My Top 10 First Person Shooters

[Li'l devil]

1) Doom : if it wasn't that good, I wouldn't have been on these forums.

2) Medal of Honor: Allied Assault : my favourite WWII FPS.

3) Return to Castle Wolfenstein : great concept (mixing WWII, sci-fi and horror), like it as much as MOH:AA.

4) Blood : what can be better than a mix of Doom and many classic horror movies/fiction?

5) STALKER: great atmosphere and exploration element, many mods, epic bugs...

6) Serious Sam : ridiculously good.

7) Doom 3 : not Doom, but still a great sci-fi horror game.

8) Nazi Zombies : not really a game, more like part of CoD, but it's the best zombie survival, IMO.

9) Postal 2: well.. it's actually funny.

10) Quake : nothing special, but pretty enjoyable.

I also wanted to add System Shock 2 here, but I think it's more like RPG, than FPS.

[DoomzRules]

10. Wolfenstein 3D:

What? Why so low? Don't you love Wolfenstein 3D, Mr. DoomzRules? Why yes of course I love Wolfenstein 3D, that's why I put it at #10. While I respect the game for what it was and what it is. My main beef with the game is the lack of strafing and extreme deaths (I guess Doom pampered me too much... =P).

Anyway, I like the Wolfenstein franchise, but this game is.... meh. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a ton of hate for saying that.

Still a great and excellent first-person shooter though...

9. Quake 2:

WHATTTT????!!!! At number 9? DoomzRules, I haz pitchfork waiting for you! It's SUPER SHARP!

Yes, I have Quake 2 at number 9, O Internet, because well.... atmosphere or lack thereof... There was hardly any atmosphere in Quake 2, something that I LOVED so much in the original Quake was COMPLETELY MISSING! And as much as I dig the kickass soundtrack, I also like the ambient ominous soundtrack of the original, and quite honestly I feel it was too easy, and they could have taken some more Lovecraftian-Gigeresque inspiration.

Alas they didn't, therefore number NINE for you Mr. Quake Two!

8. Quake 3:

Woah there bud! Take it easy!!! Quake 3? Why you do dis?

Because, well.... there's a lack of a single-player campaign. Everything else is great.... except... why is there no pistol? That's just one thing that will always bug me about Quake 3.

1) Lack of single-player campaign and 2) Lack of pistol.

7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 1

It had the best Call of Duty campaign IMHO, and the best Zombies IMHO. Really great COD game, and I sort of have nostalgic feelings for it.... but that aside, at times it does get repetitive and dull... oh and you STILL CAN'T OPEN A DAMNED DOOR!!!! YAAARRRGGGHHHH!

Here be linearity and cutscenes galor! Here be pirates and oh wait wrong game.

6. Pirates vs Vikings vs Knights II

I know it's not technically a "first-person shooter" but it's still fucking fun as fuck. Really love this game so much! I really love to play as a Viking, because using an axe while blasting Nordic metal in the background is just so badass!!

5. Blood

OH I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH! THEY NEED TO REBOOT IT ASAP! My only complaint is that it isn't like Doom in terms of level design. Yes, there's secrets. Yes it's a different game. That aside though, I feel the levels are either too big, or they are too confusing. In Doom it's pretty straightforward, and the only time you get confused is if you've never played Doom before, other than that the levels in Doom are pretty straightforward and compact.

That's one of the reasons that Blood is number five. While I love the aesthetic and the whole notion of playing as this badass undead dude aka Caleb, my main beef is that the level design was poorly executed IMHO. I can't really think of a memorable level from Blood... except the first level. Not dissing Blood or anything, just giving my critique.... (not that I'm really entitled to, but hey my opinion damn it! Onto number....)

NUMBER FOUR!

4.) Black Mesa

While it's technically a remake of Half-Life (one of my favorite FPS games by the way), it's technically BADASS! I love this game/mod so much.... it's just... they nailed everything. The lighting, the atmosphere, the music, the sound effects, the textures, oh jeez, it's just...

Everything in the mod is awesome. Except.... still no Xen in sight, and well... I think they could have added in a few more weapons and enemies. Other than that it's great.

