First Person Shooter (Hidden Gems)

[Halfblind]

Like a crouching tiger, hidden dragon good first person shooter hidden gems are often times overlooked. There are many online blogs and vlogs that list the best games from the 90's, 2000's, they list the best games and hidden gems released for the PC, Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360 and other platforms but they seem to be missing a few really great games that seem to be lost in the void of time.

 

Games like Halo, Half-Life, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, Unreal Tournament and Goldeneye fill up the list pretty fast but these list seem to miss a few really amazing games titles. At least when it comes to honorable mentions. Here are a few hidden gems that I believe have been extremely overlooked. What are your favorite hidden gems from 1990 to 2010 that you believe do not get enough credit and praise?

 

1. Bad Toys 3D - Though not the best game on this list, and nowhere near great in quality, it had enough humor that gave the game a unique style and feel. It does not stand up to this day but it would make a great Zdoom TC if anybody is interested.
2. Chex Quest - This game was slightly better gameplay wise than the one mentioned above. It was 100% free and had some great moments that you can't help but remember.
3. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders - This game was mentioned on a few list by Watchmojo but I feel that it does not get the recognition that it deserves. It has a great story, balanced weaponry, great soundtrack and is highly enjoyable to play. It is too bad that most gammers do not know that it exists.
4. Hexen: Beyond Heretic - Like Heretic this game seemed to be forgotten in the void of time. Like 90% of people who know about it are regulars here at Doomworld but as for the rest of the gamming community this game seems to be forgotten. It had a great variety of classes, weapons, had great atmosphere and remains as my favorite DOS game of all time (Doom Excluded).
5. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict: Jumping strait to the mid 2000's this game, like many others on this list, seems to be highly forgotten. It was released late in the original Xbox lineup and it was released at the time when rumors of the 360 were buzzing around. Because it changed publishers it's release was pushed back, which could have hurt its reputation a bit. This game was one of the only games, that I thought, worthy enough to pre-order. This game pushed the unreal 2 engine to its very limit. It nearly tripled the polygon count of their previous titles, it featured multi-layered skyboxes, great glossy and non-glossy graphics (which is rather nice to see in the same game), great character models and great gameplay. I lived the many gameplay mechanics which includes; switching to 3rd person, the adrenaline system, and the variety in game modes. It also had some impressively designed maps and stunning special effects.

 

So what are your favorite forgotten hidden gems?

[Deleted_Account]

 

[Halfblind]

• Chasm: The Rift - Looks like it had some good weapon and pickup models. The textures would look much better if the resolution was better but the map architecture looked better than some games that I have played. Thanks for sharing Piper Maru.

[Deleted_Account]

19 minutes ago, Halfblind said:

• Chasm: The Rift - Looks like it had some good weapon and pickup models. The textures would look much better if the resolution was better but the map architecture looked better than some games that I have played. Thanks for sharing Piper Maru.

The player was also able to dismember enemies. Pretty nifty feature at the time.

[Halfblind]

@Piper Maru Do you know of any patches for Chasm: The Rift that port it to Windows?

[ETTiNGRiNDER]

Heretic and Hexen are forgotten?  That's news to me but I guess I mostly hang out in the oldschooler scene, so...

 

I see Chasm's already covered which was going to be my first mention.  Might as well mention Corridor 7 then, which is probably my favorite Wolf3D-alike.  People say it's crap but I enjoyed it better than Blake Stone which is the other sci-fi Wolf3D-engine game.  ...for that matter, Blake Stone can go on that list too.

 

I also remember enjoying a demo of another obscure one called Z.A.R. where you wander around the surface of planets blowing up robots.  The engine kind of reminded me of Terminal Velocity/Fury3 but you were walking on the ground instead of flying a spaceship.  It seems like getting a legitimate copy of the full version is next to impossible if you're not Russian though (it was a Russian game but I guess it did have an English version or at least an English demo).

[Voros]

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/91875-chasm-the-rift-source-port/

 

[DoomKnight1984]

Does Realms of the Haunting count? It was unique that it's an adventure game combined with first person shooting.

 

Killing Joke is the next one I can think of.

