Classic First-Person Shooters

[Edmond Dantes]

So lately, I've been playing a lot of older FPS games. Two nights back I marathoned Episode 1 of Wolfenstein 3D (tried to speedrun it, got killed) and followed up with Blake Stone. Then a copy of Blood arrived in the mail and I've been on that non-stop.

An IRL friend let me borrow his copy of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and to be honest... it reminds me of Medal of Honor more than its namesake. I'm not saying Medal of Honor is bad (it's actually pretty fun) but I find with more modern FPSes (to me, "modern" FPS begins with the original Half-Life and goes from there), I have to be in a certain mood, because they focus more on being cinematic and telling a story, whereas the classic style was more about visceral thrills--you turn a corner and OH SHIT THERE'S THIRTY IMPS AND THREE CYBERDEMONS, and an Arch-Vile just because the game REALLY wants you dead.

Wolfenstein 3D, lately, I've found is really fun because of the tension it places on you--a room full of enemies is a legitimate threat because just one well-placed shot can drain two-thirds of your energy, and there's always this sense of relief whenever you clear a room without taking too much damage and realize those three blue-suited guards were the only guys guarding that health kit... but then you keep watching the door, worrying that your gunshots might've alerted nazis in other parts of the level and they might be coming for you, and if they sneak up behind you then, well...

PROTIP: These games are more fun if you DON'T quicksave after every encounter. In fact I've learned to only save at the end of each level when I'm standing in front of the exit, or else at the beginning of each map. This helps keep that all-important tension and also helps me learn the map.

So, what are your favorite classic First Person Shooters?

[Atarileaf]

I loved Blake Stone when it came out. I was actually playing it Dosbox last week. For whatever reason, I enjoyed those earlier FPS's.

[Edmond Dantes]

I was playing Blake Stone in Dosbox just five minutes ago.

Also just placed an order for the id Anthology... I was gonna buy the Spear of Destiny Super CD but that jumped in price after my paycheck came in, while I found the Anthology for like $50 (a good price for that set). I'm missing out on the two FormGen expansion packs, but I'm sure I'll have a chance to get them eventually.

By the way, when you play classic FPSes, do you use Mouse+Keyboard or are you Keyboard-only? I hear John Romero used Mouse and Keyboard on Wolfenstein, and honestly... I can't see doing that. It sorta feels weird.

[Atarileaf]

just keyboard at the moment to try it out. It's a laptop so not really great for gaming.

[Greg2600]

Those games were fantastic. Dark Forces is still one of my favorites, when they gave you the ability to jump and climb and such, I was in heaven. I don't think I've ever played Black Stone, granted it and several other games were just Wolf3D with different characters! I do appreciate that even to this day FPS games have not gotten overly complicated.

[wizardofwor1975]

Those games were fantastic. Dark Forces is still one of my favorites, when they gave you the ability to jump and climb and such, I was in heaven. I don't think I've ever played Black Stone, granted it and several other games were just Wolf3D with different characters! I do appreciate that even to this day FPS games have not gotten overly complicated.

Dark Forces is also one of my favs. I never get tired of it. Even Mission three: Anoat City (the sewer level) which at first I absolutely hated has actually grown on me over the years. I recently picked up Dark Forces 2 and Mysteries of the Sith on Amazon. Have you played Dark Forces 2 or Mysteries of the Sith? If you have, what'd think of them? So far I like Dark Forces 2 and I haven't played too much of the Sith game probably will after I beat Dark Forces 2.

[Gregger]

My favorite is Marathon on the old Mac. I'm also quite fond of The original Quake, Dark Forces and Unreal Tournament 1999.

[wizardofwor1975]

My favorite is Marathon on the old Mac. I'm also quite fond of The original Quake, Dark Forces and Unreal Tournament 1999.

Quake is definitely good times. I like Dark Forces slightly more. But Quake was freakin great.

[BricatSegaFan]

Chex Man was fun too. Ahh I remember getting that game for a lousy box of cereal I didn't even want.

