First-person shooter#Combat and power-ups
{{short description|Video game genre}}
{{Distinguish|Light gun shooter|Rail shooter|Shooting gallery game}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Doom clone|the modern revival|Boomer shooter|the Drake song|First Person Shooter (song)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
File:S.T.A.L.K.E.R.- Call of Pripyat.jpg showcasing the first-person perspective]]{{Video FPS}}
A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of the main character. This genre shares multiple common traits with other shooter games, and in turn falls under the action games category. Since the genre's inception, advanced 3D and pseudo-3D graphics have proven fundamental to allow a reasonable level of immersion in the game world, and this type of game helped pushing technology progressively further, challenging hardware developers worldwide to introduce numerous innovations in the field of graphics processing units. Multiplayer gaming has been an integral part of the experience, and became even more prominent with the diffusion of internet connectivity in recent years.
Although earlier games predate it by 20 years, Wolfenstein 3D (1992) was the highest-profile archetype upon which most subsequent first-person shooters were based. One such game, considered the progenitor of the genre's mainstream acceptance and popularity, was Doom (1993), often cited as the most influential game in this category; for years, the term "Doom clone" was used to designate this type of game, due to Doom{{'}}s enormous success.{{Cite news|url=http://www.techtimes.com/articles/154622/20160504/the-five-best-doom-clones-ever-released.htm|title=The 5 Best 'Doom' Clones Ever Released|last=Schneider|first=Steven |date=May 4, 2016|work=Tech Times|access-date=January 26, 2018|language=en|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126185052/http://www.techtimes.com/articles/154622/20160504/the-five-best-doom-clones-ever-released.htm|archive-date=January 26, 2018}} Another common name for the genre in its early days was "corridor shooter", since processing limitations of that era's computer hardware meant that most of the action had to take place in enclosed areas, such as corridors and small rooms.{{cite magazine |title=Preview: Quake |magazine=Sega Saturn Magazine |issue=22|publisher=Emap International Limited |date=August 1997|page=38|url= https://archive.org/stream/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_022/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_022_-_august_1997_UK#page/n38/mode/2up |access-date=November 25, 2018}}
During the 1990s, the genre was one of the main cornerstones for technological advancements of computer graphics, starting with the release of Quake in 1996. Quake was one of the first real-time 3D rendered video games in history, and quickly became one of the most acclaimed shooter games of all time.{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=David |date=February 6, 1999 |title=The 50 Best Video games: A Legend In Your Own Living-Room |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-50-best-video-games-a-legend-in-your-own-livingroom-1068932.html |website=The Independent}}{{Cite web |title=The 100 Greatest Games Of All Time |url=http://www.empireonline.com/100greatestgames/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515221956/http://www.empireonline.com/100greatestgames/ |archive-date=2011-05-15 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=Empire}} Graphics accelerator hardware became essential to improve performances and add new effects such as full texture mapping, dynamic lighting and particle processing to the 3D engines that powered the games of that period, such as the iconic id Tech 2, the first iteration of the Unreal Engine, or the more versatile Build. Other seminal games were released during the years, with Marathon enhancing the narrative and puzzle elements,{{cite web | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/4-ways-marathon-influenced-modern-games | title=IGN: How Marathon influenced modern games | date=May 26, 2023 }}[http://uk.top100.ign.com/2005/061-070.html IGN's Top 100 Games] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209013124/http://uk.top100.ign.com/2005/061-070.html |date=February 9, 2009 }}, IGN, July 25, 2005, Accessed February 19, 2009 Duke Nukem 3D introducing voice acting, complete interactivity with the environment, and city-life settings to the genre, and games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Counter-Strike starting to adopt a realistic and tactical approach aimed at simulating real life counter-terrorism situations. GoldenEye 007, released in 1997, was a landmark first-person shooter for home consoles, while the critical and commercial success of later titles like Perfect Dark, Medal of Honor and the Halo series helped to heighten the appeal of this genre for the consoles market, straightening the road to the current tendency to release most titles as cross-platform, like many games in the Far Cry and Call of Duty series.
Definition
First-person shooters are a type of shooter game{{cite book|last=Rollings |first=Andrew |author2=Ernest Adams |title=Fundamentals of Game Design |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=2006 |url=http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14053/3597646.cw/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217232801/http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14053/3597646.cw/index.html |archive-date=February 17, 2009 }} that relies on a first-person point of view with which the player experiences the action through the eyes of the character. They differ from third-person shooters in that, in a third-person shooter, the player can see the character they are controlling (usually from behind, or above). The primary design focus is combat, mainly involving firearms or other types of long range weapons.
A defining feature of the genre is "player-guided navigation through a three-dimensional space." This is a defining characteristic that clearly distinguishes the genre from other types of shooting games that employ a first-person perspective, including light gun shooters, rail shooters, shooting gallery games, or older shooting electro-mechanical games.{{cite book | title = The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies | editor-first = Bernard | editor-last = Perron | publisher = Taylor & Francis | date = 2014 | isbn = 9781136290503 | chapter = Chapter 31: Shooting | first = Gerald | last= Voorhees | pages=251–258 }} First person-shooter games are thus categorized as being distinct from light gun shooters, a similar genre with a first-person perspective which uses dedicated light gun peripherals, in contrast to the use of conventional input devices.Casamassina, Matt, [http://uk.cube.ign.com/articles/653/653867p1.html Controller Concepts: Gun Games] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713004359/http://uk.cube.ign.com/articles/653/653867p1.html |date=July 13, 2011 }}, IGN, September 26, 2005, Accessed February 27, 2009 Light-gun shooters (like Virtua Cop) often feature "on-rails" (scripted) movement, whereas first-person shooters give the player complete freedom to roam the surroundings.
The first-person shooter may be considered a distinct genre itself, or a type of shooter game, in turn a subgenre of the wider action game genre.{{cite book |last=Rollings |first=Andrew |author2=Ernest Adams |title=Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design |publisher=New Riders Publishing |year=2003 |pages=290–296 |url=http://my.safaribooksonline.com/1592730019/ch09?portal=adobepress#ch09 |access-date=March 4, 2009 |archive-date=March 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331161214/http://my.safaribooksonline.com/1592730019/ch09?portal=adobepress#ch09 |url-status=dead }} Following the release of Doom in 1993, games in this style were commonly referred to as "Doom clones";[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/932958/Doom Doom] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609195511/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/932958/DOOM |date=June 9, 2008 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica, Accessed February 25, 2009 over time this term has largely been replaced by "first-person shooter". Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992, the year before Doom, has been often credited with introducing the genre, but critics have since identified similar, though less advanced, games developed as far back as 1973. There are occasional disagreements regarding the specific design elements which constitute a first-person shooter. For example, titles like Deus Ex or BioShock may be considered as first-person shooters, but may also fit into the role-playing games category, as they borrow extensively from that genre.Perry, Douglass C., [http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/733/733157p2.html BioShock: Ken Levine Talks First-Person Shooters] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023104925/http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/733/733157p2.html |date=October 23, 2009 }}, IGN, September 15, 2006, Accessed February 25, 2009 Other examples, like Far Cry and Rage, could also be considered adventure games, because they focus more on exploration than simple action, they task players with multiple different objectives other than just killing enemies, and they often revolve around the construction of complex cinematic storylines with a well defined cast of secondary characters to interact with. Furthermore, certain puzzle or platforming games are also sometimes categorized as first-person shooters, in spite of lacking any direct combat or shooting element, instead using a first-person perspective to help players immerse within the game and better navigate 3D environments (for example, in the case of Portal, the 'gun' the player character carries is used to create portals through walls rather than fire projectiles).{{cite magazine | url = https://www.gamesradar.com/portal-is-the-most-subversive-game-ever/ | title = Portal is the most subversive game ever | first = Joe | last = McNeilley | date = December 7, 2007 | access-date = September 17, 2018 | magazine = Games Radar | archive-date = May 16, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190516210531/https://www.gamesradar.com/portal-is-the-most-subversive-game-ever/ | url-status = live }} Some commentators also extend the definition to include combat flight simulators and space battle games, whenever the cockpit of the aircraft is depicted from a first-person point of view.
Game design
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Like most shooter games, first-person shooters involve an avatar, one or more ranged weapons, and a varying number of enemies. Because they take place in a 3D environment, these games tend to be somewhat more realistic than 2D shooter games, and have more accurate representations of gravity, lighting, sound and collisions. First-person shooters played on personal computers are most often controlled with a combination of a keyboard and mouse. This system has been claimed as superior to that found in console games,Beradini, Cesar A., [http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/6918/Play-Halo-on-Xbox-with-a-Keyboard-Mouse/ Play Halo on Xbox with a Keyboard & Mouse] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221090806/http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/6918/Play-Halo-on-Xbox-with-a-Keyboard-Mouse/ |date=February 21, 2009 }}, Team Xbox, October 4, 2004, Accessed February 23, 2009Schiesel, Seth, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/arts/television/03kill.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq= Balletic Finesse Amid the Science-Fiction Carnage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229055559/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/arts/television/03kill.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq= |date=December 29, 2016 }}, The New York Times, March 2, 2009, Accessed March 7, 2009 which frequently use two analog sticks: one used for running and sidestepping, the other for looking and aiming.Treit, Ryan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080617060822/http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/tips/noviceguides/firstpersonshooters.htm Novice Guides: First Person Shooter], Xbox.com, Accessed February 23, 2009 It is common to display the character's hands and weaponry in the main view, with a heads-up display showing health, ammunition and location details. Often, it is possible to overlay a map of the surrounding area.Lahti, Martti, "As We Become Machines: Corporealized Pleasures in Video Games", Wolf, Mark J. P. & Perron, Bernard (eds.), The Video Game Theory Reader, Routledge, p. 161
=Combat and power-ups=
First-person shooters generally focus on action gameplay, with fast-paced combat and dynamic firefights being a central point of the experience, though certain titles may also place a greater emphasis on narrative, problem-solving and logic puzzles. In addition to shooting, melee combat may also be used extensively. In some games, melee weapons are especially powerful, as a reward for the risk the player must take in maneuvering his character into close proximity to the enemy.Hong, Tim, [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/shoot-to-thrill-bio-sensory-reactions-to-3d-shooting-games Shoot to Thrill: Bio-Sensory Reactions to 3D Shooting Games], GamaSutra, December 2, 2008, Accessed February 23, 2009 In other games, instead, melee weapons may be less effective but necessary as a last resort.[http://uk.guides.ign.com/guides/884680/page_8.html Quake Wars Guide], IGN, Accessed March 10, 2009 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100809065209/http://uk.guides.ign.com/guides/884680/page_8.html |date=August 9, 2010 }} "Tactical shooters" tend to be more realistic, and require the players to use teamwork and strategy in order to succeed; the players can often command a squad of characters, which may be controlled by the A.I. or by human teammates,{{Cite web |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/tomclancysrainbowsix/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review |title=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Review |last=Dunkin |first=Alan |date=September 9, 1998 |website=GameSpot |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604092937/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/tomclancysrainbowsix/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 19, 2009}}While generally better than Spec Ops, Rainbow Six carries its own baggage, especially where the conflict of realism versus gameplay rears its ugly head. and can be given different tasks during the course of the mission.