[KVELLER]

1 hour ago, DoomKnight1984 said:

Does Realms of the Haunting count? It was unique that it's an adventure game combined with first person shooting.

I never heard of it, but it's 90% off on Steam right now. No reason to not give it a shot.

[leodoom85]

Well, I don't know if this one is considered as a hidden gem but...I've played a game called Tenka for the PS1 console (or Lifeforce: Tenka)

[CARRiON]

5 minutes ago, KVELLER said:

I never heard of it, but it's 90% off on Steam right now. No reason to not give it a shot.

Be prepared for an awful ending.

[Deleted_Account]

Here's some more forgotten shooters.

 

 

[wheresthebeef]

You Are Empty

Not good by any stretch, but it's so bat shit crazy and weird it is an enjoyable experience. The standout is the interaction with this guy:

 

[Teivman]

Chasm: the rift, Kaos and Hacx *somewhat obscure* are my favorite obscure fps games that i own.

Edited April 28, 2018 by MrD!zone

[Teivman]

12 minutes ago, wheresthebeef said:

You Are Empty

Not good by any stretch, but it's so bat shit crazy and weird it is an enjoyable experience. The standout is the interaction with this guy:

 

From what i know. That game was originally Russian. 

[Albertoni]

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division.

Anime characters, intro song in Japanese, giant robots, put heavy emphasis on having a storyline... Made 100% in the USA.

 

Clive Barker's Undying.

Great game, unique magic systems. An actual horror game, not some cheap thriller with jumpscares. Shame the last chapter and boss were incredibly rushed.

 

In Pursuit of Greed.

Overall pretty eh. Looked nicely sci-fi and has some interesting gameplay ideas. The OST was damn good, by Andrew "necros" Sega.

 

[Master O]

6 hours ago, Halfblind said:

Like a crouching tiger, hidden dragon good first person shooter hidden gems are often times overlooked. There are many online blogs and vlogs that list the best games from the 90's, 2000's, they list the best games and hidden gems released for the PC, Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360 and other platforms but they seem to be missing a few really great games that seem to be lost in the void of time.

 

Games like Halo, Half-Life, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, Unreal Tournament and Goldeneye fill up the list pretty fast but these list seem to miss a few really amazing games titles. At least when it comes to honorable mentions. Here are a few hidden gems that I believe have been extremely overlooked. What are your favorite hidden gems from 1990 to 2010 that you believe do not get enough credit and praise?

 

1. Bad Toys 3D - Though not the best game on this list, and nowhere near great in quality, it had enough humor that gave the game a unique style and feel. It does not stand up to this day but it would make a great Zdoom TC if anybody is interested.
2. Chex Quest - This game was slightly better gameplay wise than the one mentioned above. It was 100% free and had some great moments that you can't help but remember.
3. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders - This game was mentioned on a few list by Watchmojo but I feel that it does not get the recognition that it deserves. It has a great story, balanced weaponry, great soundtrack and is highly enjoyable to play. It is too bad that most gammers do not know that it exists.
4. Hexen: Beyond Heretic - Like Heretic this game seemed to be forgotten in the void of time. Like 90% of people who know about it are regulars here at Doomworld but as for the rest of the gamming community this game seems to be forgotten. It had a great variety of classes, weapons, had great atmosphere and remains as my favorite DOS game of all time (Doom Excluded).
5. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict: Jumping strait to the mid 2000's this game, like many others on this list, seems to be highly forgotten. It was released late in the original Xbox lineup and it was released at the time when rumors of the 360 were buzzing around. Because it changed publishers it's release was pushed back, which could have hurt its reputation a bit. This game was one of the only games, that I thought, worthy enough to pre-order. This game pushed the unreal 2 engine to its very limit. It nearly tripled the polygon count of their previous titles, it featured multi-layered skyboxes, great glossy and non-glossy graphics (which is rather nice to see in the same game), great character models and great gameplay. I lived the many gameplay mechanics which includes; switching to 3rd person, the adrenaline system, and the variety in game modes. It also had some impressively designed maps and stunning special effects.

 

So what are your favorite forgotten hidden gems?

 

 

[geo]

Enclave. Its a medieval shooter.

