Summary
Since they burst onto the scene in the early 1990s,first-person shootershave rocketed to the top of the gaming stratosphere. For a time, it felt as though a new genre-defining shooter was just around the corner, ready to take the gaming world by storm, whether it be a fast-paced arena shooter likeQuakeor methodical and tense likeRainbow Six.
Like with any video game genre, there are alwayscertain years that players look back on for being hugefor one reason or another. Perhaps there was a seminal hit that was released to critical acclaim, changing the landscape of FPS forever, or there was a series of strong rapid-fire releases, each being special in its own way.
1993 was a seminal year for first-person shooters largely for one reason - id Software’sDoom.While it was not their first foray into the genre, it was easily their best and most successful to date.Doomcombined great level design, iconic art design, rippin' weapons, and a killer soundtrack into one ultra-violent packagewhose influence reverberates to this very day.
Lesser known, however, and yet still successful was Bungie’sPathways Into Darkness.While it could never hope to be as much of a mega-hit asDoom, it was nonetheless a hit for the Macintosh at the time and gave the fledgling developer capital with which to build a bright future.
71994 - A Shock To The System
Marathon - Doom 2 - System Shock
The very next year after the firstDoomreleased saw some pretty heavy hitters starting to come into play. Bungie had returned with a new IP entitledMarathon, which boasted many improvements over not only its predecessor,Pathways of Darknessbut theDoomgames as well.Doom 2is the obvious big hit for this year, taking the formula of the original game and just adding more content but also greatly improving the multiplayer functionality, something that was novel at the time.
System Shock(which just received an excellent remake by Nightdive Studios) was a massive leap forward technologically as it incorporated things like physics, dynamic lights, jumping, y-axis looking, and even some light RPG elements. 1994 was also a big year for shooters in terms of story design, as bothMarathonandSystem Shockwere way ahead of the curve in terms ofin-game narrative presentation. Both titles utilized computer terminals, which allowed the player to both learn about their respective worlds and also interact with the principal characters of each story.
61996 - Kicking Butt In Three Dimensions
Quake - Duke Nukem 3D
Between monster hits likeQuakeandDuke Nukem 3D,1996 was already an impressive year for shooters. There were also games likeMarathon 2andStrife, however, which while not as novel as the former two titles, were positively received as well.Quakeis an important game for the FPS genre because it introduced full 3D capabilities. Sprites were officially a thing of the past as players would battle fully realized three-dimensional monsters as they power throughQuake’seldritch corridors.
Duke Nukem 3Dis itself still considered one of the verybest “boomer shooters"because of its creative weapons, interactivity, excellent level design, and, of course, the lovably crass Duke himself, among other things.
51997 - Dawn of the Console Era
Quake 2 - Goldeneye 007 - Doom 64
The late ’90s was when things started to really pick up for the shooter market. It’s at this point that consoles begin to emerge as a viable platform for the genre with titles likeGoldeneye 007on the N64.Goldeneyeset a precedent for shooter combat that remains even to this day, with its slower movement and context-sensitive damage areas on players and enemies.
Doomwould also see a console release in the form ofDoom 64, which was somewhat of a bold twist on the IP at the time in that it featured NPC allies, a story, and an ambient soundscape in place of sampled metal music. On the PC side of things,Quake 2exploded onto the scene, revolutionizing the look and feel of the franchise and pushing technology even further. It also further popularizedcompetitive multiplayerArena Shooters as a subgenre.
Despite it being somewhat of a calmer year for the FPS market in terms of release quantity, 1998 is often considered to be a watershed year for the genre for one simple yet good reason:Half-Lifehad released this year. Aside from revolutionizing narrative design for shooters and pioneering things like physics and level design,Half-Lifeis notable for having been a popular modding platform. Many current developers got their start making mods for the originalHalf-Life.
Valve’s Sci-Fi classic wasn’t the only important release of that year, however. Epic made a name for themselves with the firstUnrealtitle, which was powered by the soon-to-beindustry standard Unreal Engine. 1998 was the beginning of the Tom Clancy era as well, with the release ofRainbow Six, an early tactical shooter that emphasized precision over speed. All three games would spawn successful franchises that continue to this day.
31999 - New Trends and Old Friends
Unreal Tournament - Medal of Honor - System Shock 2
The year is 1999 and some of the best multiplayer shooters ever have just been released.Unreal TournamentandQuake 3: Arenaare two pillars of theArena Shooter sub-genre, even contributing to the rise of competitive gaming as a whole. This was also the year thatTeam Fortress Classic, a class-based shooter with well-defined roles for each player, would see an official release from Valve.Team Fortress, however, would occasionally be compared to an increasingly popular mod for the originalHalf-Lifethat was released the same year,Counter-Strike.
While this year was very strong for competitive multiplayer shooters (both Arena and Tactical alike), 1999 would also see the release ofSystem Shock 2, a massively ambitious sequel that would improve on every element of its predecessor. Not only were the simulational elements much more advanced, but the game effortlessly blends several different genres simultaneously. This year also saw the release of the firstMedal of Honorgame, which depicted WW2 in a way it had never been before and is credited with having begun the early 2000s trend of WW2-themed shooters.
22000 - A New Era of Gaming
Deus Ex - Timesplitters - Perfect Dark
The dawn of the new millennium saw some serious heavy-hitting games released.Deus Exwas released to universal acclaim, with most citing its simulational elements, intricate combat, and open-ended world design, which featured side objectives alongside the main story. It is widely regarded as a cross between an RPG and an FPS due to incorporating things such as skill leveling alongside traditional gunplay, among other things.
TimesplittersandPerfect Darkare both renowned console games from this year (the former, a PS2 exclusive; the latter an N64 exclusive).Perfect Darkis considered a spiritual successor toGoldeneyein many ways but also improves upon it in terms of graphics and content.Timesplittersis actually somewhat similar to both games visually. However, its level design is what sets it apart, since each of them follows a pattern of diverse genre pastiches that include Sci-Fi, Crime, and Horror. It also has a level creator, which was novel for the time.
12001 - Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved - Return To Castle Wolfenstein - Red Faction
2001 was a prettygreat year for console shootersbecause not only did the original Xbox launch, but it launched withHalo: Combat Evolved.What truly set it apart from other console shooters boiled down to the fact that the game was cleverly designed - down to a mechanical level - around the use of a controller, making it a masterclass in gameplay synergy.Halo: Combat Evolvedproved to be such a big success that it’s credited with launching Xbox as a brand, proving that console shooters could be just as good if not better than the PC greats of that era.
Return to Castle Wolfensteinwas another strong release from this year, as it reimagined the original game as an action/stealth shooter with killer art direction and atmosphere. BothReturnandHalohad well-designed and popular multiplayer components, although the latter was limited to split-screen and LAN. Volition would come out with the firstRed Factiongame, which was notable for its engaging story, smooth graphics, and never-before-seen terrain-altering technology (which carried over to the game’s multiplayer).