First-person shooters typically present players with a vast arsenal of weapons, which can have a large impact on how they will approach the game. Some games offer realistic reproductions of actual existing (or even historical) firearms, simulating their rate of fire, magazine size, ammunition amount, recoil and accuracy. Depending on the context, other first-person shooters may incorporate some imaginative variations, including futuristic prototypes, alien-technology or magical weapons, and/or implementing a wide array of different projectiles, from lasers, to energy, plasma, rockets, and arrows. These many variations may also be applied to the tossing of grenades, bombs, spears and the like. Also, more unconventional modes of destruction may be employed by the playable character, such as flames, electricity, telekinesis or other supernatural powers, and traps.
In the early era of first-person shooters, often designers allowed characters to carry a large number of different weapons with little to no reduction in speed or mobility. More modern games started to adopt a more realistic approach, where the player can only equip a handheld gun, coupled with a rifle, or even limiting the players to only one weapon of choice at a time, forcing them to swap between different alternatives according to the situation. In some games, there's the option to trade up or upgrade weapons, resulting in multiple degrees of customization. Thus, the standards of realism are extremely variable. The protagonist can generally get healing and equipment supplies by means of collectible items such as first aid kits or ammunition packs, simply by walking over, or interacting with them.Staff, [http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/953/953636p1.html The Wednesday 10: First-Person Shooter Cliches] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216002953/http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/953/953636p1.html |date=February 16, 2009 }}, IGN, February 11, 2009, Accessed February 23, 2009 Some games allow players to accumulate experience points in a role-playing game fashion, that can generally be used to unlock new weapons, bonuses and skills.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200803/N08.0305.1634.21173.htm?Page=2 |title=The Art Of FPS Multiplayer Design |magazine=Game Informer |date=May 3, 2008 |access-date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525134030/http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200803/N08.0305.1634.21173.htm?Page=2 |archive-date=May 25, 2008 |url-status=dead}}
=Level design=
First-person shooters may be structurally composed of levels, or use the technique of a continuous narrative in which the game never leaves the first-person perspective. Others feature large sandbox environments, which are not divided into levels and can be explored freely.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200705/R07.0323.1414.37101.htm |title=S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl |magazine=Game Informer |date=May 2007 |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401032528/http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200705/R07.0323.1414.37101.htm |archive-date=April 1, 2008 |url-status=dead}} In first-person shooters, protagonists interact with the environment to varying degrees, from basics such as using doors, to problem solving puzzles based on a variety of interactive objects. In some games, the player can damage the environment, also to varying degrees: one common device is the use of barrels containing explosive material which the player can shoot, harming nearby enemies. Other games feature environments which are extensively destructible, allowing for additional visual effects.Reed, Kristan, [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/p_black_ps2x Black] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106141548/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/p_black_ps2x |date=January 6, 2016 }}, EuroGamer, June 2, 2005, Accessed February 23, 2009 The game world will often make use of science fiction, historic (particularly World War II) or modern military themes, with such antagonists as aliens, monsters, terrorists and soldiers of various types.{{cite web |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200806/N08.0605.1635.16706.htm?Page=1 |title=FPS Field Guide: A Look At Common Enemies |work=GameInformer |date=May 6, 2008 |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731162901/http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200806/N08.0605.1635.16706.htm?Page=1 |archive-date=July 31, 2008 |url-status=dead}} Games feature multiple difficulty settings; in harder modes, enemies are tougher, more aggressive and do more damage, and power-ups are limited. In easier modes, the player can succeed through reaction times alone; on more difficult settings, it is often necessary to memorize the levels through trial and error.Boutros, Daniel, [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/difficulty-is-difficult-designing-for-hard-modes-in-games Difficulty is Difficult: Designing for Hard Modes in Games], GamaSutra, September 16, 2008, Accessed March 10, 2009
=Multiplayer=
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First-person shooters may feature a multiplayer mode, taking place on specialized levels. Some games are designed specifically for multiplayer gaming, and have very limited single player modes in which the player competes against game-controlled characters termed "bots". Massively multiplayer online first-person shooters like those in the PlanetSide series allow thousands of players to compete at once in a persistent world.[http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/400/400835p1.html The Worlds First MMOFPS is nearly complete] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713005112/http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/400/400835p1.html |date=July 13, 2011 }}, IGN, May 5, 2003, Accessed February 23, 2009 Large scale multiplayer games allow multiple squads, with leaders issuing commands and a commander controlling the team's overall strategy.Kosak, Dave, [http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/battlefield-2/626911p1.html Battlefield 2 (PC)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502042137/http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/battlefield-2/626911p1.html |date=May 2, 2009 }}, GameSpy, June 17, 2005, Accessed February 23, 2009 Multiplayer games have a variety of different styles of match.
The classic types are the deathmatch (and its team-based variant) in which players score points by killing other players' characters; and capture the flag, in which teams attempt to penetrate the opposing base, capture a flag and return it to their own base whilst preventing the other team from doing the same. Other game modes may involve attempting to capture enemy bases or areas of the map, attempting to take hold of an object for as long as possible while evading other players, or deathmatch variations involving limited lives or in which players fight over a particularly potent power-up. These match types may also be customizable, allowing the players to vary weapons, health and power-ups found on the map, as well as victory criteria.[http://uk.guides.ign.com/guides/15922/page_7.html Halo Guide], IGN, Accessed March 10, 2009 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810145528/http://uk.guides.ign.com/guides/15922/page_7.html |date=August 10, 2010 }} Games may allow players to choose between various classes, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, equipment and roles within a team.
= Free-to-play =
{{main|Free-to-play}}
There are many free-to-play first-person shooters on the market now, including Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Apex Legends, Team Fortress 2, PlanetSide 2, and Halo Infinite Multiplayer.{{Cite news|url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/best-free-first-person-shooters/|title=Wage war on a budget with 10 fun and free first-person shooters for PC and Mac|date=February 14, 2018|work=Digital Trends|access-date=April 17, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=April 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417192355/https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/best-free-first-person-shooters/|url-status=live}} Some games are released as free-to-play as their intended business model and can be highly profitable (League of Legends earned $2 billion in 2017),{{Cite news|url=https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/01/30/league-of-legends-top-free-to-play-revenue-charts-in-2017/|title=League of Legends Tops Free-to-Play Revenue Charts in 2017|website=Comicbook.com|access-date=April 17, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031601/http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/01/30/league-of-legends-top-free-to-play-revenue-charts-in-2017/|url-status=live}} but others such as Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade begin their life as paid games and become free-to-play later to reach a wider audience after an initially disappointing reception.{{Cite web|url=http://twinfinite.net/2017/03/warhammer-40k-eternal-crusade-goes-free-to-play/|title=Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade Goes Free to Play|website=twinfinite.net|language=en-US|access-date=April 17, 2018|date=March 18, 2017|archive-date=April 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031542/http://twinfinite.net/2017/03/warhammer-40k-eternal-crusade-goes-free-to-play/|url-status=live}} Some player communities complain about freemium first-person-shooters, fearing that they create unbalanced games, but many game designers have tweaked prices in response to criticism, and players can usually get the same benefits by playing longer rather than paying.
History
{{For|the history of light gun shooter, rail shooter and shooting gallery games that employ a first-person perspective|Shooter game#History|Light gun shooter#History}}
{{Overly detailed|section|details=Far too much detail on individual games without expressing their importance to the FPS genre development.|date=July 2024}}
=Origins: 1970s–1980s=
File:Bradley Trainer screenshot.pngs such as Battlezone.]]
The earliest two documented first-person shooter video games are Maze War and Spasim. Maze War was originally developed in 1973 by Greg Thompson, Steve Colley and Howard Palmer, high-school students in a NASA work-study program trying to develop a program to help visualize fluid dynamics for spacecraft designs. The work became a maze game presented to the player in the first-person, and later included support for a second player and the ability to shoot the other player to win the game. Thompson took the game's code with him to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where with help from Dave Lebling to create an eight-player version that could be played over ARPANET, computer-run players using artificial intelligence, customizable maps, online scoreboards and a spectator mode.{{cite web | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/the-history-of-the-first-person-shooter/ | title = The history of the first person shooter | first = Edwin | last = Evans-Thirlwell | date = October 20, 2017 | access-date = September 17, 2018 | work = PC Gamer | archive-date = September 18, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180918012341/https://www.pcgamer.com/the-history-of-the-first-person-shooter/ | url-status = live }} Spasim had a documented debut at the University of Illinois in 1974 on the PLATO mainframe system. The game was a rudimentary space flight simulator for up to 32 players, featuring a first-person perspective.Garmon, Jay, [http://www.techrepublic.com/article/geek-trivia-first-shots-fired/5710539 Geek Trivia: First shots fired] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616131909/http://www.techrepublic.com/article/geek-trivia-first-shots-fired/5710539 |date=June 16, 2011 }}, TechRepublic, May 24, 2005, Accessed February 16, 2009 Both games were distinct from modern first-person shooters, involving simple tile-based movement where the player could only move from square to square and turn in 90-degree increments.{{citation|title=IE2009: Proceedings of the 6th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment |author=Malcolm Ryan |publisher=Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment |isbn=978-1-4503-0010-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYEzMIBe57kC |access-date=April 20, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625023443/https://books.google.com/books?id=SYEzMIBe57kC |archive-date=June 25, 2016 |date=December 17, 2009 }} Such games spawned others that used similar visuals to display the player as part of a maze (such as Akalabeth: World of Doom in 1979), and were loosely called "rat's eye view" games, since they gave the appearance of a rat running through a maze. Another crucial early game that influenced first-person shooters was Wayout. It featured the player trying to escape a maze, using ray casting to render the environment, simulating visually how each wall segment would be rendered relative to the player's position and facing angle. This allowed more freeform movement compared to the grid-based and cardinal Maze War and Spasim. Among PLATO games, Witz and Boland's 1977 Futurewar, a dystopian 3D first-person dungeon shooter, has been argued to be the first true FPS. This is due to the combination of a fully perspective-shifting 3D maze with enemies ahead, and what may be the earliest representation of weapons appearing in perspective in front of the player.{{cite web |last1=CRPG Addict (pseud.) |title=Futurewar: Summary and Rating |url=http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2024/05/futurewar-summary-and-rating.html |website=CRPG Addict |date=May 23, 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024}}{{cite web |title=Futurewar |url=https://howtomakeanrpg.com/r/l/g/futurewar.html |website=How to Make an RPG |access-date=6 September 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Witz |first1=Erik |title=Futurewar Restoration Project |url=http://www.future-war.com/ |access-date=6 September 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Dear |first1=Brian |title=The Friendly Orange Glow |date=2017}}
A slightly more sophisticated first-person shooting mainframe game was Panther (1975), a tank simulator for the PLATO system. Atari's first-person tank shooter arcade video game Battlezone (1980), modeled closely after PLATO Panther, was released for arcades and presented using a vector graphics display, with the game designed by Ed Rotberg. It is considered to be the first successful first-person shooter video game, making it a milestone for the genre. It was primarily inspired by Atari's top-down arcade shooter game Tank (1974).{{cite book |last1=Wolf |first1=Mark J. P. |title=Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-37936-9 |volume=1 |pages=68–9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deBFx7QAwsQC&pg=PA68 |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506082843/https://books.google.com/books?id=deBFx7QAwsQC&pg=PA68 |url-status=live }} The original arcade cabinet also employed a periscope viewfinder similar to submarine shooting arcade games such as Midway's video game Sea Wolf (1976) and Sega's electro-mechanical game Periscope (1966). Battlezone became the first successful mass-market game featuring a first-person viewpoint and wireframe 3D graphics, with a version later released for home computers in 1983.Shahrani, Sam, [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2674/educational_feature_a_history_and_.php?page=1 Educational Feature: A History and Analysis of Level Design in 3D Computer Games - Pt. 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629172105/http://gamasutra.com/features/20060425/shahrani_01.shtml |date=June 29, 2006 }}, GamaSutra, April 26, 2006, Accessed March 7, 2009
=Early first-person shooters: 1987–1992=
MIDI Maze, a first-person shooter released in 1987 for the Atari ST,[https://ign.com/games/midi-maze/st-695431 MIDI Maze: Atari ST] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102082645/http://www.ign.com/games/midi-maze/st-695431 |date=November 2, 2012 }}, IGN, Accessed September 2, 2012 featured maze-based gameplay and character designs similar to Pac-Man, but displayed in a first-person perspective.{{cite web|title=25 years of Pac-Man |publisher=MeriStation |date=July 4, 2005 |url=http://www.meristation.com/v3/des_articulo.php?pic=DC&id=cw42b7458f0dfc7&idj=&idp=&tipo=art&c=1&pos=7 |access-date=May 6, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929150234/http://www.meristation.com/v3/des_articulo.php?pic=DC&id=cw42b7458f0dfc7&idj=&idp=&tipo=art&c=1&pos=7 |archive-date=September 29, 2011 }} ([https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.meristation.com%2Fv3%2Fdes_articulo.php%3Fpic%3DDC%26id%3Dcw42b7458f0dfc7%26idj%3D%26idp%3D%26tipo%3Dart%26c%3D1%26pos%3D7&sl=es&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8 Translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424060750/https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.meristation.com%2Fv3%2Fdes_articulo.php%3Fpic%3DDC%26id%3Dcw42b7458f0dfc7%26idj%3D%26idp%3D%26tipo%3Dart%26c%3D1%26pos%3D7&sl=es&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8 |date=April 24, 2017 }}){{cite web|url=https://gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-5|title=Gaming's Most Important Evolutions|page=5|publisher=GamesRadar|date=October 8, 2010|access-date=April 27, 2011|archive-date=November 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107084257/https://www.gamesradar.com/gamings-most-important-evolutions/|url-status=live}} Later ported to various systems—including the Game Boy and Super NES under the title Faceball 2000—it featured the first network multiplayer deathmatches, using a MIDI interface. Despite the inconvenience of connecting numerous machines together, it gained a cult following; 1UP.com called it the "first multi-player 3D shooter on a mainstream system" and the first "major LAN action game".Parish, Jeremy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160228065304/http://www.1up.com/features/faceball-2000 The Essential 50: Faceball 2000], 1UP, Accessed April 24, 2009, Archived from the [http://www.1up.com/features/faceball-2000 original] on February 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
In 1986, MacroMind released a version of the game for the Apple Macintosh titled Maze Wars+, which was playable on the AppleTalk local network by up to 30 players. The game featured five different character avatars, including an eyeball similar to that found in the Xerox version of the game, four different types of robot players, additional maze features such as teleporters, and walls made of lines rather than blocks.