3.) Quake

Because... it's Quake. The original Quake. It's a solid masterpiece, and quite frankly I recommend it. Why? Because the atmosphere is thick and moody, the gibs are satisfying, the sound effects are beefy, the weapons are punchy and powerful, and the enemies are scary and nightmare-inducing... (I'm looking at you Fiend.... fucking Fiends man, they are the stuff of nightmares. People say the Shambler gives you nightmares... but it's the Fiends that really get to me...)

2.) Doom

It was a cold December night... 2004.... I was still four-years old, George Bush was the President, and Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and Doom 3 were all being played simultaneously across the globe.

What was I playing you ask?

I was playing educational games, until.... well... I went on the Internet, and was just randomly searching about, and I found the shareware download for Doom.

Oh boy am I glad I did.... why? It was fucking fast, fast-paced as HELL! I mean nothing had been so fast before! It was just... no words to describe it! I mean I remember I was playing Doom 95 Shareware on my Windows 98 CRT monitor, and it was pretty gory, pretty scary, and let's just say I had nightmares for months straight...

Why?

OK, the Imps and Pinkies were pretty scary sure. I mean it's already bad enough that the Imps reminded me of the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park, which always terrified me as a kid.

But then when I got to the end of the Shareware episode...

DUN DUN DAAAAA! DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! DUN DUN! DAAAAAAAAWAWAWAWWAAAAAHHHHHH! BAAAA!

POOWOWOWOWOWOOOO The switch lowers the wall, and I can see an entire fucking crowd of demons in a circle of barrels. I shoot the barrels and they all explode. It's visceral yes, but also extremely satisfying.

As I go through the level, I encounter the lift. I take the lift, and the doors open, and I see two Barons of Hell emerge.

They look like Arnold Schwarzenegger with a T-rex head from Jurassic Park, with goat legs, and they are terrifying!

They throw green fireballs at me, and they are just so damn scary, that I think I may have paused the game, saved, and force shut down the computer, went to bed, and I was probably screaming and crying because of how terrifying they were.

I had a nightmare of a Baron in my house one time... literally like it was INSIDE MY BEDROOM!

I ran to my parent's bedroom crying about it.

Wasn't able to play Doom for a bit, but I came back to that level, and I overcame my fear, and I blasted that BARON OF HELL INTO INTESTINES AND GUTS AND IT WAS SO SATISFYING!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

OK, personal stories aside...


I really love Doom. To this day I still play Doom. I play Doom Retro, Vanilla Doom, ZDoom, GZDoom, and not to mention the various mods I play.

In order from least played to most played it would be...

10. WildWeasel's Nazis

9. Dark Doom

8. Hard Doom

7. WildWeasel's Terrorists

6. Smooth Doom

5. Gritty Doom

4. Brutal Doom

3. Colorful Hell + DoomRL Arsenal

2. Colorful Hell + RogueLike Monster Expansion + Legendoom

1. Project Brutality + PSX Doom (oh and also I like to play Doom 64 on the PC via GZDoom 64 and Doom 64 EX but that brings us to.... NUMBER...)

NUMBER ONE!!!!!!

1. My number one first-person shooter of all time is Doom 64.

Why? The death animations are visceral, satisfying, and gory. Nothing like seeing a demon splayed, or its entrails all hanging out.

The weapons are smooth and beefy. I especially love the Super Shotgun from Doom 64.

The level design is excellent, further complemented by the moody lighting and atmosphere, which is further enhanced by Aubrey Hodge's brilliantly terrifying foreboding soundtrack.

There's nothing more terrifying than wandering through Hell in Doom 64, which is just an absolute mindfuck...

The monsters are scary as hell, and even NOW they still scare the hell out of me. The graphics are more realistic than any other Doom incarnation IMHO, and it isn't cartoony like some people say.

It's everything I want Doom (2016) to be.

Gory, moody, terrifying, non-linear, and just down-right fucking amazing!

I mean to access a secret level, you have to shoot all the barrels in the first-level within a certain time-limit, rush back to the beginning of the level, and then go to the secret level.

