Board 8 > ITT: Joyrock ranks the top 20 FPS games you may have missed!

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is actually a topic I've been meaning to do for awhile, since there are a lot of FPS fans on here that I know would enjoy some of the games on this list, and most of them can still be played today and hold up to the tests of time.

The list focuses on creative aspects on a lot of the games, and I don't individually rank games in a series, unless I specifically feel one game is above the rest in the series.

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Shadow Warrior
Red Faction
Postal
thats all I got

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#20 - Terminator: Future Shock Bethesda 1995

Before Bethesda had even begun work on the Elder Scrolls series that would make them famous, they were all over the board with their projects, including a great many licensed titles. In 1990 they started a series of Terminator games. Future Shock is the second to last one of the series, and by and far the most technically impressive. Coming out months before Quake would change the face of the genre forever, Future Shock had many of the technical aspects Quake was praised for, including 3D Graphics and mouse aim. It also had some great objective-based gameplay, limited use of vehicles, grenades, regenerating health, and tons of other features that were impressive for its time.

The game was actually quite fun, but nowadays is far too dated to be considered good. It makes it on this list simply because it was an FPS so vastly ahead of its time, from a source you would not expect.

Why did you miss it?

While the game was so great because it was ahead of its time in many aspects, that's the same thing that was its demise - it was a 3D game released when 3D cards were still considered too expensive. There had been significant hardware price drops in the 6 months between Future Shock and Quake, and that allowed Quake to gain some ground, along with a significant multiplayer feature, of which Future Shock had none.

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From: metaIslugg | #003
Shadow Warrior
Red Faction
Postal
thats all I got

None of those are on the list actually >.>;

Postal I just plain did not like, and did not consider a good game. Shadow Warrior was good but outshined by a bunch of the games on the list, and I never really thought of Red Faction as a particularly underground series, mostly thanks to the recent revivals.

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#19: Powerslave Lobotomy Software - 1996

I originally played this game for the PC and was by and far underwhelmed. It played out as a very generic FPS with shoddy controls in a time the genre was really moving forward. It wasn't until I had a friend point me towards the console versions that I came to love this.

Powerslave has an odd development history. It was originally released in NA October 96 on Saturn, then in December 96 on PC, and finally February 97 on PS1. But it also had completely different EU releases(October 96 for PSX and April 97 for Saturn and PC). Each version was also massively different, with the PC version being a completely different game.

The console versions of the game are where the creativity comes into play. The game is an FPS that plays with more of an adventure format akin to Metroid. The levels are nonlinear, with multiple exits to each one. You can go to any level you have unlocked at any time, and you gather various abilities throughout the game, such as levitation, slow fall, farther jumping, and water breathing. These end up giving you access to different areas, and opening up a whole deal of exploration that is rarely seen in FPS games even today. It was actually quite fun, in addition to the various FPS elements in the game.

The PC version, however, takes out all of that originality. The levels are linear(although you can revisit older levels), the game engine is changed, and almost all of the powerups are taken out, along with tons of other changes.

In addition, there are also a number of changes between the Saturn and Playstation versions in both unlockables, and level design(some levels have a few extra rooms missing while some are completely different).

The discrepancies in design are the clearest when looking at reviews for the game. Just off a quick trip to Gamerankings:

PSX: 90%
Saturn: 63.25%
PC:48%

Why did I miss it?

Quite likely because the release of the game was an absolute mess. Three different versions on three different consoles with only one being worthwhile, and one being COMPLETELY different from the others. Combine this with a lack of real advertising for the game and it comes off as just another generic FPS to skip.

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Up!

This is much better than debating the current flavor of the month game!

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tagggg

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Tag.

Very interested in older PC FPSes (that work on a s***** Intel graphics card) I might have missed, so I hope this topic keeps going!

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It will but I'm attempting to not just dump them :P

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I will be surprised if I've played a single game on this list.

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If XIII isn't on this list...

