Considering that Doom not only defined the FPS genre in general, it also opened the PC gaming industry.
It's historic value is so great that its non existence on this list makes as much sense as dividing by zero.
Well, end of reality, here we go!
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
A FPS that I really enjoyed and thought was a pile of fun was ROTT(Rise of the Triad). who can forget the poor guy on his knees saying "No, please, please, don't shoot".
Now go back and play Doom - guess what - it's still playable, and it's still a ton of fun. Goldeneye did not age well - AT ALL. It was a great game for its time, but I honestly think that's all. Timesplitters 2 for example (done by the same core development team) is a vastly superior game - in all aspects. Now take a look at Zelda 64 - came out around the same time, but what has come out since that you can easily say is flat out better in all aspects? Food for thought...
Drop Quake? Are you kidding? Quake is the game that brought large-scale online network play to the masses. Previous games were mostly limited to LAN. QuakeWorld refined and improved online play significantly for slower connections and pioneered the client-side prediction model that is used in nearly every game today.
No Duke Nukem Forever, either!
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
I'd leave Quake on there too. All I'm saying is that Doom was more important.
Quake: introduced solid multiplayer over unreliable networks
Doom: introduced multiplayer
Quake: introduced quality lit/textured graphics, pushed development of 3d accelerated graphic cards
Doom: introduced graphics
I realize that's overstating the case a bit. But not much. Doom was an absolute revelation from on high - and it made waves far outside the gaming community. When Wolf3d came out, I started work on my own raycasting 3d engine. It was pretty good. When Doom came out, I started playing Doom. When Quake finally came out, I was fairly disappointed - it was nothing like the hype that preceded it. That said, Quake should clearly be on the top 5 list. But not before Doom.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
Clearly, because you have the job that you do, Doom is important to all of humanity.
I can't disagree with that assessment...
But what would it mean if a game was released on the same day as Doom? The statement would mean that that game was just as influential.
And yet, despite my comments, I do agree with you that Doom should have been listed.
Maybe this should be followed up by a list of most under rated FPS games in other peoples lists.
like...
5. Postal 2 (Cat's as silencers, gas can and shovel make this trashy, ultra-violent post appocolytic game. To bad the multi-player end hummed.)
4. Swat 3 (Some where between Shooter and Sneaker this squad based game is tatically entertaining, and in multiplayer can have complex and intresting goals.)
3. America's Army (Sure it's propaganda, but man is the sniper rife a pain, ie ealistic. The ROE violations make it a very efficent self policing game.)
2. Conker's Bad Fur Day (While 3rd person and console, two big strikes for me, it does have furry animals swearing and blowing each other up.)
1. Soldier of Fortune 2 (Excellent Mod community made this game for me. Raven Software was forever patching and improving. Few FPS's I have played have had so many new weapons and maps availiable and in general rotation on public servers. The biggest point about this game, for me, was how customizable the hud was, and how much control an admin could have over a game.)
Just my 2 cents.
-Lemur
Mod me redundant, call me a fanboi, point out that I'm mistaking awesomeness with advancement of the genre - see if I care. Unreal Tournament owned my life for some time, and still periodically pops up to hire it for a few weeks. I'm not really into storylines, plots, or even spatially-oriented goals. I used to get sick to frigging death wandering around an empty level looking for the red card. UT was the first game (that I found) where I could tell it to put x number of bloodthirsty maniacs with y skill level in a room with me and get get our frag on. Best FPS evar.
...is that the game WAS a huge leap forward for console FPS gaming. Much like one gamer said in the article, it introduced the FPS genre to a whole new generation of gamers who might otherwise have been playing Mario Party and platformers. I still pull it out for multiplayer goodness with my friends, just like we did for hours on end years ago. I've put more time into that one game than I have with any other console game - nay, any other game, period, except for my MMOs. To think that it *doesn't belong on this list is folly: it set the stage for a trough of other games, not the least of which was Perfect Dark and its new companion for the latest fare from Microsoft. Doom rightfully should have its place on this list (and it got an honorable mention, which I think is more than fair, but that's another rant), but not at the expense of Goldeneye.