Id Software's Hovertank 3D pioneered ray casting technology in May 1991 to enable faster gameplay than 1980s vehicle simulators, though it was preceded by 3 years by the FPS The Colony in doing so and Catacomb 3-D introduced another advance, texture mapping, in November 1991. The second game to use texture mapping was Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, a March 1992 action role-playing game by Looking Glass Technologies that featured a first-person viewpoint and an advanced graphics engine. In October 1990, id developer John Romero learned about texture mapping from a phone call to Paul Neurath. Romero described the texture mapping technique to id programmer John Carmack, who remarked, "I can do that.",{{cite web|last=Au |first=Wagner |title=Masters of Doom |work=salon.com |date=May 5, 2003 |url=http://www.salon.com/2003/05/05/doom_2/ |access-date=May 5, 2003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030094509/http://www.salon.com/2003/05/05/doom_2/ |archive-date=October 30, 2012 }} and would feel motivated by Looking Glass's example to do the same in Catacomb 3-D. Catacomb 3-D also introduced the display of the protagonist's hand and weapon (in this case, magical spells) on the screen, whereas previously aspects of the player's avatar were not visible. The experience of developing Ultima Underworld would make it possible for Looking Glass to create the Thief and System Shock series years later.{{cite web|last=Mallinson |first=Paul |title=Games that changed the world: Ultima Underworld |work=CVG |publisher=ComputerAndVideoGames.com |date=April 16, 2002 |url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/28003/features/games-that-changed-the-world-ultima-underworld/ |access-date=October 8, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212192612/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=28003 |archive-date=December 12, 2007 }}
=Rise in popularity: 1992–1993=
File:Wolf3d pc.png with a first-person perspective, Wolfenstein 3D is often credited with establishing the first-person shooter genre and many of its staples.]]
Wolfenstein 3D was the first episodic FPS game developed by id Software, as a successor to the successful 1980s 2D infiltration video-games Castle Wolfenstein{{Cite web |title=Castle Wolfenstein (1981) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/3115/castle-wolfenstein/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein{{Cite web |title=Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (1984) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/1760/beyond-castle-wolfenstein/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} from Muse Software, and published by Apogee Software the 5th of May 1992{{Cite web |title=Wolfenstein 3D Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/306/wolfenstein-3d/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} in which the player had to explore mazes while battling Nazis to find keys required to unlock doors to reach each floor's exit all while searching every wall for secret areas filled with treasures for a higher score until each episode's last floor's boss and was an instant success because of its first episode's distribution and spread as shareware{{Cite web |date=2013-05-11 |title=Gamasutra - Features - 20 Years Of Evolution: Scott Miller And 3D Realms |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132501/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php?page=6 |access-date=2024-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511170342/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132501/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php?page=6 |archive-date=May 11, 2013 }} whereas the second and the third available after registration; and the three last prequel episodes available as a separate mission pack, to the point that it has since been credited for having single-handedly invented the concept of first-person-shooter as a genre of video-games.Cifaldi, Frank, [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-gamasutra-quantum-leap-awards-first-person-shooters The Gamasutra Quantum Leap Awards: First-Person Shooters], GamaSutra, September 1, 2006, Accessed February 16, 2009 It was built on John Carmack's ray casting technology already experimented into id's previous games Hovertank One and Catacomb 3D to create a new standard for first-person-shooter video-games widely emulated, improved, and still applied to this day.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/firstpersonshooter/firstshotfired.asp |title=Guide to FPS |last=Hasselberger |first=Cheese |website=UGO Networks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207042033/http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/firstpersonshooter/firstshotfired.asp |archive-date=December 7, 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 16, 2009}} Tom Hall originally designed it to be a first-person infiltration game including stealth, hiding dead bodies, disguises and alarms, following the legacy of its predecessors, and the game engine does include these original features, however John Romero and John Carmack wanted a simple shooter and Tom Hall had to fight hard to even include the secret areas.{{Cite web |title=Tom Hall: 5 key design lessons I learned directing Wolfenstein 3D |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/tom-hall-5-key-design-lessons-i-learned-directing-i-wolfenstein-3d-i- |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.gamedeveloper.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2010-09-20 |title=Tom Hall on Wolfenstein 3D {{!}} IncGamers |url=http://www.incgamers.com/Features/241/tom-hall-on-wolfenstein-3d/1 |access-date=2024-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920234147/http://www.incgamers.com/Features/241/tom-hall-on-wolfenstein-3d/1 |archive-date=September 20, 2010 }}{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=2022-05-05 |title=Achtung! How Wolfenstein 3D Shocked the World, 30 Years Later |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/802248/how-wolfenstein-3d-shocked-the-world-30-years-later/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=How-To Geek |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Wolfenstein 3D (1992) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/306/wolfenstein-3d/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} Despite its violent themes, Wolfenstein largely escaped the controversy generated by the later Doom, although it was banned from Germany due to the use of Nazi iconography which is a sensitive topic there where Wolfenstein has been forbidden until 2022[http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6090892/p-3.html When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911085940/http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6090892/p-3.html |date=September 11, 2009 }}, GameSpot, Accessed February 24, 2009{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Joseph |date=2022-09-16 |title=Wolfenstein 3D Available In Germany After 30 Years |url=https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/wolfenstein-3d-available-in-germany-after-30-years |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=TechRaptor |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2019-11-19 |title=Nearly 30 years later, "Wolfenstein 3D" unbanned in Germany |url=https://thesplintering.com/2019/11/19/world-war-ii-video-game-shooter-wolfenstein-3d-no-longer-banned-in-germany/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=The Splintering |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2018-08-10 |title=Germany lifts total ban on Nazi symbols in video games |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45142651 |access-date=2024-07-19 |language=en-GB}} and Nintendo too required id Software to remove blood, gore, and all Nazi iconography as well as replace the enemy attack dogs with giant rats to allow it to be released on SNES because of their anti-violence policy.{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE4DF123BF933A25756C0A9679C8B63 |title=Nintendo Grows Up and Goes for the Gross-Out |work=The New York Times |last=Kushner |first=David |date=May 10, 2001 |access-date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110123446/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/10/technology/nintendo-grows-up-and-goes-for-the-gross-out.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |url-status=live }} id Software released a map editor to let players create and share online their own home-made maps for the game which started the players' modding communities who blossomed with Doom and maintain their games alive continuously sustaining new content for them. During Doom
Ken Silverman decided to develop his own game engine after he played Wolfenstein 3D in 1992. His first game, that he named Walken as in "Ken's Walking simulator", was close to Wolf3D engine. Then he improved his game with his friend Andrew Cotter, added narration to each floor, renamed it Ken's Labyrinth, and released it on Internet as shareware under his brother's company Advanced Systems on 1 January 1993.{{Cite web |title=Ken's Labyrinth Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/388/kens-labyrinth/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} The game was about escaping a bizarre dream labyrinth full of people shooting projectiles at the player while projectiles were more balls than bullets, meaning they had limited range and were slow enough to dodge them as opposite to Wolfenstein 3D whose weapons were hitscan firearms, some walls reflected projectiles, killed enemies vanished without any death animation nor remnant body on the floor, and Ken himself voiced the protagonist and filled his game with pictures of himself which hurt the player if they dared to shoot them, which made his game personal. Epic MegaGames, then Wolfenstein 3D
Most shooters in this period were developed for IBM PC compatible computers. On the Macintosh side, Bungie released its first shooter, Pathways into Darkness in August 1993,{{Cite web |title=Pathways into Darkness Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/22359/pathways-into-darkness/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which featured more adventure and narrative elements alongside first-person shooter gameplay. Pathways had been inspired by Wolfenstein 3D, and born out of an attempt to take their previous top-down dungeon exploration game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete into a 3D setting.{{cite web |last=Parish |first=Jeremy |date=September 17, 2018 |title=Destiny's roots can be traced long into Bungie's past |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/9/17/17870928/destiny-lore-history-marathon-bungie |access-date=September 17, 2018 |work=Polygon}}{{cite news |author=Deniz, Tuncer |date=December 1993 |title=The Making Of: Pathways Into Darkness |url=http://pid.bungie.org/IMGmakingofPID.html |work=Inside Mac Games}}
ShadowCaster, developed by Raven Software and published by Origin Systems the 27th of October 1993,{{Cite web |title=Shadow Caster - Abandonware France |url=https://www.abandonware-france.org/ltf_abandon/ltf_jeu.php?id=559 |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=www.abandonware-france.org |language=fr}} used a heavily modified version of Wolf3D engine made by John Carmack during summer 1992 who offered it to Raven Software after he was impressed with their first RPVG Black Crypt because he was curious about how Raven would use his game engine to make a RPVG instead of a FPSG. ShadowCaster was the first commercial game released with classic "2.5D Doom engine" improvements such as distance fogging, non-orthogonal walls, textured ceilings and floors, etc. before Doom itself came out. It introduced some RPG elements into a FPS game engine as well as a customizable HUD, an auto-map, jumping, swimming, flying, shapeshifting with each metamorphosis featuring its own characteristics to adapt to each situation.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_7_October_1993 |title=PC Zone 7 (October 1993)}} Then it got enhanced with redbook audio narration, voiced dialogues which replaced the text boxes, two new levels, and 3D rendered cutscenes, then re-released on CD-ROM in 1994.{{Cite web |title=Shadowcaster (1993) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/550/shadowcaster/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Shadowcaster Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/550/shadowcaster/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2014-03-13 |title=ShadowCaster |url=https://classicreload.com/shadowcaster.html |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=ClassicReload.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=ShadowCaster - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game |url=https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/ShadowCaster |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.pcgamingwiki.com}} ShadowCaster started a durable close friendship between id Software and Raven Software as id will always share their technologies with Raven who will continuously use and upgrade them.