By the way I am referring to Hectic.

Doom 64 is just... it's fucking amazing, and quite frankly I'm excited for Brutal Doom 64. I can't wait to see what Mark has in mind for Doom 64... so long as he keeps to the original atmosphere, and keeps the original gameplay intact without changing too much.

Essentially, he should aim to do something more akin to what Beautiful Doom did, and preserve the feeling of the original whilst enhancing it.

So all in all my favourite first-person shooter of all time is hands down....

DOOM 64!

=D

[VGamingJunkie]

Would genre hybrids like Metroid Prime (FPS + Adventure) or Portal (FPS + Puzzle) count?

[june gloom]

I don't see why not, as my top ten includes the likes of Deus Ex.

[VGamingJunkie]

In that case, I'd have to go with...

10) Nitemare 3D
This is probably going to sound weird but I honestly had fun with this game, though I will admit the mechanics are less than forgiving at times. For some reason, I really liked playing it, it had its charm and it was cool to have a 90's shooter with puzzles instead of just pure run and gun.
9) Goldeneye 64
A staple from my childhood, I remember playing the crap out of this game. Hasn't aged especially well, which is why it's lower on the list.
8) 007 Nightfire
Another one of those memorable childhood moments, I still have it on Gamecube and I really enjoyed the gadgets it added to it. I feel like it really lived up as a James Bond game and aged a bit better than Goldeneye.
7) Portal 2
Very memorable game, one of Valve's biggest strengths seems to be having recognizable character personalities and it did a good job expanding on things, going beyond simple clean test chambers and into the underbelly so to speak.
6) Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
I honestly thought this one was underrated. While not quite as memorable as the first entry to the sub-series, the light and dark aspects and the types of enemies made it quite enjoyable. Harpened slightly by a few bosses that are on the frustrating side.
5) Rise of the Triad
Bouncing trampalones, a fire wall flamethrower, and a literal God mode. It's pretty fun to come back to from time to time.
4) Fallout New Vegas
I haven't yet played Fallout 4 so I'll just give it to New Vegas for the improved mechanics and overall decent story. Even though Caesar was the obvious evil faction, I like how the other 3 are more morally gray so no one of them is the obvious solution.
3) Metroid Prime
I love the atmospheric effects and the sense of a living breathing world, not to mention piecing together the backstory optionally instead of having the story thrust in your face almost makes it feel like you're a detective so the game isn't just spoon feeding it to you.
2) Duke 3D
While not quite as much as Doom, I love Duke 3D from my childhood and not even for the raunchy humor, I just love certain things like the atmosphere and the Shrinkray/Freezethrower that separated it from other shooters.
1) Doom
Not only my favorite FPS but my personal favorite of all time, it is the first game I remember playing as a kid, not counting little things like FreeSki and MineSweeper. With such a robust community and gameplay that I think manages to still be addictive, it remains my favorite of all time.

[Avoozl]

With Nightfire I remember finding it the most disappointing James Bond game I ever played, but I absolutely enjoyed the multiplayer side.

[MrGlide]

I'v many #rd person shooters I perfer over most first pirson shooters, but here we go

1. Doom + Doom2
2. Quake 1
3. Halflife 2 + expansions
4. Halo 3
5. COD: Black ops 2 (zombies)
6. Unreal tournement
7. Borderlands 2
8. Riddick: excape from butcher bay.
9. bullet storm
10 Bioshock 1/ metroid prime, I can't pick as both are very very good.

If we were to include third person shooters in this they would make up most of my list.

[VGamingJunkie]

Avoozl said:

With Nightfire I remember finding it the most disappointing James Bond game I ever played, but I absolutely enjoyed the multiplayer side.

To each their own, I had a blast out of it, even with the single player. I'd say Goldeneye Rogue Agent was the most disappointing, due in part to them using the "Goldeneye" term to get people to think it bares some relation to the N64 game or movie of the same name. It's an okay game but a pretty generic shooter that's forgettable.

