First Person Shooter (Hidden Gems)

[Avoozl]

On 07/05/2017 at 2:37 PM, Phoenix said:

One Gem lost in time, in the Build engine family, was Fate. Or at least I did not see it in this thread.

 

http://www.r-t-c-m.com/knowledge-base/build-games/fate.html

After the developer issued the demo, they went out of business. The enemies are top notch for one, very sad the game never seen the light of day.

I kind of like the pre-rendered 3D sprites in this.

[Teivman]

"You are empty" Is a game i'm afraid i will never play because you cant get it anywhere And finding a working cracked version is almost impossible .

[Tetzlaff]

1. Firestarter by GSC Game World (2004): Gameplay and style similar to Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament 2004, but with fully realised, arcade-style single player mode that is really fun. You start in a smaller section of a larger level that is designed like a deathmatch level, and after some waves of spawning monsters you have to defeat, doors unlock and the level becomes gradually larger and more complex. In addition to the combat you have to pick up certain timed artifacts.

 

2. Kreed by Burut (2003): Scifi FPS with an interesting story and a variety of interesting settings. Comparable to classic Unreal, but with a darker atmosphere.

 

3. Liquidator 2 by Parallax Arts Studio (2006): combat and animation is technically a bit weak in this one, but if you like complex and exploration-heavy non-linear level design as much as me, I can recommend this title. Takes place in three seperate worlds: swamp world with dungeons, an abandoned ancient city and hell.

 

4. Chrome by Techland (2004): epic scifi FPS with really large worlds, wide-open outdoor areas mixed with tech-base interiors. There are all kinds of vehicles you can use in the outdoor sections. The story is inetersting enough to keep you going. I would decribe this game as a better Unreal 2 whith a much bigger degree of freedom and a touch of Deux Ex (inventory system, hacking and stealth parts).

 

5. Iron Storm by 4X Studio (2002): Alternate history world war shooter, set in central Europe where WW1 and WW2 made a seamless transition. You have kind of a cold war situation where a fascistoid Russian baron rose to power. Interesting scenery, solid and challenging gameplay.

 

6. TimeShift by Saber Interactive (2007): Another alternate history war FPS, this time set in a fascist USA. Great retro-futuristic and Art Deco settings in 1930s America. You are a time-travelling special agent from the future and your time manipulation abilities spice up the combat a little.

 

7. Dark Salvation by Mangled Eye Studios (2009): Quake meets teenage Goth dark fantasy world. As opposed to other wannabe oldschool FPS this one takes the puzzle and traps aspects from Quake to a new level.

 

8. Exodus from the Earth by Parallax Arts Studio (2008): Nice Scifi FPS with interesting environments.

 

 

Edited May 13, 2017 by Tetzlaff

[ETTiNGRiNDER]

5 minutes ago, Tetzlaff said:

7. Dark Salvation by Mangled Eye Studios (2009): Quake meets teenage Goth dark fantasy world. As opposed to other wannabe oldschool FPS this one takes the puzzle and traps aspects from Quake to a new level.

It sure does "take it to a new level", like a mandatory bunnyhopping timed door as the first thing it expects you to do.

[Tetzlaff]

Yeah, that hard jumping puzzle right at the beginning probably put many players off.

[Summer Deep]

Devastation (2003)

 

This is a FPS released on the PC, and is an interesting game. It's a bit like a lesser version of Half Life 2, with a few idiosyncrasies of its own. The objective of most missions is to locate and eliminate the enemy's Replicator facility, which will otherwise spawn endless numbers of reincarnated shock troopers. You get to control a small squad, and though the system is a bit 'hit and miss', it works better than that used by most other games of the era. There's also a sophisticated range of difficulty levels (3 'Arcade' and 3 'Simulation'), which potentially greatly extends the challenge and longevity of the game.

 

 

 

Also worth a look is Project Snowblind, available on PC, PS2 and Xbox, which I feel is more straightforward and enjoyable than Deus Ex, with which it is sometimes compared.

