Best FPS from before 2000?

[Enigmus]

Yeah, it's another "Best X" thread, I know. LOL

Either way, while looking at the Rare thread and thinking about Goldeneye, I started to wonder which shooter is better, with the decision going between 007 and Half Life. Of course, Doom was added to the mix, followed by Wolf3D, Duke3D, Doom, and Quake. I eventually decided on Half Life, but now I wonder what you think- which one is best.

For me, I chose Half Life because it was one of the first FPSes to have a fairly deep plot, while having some awesome gameplay up to today for a game that is now 12. Doom came in second for being an awesome afternoon game.

So, what do you think?

[buzz_n64]

I have had the most fun with Duke Nukem 3D. While I have played all the others on the list, this one provided me with the most single player entertainment. For multi-player gaming, Goldeneye!

[Hwj_Chim]

Duke Nukem 3d. The humor in the game puts it over the top for me.

[graciano1337]

Unreal Tournament.

HEADSHOT!

[frogofdeath]

Goldeneye. Only thing going against this gem is the graphics haven't aged very well.

[Leo_A]

Half-Life easily wins.

[pseudonym]

Duke Nukem 3D and Perfect Dark. I never got around to playing Half-Life until much later and by then it didn't look so good.

[todesengel]

For me it's Doom. I still play the game tons to this day.

[fahlim003]

Quake or bust people. Quake. Or. Bust.
"You pump a round into your shotgun, and get moving."

[Berserker]

Where's Quake II and Quake III: Arena? Those were both released before 2000. As was Blood, Unreal and Unreal Tournament, and a bunch of other really important titles.

[kupomogli]

Goldeneye. The single player and multiplayer mode were both amazing. One movie title that was better than the movie it was based on.

Not before 2000 but Perfect Dark has even better multiplayer. I'd have purchased another 360 to play that online if only the 360 had free online. I guess I'll stick with the N64 version.

[fahlim003]

Where's Quake II and Quake III: Arena? Those were both released before 2000. As was Blood, Unreal and Unreal Tournament, and a bunch of other really important titles.
Agreed. Quake 2 is important in that without it there'd be no Half-Life or Action Quake and as a consequence no A-Team (meaning no Counter-Strike). Quake 3 Arena is outstanding too, a much better step forward (than Q2) while retaining many of the elements that made Quake 1 so popular/fun to play. Quake was the only option on this poll so that's why I chose it, but in speaking of Quake 1, I speak about the whole id developed franchise.

[123►Genei-Jin]

Unreal Tournament, still my favorite FPS ever.

[Enigmus]

Where's Quake II and Quake III: Arena? Those were both released before 2000. As was Blood, Unreal and Unreal Tournament, and a bunch of other really important titles.

To tell you the truth, I'd edit the options to add "series" to Doom, Quake and Wolf3D and add Counter-Strike, Blood and Unreal Tournament (my mind skipped tracks during the poll's creation,) but, alas, there is no option to edit the poll. Good thing I remembered to add "Others," though.

[heybtbm]

Doom 2 was my favorite of that era. It far surpasses the original Doom in every measurable way...I was surprised to see the lesser of the two in the poll.

[megasdkirby]

Doom (series, sans part III) and Wolf3D.

I love Wolfenstein 3D, but there is something about Doom that, no matter how many times I play it, I love it. It has a dark, eerie feeling that a game rarely has, even the most "horror" of type games. I personally never get bored playing Doom.

[Baloo]

Goldeneye was '99 right? I'd go with that, excellent FPS.

[Mayhem]

Goldeneye, surely?

[maxlords]

Hard for me to decide between:

Wolfenstein 3D
Doom series
Thief 1 & 2
System Shock 1 & 2 (forgot 2 was like '98)

I'd put Deus Ex on that list but it's 2000.

[j_factor]

My first choice would be System Shock 2. My second choice would be Powerslave. My third would be SiN. None of these were options. :(

[TheClash603]

Other got my vote, because of Unreal.

[fahlim003]

Thief 1 & 2
I would not classify these as FPS in the classic sense, despite the use of projectile arrows. It is an FPS as in a first person stealth game. If that was included, Thief 2 is heads and tails above the rest as far as enjoyment is concerned for me.