Apogee Software, the publisher of Wolfenstein 3D, followed up its success and released another FPS game based on its engine titled Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold from another developer Jam Productions 5 December 1993{{Cite web |title=Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/786/blake-stone-aliens-of-gold/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which featured a sci-fi setting about a British secret agent named Blake Stone pursuing a mad scientist through his facilities like a sci-fi James Bond, a similar Wolf3D's gameplay of exploring mazes while battling various foes to find keycards required to unlock doors to reach each floor's exit all while searching every wall for secret areas filled with treasures for a higher score until each episode's last floor's boss but with a far wider diversity of enemies,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLNjyskHSSM |title=All Bosses and Enemies of Blake Stone |date=2022-05-11 |last=Game Intros & Finales |access-date=2024-07-18 |via=YouTube}} and added textured floors and ceilings, switches to find and to press to open new areas, traps, an auto-map, stats tracking, a grenade launcher, limited-use vending-machines, teleporters, enemies spawners, back-tracking to previous levels as well as some friendly NPCs in the form of scientists who would give the player hints and supplies provided the player didn't kill them.{{Citation |last=Apogee Software |title=Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold |date=1993 |url=http://archive.org/details/blakestonealiensofgold_202201 |access-date=2024-07-19}}{{Cite web |title=Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (1993) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/786/blake-stone-aliens-of-gold/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Blake Stone: Aliens Of Gold (DOS) Game Download |url=https://gamesnostalgia.com/game/blake-stone-aliens-of-gold |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=GamesNostalgia |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold game at DOSGames.com |url=http://www.dosgames.com/game/blake-stone-aliens-of-gold |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=DOSGames.com |language=en}}{{Citation |last=Jam Productions |title=Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold |date=1993 |url=http://archive.org/details/BlakeStoneAliensOfGold |access-date=2024-07-19 |publisher=Apogee Software}}{{Cite web |date=2014-11-15 |title=Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold - Review - allgame |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=736&tab=review |access-date=2024-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115065910/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=736&tab=review |archive-date=November 15, 2014 }} The game was initially well-received but sales rapidly declined in the wake of the success of id's Doom, released a week later.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/hyper-006 |title=Hyper 006 |date=May 1994}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/ElectronicEntertainment04Apr1994 |title=Electronic Entertainment 04 April 1994 |date=April 1994}}{{Cite web |last=Handley |first=Zoey |date=2021-07-23 |title=Blake Stone was the best FPS until Doom released a week later |url=https://www.destructoid.com/blake-stone-was-the-best-fps-until-doom-released-a-week-later/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Destructoid |language=en-US}}Guifoil, John, [http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/technology/the-old-shoebox-download-blake-stone-aliens-of-gold/ The Old Shoebox: Download Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708013028/http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/technology/the-old-shoebox-download-blake-stone-aliens-of-gold/ |date=July 8, 2011 }}, Blast, August 1, 2008, Accessed February 16, 2009 It still got a sequel Blake Stone: Planet Strike the 28th of October 1994{{Cite web |title=Blake Stone: Planet Strike! Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/2946/blake-stone-planet-strike/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which integrated the auto-map into the HUD as a rotating mini-map which revealed secret doors at the cost of consuming auto-mapper charges and added some enemies who camouflaged into the environment or were cloaked to surprise the player though.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/ComputerPlayer09Feb1995 |title=Computer Player 09 February 1995 |date=February 1995}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/ElectronicEntertainment15Mar1995 |title=Electronic Entertainment 15 March 1995 |date=March 1995}}{{Cite web |title=Blake Stone – Hardcore Gaming 101 |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blake-stone/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |language=en-US}}
= Advances in 3D engines: 1993–1997 =
During the Doom & Quake's era from 1993 to 1997, FPS games were still all about their game engines as original and innovative games were ignored for the only reason that their game engine was outdated. FPS games were simplistic, such as shooting everything without any complex plot. However their gameplay started to evolve, and the combo id Software & Raven Software still dominated the market, while a challenger Captone Software persisted at attempting to be original, and competed with them and failed every time for diverse reasons,{{which|date=January 2025}} when another challenger LucasArts succeeded, and Bungie Software made FPS games featuring a complex plot.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} The modding communities who sustain life into their games blossomed starting from Doom, 2D sprites were replaced with 3D polygons starting from Descent then Quake, and Apogee Software returned on the market as 3D Realms thanks to Ken Silverman.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}
Doom, released the 10th of December 1993,{{Cite web |title=Doom Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/1068/doom/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} refined Wolfenstein 3D's template by adding support for higher resolution, improved textures, variations in height (e.g., stairs and platforms the player's character could climb upon), more intricate level design (Wolfenstein 3D was limited to a grid based system where walls had to be orthogonal to each other, whereas Doom allowed for any inclination) and rudimentary illumination effects such as flickering lights and areas of darkness, creating a far more believable 3D environment than Wolfenstein 3D
Operation Body Count, developed on Wolf3D engine and released by Capstone Software on 1 January 1994,{{Cite web |title=Operation Body Count Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/1828/operation-body-count/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Operation Body Count |url=https://www.gog.com/en/game/operation_body_count |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=GOG.com |language=en}} was Capstone's first FPS game. Featuring a story about a terrorist attack on the UNO tower, it was an early attempt at making a tactical FPS game, since the player was in command of an anti-terrorist squad that they could order around and even switch between squad members as long as they were not dead. OBC featured digitized graphics, transparent textures such as breakable glass, randomization of enemies and items' placement, body armor, booby traps, and a nearly fully destructible environment. The flamethrower could set people and environments on fire, making movement extremely hazardous for the player as the fire randomly spread, and the grenade launcher could destroy most walls (with some hard coded exceptions). OBC also featured textured floors and ceilings and an auto-map similar to Blake Stone. However, unlike Blake Stone, OBC featured more than one floor texture per level, despite the floor and ceiling graphics being partially parallax, meaning that they appeared to "warp" as the player moved around.{{Cite web |date=2014-11-17 |title=Operation Bodycount - Review - allgame |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12276&tab=review |access-date=2024-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117060746/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12276&tab=review |archive-date=November 17, 2014 }}{{Cite web |title=Operation Body Count (1994) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/1828/operation-body-count/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Y4mkwIA9Q |title=Operation: Body Count - Gameplay |date=2009-08-16 |last=MarphitimusBlackimus |access-date=2024-07-20 |via=YouTube}} Despite some original ideas, the game is widely considered to be of poor quality. The terrorists were stereotypes of Arab people, the AI was not smart enough to have the enemies pose any challenge nor the squad's teammates be useful, and being based on Wolf3D engine after Doom was released, it was technologically outdated and "doomed" from the start as opposite to Blake Stone which did enjoy one week of glory before Doom was released.{{Cite web |title=Operation Body Count – Hardcore Gaming 101 |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/operation-body-count/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |language=en-US}} OBC was eventually ported source-ported into GZDoom and remastered by its modding community.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-19 |title=Operation Body Count |url=https://mikestoybox.net/2017/10/18/operation-body-count/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Mike's Toybox |language=en}}
Corridor 7: Alien Invasion, developed and published by Capstone Software the 1st of March 1994,{{Cite web |title=Corridor 7: Alien Invasion |url=https://www.gog.com/en/game/corridor_7_alien_invasion |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=GOG.com |language=en}} was their second attempt to make a FPS game. Still based on Wolf3D engine, the plot reminds strikingly of Half-Life
The 12th of March 1994, the Japanese company Exact released Geograph Seal for the Sharp X68000 home computer.{{Cite web |title=Geograph Seal Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/54772/geograph-seal/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} An obscure import title as far as the Western market is concerned, it was nonetheless an early example of a 3D polygonal first-person shooter, with innovative platform game mechanics and free-roaming outdoor environments.
