FPS (First Person Shooters) have become a staple of a gamers healthy diet. Where did it all begin? Whilst most would think back to the 90s PC FPS boom, the genre goes back decades further.
The first game to utilize a first-person perspective would be “Maze War” (1973) which released in various formats such as Imlac PDS-1 and Macintosh. This was similar to the view of Fallouts Pip-boy screen with green wireframes to distinguish Maze walls in front of a black background. A year later “Spasim” (1974) released on the PLATO Computer Network, maybe not the best choice for the name of a Space-Sim but we get where they were going with it.
The History of FPS
Spasim was a Multiplayer FPS that had four teams of eight players controlling a spaceship from one planet to another. V2 of the title added resource management and strategy systems to further engage teamwork. Both of these titles are considered to be the joint ancestors of the FPS genre due to their close release dates.
“Midi Maze” (1984) was released on the Atari ST which featured the first form of deathmatch combat in an FPS title. This title also introduced what would grow to be the basis of LAN parties by harnessing a multiplayer network via Midi ports on the Atari ST called a “Midi ring”. Any more than four players using an incorrectly set up network would slow the game to a near-zero frame rate. Player sprites resemble Pac man whilst bullets were little balls, Midi Maze would be later ported to consoles such as GBA.
The first big hit within the FPS genre and responsible for turning on 1000’s of enthusiasts and developers was “Wolfenstein 3D (1992)”. It was the 3rd title in its series but was the first FPS to turn the genre visceral thanks to killing Nazis and real-world weapons such as Pistols, Rifles and Knives. The team at Id software focused on making a 3D environment by focusing views on a single plane.
Nazi Killing and Gore Anyone?
Titles such as “Hovertank 3D” and “Catacomb 3D” serve as prototypes for Wolfenstein as they provided revelations such as ray casting and texture mapping. There wasn’t a fast-paced and technically advanced game such as Wolfenstein 3D back then, it’s heralded as fuel for the FPS genre engine.
There’s a reason why people call a lot of sprite-based FPS DooM clones, enter “DooM (1993)”. Improving the formula laid down by Wolfenstein 3D, DooM has seen multiple re-releases and ports leading up to Xbox One and PS4. That’s 27 years’ worth of release history for one title! If Wolfenstein was the flame, DooM was the revving engine.
It brought much-needed variation to the genre. Variations in height for multi-tier level design, high-resolution textures, darker shadows to improve on Wolfenstein’s now sub-par level design. DooM also featured Death Match multiplayer, this cemented its place as one of the most important games in the First Person Shooter Genre.
New Kids on the Block
For the next couple of years, we saw Raven software, Bungie, and Lucas arts taking the reigns as market leaders with:
“Heretic (1994)” – Featuring vertical aiming and Gibs for the first time along with an inventory system.
“Marathon (1994)” – Featuring a few genre firsts such as Free Look, Dual wielding / dual function weapons, story-driven gameplay, friendly NPCs and various multiplayer modes such as king of the hill.
“Star Wars: Dark Forces (1995)” – Building on the achievements of 1994 plus crouching. It really is a good series, honest!
The Origins of the Elder Scrolls
“The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994)” Is also worth noting for its ambitious MS-DOS standing. Releasing on Floppy disk and CD-ROM, it features a realistic (for the time) fighting mechanic, magical abilities, a free-roaming world and CGI video sequences. Although it was a little unstable and the travel times in the game were unforgiving, it was a step in the right direction for the future of open-world RPGs. Arena put on show the lack of boundaries set within the realistic FPS perspective.
“Duke Nukem 3D (1996)” Obviously deserves a mention for its immature, derogatory and ill-mannered approach to FPS. Duke Nukem is a satire of the now popular FPS genre with a typical 80’s macho attitude. Duke Nukem also marked the end of Sprite style presentation that Wolfenstein and DooM first heralded.
“Quake (1996)” once again redefined the FPS genre with the introduction of the Arena Shooter Era. With a primary focus on multiplayer gameplay, Quake featured Polygon 3d models replacing traditional “Sprites” and support for multi-mode online gaming. Most importantly, Quake featured an awesome multiplayer mode with well-designed maps. This sparked the revolution of LAN parties, tournaments and even a yearly event named Quake con. Both the event and these in-game features are still the focus of Multi-player FPS today.
Goldeneye FTW
The N64 became home for ports and original FPS in its hay day. This Is mostly thanks to Rare’s masterpiece: “Golden Eye (1997)”. This was the first instance of couch split-screen multiplayer correctly translated for a gamepad. It was the best-selling game on the N64 in North America for seven years. Sporting an immersive single-player storyline featuring stealth elements, an aiming system alongside various character animations depending on shooting position.
Bringing the focus back to single player in another genre-defying move, Valve released the legendary “Half Life (1998)”. Its A.I. was advanced for its time; reacting to explosions and portraying their roles accurately. Believe it or not, Half-Life was a slow burner. But by the time its big brother was released, “Half-Life 2 (2004)”, It had been recognized as one of the most important games ever made.
The Dawn of Military Shooters
1998/1999 saw military shooters appearing in “Tom Clancy rainbow 6 (1998)” and “Medal of Honour (1999)” which started the imfamous World War shooter sub genre. “Star Siege tribes (1998)” is also worth a mention here with its massive 32 player online matches and quirky mechanics. Each with their own string of selling point pointing towards multiplayer, the Multiplayer FPS arms race was a varied rainbow of options.