#18 Shogo: Mobile Armor Division Monolith Productions 1998

OK, so gameplay wise Shogo is fairly standard fare. There is little creativity in the actual gameplay, just a solid, fun game of on foot, in mech, and on foot vs mech combat. But like nearly everything Monolith has done, they add such style and flair to it that it takes the game far above and beyond the average.

Shogo has a very distinctive anime-styled feel to it, from the plot, artwork, and basic settings, and is propelled with a plot far and away better than the average FPS game, that actually keeps you interested without getting convoluted, as well as having some solid characters.

The gameplay itself, while a bit basic even for the time, is refreshing, and gets down to the very soul of FPS games - Shooting lots of people with big guns. It gives you several missions both on foot and in a mech, but generally provides fast paced gameplay where it's not relying on the plot.

Why did I miss it?

Well, Monolith has not really been a big success story up until recently. They've had some games float them along with great ideas behind them, but up until recently with titles like FEAR and Condemned, they haven't had huge amounts of commercial success. Chances are if you had read some magazine involving PC gaming at the time you'd see an ad for it, but there really wasn't a lot about it.

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Tracked.

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how do you feel about Mechwarrior? and to a lesser/different extent, Catacombs?

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From: neonreaper | #016
how do you feel about Mechwarrior? and to a lesser/different extent, Catacombs?

I don't really consider Mechwarrior an FPS, nor would I think of it as obscure. Catacombs, if you're referring to the early early FPS, is little known but honestly not a great game. Other than preceeding Wolf 3D I don't see it as being particularly special.

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Hell yeah, I bought Shogo at the time, still got those huge PC boxes from then.

I'm gonna guess Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is on this list, groovy game right there.

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The game was actually quite fun, but nowadays is far too dated to be considered good.

What exactly does this mean? Are games like SMB, Final Fantasy, Contra, SF II, Diablo, etc. no longer good games because they are dated?

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From: redrocket | #019
The game was actually quite fun, but nowadays is far too dated to be considered good.

What exactly does this mean? Are games like SMB, Final Fantasy, Contra, SF II, Diablo, etc. no longer good games because they are dated?

Not at all. Some games age well, some don't(at least that's how I see it), and the game feels very bland nowadays, because the biggest cool factor it had was that it did a bunch of things that weren't done at the time, but did them in very limited ways.

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up

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Also, gonna wager Blood is on here. Ha, but not Blood II: The Chosen.

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From: Psycho_Kenshin | #022
Also, gonna wager Blood is on here. Ha, but not Blood II: The Chosen.

What ever would make you say that? <.<;

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#17: The Ship/Bloody Good Time

I thin it's time for a change of pace. We've so far got three great by the books FPS games focused on their single player portions. Why not a innovative and original set of multiplayer-centric games?

So we all know the basics of FPS Multiplayer comes down to "kill things". This is true for The Ship and it's spiritual sequel, but the similarities end there. The basic, core mode of the game is quite simple - all the players are plopped on a cruise ship(or in Bloody Good Time a hollywood movie set) and told they have to kill a specific player. You have several weapons and methods to choose from, as well as traps and tactics to fool your own assassin. Various obstacles, such as guards and security cameras, are around the area, forcing you to plan carefully. Think of it as a reverse game of Clue. Instead of figuring out who did it how, the whole game is about figuring out how to do it and not get killed.

That's fun enough on its own, the game takes on a bit of a Sims aspect. You have to monitor your own needs - you eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, etc etc as needed, providing several chances for planning traps and getting kills.

Bloody Good Time takes it a step further, offering multiple random game modes announced by the film's narrator, including infected, which comes down to a game of tag with death traps added to the mix.

The games are incredibly fresh and fun, but unfortunately not heavily played anymore despite not being too old. But if you can find a few friends to play them with you, they are a blast.

So why did I miss them?

These were both relatively small indie titles, relying primarily on digital distribution. These kinds of games can easily get missed, and it's unfortunate that such was the case for them.

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I played shogo thanks to my older cousin.