[Avoozl]

MetroidJunkie said:

To each their own, I had a blast out of it, even with the single player. I'd say Goldeneye Rogue Agent was the most disappointing, due in part to them using the "Goldeneye" term to get people to think it bares some relation to the N64 game or movie of the same name. It's an okay game but a pretty generic shooter that's forgettable.

I just enjoyed Everything or Nothing (even though it's not an FPS) more, Nightfire just felt like a poor Moonraker knockoff with a simplified story with a missile platform instead of a space station colony making it a bit more unoriginal, it was too short with too many driving/onrails missions for how short it was, I also didn't so much like the voice actor for Bond either as they sounded like they had a cold.

[DoomzRules]

Avoozl said:

I just enjoyed Everything or Nothing (even though it's not an FPS) more, Nightfire just felt like a poor Moonraker knockoff with a simplified story with a missile platform instead of a space station colony making it a bit more unoriginal, it was too short with too many driving/onrails missions for how short it was, I also didn't so much like the voice actor for Bond either as they sounded like they had a cold.

For me it was like my Goldeneye for the Gamecube when I was growing up, so I didn't really see anything wrong with it at the time *cough cough* nostalgia *cough cough*.

Now I can see the flaws with the game, while I still appreciate it's a good Bond game and it's not as bad as let's say... Quantum of Solace (Shameless COD clone), it's still nonetheless intriguing and quite frankly a good multiplayer game. =)

[Avoozl]

DoomzRules said:

it's not as bad as let's say... Quantum of Solace (Shameless COD clone), it's still nonetheless intriguing and quite frankly a good multiplayer game. =)

Yes that's right, I couldn't even enjoy the Craig based Bond games at all, they were the true disappointments to me and Bloodstone was the only one I found close to bearable. But when it comes to the Brosnan based Bond games I just didn't enjoy Nightfire in the singleplayer portion.

[june gloom]

Ranked lists are pointless. Here's a bunch of games I like.

Marathon: Probably my most recent obsession (no shock there) having got into it a couple years ago. On its surface it's a slower-paced Doom clone but once you dig into the terminals a bit it's clear that there is a super well-thought out story, and some of the stranger terminals (Gherrit White especially, or the Eat the Path terminal) really nail just what I've been wanting out of an FPS story for ages. I think I was predisposed to enjoying this series, though, because I so thoroughly enjoyed:

Half-Life: I played this a couple years after it came out and I found it to be super-compelling. Sure you could rap on it for its linearity but I found it to be more of an adventure than anything else; I liked that it completely turned almost every FPS trope I knew at the time on its head. Though you know what's funny? There was a Duke3D mod based on Starship Troopers that had a lot of Half-Life influence in it; I thought it was cool and atmospheric because it didn't have music and used footsteps and such, I didn't realize just how much it drew from HL until I played it later that summer. There's a whole vibe to Half-Life that persists into HL2 that just completely sucks me in. I feel like a lot of its design ethos seems to be inspired by Marathon; the clear literary bent of Prospero (which I wish they'd finished) seems to bear that out. The Half-Life 1 mod Someplace Else and of course Minerva Metastasis for HL2 are obvious marriages of Marathon-style storytelling with Half-Life's gameplay and it works perfectly. And even Portal just screams Marathon at this point -- GLaDOS is basically Durandal in affect.

Doom: 'Nuff said.

Thief, Deus Ex, System Shock: I'm lumping all of these together largely because I feel they form a single point in video game history. "Immersive sim" is kind of a meaningless buzzword, but whatever these games are, they represent a design ethos that I really feel is important for some of the most intelligent games in existence. Let's just not talk about Invisible War.

Wolfenstein 3D: My first FPS. I only barely understood the significance of the Nazi insignia, but I was taken in by the violence, which at my young age was shocking and intriguing. I knew video games didn't have a lot of blood, nor was I really familiar with violent media; I think I had only a passing familiarity with the controversy over Mortal Kombat, but I didn't give a hot shit about fighting games. Wolfenstein, though... a big part of the draw was it was an id software game, and I'd played Commander Keen a bunch on my PC. While I'm a way bigger Doom fan, Wolfenstein continues to hold a place in my heart. It's probably the number one reason my favorite Marvel movie is the first Captain America.