If this had been pushing the genre, novel ideas that expanded upon what FPS could do, then that honorable dead company Looking Glass would have had a clean sweep, and I'm surprised not more of their titles are there:
Tera Nova: Team - Based
System Shock 1: So many new ideas and great concepts.
Thief (Dark Project): An entire new approach to the FPS concept, sneaking.
And of course Deus Ex, although this was not the same company, many of the people were the same, although most of the great things about Deus Ex were already in System Shock, although in less polished form.
(1) Doom (2) Half Life (3) Hexen 2
:)
All the rest are belong to these three
Definitely a FPS with the RPG element very successfully overlaid.
No gaming hall of fame is worth its salt without Deus Ex. Not RPG halls of fame or FPS. (Although The Elder Scrolls would utterly conquer any RPG hall of fame.)
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
I was thinking more about the Tom Clancy series that spawned the 'Tactile Shooter' Rainbow 6, Rogue Spear, Ghost Recon, Ravenshield etc.
Not saying that either Counter-Strike or FEAR changed the genre, but here's my take:
CS: Squad-based, limited time per match. Damage is realistic (relatively speaking) so teamwork, strategy (where to go, what your weapon's shot pattern is, etc), and good control are all vital to success. I suck at it, so I should know.
FEAR: With all effects on, it's like being in a firefight. Dust kicking up, sparks, explosions, enemies hopping over railings, flanking you, ragdoll physics. It's crazy good fun just for that. And the story...it beats HL and HL2 for actual plot. And it's totally creepy too. Even after you're done, you're still trying to figure out exactly what you've accomplished and what you're part of, and who she really is. Good stuff.
And DOOM > Wolfenstein3D
because UT2004 brought everything together: maturity of genre, absolute adrenaline-raising fun, balanced weapons, great team play mechanics (exemplified at the next level by Onslaught, originally "invented" by threewave CTF for Quake), it made connecting to games a snap, player models worked perfectly (IME), etc etc...
UT2004 should be in the halls of fame for getting everything right and balanced, and for looking good doing it.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
I'm actually rather disappointed in Gamasutra. It's a site I've come to respect for deep, narrow insights into the 'guts' of game programming and development. Their "what went right/what went wrong" serious is still outstanding.
But this? It's more like "quantum leap" the TV show, you know, where it starts with the premise that the main character doesn't know shit about what he's supposed to be doing?
It's nothing more than a collection of submissions with apparently very little editor review and no explanation of how they came to their conclusions, such as they are. I have no idea how they picked things, but frankly this list has no more (and possibly less) credibility than a list of what Gabe & Tycho played last year.
I mean, they simply posted the (sometime anonymous) comments from people like:
"Tribes was one of the first titles that saw the popularization of teamplay and the 'capture the flag' scenario as a critical game element."
Um, you mean ASIDE from the plethora of Quake mods that focussed PRECISELY on this like, oh, Teamfortress (which predated Tribes by 3 years)? Fact check, anyone?
I won't diss Half-Life - it really WAS a quantum leap forward in the ARTISTIC presentation of an FPS storyline (eat that, Roger Ebert), but to suggest that it somehow edges out Doom as the genesis of the genre? What universe did they live in?
And FWIW, I'd argue that 'honorable mention' should go to Gamespy. Anyone remember the horrible days of early quake connections? Gamespy (the launcher, as opposed to the megalomaniacal portal-site-empire) was a quantum leap forward in multiplaying, IMO.
Gamasutra, that was lame.
-Styopa
I would personally put Descent in over Quake. I remember trying to explain to a friend in a multiplayer game how to navigate to a certain spot, and just causing confusion. When he finally got there, turns out our "ships" were upside down to one another. The fact that there really was no universal up or down, just in relation to your ship, was great, and something I really haven't seen since. It was a pain to play with just a keyboard though.
