forgotten classic FPS games

for me it would have to be "star wars dark forces." its my personal favorite FPS game of all time. I still consider it to be the best of its series and one of the best lucas arts games ever made. here is a link to a retrospective on it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-vi-star-wars/35912

System Shock, the best game of 1994, except it was a relative commercial failure, partly due to it's release on floppy at the time. A CD version was released soon after that wwhich included voice files making an already revolutionary game even better - it had a real 3D engine with two looking axis.

A portable version is somewhere on the internet, though it takes some fiddling to get it to work.

Turok

and Unreal

System Shock, the best game of 1994, except they released it on floppy at the time of relase so sales were low. A CD version was released soon after that with voice files making an already revolutionary game even better - it had a real 3D engine with two looking axis.

A portable version is somewhere, though it takes some fiddling to get it to work.

kdawg88

NO! 2nd best.

The best game of 1994 was DOOM II.

SS was a great game, but DOOM II has never been topped in the FPS world IMO. Id Software at its peak (along with Quake).

Both SS and DOOM II are definite Masterpieces.

for me it would have to be "star wars dark forces." its my personal favorite FPS game of all time. I still consider it to be the best of its series and one of the best lucas arts games ever made. here is a link to a retrospective on it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-vi-star-wars/35912

arbitor365

I liked Dark Forces 2 (Jedi Knight) better, but Dark Forces belongs here and it probably has aged better.

Blood, Rise of the Triad, Strife.. loved all those mid-90's shooters. Tons of fun :)

Outlaws.
One of the games that has a very good atmosphere, making you feel like you're a Cowboy, has a fairly well story and offers a challenge.

[QUOTE="arbitor365"]

for me it would have to be "star wars dark forces." its my personal favorite FPS game of all time. I still consider it to be the best of its series and one of the best lucas arts games ever made. here is a link to a retrospective on it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-vi-star-wars/35912

AFBrat77

I liked Dark Forces 2 (Jedi Knight) better, but Dark Forces belongs here and it probably has aged better.

A lot of people will agree with you but I had alot of problems with jedi knight

1) the light saber battle controls were really stiff and even at the time they annoyed me.

2) I preferred an FPS format. I felt that a 3rd person game with lightsaber combat could have been done to a different series. Consequently, I wouldnt end up getting another FPS star wars game until "republic commando" but by then I wasnt really into FPS games anymore. jedi knight turned the series down a road i didnt want.

3) the environments were really stretched out and a pain to navigate. the insipid backtracking and mindless wandering through the levels really hurt the experience for me.

4) the upgrade to polygon graphics was essential but I found it less appealing. the rag-doll physics with the bodies really turned me off to the game. and like you said, it hasn't aged too well.

5) the multiplayer was nearly unplayable. first off, getting enough computers connected was ridiculous. also it was notoriously glitchy. overall I thought it was unnecessary and simply a gimmick to placate those who complained about dark forces being single-player.

6) the supposed "choose your own adventure" aspect was just a plain lie. Basically, throughout the game you arent challenged with story altering decisions. if you kill random civilians, you drift toward the darkside. then, near the end of the game, you get a slightly different cut-scene and there is an alternate ending. That's not quite what it advertised. Why would kyle kill random civilians anyway, unless he was already evil? The only reason why you would kill civilians is if you just wanted a laugh or if you were just intentionally trying to see the alternate ending. it was not innovative and it was not a big part of the game.

7) it was not as innovative as "dark forces" was for its genre. If you watch that retrospective I linked to, you will see how revolutionary it was as an FPS game. I guess jedi knight was more innovative as a "star wars game" but not as a game in general.

Im not trying to bash jedi knight. I ran out to get a copy when it was released and I even bought the strategy guide. It wasn't what I expected but it wasn't a bad game. I still have nostalgia for it and im a little tempted to go play it again. As an experience though, I didn't get half the enjoyment out of it, that I got out of the first game. Its kind of hard to compare it to the first one because technically they aren't even in the same genre. I don't typically favor FPS games but I still think that dark forces is one of the greatest star wars games and possibly the best FPS game of all time.

[QUOTE="kdawg88"]

System Shock, the best game of 1994, except they released it on floppy at the time of relase so sales were low. A CD version was released soon after that with voice files making an already revolutionary game even better - it had a real 3D engine with two looking axis.

A portable version is somewhere, though it takes some fiddling to get it to work.

AFBrat77

NO! 2nd best.

The best game of 1994 was DOOM II.

SS was a great game, but DOOM II has never been topped in the FPS world IMO. Id Software at its peak (along with Quake).