Duke 3D: After Doom I voraciously inhaled every FPS I could get my hands on. I was a big fan of Duke Nukem 1 and 2; Duke3D was the obvious next step up. Of course, the adult themes had the same effect on me as the blood, violence and evil undertones of Doom -- I knew mom had to never know about it, and I wanted more. I was young and immature at the time and Duke seemed to be everything I wanted to be myself. Now he's just a relic, but one I'm fond of. I feel like a lot of today's negative political climate in gaming circles (to avoid using a hot-button word) is due to people who never got past that phase of basing their entire identity on 90s gaming culture and advertising.

Blood: The Build Engine drew me in (it was my favorite at one time,) the violence and overt occult themes and melancholy undertone kept me there. Even today it's my favorite of the Build games.

Bioshock 1/2: I admit it: I spent about 3 years being mad at the original Bioshock for not being System Shock 2. Then I spent another 5 years being mad at System Shock 2 for not being Bioshock. Then I realized wait no that's stupid they're both good games. Bioshock 2 is way better though -- better atmosphere, better story. It doesn't really need to spend too much time world-building -- we're already familiar with how Rapture works, and it's not like much has changed since the original. It's just older, sadder, starting to collapse. (Bioshock Infinite is dog cock though.)

[CreamCheese]

I'll do 5 MP,and 5 SP.

MP:

5. Halo 3:
An enjoyable, balanced Arena experience perfectly suited for the XBOX 360, I don't dislike the others but I felt this one removed the Gimmicks of Halo 2 that made it fairly unbalanced (Dual Wielded Needler, Piss-weak pistol, etc.), the vehicular combat was fantastic, the equipment added a whole new dimension of gameplay.

4. Unreal Tournament:
The original, no vehicles. Whilst not a very balanced or symetrical experience, everything, even the pistol, packed enough stopping power to get you going immediately, the map designs were fantastic, the game modes were creative and offered plenty of variety, my favorite was the sabotage maps where-in one teams job was to destroy a crystal the other team was defending.

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare:
The game that kickstarted the MMS trend we all deride, but I have fond memories of COD4. The weapons, apart from the Barrett .50cal and Deagle, were all fairly balanced and there was only a small number of them with unique characteristics, one of my greatest criticisms for later installments was how same-sane the weapons were. A great mapset, very fine tuned gunplay and and movement, and an enjoyabke reward system that wasn't loaded with unnecessary gimmicks, thiugh it had its fair share (golden AKs74u im looking at you).

2. Titanfall:
One of the most enjoyable console experiences i've had in long time. Fantastic movement and verticality, the wall running mechanic made me kind of ruined me for other FPS for a while, and clever though not necessarily high Skill-Curve Gunplay. I personally enjoyed being on foot more than I did being in the Titans, but the Map Designs were clever and varied enough to incentivize both. The Smartpistol irritated me, but it was something that was easily countered by clever movement. The biggest issue was the community that were not interested in Teamplay modes like Hardpoint and just wanted to rack up kills.

Honorable Mentions: CS 1.6, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfare, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Insurgency.

1. Half-Life Deathmatch:
The most hectic, jarring Arena experience of a lifetime. The original maps themselves were fantastic but the numerous community contributions gave it longevity only comparable to the Father of FPS itself (you know the one). The frantic gunplay where in every shot added up, where you had to plan your follow up shots, learn to aim and predict the movement of your target and of your own projectiles. I'd possibly say HLOF was better than HLDM but the community was never as vibrant, I still play HLDM to thus day!

[VGamingJunkie]

Avoozl said:

Yes that's right, I couldn't even enjoy the Craig based Bond games at all, they were the true disappointments to me and Bloodstone was the only one I found close to bearable. But when it comes to the Brosnan based Bond games I just didn't enjoy Nightfire in the singleplayer portion.

What about the remake of Goldeneye for Wii/360/Ps3? I thought that was a pretty solid game, even though the engine made it feel a bit Call of Duty-ish.

[CreamCheese]

CreamCheese said:

I'll do 5 MP,and 5 SP.