CyClones was begun in February 1994 and published by Raven Software the 1st of November 1994,{{Cite web |title=CyClones |url=https://www.gog.com/en/game/cyclones |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=GOG.com |language=en}} marking the beginning of a new period for Raven who split into two groups: One which worked with id's new DOOM engine to create Mage, a fantasy action game, which would eventually evolve into the game Heretic. The other team started on a project that was to use the engine from ShadowCaster to create a futuristic missions-based FPS game called CyClones. The name referred to Cybernetic Clones, the minions of aliens who had ravaged and devastated Earth. The game was in first person 3D, as was most other Raven games, so reusing the ShadowCaster engine and its tools was a natural choice. But within a short time, the team found that they wanted to do more with the game and engine than they had done before. A new, 100% in-house engine was created that could handle moving platforms, catwalks, sloped areas, and transparent textures. The engine, by Carl Stika, was nicknamed STEAM. A small budget was granted for full-motion video sequences to be created for the game, to be presented between missions as briefings. CyClones allowed to use the mouse to aim without moving, as opposite to other FPS games from the time which bound the mouse to both aiming and moving simultaneously, and without turning either, as the crosshair was not fixed at the center of the screen on which it could move freely as opposite to nowadays standard fixed aiming, CyClones
Apogee Software's Rise of the Triad: Dark War, released the 21st of December 1994,{{Cite web |title=Rise of the Triad: Dark War Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/418/rise-of-the-triad-dark-war/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} began as a sequel to Wolfenstein 3D, but was soon altered and became a stand-alone game . The game included "ludicrous" gibs, bullet holes persisted, and sheets of glass could be shattered by shooting or running through them.{{Cite web |date=2013-05-11 |title=Gamasutra - Features - 20 Years Of Evolution: Scott Miller And 3D Realms |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132501/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php?page=5 |access-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511170340/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132501/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php?page=5 |archive-date=May 11, 2013 }}{{cite web |title=Rise of the Triad – Hardcore Gaming 101 |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/rise-of-the-triad/}}
Bungie Software released the sci-fi FPS game Marathon the 21st of December 1994 still exclusively on Mac,{{Cite web |title=Marathon Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/22079/marathon/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which streamlined concepts from their previous game Pathways Into Darkness by eliminating role-playing elements in favor of the shooter action spurred by Doom
After having provided a modified Wolfenstein 3D engine to Raven Software for ShadowCaster and being impressed by the final result, id Software requested that Raven develop a medieval-themed/dark fantasy game using a modified version of id's Doom engine. Raven considered themselves as typical D&D fans and initially drafted the game with role-playing elements. They then took instruction from id programmer John Carmack to simply "do it like Doom, and add the fantasy flavor."{{Cite web |date=2020-11-05 |title=Raven Software Co-Founder Talks About the Origins of Heretic, the 'Medieval Doom' – IGN Unfiltered - IGN |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/raven-software-co-founder-talks-origins-heretic-the-medieval-doom-ign-unfiltered?amp=1 |access-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105112925/https://www.ign.com/articles/raven-software-co-founder-talks-origins-heretic-the-medieval-doom-ign-unfiltered?amp=1 |archive-date=November 5, 2020 }} Raven Software then used and upgraded the Doom engine and released Heretic the 23rd of December 1994{{Cite web |title=Heretic Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/21987/heretic/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which introduced larger maps, vertical aiming, flying, gibs, randomized ambient sound effects, interactive environments such as rushing water and winds which push the player along, an inventory system to store and select many different items which range from health potions to the "morph ovum" which transforms enemies into chickens and one of the most notable item that can be found is the "Tome of Power" which acts as a secondary firing mode for certain weapons, resulting in a much more powerful projectile for each weapon, some of which change the look of the projectile entirely,{{Cite book |last=Decker Publications |url=https://archive.org/details/electronic-games-1994-12/page/132/mode/2up |title=Electronic Games 1994-12 "Herecy Can Be Fun - Beyond Doom with Raven and id" |date=December 1994}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/hyper-016/page/n31/mode/2up |title=Hyper 016 Heretic review |date=March 1995}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_128/page/n105/mode/2up |title=Computer Gaming World Issue 128 "Heretic, Meet Your Doom! Heretic adds magic and more to id Software's Doom" |date=March 1995}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_Issue_025_1995-04_Dennis_Publishing_GB/page/n67/mode/2up?view=theater |title=PC Zone - Issue 025 (1995-04)(Dennis Publishing)(GB) Heretic review |date=April 1995}}{{Cite web |title=Heretic (1994) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/21987/heretic/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} then Raven added two more episodes and re-released it as Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders the 31st of March 1996.{{Cite web |title=Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders Release Information for PC - GameFAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/197548-heretic-shadow-of-the-serpent-riders/data |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=gamefaqs.gamespot.com}}{{Cite web |title=Heretic Developer Interview – HereticHexen |url=https://www.heretichexen.com/heretic/interview/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Heretic (Game) |url=https://www.giantbomb.com/heretic/3030-10469/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=Giant Bomb |language=en}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361699/plotsummary/ |title=Heretic (Video Game 1994) - Plot - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2024-07-23 |via=www.imdb.com}}
Super 3D Noah's Ark, developed on Wolf3D engine and published by the christian video-games company Wisdom Tree (formerly named Color Dreams) on 1 January 1995,{{Cite web |title=Super 3-D Noah's Ark |url=https://www.gog.com/en/game/super_3d_noahs_ark |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=GOG.com |language=en}} was the first non-violent FPS game along with being the first religious FPS game (Doom was already based on christian mythology as well since the enemy was christian's Hell however unlike Super 3D Noah's Ark, it merely used it as a setting and didn't attempt to teach religion) which featured Noah from Abrahamic mythology's Noah's Ark as the protagonist and re-used Wolfenstein 3D's gameplay and level-design while replacing enemies' death animations by seemingly friendly animals falling asleep upon being hit by the player's weapon which was a slingshot shooting food to feed the unresting hungry animals aboard goats filled Noah's Ark made of the recycled original maps from Wolfenstein 3D including the same items' placements and even the SNES version was itself a mere reskin from Wolfenstein 3D's SNES version as well however the PC version did upgrade some things upon Wolfenstein 3D such as textured floors (like Blake Stone) along with higher resolutions graphics and MIDI music, and added a new gameplay feature such as quizzes which tested the player's religious knowledge whose rewards were more ammo to keep playing the game along with some score's points. This is not what Wisdom Tree had originally designed though, since they originally designed a FPS game based on the horror movies Hellraiser themselves adapted from Clive Barker's novels, until they realized that this was in contradiction with their christian social image then designed Super 3D Noah's Ark instead. A popular rumor has it that Wolf3D engine was given to Wisdom Tree by id Software as a kind of "revenge" against Nintendo for all the censorship that Wolfenstein 3D had to go through to be on the Super Nintendo. However, there's no proof of this, and Wisdom Tree bought a license for the game engine like everybody else instead of having it "given" to them.{{Cite web |last=Mlnko |date=2019-11-04 |title=Is the rumor true th… |url=http://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/drkf24/john_romero_ama/f6j17e3/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=r/pcgaming}} The SNES version was not licensed by Nintendo and therefore couldn't be played on a SNES by itself which is why the SNES game cartridge was actually an adapter cartridge which required another licensed SNES game cartridge to be inserted into it in order to get Super 3D Noah's Ark to work despite being unlicensed.{{Cite web |title=How a Hellraiser tie-in became Super 3D Noah's Ark |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/how-a-hellraiser-tie-in-became-i-super-3d-noah-s-ark-i- |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=www.gamedeveloper.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Super 3D Noah's Ark – Hardcore Gaming 101 |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/super-3d-noahs-ark/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Super Noah's Ark 3-D (1994) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/11300/super-noahs-ark-3-d/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FKEg2__57c |title=LGR - Super 3D Noah's Ark - PC Game Review |date=2015-06-23 |last=LGR |access-date=2024-07-20 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Oph3z7S4M |title=Super Noah's Ark 3D (SNES Game) - AVGN Episode Segment |date=2015-04-23 |last=Cinemassacre Clips |access-date=2024-07-20 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L49drUAGSlY |title=🎮 Super 3D Noah's Ark (SNES) Complete Gameplay |date=2018-04-09 |last=VICIOGAME Retro Games |access-date=2024-07-20 |via=YouTube}}
Star Wars: Dark Forces was released the 6th of February 1995{{Cite web |title=STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995) |url=https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_wars_dark_forces |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=GOG.com |language=en}} after LucasArts decided Star Wars would make appropriate material for a game in the style of Doom. However, Star Wars: Dark Forces improved on several technical features that Doom lacked, such as the ability to crouch, jump, or look and aim up and down.Turner, Benjamin & Bowen, Kevin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120712042757/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/december03/doom/clones/index.shtml Bringin' in the DOOM Clones], GameSpy, December 11, 2003, Accessed February 19, 2009[http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/7-30-a-brief-history-of-star-war-games-part-1.html A Brief History of Star War Games, Part 1], Tom's Hardware, May 20, 2007, Accessed February 19, 2009 Dark Forces also was one of the first games to incorporate 3D-designed objects rendered into the game's 2.5D graphics engine.{{cite web | url = https://www.pcgamesn.com/star-wars-dark-forces/dark-forces-remaster | title= Nightdive wants to remaster Dark Forces | first= Richard | last = Scott-Jones | date = January 16, 2019 | access-date = January 16, 2019 | work = PCGamesN | archive-date = January 17, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190117170039/https://www.pcgamesn.com/star-wars-dark-forces/dark-forces-remaster | url-status = live }} The game's success launched the Star Wars: Jedi Knight series, beginning with the direct sequel Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II{{Cite web |title=Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II (1997) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/372/star-wars-jedi-knight-dark-forces-ii/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} the 9th of October 1997.{{Cite web |title=Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/372/star-wars-jedi-knight-dark-forces-ii/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}
Descent (released by Parallax Software the 17th of March 1995{{Cite web |title=Descent Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/692/descent/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}), a game in which the player pilots a spacecraft around caves and factory ducts, was among the earliest truly three-dimensional first-person shooters. It abandoned sprites and ray casting in favour of polygonal models and allowed movement through all of the six possible degrees of freedom.
The 28th of April 1995, the Japanese company Exact released the successor to Geograph Seal for the PlayStation console, called Jumping Flash!, which placed more emphasis on its platform elements.{{cite web |last=Fahs |first=Travis |date=November 26, 2006 |title=Geograph Seal (X68000) |url=http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/retro/geograph-seal-x68000/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129224512/http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/retro/geograph-seal-x68000/ |archive-date=January 29, 2016 |website=The Next Level}}{{Cite web |title=Jumping Flash! Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/5050/jumping-flash/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}
Witchaven,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ibqsS1sBM |title=Witchaven Trailer |date=2021-07-29 |last=Martin Joneš |access-date=2024-07-24 |via=YouTube}} developed by Capstone Software and published by their parent company IntraCorp the 20th of September 1995,{{Cite web |title=Witchaven - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game |url=https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Witchaven |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.pcgamingwiki.com}} was the first commercial game licensed on Apogee Software rebranded 3D Realms' Ken Silverman's new Build engine to rival id Software's John Carmack's Doom engine and was a medieval fantasy First Person Slasher game as in a melee-focused FPS game, reminiscent of Raven Software's Heretic including an inventory system, both a single-player campaign and multiplayer, but far harder as it was far more tactical, making use of environmental hazards such as magma and traps against enemies, while implementing more of a RPG gameplay such as weapons' durability which broke after many uses, requiring the player to find other weapons and save the strongest weapons for the strongest foes, evolving stats from earned experience where each level up unlocked new spells and abilities such as lockpicking in the form of an unlocking spell as well as dual wielding some weapons.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC4lRkz056E&lc=Ugx8_yUuWOc2Yrrf_4l4AaABAg.96JJWyjwWoX9DUAC7YGO_Z |title=Comment from @HexenStar |date=2020-03-17 |access-date=2024-07-24 |via=YouTube}} The campaign involved a knight on an epic quest to defeat a witch who cast a curse of never-ending darkness onto his land. In order to complete this quest, he had to battle hordes of minions with both medieval weapons and magical spells to reach the witch on her volcanic island.{{Cite web |title=Witchaven (1995) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/3318/witchaven/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=1995-09-30 |title=Witchaven DOS game |url=https://www.moddb.com/games/witchaven |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=ModDB |language=en}} It featured digitized graphics, however the characters made of clay didn't appeal to everyone and the environments were empty, as well as adjustable level of gore, the same Corridor 7's trick to spawn a screen jumpscare whenever the player is idle, and it is known for game logic issues, dumb AI, hazardous map triggers and game physics that cause slippery player movement, sudden deaths, and faulty hit detection.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_136/page/n41/mode/2up |title=Computer Gaming World Issue 136 "Now playing Witchaven" |date=November 1995}}{{Cite book |editor1-first=Felipe |editor1=lastPepe |url=https://archive.org/details/CRPGBOOK/page/n203/mode/2up |title=The CRPG Book Project: Sharing the History of Computer Role-Playing Games - Witchaven |date=February 2018}} Witchaven was open-sourced in 2006 then source-ported into JFBuild by JonoF and into BuildGDX by its community which fixed most of its original issues in 2018.{{Cite web |title=JFTekWar and JFWitchaven / JonoF's Games and Stuff |url=https://www.jonof.id.au/capstone/index.html |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.jonof.id.au}}{{Cite web |title=Witchaven (BuildGDX)(1994) - No Commentary All Secrets Playthrough - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoxV-no_tlqxmHmT7YSMTL0O8lsNlgJpf |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.youtube.com}}