I'm surprised that no mention was made of the Half Life mod community. Sure, Doom started the FPS modding in earnest, but it really flourished with HL.
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Well Chronicles of Riddick and Farcry also advanced the genre, as well as the Max Payne series.
Where's Halo?
You constantly struggle for self improvement - and it shows.
Hooray for bad Engrish on fortune cookies
So, they tallied up the votes, then decided that the results were totally stupid, and put some "honorable mentions" at the front of the list, including:
Doom
System Shock (the first one)
Marathon
Deus Ex
Alien vs Predator
Descent
Tribes
I think I like the "honorable mentions" list better than the actual top-5 list. I wonder if part of the problem was people not voting for Doom because it was "too obvious", and the wanted to pick something different.
System Shock 2 doesn't really bring anything new, it's just really well-done.
But where's Bungie's Marathon? Robbed!
If Half-Life is on the list for having a compelling story, then Marathon deserves to be on the list for having a more compelling story than Half-Life years before HL came out. It's not a PC-only list, since Goldeneye is on it, but did they even consider Macintosh-exclusive games?
Comment of the year
don't forget Ken!
Gekido's Lair
MIDI Maze on the Atari ST (released in 1987) not only gave you the first FPS, but it also gave you 16 person Deathmatch by using the Midi ports on the ST to create a network of machines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI_Maze/
Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.
With System Shock I'd also like to mention Deus Ex and Thief. I agree with the rest of your list - at least someone else truly knows what deserves credit! :)
Ziggy predicts a 98.9% probability that these awards suck ass!
Also predicting a 89% probability that this thread will contain, in its entirety, posts talking about how their favourite game wasn't listed.
AL get me out of this thread!
*leaps into linux vs osx flamewar*
Oh boy...
I'll just use my special getting high powers one more time...
...this isn't a review at all. This isn't an editorial put together by a staff on a gamer site like IGN or GameSpy either.
This is a summary of a poll. The participants are game developers, and the poll has decidedly a developerish slant. None of the motivations are written by Gamasutra editors - it is all written by the game developers who participated in the poll. Being editors, the Gamasutra people have merely selected the motivations they found interesting. And not just for the poll winners, but also for other interesting and inovating FPSes too - thus including all the FPSes you mentioned, and then some (eg Marathon was early, and did really interesting things with weapons and explosions, which was duly mentioned).
Anyway, the comment about the futility of bitching about Slashdot poll results apply to bitching about Gamasutra polls too.
Insightfull, my ass.
Yes, I am a biological organism. All rumors to the contrary are just that, rumors.
Don't forget the Timesplitters series; Timesplitters 2 was the first FPS to utilize monkeys!
This game was excellent.
The very best thing was it's freeform nature. All the ports I've tried to date, were more of a guided tour.
The discovery element to this game, done with the secuirty card device, made the whole experience for me. Playing the game, reading the hints from the computer consoles and finding the cards hooked the player solid, right out of the gate.
Nice ending too. Through hints, discovered and learned throughout the game, the player realizes they need to set the self-destruct and leave the ship in 2 minutes!
This whole thing was artfully done, with the security cards and hints placed in such a way the player would have to find them before progressing, yet enough freedom existed to feel like real discoveries and not guided tours.
Half-life does this too, but in a more obvious "spoon feed me please" way.
C'mon guys. Give the Renegage Games version a good play, with an eye toward these great elements, and port the fucker.
It's a great, if slow, experience on the Jag. On modern hardware, this game would be huge.
Blogging because I can...
It was released on December 21, 1994. That's 18 months before Quake. It's barely a year after Doom came out and three months fater Doom 2. What's it got? Deathmatches. Easy deathmatches. No hacks, tweaks, or anything. If the Macs were on an Appletalk network you could deathmatch. It was awesome. It had specials maps for deathmatches, even. What else? Rocket-jumping. Yeah, that it actually had up and down was an improvement over pretty much every other FPS at the time. And the story was amazing! There's still people arguing about it!