I feel so indie and hipster now.

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Joyrock
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Tag for great justice.

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Last bump for the night

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Joyrock
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Bump, continuing this later today

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#16 Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force Raven Software 2000

Oh hey another licensed game! There's actually a decent number of these games on the list, mostly because Licensed games tend to have a negative stigma to them, making it easy to miss the ones that are actually good. On top of that, Star Trek especially has had some truly awful licensed games, with its previous FPS entry, Klingon Honor Guard, being absolutely atrocious.

This game steps it up however, taking several cues from Half-Life and other recent FPS games to make it less a set of levels and more a world. In between missions(and during some missions) You're exploring the halls of the Voyager, with crew members walking around, interacting with each other, having various conversations. You can come across enemies making their own discussions, as well as having various crew members talk to you throughout the game.

The gunplay is straightforward but fun, with a fairly standard array of weapons including rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, and a phaser. They manage to fit very well within the Star Trek setting while blending well with the game. The guns use collective ammo of one of two types, often forcing you to use varying tactics in some of the later missions.

Overall, the game feels like Half-Life in a Star Trek universe, which is a very good thing - the game does not require you to be a Trekkie to enjoy it(as I am evidence to) but provides so much extra detail that a Trekkie is bound to get some love out of it. One nice feature is that within the scripted sequences, unlike in Half-Life, player interaction can actually change the outcome, often determining whether crew members live or die. One early on scene has a crew member running down a hall telling you that it's about to blow and you need to put up a shield. If you don't wait for him to get past the shield before putting it up, he'll cry out to you shortly before being vaporized by an explosion.

The multiplayer is also quite entertaining, ranging from a standard deathmatch to a team mode where one team is the Borg and must assimilate the other team. They have all the standard modes with a few extra fun ones, and in general the game is worth a look.

So why did I miss it?

Honestly, if you were a big PC gamer at the time, you probably didn't. Unlike most games on the list, it actually did fairly well for itself in PC terms, but given that the PS2 port was not nearly as good or well received, the game got little attention outside the PC community and remained a cult hit.

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Moar posts people!

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Joyrock
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The Ship A++ game

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Before Bethesda had even begun work on the Elder Scrolls series that would make them famous,

#20 - Terminator: Future Shock Bethesda 1995


*glares*

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Shoenin_Kakashi posted...
Before Bethesda had even begun work on the Elder Scrolls series that would make them famous,

#20 - Terminator: Future Shock Bethesda 1995


*glares*

You know if you actually read the whole thing you'd realize that line refers to the terminator game series they started in 1990.

Hurr.

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OctilIery posted...
From: neonreaper | #016
how do you feel about Mechwarrior? and to a lesser/different extent, Catacombs?
I don't really consider Mechwarrior an FPS, nor would I think of it as obscure. Catacombs, if you're referring to the early early FPS, is little known but honestly not a great game. Other than preceeding Wolf 3D I don't see it as being particularly special.

I'm not trying to say MW is an FPS/obscure game, just something that really played at FPS elements back before FPS was much of anything, curious if you had any thoughts on it!

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viruscarrierxxx posted...
Shoenin_Kakashi posted...
Before Bethesda had even begun work on the Elder Scrolls series that would make them famous,

#20 - Terminator: Future Shock Bethesda 1995


*glares*

You know if you actually read the whole thing you'd realize that line refers to the terminator game series they started in 1990.

Hurr.

Pretty much this. They also had only one TES game out when future shock came around.

As for mechwarrior, loved the series and sims in general :3

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Joyrock
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Up!

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Bumpage!

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You people suck XD

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Hope Hexen is on here. Great game from the little I played of it.

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oh i freaking love hexen

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I would be ecstatic if Laser Arena was on here

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Hopefully Nerf Arena Blast shows up.

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Up!

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Bump

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Joyrock
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As long as Assassin 2015 isn't on here, we're cool. Seriously one of the worst games I've ever played, let alone worst FPS

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