I was experiencing the euphoria and rush of full on LAN parties at the time, up at all hours with my clan smashing up leaderboards. In my opinion, the golden age of Arena Shooters featuring “Unreal Tournament” and “Quake III Arena” started in 1999.
I leant more towards Unreal Tournament due to its Level Design, weapon design and overall flow. But Quake III Arena was also amazing. Both featuring shield/health gibs, ammo drops, quad damage and ridiculous Arena commentators, Unreal Tournament grabbed me. The idea of Warring factions settling differences in an arena, featuring real-life respawn so combatants have to experience death repeatedly, just got me off. It was a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
2000s FPS Giants
For competitive play, a new Half-Life mod,“Counter Strike (1999)”, blew up going into the 2000s. Split into two teams, players either had to carry out an act of terrorism or prevent one. It was and still is a thing of beauty.
1999 also saw the launch of “Halo: Combat Evolved”. Halo built on Golden eyes couch split-screen gameplay whilst ushering in FPS via gamepads. Halo would later smash new ground again as making “Halo 2 (2004)” the best selling online game whilst being a launch title for Xbox Live. From there, console FPS showed no signs of slowing down.
On the RPG side of things, we had games like Bethesda’s “Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)” and Ion Storms “Deux Ex (2002 in the EU)” breaking new ground. Sandbox-style gameplay, exploration, levelling up systems, enhanced A.I. and more. These releases were also cross-platform, not just PC releases which were rarely seen at the time.
Enter the Battlefield
2002 was another amazing year for FPS. Building on what Star siege: Tribes had achieved a few years previously, “Battlefield 1942” appeared in what was an overnight success story. Battlefield 1942 recreated battles in its Multiplayer maps and encouraged teams to work together.
Vessels, aircraft and land vehicles were drivable alongside unlockable infantry classes as matches progressed. This mechanic later dripped through to the Star Wars Battlefront series. This series would as well become cross-platform, competing with some of the most defined FPS of the modern age
“Planetside (2003)” brought us the first FPS MMO with 100s of players in the game naturally. “Serious Sam (First release 2001)” and “Painkiller (2004)” were the Dynasty Warriors of FPS. Crushing waves of enemies in a first-person bullet-hell scenario were commonplace in these titles.
A Far Cry From its Origins
“Far Cry (2004)” Was set to be Crytek’s grand testament to its then-new Cry Engine and met critical acclaim on release mainly for its free-roam elements, graphical prowess and overall gameplay. With over 730,000 copies sold within the first four months of release, this definitely helped FPS gain a foothold in well-written stories within gaming over traditional platformer and action/adventure titles.
“F.E.A.R. First. Encounter. Assault. Recon (2005)” involved beating back the supernatural hallucinations and creations of Alma which spawned two expansions and sequels. This and the Original “Condemned (2005)” both saw releases on Xbox One and Windows, gimmicks such as Reflex Time to reflect the player’s characters’ superhuman abilities. One of F.E.A.R.’S big selling points was Its action-focused A.I. that decided when to duck/take cover and when to press on at enemies. They could also jump through windows and going through crawlspaces. It actually won Game spy’s A.I. award in 2005.
Fast forward to the release of “BioShock (2007)” which many heralded as 2K’s spiritual successor to the SystemShock series, BioShock is home to the now ruined underwater metropolis Rapture. Rapture was set to be the start of a religion-free society and a new beginning for mankind, complete with chemical human enhancements. It didn’t really work out. Bioshock is a fusion of Biopunk, RPG and Survival-horror complete with an amazing narrative. Again, an amazing step forward for immersive FPS.
In a surprising move by the Valve Corporation, V released an official Half-Life 2 mod entitled “Portal (2007)” into its Orange Box Collection. It’s a puzzler FPS featuring a single weapon; a portal gun. Primary shoots a blue portal with the secondary firing an orange portal, which allows players to walk between the two to solve puzzles. Simple Right? A brilliant use of First Person Perspective.
The Modern Warfare Equation
What FPS article would be complete without a mention of Call of Duty? Particularly one of the most important shake-ups within FPS in the last 20 years. “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” changed up the then tried and tested formula of historic world war storylines and brought the franchise into the modern age.
Modern Warfare followed the journey of Soap McTavish in the SAS based in locations from the Middle East to Ukraine and Russia trying to take down an ultra-extremist regime that threatens the well-being of the whole globe. Modern Warfare introduced the now well-used aim and shoot mechanic, which has even been taken on by the Halo Franchise.
The Future of FPS
Modern Warfare started a new military arms race in gaming, even making Medal of Honour come back into action for a truly terrible self-titled effort. EAs Battlefield series have even tried to cash in on the action, this has skyrocketed both the Military shooter genre of FPS and the main genre of FPS in general.
Crytek also released its infamous PC killer “Crysis (2007)” which literally fried peoples’ CPU’s as the game was that demanding. This writer remembers forums ablaze with peoples’ different PC builds, in fact, it actually became a challenge to build an affordable setup that ran Crysis at 30 Frames per second.
Looking forward, we can see FPS dominating the landscape within ESports with Counter-Strike: GO. Fans of the genre have also been treated to amazing reboots of classic franchises such as Bethesda / Id Software’s DooM reboot. This writer still thinks there is a lot of untapped potential within FPS, let’s see that the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 can squeeze out of the genre.