I imagine Carmack had all this thought out at the time, but the Bungie guys actually shipped product.
blarg.
Goldeneye did invent levels with actual goals, per point reactions from shooting enemies, and created the standard for fast paced deathmatching. It was the first FPS that FIT consoles. It wasn't the first for consoles but it was like a friggin glove on them. If you didn't ever beat the game, on 00 mode, you can't complain because you just don't know. The game is a masterpiece and I still play it to this day.
When you have a single GAME that defines a genere, it is hard to not put it in the #1 or #2 slot. For MANY years, a FPS game was called a Doom clone. Or, another "doom" game. There are not a lot of games like that, out there, in the FPS arena.
Doom clones - Pretty much any FPS game
Rainbow Six clones - pretty much any tactical shooter
Descent clone - 6-degrees of freedom games. (very tiny, niche market)
System Shock clone - FPS with an RPG element.
Not a lot there. Kind of surprised that SS2 was on the list, and not SS1 (I know, honorable mention... but still, it got bumped for its successor).
Unreal Tournament ought to be in that list though too.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
According to Wikipedia, Marathon invented this. It's taken as a given now, and I can understand people forgetting, but... Doom didn't have this. In Doom, you had to have keys set to look up, look down, and center your view.
Yet, even Marathon didn't quite do it.
I can understand that, say, a flight sim kind of game (Descent?) might be more fully 3D, but I don't really start feeling cramped playing an FPS until it becomes 2.5D, either with the control scheme or the mapping. That would make Quake a big one for me, and not just because it was popular. (Also, I don't like flight sims.)
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Several years ago, a friend of mine was stuck in a hospital for an exploratory op. My GF and I brought in a N64 (yes, checked out and approved by staff) and we played a few games, including GoldenEye. We eventually played with it set to insta-kill and slappers only. Oh, and my friend was doped up on morphine.
Damn, that was fun.
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Midimaze. I played midimaze for hours at an atari convention long before these other games even came out. midimaze on the atari ST was an awesome FPS. It's simplicity and elegance is STILL missing in the FPS market on PC.
Not that I don't play Urban Terror, Enemy Territory, or Quake 2 on the regular still, I do. They are all great games. How did quake 2 not end up on the list? Stupid article. These guys are about as informed on FPS as I am in brain surgery.
Note to self: DO NOT PERFORM BRAIN SURGERY!
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
AFAIK Deus Ex did nothing completely new, as it is younger than the other games listed by GP. But the overall quality was indeed exceptional, so I would rate it as outstanding example from a (previously) existing genre.
C - the footgun of programming languages
Great games both (esp. DEx), but "pushing the genre forward"?
Both Thief and Deus Ex had elements of SS in them, so while they were both brilliant games, I don't think they brought a huge amount of advancement to the whole genre.
Everything in moderation, including moderation itself
Well maybe not single-handedly pushing the genre forward but they did introduce some fundamental concepts for FPSs:
Deus Ex - your decisions affected the outcome of the game, how you progressed from each stage. So it could be said that Deus Ex made the player more morally-aware of their actions.
Thief - the ability to hide yourself, using shadows and stealth to your advantage. Being aware of your environment and forcing you to think about light, shadow, and sound.
Not too sure about what BioShock will be like - just have to wait and see...
Why didn't anyone said anything about Unreal? How can everyone overlook it? Yeah, HL was great, but, Unreal had
* atmosphere
* story
* music
* style
all of this, long before HL!! It was impressive. It had the best original music for a game. Really.. can you remember the music from _any_ other game? I can remember Unreal when coming out of the crashed ship and taking a first look at the unreal landscape. I have even kept the soundtrack on a CD, it was that good.. and I don't have other soundtracks from pretty much anything, except Matrix.
Unreal 1 was awesome.