[Tanooki]

An IRL friend let me borrow his copy of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and to be honest... it reminds me of Medal of Honor more than its namesake. I'm not saying Medal of Honor is bad (it's actually pretty fun) but I find with more modern FPSes (to me, "modern" FPS begins with the original Half-Life and goes from there), I have to be in a certain mood, because they focus more on being cinematic and telling a story, whereas the classic style was more about visceral thrills--you turn a corner and OH SHIT THERE'S THIRTY IMPS AND THREE CYBERDEMONS, and an Arch-Vile just because the game REALLY wants you dead.

You pegged it there for sure. Outside of Serious Sam, within the realm of 3D FPS versus the older pre-polygonal era stuff it's all about being showy and high fps me-too action. You get your bursts of visceral play here and there, but mostly it's not like the old days. I had REturn to Castle Wolfenstein years ago and it felt like another MoH wanna be too and I never went back to the series because of it as the charm was gone. If you want more real Wolf time, get the follow up using the same engine - Spear of Destiny.

Since you brought up Blood I think that shares the same Build Engine as a few other games like Duke Nukem 3D and Witch Haven 1 and 2, so that might be good for you. If you want brainless high action gore, RIse of the Triad fits the mold of Wolf3D/Blake/DOOM era stuff and has some bad jokes thrown in. Dark Forces I agree with from others comments. Also if you can find it, there's the DOOM Collector's Edition that comes in a black soft CD case and it has DOOM1, DOOM 2, Ultimate Doom and Final Doom all rolled into one, everything they legit released as part of being official Doom on one disc.

[wizardofwor1975]

You pegged it there for sure. Outside of Serious Sam, within the realm of 3D FPS versus the older pre-polygonal era stuff it's all about being showy and high fps me-too action. You get your bursts of visceral play here and there, but mostly it's not like the old days. I had REturn to Castle Wolfenstein years ago and it felt like another MoH wanna be too and I never went back to the series because of it as the charm was gone. If you want more real Wolf time, get the follow up using the same engine - Spear of Destiny.

Since you brought up Blood I think that shares the same Build Engine as a few other games like Duke Nukem 3D and Witch Haven 1 and 2, so that might be good for you. If you want brainless high action gore, RIse of the Triad fits the mold of Wolf3D/Blake/DOOM era stuff and has some bad jokes thrown in. Dark Forces I agree with from others comments. Also if you can find it, there's the DOOM Collector's Edition that comes in a black soft CD case and it has DOOM1, DOOM 2, Ultimate Doom and Final Doom all rolled into one, everything they legit released as part of being official Doom on one disc.

Good recommendation on Spear of Destiny. I can't believe I forgot about Doom.

[CRTGAMER]

Good recommendation on Spear of Destiny. I can't believe I forgot about Doom.

Also the tons of add on wads for Doom, love the Aliens Total Conversion levels. There are voice sound bites from the Aliens movie "Check those corners". The gunfire sounds are also from the movie, love the machine gun!

[wizardofwor1975]

Also the tons of add on wads for Doom, love the Aliens Total Conversion levels. There are voice sound bites from the Aliens movie "Check those corners". The gunfire sounds are also from the movie, love the machine gun!

Cool, were can I find the Aliens Total Conversion levels for Doom. That would be freakin great to hear Sgt. Apone in the background while your blastin' away. Sgt. Apone + smart gun=awesome. I can't believe I've never heard of Aliens sfx for Doom.

[Edmond Dantes]

Oh man, Doom. I got that Collector's Edition set back in the olden days when you could find it for $10 at Wal-Mart... I wound up ditching the bonus Doom3 preview (which was nothing but movies and such) and replacing it with a burned CD of WADs and source ports.

Oh, you might love this: The Best 100 WADs of All Time, ten per year, and it includes links (it mentions that Aliens TC, too).

I have Duke Nukem 3D, twice actually--both the original release (which included full versions of the original side-scroller Duke Nukem games) and the Atomic Edition, which I happened to find in a flea market. Spear of Destiny should be coming in the mail soon, as should Rise of the Triad (I've heard the remake of that which just came out is surprisingly faithful to the original). For me though, Doom (including its expansions and games which use the same engine, such as Heretic and Hexen) is pretty much the FPS to end all FPSes, because they were never that good again. I mean, the Build Engine games are good fun but they feel like they lack the frenetic pace and general immediacy of Doom and seem more about exploration, which has its own charm but just isn't my thing. Although throwing a stick of dynamite into a mob of cultists never gets old.