William Shatner's TekWar, developed by Capstone Software and published by SoftKey Multimedia Inc. the 30th of September 1995,{{Cite web |title=William Shatner's TekWar - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game |url=https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/William_Shatner's_TekWar |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.pcgamingwiki.com}} barely ten days after Witchaven (read above), was the second commercial game licensed on Apogee Software rebranded 3D Realms' Ken Silverman's new Build engine to rival id Software's John Carmack's Doom engine and was a FPS game adapted from William Shatner's TekWar novels and TV series who personally contributed to the video-game to the point of live-acting the player's boss during briefings and debriefings. William Shatner's TekWar, both novels, TV series and video-game, is a sci-fi story revolving around a neural drug named Tek and the Matrix, a virtual reality (four years before the first Matrix movie).{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v81Aj3R9v1M |title=Tekwar Trailer 1994 |date=2014-11-02 |last=Video Detective |access-date=2024-07-25 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |title=William Shatner's TekWar (1995) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/2420/william-shatners-tekwar/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} The video-game featured FMVs, digitized live-actors and actresses, a stun gun to neutralize people in a non-lethal fashion, and gibs and dropped the player into a lively open-world future Los Angeles, making it the first FPS game which featured an open-world modern city, full of civilians, cops and enemies where civilians panicked if the player drew a weapon who they begged to not shoot while holding their hands up and ran away for their life whereas cops drew their gun onto the player and ordered him to drop their weapon and enemies shot him on sight from everywhere without the cops ever reacting whereas they shot the player if he dared to shoot back at the enemies, which is the main issue with this game: everyone is allowed to shoot you but you are not allowed to shoot anyone.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEfuXZM6cfs |title=William Shatner's TekWar - Random fun |date=2019-06-08 |last=kurtis2221 |access-date=2024-07-25 |via=YouTube}} Some civilians were actually kamikaze androids who self-destructed when close to the player, taking them into their explosion. Half of the game also took place into the Matrix.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev9deAqhFwA |title=William Shatner's TekWar - Weapons - Game vs Movie |date=2022-08-18 |last=kurtis2221 |access-date=2024-07-25 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vho7k1qON_w |title=Tekwar gameplay |date=2009-06-13 |last=Artigkar40000000 |access-date=2024-07-25 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |title=William Shatner's TekWar Walkthrough |url=http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL525DF8036858FAD6 |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=YouTube |language=en}} William Shatner's TekWar was the worst of Capstone's FPS games however it still got to be source-ported into BuildGDX.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQn0NTe2JTc |title=William Shatner's TekWar [BuildGDX] - Level 1: Marty Dollar {{!}} 4K/60 |date=2023-02-02 |last=RaZZoR |access-date=2024-07-25 |via=YouTube}}
Raven Software upgraded the Doom engine further and released Hexen: Beyond Heretic the 30th of October 1995{{Cite web |title=Hexen: Beyond Heretic Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/1938/hexen-beyond-heretic/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which added jumping, more immersive environments with effects such as swirling leaves or scattering bats upon the player's approach, weather effects, some destructible objects, scripted environmental changes such as earthquakes, different character classes to allow different playstyles as well as interconnected maps through hub maps instead of the standard linear succession of maps which granted a taste of open-world in a FPS game.{{Cite web |title=Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/1938/hexen-beyond-heretic/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=chrisstead |date=2016-09-12 |title=Id Software talks Heretic, Hexen and Commander Keen |url=https://www.findershopping.com.au/id-software-talks-heretic-hexen-and-commander-keen |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=findershopping.com.au |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |title=Hexen Review |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/hexen-review/1900-2537441/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}}
Apogee Software, then renamed 3D Realms, followed up with Duke Nukem 3D (sequel to the earlier platformers Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II), released as shareware the 29th of January 1996,{{Cite web |title=Duke Nukem 3D Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/365/duke-nukem-3d/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} which ran on the then new Build engine developed by Ken Silverman with the support of John Carmack.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSVzn0F3pyQ |title=The History of Ken Silverman's Build Engine |date=2009-10-16 |last=CuteFloor |access-date=2024-07-18 |via=YouTube}} Duke Nukem 3D won acclaim for its humour based around stereotyped machismo as well as its adrenalinic gameplay and graphics. However, some found the game's (and later the whole series') treatment of women to be derogatory and tasteless.Soete, Tim, [https://archive.today/20120715203330/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/dukenukem3d/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review Duke Nukem 3D Review], GameSpot, May 1, 1996, Accessed February 19, 2009
Witchaven 2: Blood Vengeance, developed by Capstone Software and published by their parent company IntraCorp the 6th of May 1996,{{Cite web |title=Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game |url=https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Witchaven_II:_Blood_Vengeance |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.pcgamingwiki.com}} was a sequel to the first Witchaven which set the knight from the first game onto an even more perilous quest to rescue the princess abducted by the witch's sister seeking vengeance, still licensed on 3D Realms' Build engine, it added dual weapons wielding or wielding a shield in the place of the second weapon as well as a map editor to let players create and share their own maps,{{Cite web |title=Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance (1996) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/3514/witchaven-ii-blood-vengeance/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}{{Cite book |publisher=Imagine Media |url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-022/page/n186/mode/1up?view=theater |title=NEXT Generation Issue #22 October 1996 - Witchaven 2: Blood Vengeance |date=October 1996 |language=english}} however Capstone didn't fix the first game's issues{{Cite web |date=2000-02-29 |title=PC Gamer Online |website=PC Gamer |url=http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/1172.html |access-date=2024-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000229151924/http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/1172.html |archive-date=February 29, 2000 }} and it was their last game before going extinct as they were developing a Build-based sequel to their previous Wolf3D-based game Corridor 7 when their parent company IntraCorp went bankrupt.{{Cite web |title=ETTiNGRiNDER's Fortress - Witchaven |url=https://ettingrinder.youfailit.net/wh-main.html |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=ettingrinder.youfailit.net}}{{Cite web |date=2015-06-21 |title=Capstone Source Archive |url=http://www.lesbird.com/CAPSTONE/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621123327/http://www.lesbird.com/CAPSTONE/ |archive-date=June 21, 2015 }} Witchaven 2 was open-sourced in 2006 then source-ported into BuildGDX by its community which fixed most of its original issues in 2018.{{Cite web |date=1996-05-06 |title=Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance DOS game |url=https://www.moddb.com/games/witchaven-ii-blood-vengeance |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=ModDB |language=en}}
The game PowerSlave was initially designed using the Build engine for MS-DOS, but was later spun off into releases for Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation using developer Lobotomy Software's in-house SlaveDriver engine. While the PC version is a traditional linear first-person shooter, the console versions feature non-linear progression and unlockable player abilities reminiscent of a metroidvania.{{Cite web |title=Powerslave Exhumed will bring all the classic FPS's best versions together |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/nightdive-powerslave-remaster |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=PCGamesN |date=August 15, 2021 |language=en-US}}
Strife, developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Velocity Inc. the 15th of May 1996,{{Cite web |title=Strife Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/960/strife/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} was the last commercial game which used and modified the Doom engine before id released the new Quake engine the following month{{Cite web |title=Quake Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/374/quake/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} and it introduced some RPVG's features into the standard FPS formula such as an actual lively open-world filled with NPCs, dialogues with choices of answers, some of them were even voiced, trade, reinforcements who engage the enemies in battle, mandatory and optional quests, character's evolution of his abilities, an intriguing plot branching into different routes and conclusions according to the player's choices and actions, some burning effects as well as some infiltration gameplay such as stealth, disguises and alarms. The plot takes place in a medieval world struck by a comet which released a virus which wiped out almost all life on the planet and corrupted most of the remaining people who created a high-tech theocratic new world order known as "The Order" whereas the few remaining free people organized into an underground resistance known as "The Front" and the player is an unnamed mercenary (sometimes referred to as the Strifeguy) who joins the Front to fight the Order's oppressive rule while being remotely assisted by a Front's radio operative woman nicknamed Blackbird who occasionally comments with humor the situations that the player encounters.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_145 |title=Computer Gaming World Issue 145 |date=August 1996}}{{Cite book |publisher=Imagine Media |url=http://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-020 |title=NEXT Generation Issue #20 August 1996 |date=August 1996 |language=english}}{{Cite web |date=1996-10-18 |title=Strife |url=http://www.pcgamesmag.com/games/Aug96/strife896.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961018103343/http://www.pcgamesmag.com/games/Aug96/strife896.html |archive-date=October 18, 1996 }}{{Cite web |title=Strife Review |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/strife-review/1900-2533265/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2005-04-18 |title=Strife Review |url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/009/125/strife_review.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050418055607/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/009/125/strife_review.html |archive-date=April 18, 2005 }} However, despite all of its innovations, Strife went relatively unnoticed because it was released right between the two other overwhelmingly popular games Duke Nukem 3D and Quake which made the Doom engine already outdated by then.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-18 |title=Strife |url=https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Strife |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=DoomWiki.org |language=en}} Still, players who discovered it many years after its original release appreciated its originality for its time and even compared it to Deus Ex and Marathon.{{Cite news |author1=Richard Cobbett |date=2022-05-21 |title=This underappreciated FPS from 1996 was a step on the path that led to games like Deus Ex |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-strife/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=updated |first=Paul Dean last |date=2013-08-04 |title=Strife was merging shooter and RPG years before Deus Ex |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/reinstall-strife/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2019-12-09 |title=Strife: Trust no one for PC - GameRankings |url=https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/198834-strife-trust-no-one/index.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209012246/https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/198834-strife-trust-no-one/index.html |archive-date=December 9, 2019 }} Doom
Shortly after the release of Duke Nukem 3D, id Software released the much anticipated Quake the 22nd of June 1996. Like Doom, Quake was influential and genre-defining, featuring fast-paced, gory gameplay, within a completely 3D game environment, and making use of real-time rendered polygonal models instead of sprites. It was centered on online gaming and featured multiple match types still found in first-person shooter games today. It was the first FPS game to gain a cult following of player clans (although the concept had existed previously in MechWarrior 2s Netmech, with its Battletech lore as well as amongst MUD players), and would inspire popular LAN parties and events such as QuakeCon. The game's popularity and use of 3D polygonal graphics also helped to expand the growing market for video card hardware;{{cite web|last = Ward|first = Trent C.|url = http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/quake/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review |title = Quake Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919100146/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/quake/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary%3Bread-review |archive-date=September 19, 2011 |work = GameSpot UK|date = June 22, 1996}} and the additional support and encouragement for game modifications attracted players who wanted to tinker with the game and create their own modules.{{Cite book|first1=Brad |last1=King |first2=John M. |last2=Borland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CvxOAAAAMAAJ |title= Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic |publisher=McGraw-Hill/Osborne |year=2003 |access-date=September 25, 2010 |isbn=978-0-07-222888-5 |ref=borlanddd |pages=111–125 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514122054/http://books.google.com/books?id=CvxOAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=May 14, 2013 }} According to creator John Romero, Quake{{'}}s 3D world was inspired by the 3D fighting game Virtua Fighter. Quake was also intended to expand the genre with Virtua Fighter influenced melee brawling, but this element was eventually scrapped from the final game.{{cite magazine|magazine=Next Generation |issue=30|date=June 1997|pages=9–12|title=Does John Romero Still Enjoy Shooting People? |url=https://archive.org/stream/NextGeneration30Jun1997/Next_Generation_30_Jun_1997#page/n9/mode/2up}}{{cite magazine |magazine=Edge |issue=45 (May 1997) |date=May 2, 1997 |title=An Audience with John Romero |pages=18–23 |url=https://archive.org/details/EDGE.N045.1997.05/page/n17/mode/2up |quote=John Romero:' My original idea was to do something like Virtua Fighter in a 3D world, with full-contact fighting, but you'd also be able to run through a world, and do the same stuff you do in Quake, only when you got into these melees, the camera would pull out into a third-person perspective. It would’ve been great, but nobody else had faith in trying it. The project was taking too long, and everybody just wanted to fall back on the safe thing – the formula.}}
Shadow Warrior, developed and published by 3D Realms the 13th of May 1997,{{Cite web |title=Shadow Warrior Releases |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/387/shadow-warrior/releases/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} introduced 3D voxels instead of 2D sprites for weapons and inventory items as well as weapons' secondary firing mode, climbable ladders, true room-over-room situations, transparent water, some vehicles to drive, and a brand new Asian hero named Lo Wang into a brand new Asian setting in contrast to its predecessor Duke Nukem 3D's occidental atmosphere and Shadow Warrior, just as its predecessor, features deliberately immature and politically incorrect humor, as well as a protagonist who delivers regular one-liners, commenting upon the situation at hand. Much of the humor is derived from over-the-top, stereotypical portrayals of Asian culture.{{Cite web |title=Shadow Warrior (1997) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/387/shadow-warrior/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}
= Online and console games: 1997–2020 =
Based on the James Bond film, Rare's GoldenEye 007 was released in 1997, and as of 2004 it was still the best-selling Nintendo 64 game in the United States.{{cite web |url= http://www.zoonami.com/briefing/2004-09-02.php |title=The Making of GoldenEye 007 |publisher= Zoonami |author=Martin Hollis |date=September 2, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718160021/http://www.zoonami.com/briefing/2004-09-02.php |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |access-date=December 22, 2011|url-status= usurped |author-link=Martin Hollis (video game designer) }} It has been the first landmark first-person shooter for console gamers and was highly acclaimed for its atmospheric single-player campaign and well designed multiplayer maps. It featured a sniper rifle, the ability to perform head-shots, and the incorporation of stealth elements{{cite web|last = Gerstmann|first = Jeff|url = http://uk.gamespot.com/n64/action/goldeneye007/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review |title = GoldenEye 007 Review|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715075641/http://uk.gamespot.com/n64/action/goldeneye007/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |work =GameSpot UK|date = August 19, 1997}}Berghammer, Billy, [http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3171143 A Rare Look at Rare] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605194920/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3171143 |date=June 5, 2016 }}, 1UP, Accessed February 19, 2009 (all of these aspects were also included in the game's spiritual sequel, Perfect Dark) as well as some Virtua Cop-inspired features such as weapon reloading, position-dependent hit reaction animations, penalties for killing innocents, and a newly designed aiming system that allowed players to aim at a precise spot on the screen.