 

Legendary. Its a $1 Unreal game.

 

Vampires the Madagascar or something like that. Its a Half Life 2 engine game that had the misfortune of coming out the same week as the legendary game.

[Impboy4]

Marathon series

 

Redneck Rampage

 

Turok series

[Battle_Korbi]

I remember playing Nosferatu a few years ago.

 

General plot goes like: Your sister is getting married to some obvious vampire guy, and everyone in the family is coming to his castle and get kidnapped for a big ritual. You arrive a bit late, and you are tasked with rescuing your family and your sister and stopping the vampires from doing The Big Bad Thing^tm

 

In regards to gameplay: It feels like a standard shooter with some B-horror-movie elements. The arsenal is pretty interesting, with the Holy Chalice (or whatever) being the BFG of the game, able to one shot monsters and vampires (or at least stun them so you could pick them off easily with other weapons). Every playthrough is time based, and you would have to hurry to save your relatives before they get killed, and not to mention stopping the big bad ritual. And on every playthrough the dungeon randomizes itself and switches rooms, hallways or replaces them completely.

 

It was a good game when I played it. Reminded me of Return To Castle Wolfenstein with its graphics. But none the less, well designed concept of the general vampire idea, and for the first time YOU DON'T HAVE TO ROOT FOR THE VAMPIES YESSS--- I mean, pretty much any other game after that either had vampires as protagonists or they weren't bad enough assholes to hunt down and exterminate. Nosferatu fed my hunger to exterminate these bitches for a while.

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

Terminator: Future Shock was released in 1995 and features large, open, mission-based levels, controllable vehicles, and 3D models for enemies.  A stand-alone expansion titled SkyNET was released in 1996.

For some reason, the game ended up being mostly forgotten, despite it being technologically advanced (Duke Nukem 3D, released in early 1996, has smaller, more confined levels and uses sprites for enemies).  Some of the more maze-like inside levels can be confusing, however, and there are no real bosses (aside from the rare Goliath robots which are sort of like mini-bosses).  Still, the games were pretty impressive for their time.

When both Future Shock and SkyNET are installed, it is possible to upgrade Future Shock to run in hi-res SVGA mode.  However, this will cause one of the levels to have a game-breaking bug, making further progress impossible:  A character that you need to kill in level 13 will be invulnerable, due to their sprite having no collision in SkyNET's engine.
 

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by TheUltimateDoomer666 : Additional game details

[Tracer]

The Metro Redux series was cool.

[Nems]

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise. I wish there was more of it (though I'm thankful the mod Call of Chernobyl exists at least). A-Life can do some pretty impressive shit with the right tweaks and changes.

[vinnie245]

3 hours ago, geo said:

Vampires the Madagascar or something like that. Its a Half Life 2 engine game that had the misfortune of coming out the same week as the legendary game.

You mean Vampire The Masquerade:Bloodlines?

 

[Remilia Scarlet]

I love this one to death, but that could be because I'm such a 40K fan.

 

 

I always like Zero Tolerance for the idea of clearing out the level in order to progress:

 

This game and its data is only 96kb in size.  Not a typo.  And it's fun to boot.

 

 

[Voros]

Descent doesn't get much love these days. IDK if it's officially an FPS, but you do shoot in first person view :|

 

Descent is Doom mixed with a flight simulator, and it's crazy fun. I'm aware of that new Descent game, but it just doesn't look or feel like Descent that much.

[Liberation]

@YukiRaven Space hulk: VOTBA was a great game, fighting genestealers in hand to hand combat was probably one of the hardest and most terrifying experiences in a computer game to date!

[Swine & Roses]

 

Recently rebought it on GOG, still looks and plays nicely.

[geo]

4 hours ago, vinnie245 said:

You mean Vampire The Masquerade:Bloodlines?

Yes I did.

 

[Koko Ricky]

Fury 3 was a Microsoft Windows game banking on the popularity of titles like Descent. Had excellent graphics for the time and the gameplay was more or less sandbox, as you could travel in any direction and ignore the mission objective in pursuit of enemies, power-ups, secrets, etc. You could play in both first and third person.