[snapshot]

On 30/04/2017 at 7:22 AM, roadworx said:

blood is fairly well-known, though

Not really, it's only known for people who like to dig for old-school FPS games, a regular gamer would most likely ignore it, saying DOOM or Quake or Wolf3D are superior, but personally I think Blood got some elements that make it much more fun than those.

[june gloom]

You underestimate the cult popularity Blood has.

[Agentbromsnor]

On 13-5-2017 at 2:30 PM, Tetzlaff said:

7. Dark Salvation by Mangled Eye Studios (2009): Quake meets teenage Goth dark fantasy world. As opposed to other wannabe oldschool FPS this one takes the puzzle and traps aspects from Quake to a new level.

 

Yeah. By making them suck. It's a bad game, not worth playing.

[Agentbromsnor]

On 4-5-2017 at 2:18 AM, DoctorGenesis said:

Hacx definitely is an interesting "TC" but some of the... choices are beyond horrible, especially that one enemy that is poorly rendered CGI model of a woman that turns into... a gargoyle or something.

I like the sprite-art in Hacx, but some of the levels are just absolutely dreadful. Like something designed by a five year-old by drawing random shapes with the mouse in a Doom editor. The music is another thing that made me want to scream.

[[McD] James]

I'm holding off on trying Hacx until Hacx 2.0. 

[snapshot]

17 hours ago, dethtoll said:

You underestimate the cult popularity Blood has.

Nah I tell it the way I see it heh.

[Tetzlaff]

17 hours ago, Agentbromsnor said:

Yeah. By making them suck. It's a bad game, not worth playing.

I found it worth playing. Otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it here. Dark Salvation is genuinely weird, sometimes unforgivingly hard, and it obliviously follows it's own design principles without caring for mainstream gaming trends.

[Halfblind]

On 5/16/2017 at 1:01 PM, Tetzlaff said:

I found it worth playing. Otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it here. Dark Salvation is genuinely weird, sometimes unforgivingly hard, and it obliviously follows it's own design principles without caring for mainstream gaming trends.

Don't worry about it.

 

Just a reminder this topic is about hidden gems anything that follows these three rules are welcome here.

1. Released from 1990 to 2010.
2. You had some fun while playing them.
3. They were not overly popular or highly hyped about.

I have seen a bunch of games mentioned here that I would never play. Those people that mentioned them must have had a blast playing them otherwise they would not have mentioned them here. On the other hand I have seen many games mentioned here that I would love to try out.

 

I think it is great how some game developers shatter the mold when it comes to game content. It makes the game unique, memorable and nostalgic.

[Yhe1]

One game that has not been mentioned yet is Requiem Avenging Angel
 

 

[Doominator2]

Dont lnow if anyone has mentioned this yet but soldier of fortune 1 is truly underrated

[snapshot]

IGI 2 : Covert Strike

[DoctorGenesis]

Cube 2 Sauerbraten 

[cacomonkey]

Though it's probably not that hidden, I liked Catacomb 3D which is one of the very first first person shooters after Hovertank, I think.  It was the first one I played, circa 1992-93, before I played Wolfenstein 3D or Duke 3D or Doom or any of the others.  I was completely immersed.  I have a wonderful memory of my little 3 year old great-niece sitting on my lap as I was playing it and she got quite alarmed by the first person perspective and the monsters coming right at us, but not alarmed enough to jump off her Uncle Joe's lap and flee the room.  It was scary fun to her.

 

I also liked that one where you could possess your foes and do stealthy things.  Requiem?

[ZALGO]

Might not count, but Serious Sam has a small cult following. It's a really difficult old-school shooter game that I've only known of its existence because my father is obsessed with the series

 

(he's collected every single serious sam game, spin-offs, and even games that can't be played on his PC)

[jazzmaster9]

after finishing it yesterday.

Medal Of Honor: Airborne is a game that got pushed aside and comsumed by the CoD monster.

It has a ton of inovative mechanics that was never seen again like it's unique cover/ADS system and the fact that you start at any point in the map via paradrop.

 

Also it has Gasmask Nazis who shoulder fire MG-42s an you get to fight hoards of Rocket Launcher troopers.