Though not the first of its kind, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six started a popular trend of tactical first-person shooters in 1998. It featured a team-based, realistic design and themes based around counter-terrorism, requiring missions to be planned before execution and in it, a single hit was sometimes enough to kill a character.{{cite web |title=Get your hands on the games you owe to yourself |url=http://www.gamespot.com:80/gamespot/features/pc/gamecollector/0907/ |website=GameSpot |access-date=February 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907023005/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/pc/gamecollector/0907/ |archive-date=September 7, 2004 |pages=1 |date=September 7, 2001 |quote=Welcome to another installment of Game Collector, where GameSpot hunts for great deals on games so that you don't have to. This week we present 10 great games focusing on warfare, from small-scale to epic-scale. Half of these are first-person shooters, while the other half are strategy games. Two popular PC gaming genres--one all-important, always-relevant subject. So if you're interested in modern or historical warfare and other military maneuverings, or if you just want some great games to add to your collection, then this week's Game Collector is for you. |url-status=live }} Medal of Honor, released in 1999, gave birth to a long running proliferation of simulative first-person shooters set during World War II.
Valve's Half-Life was released in 1998, based upon Quake{{'}}s graphics technology. Initially met with only mild anticipation, it went on to become a commercial success.{{cite web|last = Ocampo|first = Jason|url-status = live |url = http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/932/932067p1.html|title = Half-Life 10th Anniversary |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100810140325/http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/932/932067p1.html |archive-date=August 10, 2010 |work=IGN|date= November 19, 2008}} While most of the previous first-person shooters on the IBM PC platform had focused on visceral gameplay with relatively weak or irrelevant plots, Half-Life placed a far bigger focus on strong narrative; the game featured no cut scenes but remained in the first-person perspective at all times. It capitalized heavily on the concepts of non-enemy characters (previously featured in many other titles, such as the Marathon series and Strife)[http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/strife/review.html?tag=quicklinks%3Breviews Strife Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107084259/https://www.gamespot.com/games/strife/ |date=November 7, 2021 }}, GameSpot, June 27, 1996 and wider in-game interactivity (as first introduced by the likes of Duke Nukem 3D and System Shock) but did not employ power-ups in the traditional sense, making for a somewhat more believable overall experience. The game was praised for its artificial intelligence, selection of weapons and attention to detail and "has since been recognized as one of the greatest games of all time" according to GameSpot. Its sequel, Half-Life 2, (released in 2004), was less influential though "arguably a more impressive game".{{cite web |title=Greatest Games of All Time: Half-Life |url= http://uk.gamespot.com/features/greatest-games-of-all-time-half-life-6171044/ |website=GameSpot |access-date=February 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527131510/http://uk.gamespot.com/features/greatest-games-of-all-time-half-life-6171044/ |archive-date=May 27, 2012|pages=1 |date=May 18, 2007}}
Starsiege: Tribes, also released in 1998, was a multiplayer online shooter allowing more than 32 players in a single match. It featured team-based gameplay with a variety of specialized roles, and an unusual jet pack feature. The game was highly popular and later imitated by many other titles such as the Battlefield series. Id's Quake III Arena and Epic's Unreal Tournament, both released in 1999, became the real milestones for multiplayer gaming, thanks to their incredible graphics and frenetic, yet accessible and perfectly balanced online modes; on the other hand, both games only featured a very limited single player campaign designed for a more "disposable" arcade approach. Counter-Strike was also released in 1999, a Half-Life modification with a counter-terrorism theme copied from Rainbow Six. The game and later version Counter-Strike: Source (2004) went on to become the most popular multiplayer game modification ever, with over 90,000 players competing online at any one time during its peak.{{Cite book|first1=Brad |last1=King |first2=John M. |last2=Borland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CvxOAAAAMAAJ |title=Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic |publisher=McGraw-Hill/Osborne |year=2003 |access-date=September 25, 2010 |isbn=978-0-07-222888-5 |ref=borlanddd |page=211 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514122054/http://books.google.com/books?id=CvxOAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=May 14, 2013 }}
At the E3 game show in 1999, Bungie unveiled a real-time strategy game called Halo; aka Halo CE at the following E3, an overhauled third-person shooter version was displayed. In 2000, Bungie was bought by Microsoft. Halo was then revamped and released as a first-person shooter; it was one of the launch titles for the Xbox console. It was a runaway critical and commercial success, and is considered a premier console first-person shooter. It featured narrative and storyline reminiscent of Bungie's earlier Marathon series but now told largely through in-game dialog and cut scenes. It also received acclaim for its characters, both the protagonist, Master Chief and its alien antagonists. The sequel, Halo 2 (2004), brought the popularity of online gaming to the console market through the medium of Xbox Live, on which it was the most played game for almost two years.
Deus Ex, released by Ion Storm in 2000, featured a levelling system similar to that found in role-playing games; it also had multiple narratives depending on how the player completed missions and won acclaim for its serious, artistic style. The Resident Evil games Survivor in 2000 and Dead Aim in 2003 attempted to combine the light gun and first-person shooter genres along with survival horror elements.{{cite web |title=Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Review |publisher=GameSpot |first=Ryan |last=Davis |date=November 15, 2007 |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/wii/action/residentevilseries/review.html |access-date=May 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429100856/http://uk.gamespot.com/wii/action/residentevilseries/review.html |archive-date=April 29, 2009 }} Metroid Prime, released in 2002 for the GameCube, a highly praised first-person shooter, incorporated action adventure elements such as jumping puzzles and built on the Metroid series of 2D side-scrolling platform-adventures. Taking a "massive stride forward for first-person games", the game emphasized its adventure elements rather than shooting and was credited by journalist Chris Kohler with "breaking the genre free from the clutches of Doom".Kohler, Chris, [https://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/12/the-15-most-influential-games-of-the-decade/all/1 The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908015101/http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/12/the-15-most-influential-games-of-the-decade/all/1 |date=September 8, 2011 }}, Wired December 24, 2009, Accessed September 10, 2011
Efforts to develop early handheld video games with 3-D graphics have eventually led to the dawn of ambitious handheld first-person shooter games, starting with two Game Boy Advance ports of Back Track and Doom not long after the system was launched in 2001.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/11/02/backtrack |title=BackTrack – IGN |date=November 2, 2001 |access-date=November 6, 2021 |archive-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809124419/https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/11/02/backtrack |url-status=live }} The GBA eventually saw the release of several first-person shooter games specifically tailored for it, including Duke Nukem Advance, Ecks vs. Sever and Dark Arena, with a sizable amount of them being praised for pushing the hardware to the limit while providing satisfying gameplay.{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=37633&tab=review|title=Duke Nukem Advance Review|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115070609/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=37633&tab=review|access-date=November 9, 2021|archive-date=November 15, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/gameboy_advance/games/reviews/18500.shtml|title=Ecks vs. Sever Review|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041001123408/http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/gameboy_advance/games/reviews/18500.shtml|access-date=November 9, 2021|archive-date=October 1, 2004}}{{cite magazine|url=http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200204/R03.0804.1137.51142.htm|title=Dark Arena Review|magazine=Game Informer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111002712/http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200204/R03.0804.1137.51142.htm|access-date=November 9, 2021|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 11, 2008}} Despite their varying reception, they would demonstrate the viability of first-person shooters on handhelds, which became more apparent with new technological advances that accompanied future handheld systems.{{Cite web |url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/166/166406p1.html |title=Ecks vs. Sever |date=December 2001 |access-date=November 6, 2021 |archive-date=August 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821205953/http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/166/166406p1.html |url-status=live }}
World War II Online, released in 2001, featured a persistent and "massively multiplayer environment", although IGN said that "the full realization of that environment is probably still a few years away."Butts, Steve, [http://pc.ign.com/articles/165/165364p1.html World War II Online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130205210/http://pc.ign.com/articles/165/165364p1.html |date=January 30, 2009 }}, IGN, August 6, 2001, Accessed March 11, 2010 Battlefield 1942, another World War II shooter released in 2002, featured large scale battles incorporating aircraft, naval vessels, land vehicles and infantry combat. In 2003, PlanetSide allowed hundreds of players at once to compete in a persistent world,Bramwell, Tom, [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_46937 Sign-up for PlanetSide beta] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227184931/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_46937 |date=December 27, 2010 }}, EuroGamer, November 4, 2002, Accessed March 10, 2010 and was also promoted as the "world's first massively multiplayer online first person shooter." The Serious Sam series, first released in 2001, and Painkiller, released in 2004, both emphasized fighting waves of enemies in large open arenas, in an attempt to hearken back to the genre's roots.{{cite web | url = http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/506/506091p1.html | title = Painkiller Review | author = Steve Butts | publisher = IGN | date = April 12, 2004 | access-date = November 12, 2007 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080926111145/http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/506/506091p1.html | archive-date = September 26, 2008 }}{{cite web | url = https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/serious-sam-the-first-encounter-review/1900-2701181/ | title = Serious Sam: The First Encounter Review | author = Greg Kasavin | publisher = Gamespot | date = April 26, 2001 | access-date = November 6, 2017 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171107061005/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/serious-sam-the-first-encounter-review/1900-2701181/ | archive-date = November 7, 2017 }}
