The true milestones of FPS history?

[Bad^Hat]

Duke was revolutionary for being the godfather of badass catchphrases in videogames. Probably.

 

[Cormeh]

If they weren't ripped off of a bunch of movies.

Dukes level design really stood out to me. The number of secret paths, vents, and climbable areas were great. Plus the fact that a lot of levels were on the streets but you could enter buildings and make it all the way to the roof... good times.

 

[Vigilante]

I truly believe that Starseige: Tribes was revolutionary. It was the first popular game which empasized a 'sandbox' style of gameplay. Free flowing environments, vehicles, different classes. It was an 'anywhere you can see you can go' style of game.

 

[kupocake]

--Video monitors displaying different areas in the level.
--Destroyable items, and a high degree of interactivity with the game's environment (you could actually play that pool table in the strip club).

System Shock trumped these areas as well

--Innovative, highly functional weapons which could be used to solve puzzles.

Another strength of System Shock's, but I concede that Duke did have a slightly more interesting arsenal with stuff like the shrink ray. Having slightly new ways of killing people is hardly a justification for the list IMO, but it's a step in the right direction.

--Scripted sequences which altered the structure of a level (earthquakes, etc.)

Interesting, but is this really any different from simple switch-pressed / bridge moves gameplay seen in Doom? It seems to me that it's just a skilled application of multiple movers and not in any way revolutionary.

 

[nokori3byo]

It seems to me that it's just a skilled application of multiple movers

...that noone had thought of before. Hence, innovative.

Point taken about System Shock, though. In hindsight, it does seem odd that game reviewers would've been crapping their pants about destroyable items and interactivity when all that stuff had been done two years earlier.

 

[kupocake]

Point taken about System Shock, though. In hindsight, it does seem odd that game reviewers would've been crapping their pants about destroyable items and interactivity when all that stuff had been done two years earlier.

No-one played System Shock though

 

[Stingey]

What, no Trespasser?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park:_Trespasser

 

[99.vikram]

On top of that it crapped all over pc fps of that age, and still betters most in many ways today....was really tough and took ages to finish, and multiplayer was as good as it gets...GE is a medieval banquet of a fps, in comparison HL2 is a snack (albeit a very tasty one)

:|

You're being serious, aren't you? D:

 

[Uriel]

:|

You're being serious, aren't you? D:

Agreed, the comparison of GE being a banquet and HL2 a snack is out right stupid.

Second, GE did in no way crap all over Duke Nukem 3d. Graphically you can argue about it, but COME ON.

 

[Asknoone]

Warbie's old school. He likes his timed missions and gold medals at the end.

 

[Warbie]

Agreed, the comparison of GE being a banquet and HL2 a snack is out right stupid.

Why?

It took me about a year to completely finish GE in single player, and after that it was enjobale enough to go back to over and over again. Even today it's up there with the most enjoyable single player fps i've played. Multiplayer lasted even longer ... GE is a very meaty game.

HL2 I enjoyed a good deal, but it was very easy and finished within a week. Other than to see the sights again there's nothing really pulling me back - little challenge, average combat, nothing new to do or try. A bit like Ico in a way, short and sweet.

I know Samon likes to write me off as being 'old skool' (it's true about the timed missions and medals though ), but there's a reason GE is such a loved fps. Even on die hard pc forums it still often appears in 'best ever fps' threads.

And btw - I did enjoy Duke Nukem too, but GE did crap all over it from a massive height in nearly every possible way. Gameplay, challenge, weapons, multiplayer - it destroys it. Take away the toilet humour and Nukem is a very one dimensional game in comparison.

 

[Solaris]

I had more fun on Golden Eye than I did on halflife2 in retrospect.

Nothing beats 4 friends round a console playing that game, was fantastic.

 

[kupocake]

What, no Trespasser?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park:_Trespasser

I suppose that's because Trespasser had nothing more than a cautionary warning for the future of FPS. The fact of the 6 years where no attempt to copy what the game was doing attests to its unworthiness of being a 'milestone'. When Half-Life 2 eventually picked up on it, the plethora of games that started to include physics in the Trespasser style were copying Half-Life 2, not Trespasser.

edit: if Trespasser had never happened there's even the chance that someone would have come along and done a far more competant game even earlier than Half-Life 2 emerged. Trespasser scared an industry, and arrested development.

 

[Cole]

Goldeneye was so fun. At least a year or 2 of my life went to that. Playing my brother/sister/friends/cousins all the time. Overall, i'd say it beats HL2. Stronger SP, and Awesome MP.

 

[Lucid]

What, no Trespasser?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park:_Trespasser

If it didn't fail miserably, and if it was actually fun to play...
It'd get a mention.

 

[Asknoone]

(it's true about the timed missions and medals though )

^_^

 

[Kyorisu]

I never got into Golden Eye. Speed running Wolfenstein 3d is still a good pass time, that and Quake 1 mutliplayer still kicks arse.

 

[Vegeta897]

If it didn't fail miserably, and if it was actually fun to play...
It'd get a mention.

This list isn't about whether the game failed or not. This is about whether it's a milestone. Any game that is remembered for a special reason (it is) and tried something new (regardless of whether it caught on immediately) can be seen as one.
Milestones show how far something has come. This game showed how far FPS gaming had come and more importantly what was capable. It doesn't matter if nobody else took a hint.

Many in here are having trouble distinguishing between "great game" and "milestone".

 

[nokori3byo]

GE is a medieval banquet of a fps, in comparison HL2 is a snack (albeit a very tasty one)

GE was fine. For its time, in fact, it was remarkable. For some reason, though, it never really grabbed me.

HL2, on the other hand, had me by the throat from the moment the G-Man said "ashessss..."

Different kinds of game appeal to different kinds of gamer, I guess.

and El Oscuro was one hard mother fker to kill.

True dat. He was a classic trick boss stretched across three game levels. I was in disbelief when he finally died.