[Doom 2] far surpasses the original Doom in every measurable way...I was surprised to see the lesser of the two in the poll.We're on the same page here, although there's always Ultimate Doom... or even Plutonia.

[retroman]

For me it would be Goldeneye...loved the single player game, and multiplayer was awsome for the time.

[Trebuken]

Wow. Thought Quake was the winner. Plenty of good choices, but kind of disappointed with the Goldeneye take over.

[cityside75]

My vote goes to Half-Life because it was such a revolutionary experience in my mind that I have to vote for it. I LOVE the Half Life games.

Having said that, I have logged more hours into Doom (and II, level packs, etc) than any other games by far, and I still come back to it a lot. It has an arcadey nature that just makes it so easy to pick up and play.

[SF78]

How can James Bond beat a minigun wielding Hitler? There's just no way! :yipes:

[Berserker]

To tell you the truth, I'd edit the options to add "series" to Doom, Quake and Wolf3D and add Counter-Strike, Blood and Unreal Tournament (my mind skipped tracks during the poll's creation,) but, alas, there is no option to edit the poll. Good thing I remembered to add "Others," though.

Apparently I'm able to do this, so I revised it a bit: I added "series" to Quake, but to make the most of the limited number of poll slots I added "engine" to Doom and Build (Duke Nukem 3D). I also folded Counter-Strike into Half-Life since that started as a HL mod, added Unreal and Unreal Tournament, and since there was one open slot left I added the Marathon series, as while I'm not really a fan I know that it's an important one to classic Mac gamers.

As some who voted for "Others" may have been voting for one of the games that were added, "Others" has been reset to 0. So if you voted for that, hopefully it will let you vote again. But if it's saying you've already voted, just post in this thread with your choice and I'll add it in manually.

[jonebone]

How is this even a discussion? Goldeneye wins beyond a shadow of a doubt in all of these polls.

I remember playing it and being "wowed" by the AI at the time. Guards would actually come to your location if you shot an automatic without a silencer! Guards would occasionally pull out grenades and chuck them your way (and not overdue it every other second like in Halo).

Graphics have indeed aged but that was the pinnacle of my gaming day. Tons of replay value in the multiplayer, and tons of replay value in missons with target times. You'd be the envy of the kids in the neighborhood if you could get all of the cheats unlocked yourself (which I was quite proud to do).

[Compute]

Pff, Goldeneye. Fun? Yes. Best? No. That honor belongs to System Shock 2. That game came out in 1999 and was years ahead of its time. Duke may have had the best humor, Goldeneye is great if you're 8 years old, but SS2 wins out every day of the week, in my book.

PS: I'd be willing to give honors to Zero Tolerance on a pure hardware nerdery scale, for it's ability to link two Genesis consoles.

[Berserker]

How is this even a discussion? Goldeneye wins beyond a shadow of a doubt in all of these polls.

I see plenty of room for discussion - and differing opinions, for that matter. 1992-2000 was a bit of a heyday for the genre, particularly on the PC. There were a slew of genre-defining titles coming out during this time, with Goldeneye being merely one of them.

And, this may seem hard to believe, but not everyone was nuts about Goldeneye. "Back in the day" I remember having a really hard time trying to figure out what all the hype was about. I was primarily a PC gamer, and was already by that time playing pretty fast-paced 16-32 player matches of Team Fortress online.

And coming from that, I was introduced by a friend to this other game that maxed out at 4 players who felt like they were walking and aiming in molasses and couldn't jump. Today I'm more appreciative of it as being groundbreaking for the console and sort of the starting point for what the FPS experience would eventually evolve into on it, but that was my impression of it at the time, as there seemed to be a real tangible disparity between that and what was going on in the PC world by that point.

[jonebone]

I see plenty of room for discussion - and differing opinions, for that matter. 1992-2000 was a bit of a heyday for the genre, particularly on the PC. There were a slew of genre-defining titles coming out during this time, with Goldeneye being merely one of them.