MP:

5. Halo 3:
An enjoyable, balanced Arena experience perfectly suited for the XBOX 360, I don't dislike the others but I felt this one removed the Gimmicks of Halo 2 that made it fairly unbalanced (Dual Wielded Needler, Piss-weak pistol, etc.), the vehicular combat was fantastic, the equipment added a whole new dimension of gameplay.

4. Unreal Tournament:
The original, no vehicles. Whilst not a very balanced or symetrical experience, everything, even the pistol, packed enough stopping power to get you going immediately, the map designs were fantastic, the game modes were creative and offered plenty of variety, my favorite was the sabotage maps where-in one teams job was to destroy a crystal the other team was defending.

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare:
The game that kickstarted the MMS trend we all deride, but I have fond memories of COD4. The weapons, apart from the Barrett .50cal and Deagle, were all fairly balanced and there was only a small number of them with unique characteristics, one of my greatest criticisms for later installments was how same-sane the weapons were. A great mapset, very fine tuned gunplay and and movement, and an enjoyabke reward system that wasn't loaded with unnecessary gimmicks, thiugh it had its fair share (golden AKs74u im looking at you).

2. Titanfall:
One of the most enjoyable console experiences i've had in long time. Fantastic movement and verticality, the wall running mechanic made me kind of ruined me for other FPS for a while, and clever though not necessarily high Skill-Curve Gunplay. I personally enjoyed being on foot more than I did being in the Titans, but the Map Designs were clever and varied enough to incentivize both. The Smartpistol irritated me, but it was something that was easily countered by clever movement. The biggest issue was the community that were not interested in Teamplay modes like Hardpoint and just wanted to rack up kills.

Honorable Mentions: CS 1.6, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfare, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Insurgency.

1. Half-Life Deathmatch:
The most hectic, jarring Arena experience of a lifetime. The original maps themselves were fantastic but the numerous community contributions gave it longevity only comparable to the Father of FPS itself (you know the one). The frantic gunplay where in every shot added up, where you had to plan your follow up shots, learn to aim and predict the movement of your target and of your own projectiles. I'd possibly say HLOF was better than HLDM but the community was never as vibrant, I still play HLDM to thus day!

In the sake of fairness, i've made sure to limit it to 2 open world and 2 rpgs for SP, be they honorable or mainlist.

5. FarCry 4:
I feel this is the most unfairly derided game in the series. The fantastic, beautifully expansive open world, the storyline, captivating villain (Pagan Min), etc. Made for a wondefully immersive experience. The weapon variety was fantastic, I found myself using the Bow to a great extent, the interactions with the wildlife where you could eliminate Heavy units with Lions by throwing bait, riding an elephant and storming the palace! This is by far my favorite Far Cry, and one of the greatest open world FPS i've ever played.

4. Blood:
My favorite Build engine game, 4 brilliantly designed episodes that take you on a bizarre Juxtaposition of Tarantino-eaque action and Occult Horror. Unique weaponry like the Lifestealer and Voodoo Doll, fantastic scenery like the Damn or Cerberus' Chasm, clever AI (for the time), unique abilities like Alt-Fire and Akimbo, and non-linear map design maje this one of the most enjoyable Single-player experiences ever.

3. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay:
A fantaatic FPS-RPG that basically was half the reason I had an XBOX. The unique melee combat, though now it may seem tedious, and carefully paced progression of the game made for an immersive experience that recent single player FPS do not even compare to. The voice acfing from various celebrities including Vin Diesel and Xzibit was cantastic, the graphics were jawdropping, I rrally felt likr I was locked in with the animals, fighting for my life. Possibky one of the greatest Game adaptions of a film series ever.

2. Final Doom:
Superior use of DooM 2's bestiary (CHAINGUNNERS IN PLUTONIA) and better map design than both, Plutonia was marginally better than TNT in terms of difficulty but I feel explaining all of this on a DooM board is kind of pointless.

Honorable Mentions: FO:NV, Deus Ex, Strife.

1. Half-Life 2:

Come on, gravity gun? Travelling across dystopic Eastern Europe? I don't even need to ezplain this one.