[DoctorGenesis]

On 5/15/2017 at 7:01 PM, Agentbromsnor said:

I like the sprite-art in Hacx, but some of the levels are just absolutely dreadful. Like something designed by a five year-old by drawing random shapes with the mouse in a Doom editor. The music is another thing that made me want to scream.

This guy did some level work on Hacx, but judging by the music he did for Cube 2, it is obvious this guy didn't do any music.

[Dgemie]

On 24.04.2017 at 5:50 AM, cyan0s1s said:

The first two games are regarded as the best and were thankfully resurrected by Night Dive, while the third one is mostly OK if very streamlined and sadly underwhelming for a conclusion to a trilogy.

I personally really like the first episode of Turok 3 with its feel of true melancholy. Not so sure about the rest, though...

On 28.04.2017 at 7:01 PM, Wild Dog said:

The first Unreal did not faded into obscurity because of Half Life. Back then Unreal was quite popular at the same level of Half Life...   What sent "Unreal 1" into obscurity was Unreal Tournament. UT was much popular and when you talk about Unreal, most people will thing about UT, not about Unreal

I think that it's not so much the release of UT itself as the reception of Unreal is. Like, most of those who played Unreal in 1998 appreciated it for technical stuff ("first time a non-id engine surpassed id's!", AI, etc.), and those indeed moved on to Half-Life, UT and such; those who appreciated Unreal for the visions stick to it to this day.

On 13.05.2017 at 3:30 PM, Tetzlaff said:

Kreed by Burut (2003): Scifi FPS with an interesting story and a variety of interesting settings. Comparable to classic Unreal, but with a darker atmosphere.

I did play through most of Kreed and think that it does at least partially deserve its infamy (didn't you yourself make fun of it in 2004?). Yes, there was at least one talented mapper in the team (I think about the "Tiglaary ship" maps), but otherwise it's rather bland in almost every aspect.

And, besides responding to other posts, I guess that I have to repeat what I said in another forum: many budget shooters are underrated IMO, especially Marine Sharpshooter (and Navy Seals), Vietnam 2: Special Assignment and most games by the team now known as Silden - and, since recently, I would add Soldier of Fortune: Payback. At the very least, all of those have got their own style...

 

[Oh well, one more time writing a comment with a negative tone became a burden for me on the following day. I guess that this is how opinions change!..]

Edited June 6, 2017 by Dgemie

[Dentonman]

Since we are on the topic of obscure shooters, i feel like some of you could help me out here. I remember a black and white fps which featured imagery of the grim reaper. I think it had some basic shading, but it mostly boiled down to white objects with black outlines. My memory is really foggy on this one, last thing i remember is that you had a double barreled shotgun. I'm probably asking the impossible, since it might have been a freeware game, and we all know how many of those are out there, but if any of you have any idea of what it might be, please tell me. This game has been bugging me for ages now, but i can't remember it's name.

[Master O]

On 5/26/2017 at 0:25 PM, ZALGO said:

Might not count, but Serious Sam has a small cult following. It's a really difficult old-school shooter game that I've only known of its existence because my father is obsessed with the series

 

(he's collected every single serious sam game, spin-offs, and even games that can't be played on his PC)

 

 

 

[Teivman]

There was a game on the PSX called Expert. Sadly It was only released in japan. Also it has some really some groovy music. 

 

[Dentonman]

17 hours ago, MrD!zone said:

There was a game on the PSX called Expert. Sadly It was only released in japan. Also it has some really some groovy music. 

 

That looks so weird, 3D models alongside classic sprites, and pretty flat levels. I would love to see the technology behind this.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

Dark Messiah of might and magic. It is really fun to mess around builds in that game, but it suffers from "Who the fuck is my audience" syndrome, but it was a lot of fun to play.

[[McD] James]

Expert looks pretty interesting. There's definitely a lot of influence taken from arcade rail shooters, which I like. 

[snapshot]

Not a 2010 game but ..... (btw ex BioShock devs are working on it)

EDIT : argh shit, It's not a shooter, oops