Doom 3, released in 2004, placed a greater emphasis on horror and frightening the player than previous games in the series and was a critically acclaimed best seller,[http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/doom-3/ Doom 3 (PC)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228070001/http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/doom-3/ |date=February 28, 2016 }}, GameSpy, Accessed March 9, 2009Fahey, Rob, [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ukcharts_170804 UK Charts: Doom 3 scores first 2004 No.1 for PC platform] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806031028/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ukcharts_170804 |date=August 6, 2010 }}, EuroGamer, August 17, 2004, Accessed March 9, 2009 though some commentators felt it lacked gameplay substance and innovation, putting too much emphasis on impressive graphics. In 2005, a film based on Doom featured a sequence that emulated the viewpoint and action of the first-person shooter, but was critically derided as deliberately unintelligent and gratuitously violent.Lyttle, John, [http://www.newstatesman.com/200512050036 John Lyttle - Shoot 'em up], New Statesman, December 5, 2005, Accessed March 7, 2009 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303140130/http://www.newstatesman.com/200512050036 |date=March 3, 2009 }} In 2005, F.E.A.R. was acclaimed{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/906/906852p1.html |title=The Evolution of the Survival Horror Genre |date=September 1, 2008 |access-date=April 17, 2009 |publisher=IGN |author=Clara Barraza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414213839/http://pc.ign.com/articles/906/906852p1.html |archive-date=April 14, 2009 }} for successfully combining first-person shooter gameplay with a Japanese horror atmosphere.{{cite web|date=October 4, 2005 |url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/fear/news.html?sid=6134936&mode=previews |title=Music to your F.E.A.R.s |work=GameSpot |access-date=October 4, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104205637/http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/fear/news.html?sid=6134936&mode=previews |archive-date=January 4, 2007 }} Later in 2007, Irrational Games' BioShock would be acclaimed by some commentators as the best game of that year for its innovation in artistry, narrative and design,Fitzpatrick, Paul, "Bioshock", PlayStation Official Magazine UK, December 2008 (issue 25), pp. 90-91Cowen, Nick, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3355401/The-top-10-video-games-of-2007.html The top 10 video games of 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629195211/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3355401/The-top-10-video-games-of-2007.html |date=June 29, 2011 }}, The Telegraph, December 6, 2007, Accessed March 8, 2009Hoggins, Tom, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3358016/Why-videogamers-are-artists-at-heart.html Why videogamers are artists at heart] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228070007/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3358016/Why-videogamers-are-artists-at-heart.html |date=February 28, 2016 }}, The Telegraph, November 10, 2008, Accessed March 8, 2009 with some calling it the "spiritual successor" to Irrational's earlier System Shock 2.{{cite web|url=http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/bioshock/707256p1.html |title=GameSpy: BioShock Preview |date=May 10, 2006 |access-date=November 4, 2007 |publisher=Gamespy |first=Li C. |last=Kuo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030124504/http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/bioshock/707256p1.html |archive-date=October 30, 2007 }}
Finally, the Crytek games Far Cry (2004) and Crysis (2007) as well as Ubisoft's Far Cry 2 (2008) would break new ground in terms of graphics and large, open-ended level design,Hurley, Leon, "Far Cry 2", PlayStation Official Magazine UK, December 2008 (issue 25), pp. 98-100 whereas Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007), Resistance: Fall of Man (2006) and its sequel Resistance 2 (2008) presented increasingly refined linear levels and narratives,Ditum, Nathan, "Resistance 2", PlayStation Official Magazine UK, December 2008 (issue 25), pp. 79-82 with the fast pace and linearity of the Call of Duty games bearing a resemblance to rail shooters.{{cite web|title=Call of Duty 4 First Impressions |date=November 8, 2007 |work=Voodoo Extreme |publisher=IGN |author=Robert Howarth |url=http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/35295/Call-of-Duty-4-First-Impressions |access-date=May 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114200710/http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/35295/Call-of-Duty-4-First-Impressions |archive-date=January 14, 2009 }} BLACK in 2006 was considered to be a leader in cinematic game design, with strong sound design and destructible environments.{{Cite web |last=Jr |first=Xalavier Nelson |date=March 26, 2019 |title=The Burnout team's mold-breaking FPS deserves a better legacy |url=https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/26/18270872/black-fps-game-criterion-gun-sound-design |access-date=November 3, 2022 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} In 2007, Portal popularized the concept of puzzles mechanics in first-person perspective.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} In 2006, Gamasutra reported the first-person shooter as one of the biggest and fastest growing video game genres in terms of revenue for publishers.Cifaldi, Frank, [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/analysts-fps-most-attractive-genre-for-publishers Analysts: FPS 'Most Attractive' Genre for Publishers], GamaSutra, February 21, 2006, Accessed February 23, 2009
Team Fortress 2, originally a user-made mod for Quake but made into an official product by Valve by its release in 2007, launched a new type of team-based subgenre called hero shooters, which consist of first-person and third-person shooters where players selected from one of several pre-made characters with existing weapons and skill sets, using those different characters effectively to complete objectives against their opponents.{{Cite web|last=Wawro|first=Alex|title=Hero Shooters: Charting the (re)birth of a genre|url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/271933/Hero_Shooters_Charting_the_rebirth_of_a_genre.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507142751/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/271933/Hero_Shooters_Charting_the_rebirth_of_a_genre.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2016|access-date=December 20, 2020|website=www.gamasutra.com|date=May 6, 2016}} The hero shooter genre had significant growth following the release of Overwatch in which refined the hero shooter formula by adding unique characters and larger narrative as they expanded the game in future updates.{{cite web | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/what-the-strange-evolution-of-the-hero-shooter-tells-us-about-the-genres-future/ | title = What the strange evolution of the hero shooter tells us about the genre's future | first = Austin | last = Wood | date = October 25, 2016 |accessdate = July 6, 2021 | work = PC Gamer }}
The use of motion-detecting game controllers – particularly the Wii's – "promised to make FPS controls more approachable and precise with an interface as simple as literally pointing to aim" and thus "dramatically reshape the first-person shooter." However, technical difficulties pertinent to functions other than aiming – such as maneuvering or reloading – prevented their widespread use among first-person shooters.{{cite web|title=Point and Shoot: Lessons In Wii FPS Control |first=Michael |last=Thomsen |date=March 30, 2010 |publisher=Gamasutra |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/point-and-shoot-lessons-in-wii-fps-control |access-date=May 5, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509015707/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4311/point_and_shoot_lessons_in_wii_.php |archive-date=May 9, 2011 }}
The Pointman user interface combines a motion-sensitive gamepad, head tracker and sliding foot pedals to increase the precision and level of control over one's avatar{{cite journal|last=Templeman|first=J.|author2=Denbrook, P. |title=Enhancing Realism in Desktop Interfaces for Dismounted Infantry Simulation|journal=Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC)|date=2012}} in military first-person shooter games.
File:Xonotic 0.8.2 rocket.jpg]]
In the late 2010s, first-person and third-person shooters enjoyed a surge in popularity with the rise of battle royale games, in which many players battle for survival on a large map to be the last man or team standing through intense action-packed combat, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (2017) reached the highest number of concurrent players ever to be recorded on Steam.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Its free-to-play mobile game version, PUBG Mobile (2018), reached over {{nowrap|1 billion}} downloads worldwide by early 2021{{cite news |last1=Li |first1=Pei |title=PUBG Mobile reports 1 billion accumulated downloads since 2018 launch |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tencent-videogames/pubg-mobile-reports-1-billion-accumulated-downloads-since-2018-launch-idUSKBN2BH0D1 |access-date=May 15, 2022 |work=Reuters |date=March 25, 2021}} and grossed over {{US$|8 billion|long=no}} by early 2022.{{cite news |title=PUBG Mobile Shoots Past $8 Billion in Lifetime Revenue |url=https://sensortower.com/blog/pubg-mobile-8-billion-revenue |access-date=May 15, 2022 |work=Sensor Tower |date=May 2022}}
= Rise of VR technology: 2020–present =
As virtual reality (VR) technologies are being developed, FPS games are being developed right alongside the various VR gaming platforms. The new immersive 3D environments using VR headsets and motion controllers enable some entirely unique experiences and mechanics for FPS games, such as physically ducking / dodging, precise control for throwing objects, and individual finger control, enhancing the interactivity with in-game wearables and other objects in the environment. VR Games naturally have a greater focus on the players' spatial presence and the 3D environment itself rather than the actual challenge / competitiveness of the game,{{Cite journal |last1=Wan |first1=Claire K. |last2=Chiu |first2=Cih-Hao |date=2023-08-01 |title=A process perspective of immersive virtual reality user experiences: Transition dynamics and mechanisms during gameplay |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581923000460 |journal=International Journal of Human-Computer Studies |volume=176 |pages=103037 |doi=10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103037 |s2cid=257791636 |issn=1071-5819|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |date=2023-10-06 |title=VR Exploration Games vs Traditional Gaming: A Comparison - LvlCraft |url=https://lvlcraft.com/vr-exploration-games-vs-traditional-gaming-a-comparison/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231080218/https://lvlcraft.com/vr-exploration-games-vs-traditional-gaming-a-comparison/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=December 31, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=lvlcraft.com |language=en-US}} which also extends to first-person shooters, especially in the horror sub-genre. Half-Life Alyx, released in 2020, is to date (2023) the highest grossing VR first-person shooter and is usually considered the first AAA title in VR.{{Cite web |last=Skarredghost |date=2020-03-27 |title=Half-Life: Alyx full review: the first true AAA VR game |url=https://skarredghost.com/2020/03/27/half-life-alyx-review-vr/ |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=The Ghost Howls |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |author1=Nicholas Sutrich |date=2020-04-01 |title=Half-Life: Alyx review — VR's defining shooter is deeper than you think |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/half-life-alyx-review |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Windows Central |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-04-26 |title=Best VR Games Of All-Time: 25 Titles To Play (Summer 2023) |url=https://www.uploadvr.com/best-vr-games/ |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=UploadVR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Aden |date=2020-10-24 |title=10 Top-Selling VR Games (According To Steam) |url=https://gamerant.com/top-selling-vr-games-according-steam/ |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Top 10 VR Games By Revenue |url=https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/blog/top-10-vr-games-by-revenue |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.spglobal.com |language=en-us}} While there is much hype in the Virtual Reality arena, it is still an emerging technology, and it has yet to be determined if VR FPS titles will become mainstream competitive or how these platforms will influence the genre in the future.{{Cite web |last=Qu |first=Erhan |date=2018-05-10 |title=Do First-Person Shooters work in VR? |url=https://medium.com/@equ/do-first-person-shooters-work-in-vr-dfcc772b242 |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Medium |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Here's What's Stopping Virtual Reality From Going Mainstream [New Data] |url=https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/virtual-reality-going-mainstream |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=blog.hubspot.com |date=November 12, 2019 |language=en-us}}
Research
In 2010, researchers at Leiden University showed that playing first-person shooter video games is associated with superior mental flexibility. Compared to non-players, players of such games were found to require a significantly shorter reaction time while switching between complex tasks, possibly because they are required to develop a more responsive mindset to rapidly react to fast-moving visual and auditory stimuli, and to shift back and forth between different sub-duties.{{Cite journal| title = DOOM'd to switch: superior cognitive flexibility in players of first person shooter games |journal = Frontiers in Psychology|volume = 1|pages = 8|vauthors=Colzato LS, van Leeuwen PJ, van den Wildenberg WP, Hommel B | date = April 21, 2010 |doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00008|pmid = 21833191|pmc = 3153740|doi-access = free}}
See also
References
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External links
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