You pegged it there for sure. Outside of Serious Sam, within the realm of 3D FPS versus the older pre-polygonal era stuff it's all about being showy and high fps me-too action. You get your bursts of visceral play here and there, but mostly it's not like the old days. I had REturn to Castle Wolfenstein years ago and it felt like another MoH wanna be too and I never went back to the series because of it as the charm was gone. If you want more real Wolf time, get the follow up using the same engine - Spear of Destiny.

Since you brought up Blood I think that shares the same Build Engine as a few other games like Duke Nukem 3D and Witch Haven 1 and 2, so that might be good for you. If you want brainless high action gore, RIse of the Triad fits the mold of Wolf3D/Blake/DOOM era stuff and has some bad jokes thrown in. Dark Forces I agree with from others comments. Also if you can find it, there's the DOOM Collector's Edition that comes in a black soft CD case and it has DOOM1, DOOM 2, Ultimate Doom and Final Doom all rolled into one, everything they legit released as part of being official Doom on one disc.

[Greg2600]

Dark Forces is also one of my favs. I never get tired of it. Even Mission three: Anoat City (the sewer level) which at first I absolutely hated has actually grown on me over the years. I recently picked up Dark Forces 2 and Mysteries of the Sith on Amazon. Have you played Dark Forces 2 or Mysteries of the Sith? If you have, what'd think of them? So far I like Dark Forces 2 and I haven't played too much of the Sith game probably will after I beat Dark Forces 2.

Yes I played them when they came out back then. DF 2: Jedi Knight was incredibly good, with some decent live action cut scenes. MOTS was an okay add-on. Back then Lucasarts games were played online using MSN Games. Jedi Knight was really popular, because you could play the Bespin level and be Luke, Vadar, etc.

[wizardofwor1975]

Yes I played them when they came out back then. DF 2: Jedi Knight was incredibly good, with some decent live action cut scenes. MOTS was an okay add-on. Back then Lucasarts games were played online using MSN Games. Jedi Knight was really popular, because you could play the Bespin level and be Luke, Vadar, etc.

So far I'm liking DF 2. I'm hoping its atleast as good as Dark Forces or even close. I didn't know you got to be Luke or Vader in Jedi Knight, sweet!

[Greg2600]

So far I'm liking DF 2. I'm hoping its atleast as good as Dark Forces or even close. I didn't know you got to be Luke or Vader in Jedi Knight, sweet!

In multi-player.

[wizardofwor1975]

In multi-player.

Crap! Vader said it best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

Still a cool game though.

[Tanooki]

For anyone like myself stuck with win7 64bit, do a quick google search on duke32, someone made a nice modern frontend loader for it much like the various ones for Doom out there so it can run with added perks on a modern OS. When I get the itch to play I have my game files dumped into that program and it works great. Im on my tablet here so I cant dig up the website on my computer. It will probably if I remember right work on other build engine games too.

[Daltone]

Whilst I doubt it will ever be considered a classic, I really enjoyed Requiem: Avenging Angel when it came out. The angelic (force) powers you got were pretty fun. Unfortunately, it made the fatal mistake of being released at around the same time as Half Life. It is a right bugger to get running on a modern OS too, which is a shame.

Other favourites from the hall of also-rans include: No One Lives Forever (and its sequel),Shogo MAD, Terminator: Skynet, and SiN

Secretly, of course, I will always have a soft spot for William Shatner's TekWar and Star Trek: Klingon Honour Guard

If you like fast paced FPSes then you should definitely try Hard Reset and the remakes ofROTT and Shadow Warrior (the latter is particularly enjoyable)

If you can't tell, I quite firmly believe that the period 1997 - 2000 (ish) was the golden era for the FPS. Not that I didn't spend a lot of time playing Doom, Blake Stone etc etc. There was just something about those first tentative steps in 3D which appeal to me.