And, this may seem hard to believe, but not everyone was nuts about Goldeneye. "Back in the day" I remember having a really hard time trying to figure out what all the hype was about. I was primarily a PC gamer, and was already by that time playing pretty fast-paced 16-32 player matches of Team Fortress online.

And coming from that, I was introduced by a friend to this other game that maxed out at 4 players who felt like they were walking and aiming in molasses and couldn't jump. Today I'm more appreciative of it as being groundbreaking for the console and sort of the starting point for what the FPS experience would eventually evolve into on it, but that was my impression of it at the time, as there seemed to be a real tangible disparity between that and what was going on in the PC world by that point.

Exactly my point. FPS were widely regarded as superior on the PC (many people may still argue that), yet the consolized Goldeneye is winning the poll? That alone speaks to the greatness of this game. And this is coming from a forum full of nostalgia, put this poll on gamefaqs and it'd be a landslide victory.

Every title other than Goldeneye was a PC title with consolized ports (if at all). The only games on this list with even halfway decent weapon arsenals are Half-Life, Unreal and Goldeneye. They actually have pistols, assault rifles, snipers, mines, grenades, rocket launchers, etc. Quake / Doom / Wolfenstein are your generic weapon sets of melee / pistol / shotgun / rocket launcher and some gore melee weapon like a chainsaw. Not to mention proximity mines in Goldeneye are about the coolest weapon ever.

You guys can argue and discuss whatever you want, but you still have a console game dominating a poll of (what was thought to be) a PC genre . Case closed.

[ScourDX]

No love for Monolith engine? I thought Shogo: Mobile suit armor was great.

[Jisho23]

Goldeneye usually wins because its the one people have the most experience with and its the game that most people brush the dust off of more than the others.

That one exception being "Counter-Strike" since it is still widely played (which also mean the game really can't capitalize on nostalgia, its still being played!).

On Goldeneye; once you relearn how to play the multiplayer is still just as much fun as in the old days. It just requires a very different mindset to play right; you have to read the radar like book if you even want a prayer of doing well. At the same time, the single player in Goldeneye has aged horribly. Even Wolfenstein has aged better (probably because Wolfenstein is a first person maze game before a true fps).

[buzz_n64]

I still stick with my decision of Duke Nuke em 3d, but now that Unreal Tournament is being counted, I choose that as my 2nd choice. It technically barely makes it into the pre-2000 era of fps games. Released in November 1999 on PC, and in the 2000's on consoles. I think it was the 2000 game of the year. Graphically better looking, better multiplayer, and great upgrade to the genre.

[Baloo]

To be honest, while I really do like Counter-Strike, it's way too damn competitive online, a very difficult game indeed. It is revolutionary though, and the fact that it's still being played goes to show how great of a game Counter-Strike really is.

But to be honest, I still prefer Goldeneye. One of the Best console FPSes ever for sure!

[Xtincthed]

i think i've spent more time in Unreal Tournament (and Medal of Honor Allied Assault) during my high school years then i did on school stuff :p

[Cornelius]

Goldeneye will win something like this because people remember how much fun it was to sit around with their friends in the same room and play the game. I agree, it was a blast! However, if you take any of the other games and play them in the same room with your friend, I think the results would be very different. Or alternatively, if you take Goldeneye and only play it with people over a network, it would suffer a lot. The point I've already probably overblown is that a good chunk of the fun of Goldeneye was smacking your friend upside the head when he/she got you with a proximity mine. Beer may or may not have played a role depending on how old/what access you had. ;)

And I agree with an above comment; if System Shock 2 was on the list I'd have voted for it. For those only familiar with Bioshock, to make that game they took everything that was great about SS2 and removed it. Except for atmosphere, they did keep a cool atmosphere, though that's debatable since not everyone liked that part of Bioshock.

[Nescollector]

I'm going with Half life, it's one of my top ten games of all time. Pc gamers who played Duke, Doom, SS2 might scoff at Goldeneye. We were playing games online years before (still might be a good game though :)

[Rob2600]

Goldeneye was '99 right?

Nope, Goldeneye 007 was released in August 1997.

[kedawa]

Quake is the best all-around series. It has very good single player and multiplayer games, even though it's not the very best at either of those things.

[fahlim003]

And I agree with an above comment; if System Shock 2 was on the list I'd have voted for it. For those only familiar with Bioshock, to make that game they took everything that was great about SS2 and removed it. Except for atmosphere, they did keep a cool atmosphere, though that's debatable since not everyone liked that part of Bioshock.
Yes, it's questionable as to the direction taken regarding BioShock coming from the group who developed System Shock 2. BioShock feels watered down in comparison, a SS2 for dummies if you will. The atmosphere and the level of customization found in SS2 I think given the time it was released set it apart from almost everything else, as far as single player FPS games from that time are concerned. Unlike SS2, once you beat BioShock, there's really little reason to go through again, not to mention no MP as is found in SS2 too. It's a refined game and one I enjoyed the majority of my playthrough of, but it's not my favourite or the FPS that sticks with me all these years.

Not to say all homage should be paid to the firestarter, but Quake in it's refinement of multi-player from Doom and Doom 2 in addition to providing a (then) truly awe inspiring actual 3D world for me sets it apart from the all the rest. It could be argued that without Hovertank 3-D there is no Wolf3D and without Wolf3D there is no Doom and without Doom there is no Quake. For me, there is no modern genre of FPS games without Quake.

As for GoldenEye 64, it could be said to be the turning point and genesis of all modern console FPS games. I've never owned a Nintendo 64 and with regards to the people I hung out with back in GoldenEyes heyday I was essentially the only person without the means to play it. As such my memories of GoldenEye consist of frustration and lack of involvement thanks to unfamiliarity with the N64 and in general non-keyboard based FPS controls. I remain sour to this day but I have lightened my attitude to the undeniable impact it had on the industry, and for that it does have my respect. This despite I have a huge inclination against playing console FPS games to this day (see: exclusion Metroid Prime 1 & 2). Keyboard+mouse or bust.

[SpaceHarrier]

Doom. I'm not a FPS fan, but I love Doom. Also not a PC gamer and aiming up or down never felt natural to me with a console controller, so the arcadeyness/simplicity of Doom was perfect.

[kedawa]

For me, there is no modern genre of FPS games without Quake.
Hey, there's always Jumping Flash!

[fahlim003]

Hey, there's always Jumping Flash!
Perhaps Iguana Entertainment (and by association Retro Studios) could said to be the benefactor of execution of Jumping Flash. I've heard of Jumping Flash but never before today had I actually seen the game period, let alone in action. I had no concern (see: money) for console games and having ok personal computers at the time certainly don't help in recognizing something like JF. Not to lump those at id in the same category but given their distinct spawned game design and direction, I doubt they drew inspiration from something like JF towards Quake and beyond. To me the motivation spawns from Carmack wanting to further his own implimentation of a 3D game world, expanding so far as the personal computer hardware progressed. To that end, I cannot say JF had much if any influence on the progress towards 3D first person worlds, specifically to the PC realm. It would be inaccurate to say if didn't lay some foundation to build upon as can be derived from similarities to Turok Dinosaur Hunter and by consequence Metroid Prime series.

[Zing]

Something is seriously wrong here. I can only assume this poll is majorly skewed in favor of console gamers. GOLDENEYE???

I guess there aren't many PC gamers here. Anyone with a PC in the late 90's knows that Quake is the correct answer here (probably Quake 3 specifically).

[TurboGenesis]

for me, my favorite is, to this day, Alien vs. Predetor on the Atari Jaguar…

I also enjoy to play Wolfenstein 3D on the Jaguar as well…

otherwise I am not a well player of FPS games as I have struggles to play them… it is a personal problem and I get alot of trouble from folks when I am physically unable to play a FPS because it is difficult…

[Rob2600]

Anyone with a PC in the late 90's knows that Quake is the correct answer here (probably Quake 3 specifically).

On PC, Unreal Tournament was extremely popular as well, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.

[Drixxel]

To this day I still fire up Doom on a regular basis. I had a blast with Quake 2 deathmatches, in fact I've rarely gamed harder, but Doom is eternally appealing and has, in my opinion, aged better than many of the games on this list. The atmosphere is still convincing despite the dramatic evolution of FPS presentation and it remains a terribly fun and intense game.