Both SS and DOOM II are definite Masterpieces.

I'm going to have to put Magic Carpet on this list. Not a FPS exactly, as it's all Arabian magic and stuff, but it was an epic game back in the day (1994) and competed right along with these titles. Had a full 3d engine that featured MORPHABLE ENVIRONMENTS!! That concept was amazing! Your more powerful attacks could actually carve canyons and craters in the earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phuWDJPRhVY&feature=related

Sin anyone? that game was so awesome ^^

Sin anyone? that game was so awesome ^^

Maddie_Larkin

I think thats a little too recent, to be considered a "classic." but I guess it counts becuase not many people remember that game, and it was pretty freakin good.

Outlaws.
One of the games that has a very good atmosphere, making you feel like you're a Cowboy, has a fairly well story and offers a challenge.

Treflis

Citizen Kabuto

Duke Nukem 3d, Heretic, Redneck Rampage.

[QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

[QUOTE="kdawg88"]

System Shock, the best game of 1994, except they released it on floppy at the time of relase so sales were low. A CD version was released soon after that with voice files making an already revolutionary game even better - it had a real 3D engine with two looking axis.

A portable version is somewhere, though it takes some fiddling to get it to work.

kdawg88

NO! 2nd best.

The best game of 1994 was DOOM II.

SS was a great game, but DOOM II has never been topped in the FPS world IMO. Id Software at its peak (along with Quake).

Both SS and DOOM II are definite Masterpieces.

Doesn't matter as far as innovations, DOOM II stood strong as the best of its kind.

Kudos to SS, a wonderfull game, but DOOM II stood rock-solid strong for its fantastic sadistic level design, the introduction of FPS staple Super-Shotgun to the gaming world, and the legendary new plethora of enemies such as Mancubus, Arch-Vile, and Revenant. These made the strong original game even better with DOOM II. Out pored the Doom-clones, never matching up to the first 2 DOOM games.

That being said, SS was innovative and not a clone, and in most years prior to '98 it would have been the best PC game. But to me, DOOM II was the bomb, despite being largely a superior extension to its predecessor.

SS was a great choice for this thread, and I do know where you are coming from.

Sin anyone? that game was so awesome ^^

Maddie_Larkin

Big problem with Sin was it was rushed out the door still unfinished and buggy.....just to beat rival Half-Life to the gate.

And well, Half-Life was probably the best PC game ever made to that point, and Sin was discarded by the critics as a buggy mess :( .

Thats the main reason it was forgotten.

warhammer 40k: space hulk

Deserves so much more attention then what it gets.

Things like its groundbreaking level design make it a highly noteable shooter.

heres another

SiN, Hexen II and Soldier of Fortune

Is anyone else totally confused as to what exactly this thread is about after reading some of these posts? Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D, as if these weren't the most popular, best games of their day. How are any of these games forgotten, except for a few?

Is anyone else totally confused as to what exactly this thread is about after reading some of these posts? Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D, as if these weren't the most popular, best games of their day. How are any of these games forgotten, except for a few?

THA-TODD-BEAST

[QUOTE="THA-TODD-BEAST"]

Is anyone else totally confused as to what exactly this thread is about after reading some of these posts? Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D, as if these weren't the most popular, best games of their day. How are any of these games forgotten, except for a few?

carlosjuero

Oh, forgotten to the young gamers of today? In that case, just about any game would fall into that category from way-back-when.

Never see anyone talking about shogo... it saddens me... Monolith actually has a lot of lost gems... Blood, Shogo, and No One Lives Forever, but I think Shogo is the most forgotten of them all.gamer620

probably. i actually hadn't heard of it until now =/

Never see anyone talking about shogo... it saddens me... Monolith actually has a lot of lost gems... Blood, Shogo, and No One Lives Forever, but I think Shogo is the most forgotten of them all.gamer620

[QUOTE="carlosjuero"][QUOTE="THA-TODD-BEAST"]

Is anyone else totally confused as to what exactly this thread is about after reading some of these posts? Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D, as if these weren't the most popular, best games of their day. How are any of these games forgotten, except for a few?

THA-TODD-BEAST

Oh, forgotten to the young gamers of today? In that case, just about any game would fall into that category from way-back-when.

Ohhh shoot O.o I forgot about SHOGO: Mobile armor division ^^ Freakin awesome game ^^

I loved that doll (not really a weapon) but it would confuse the heck outta the enemies ^^

Deserves so much more attention then what it gets.

Things like its groundbreaking level design make it a highly noteable shooter.

skrat_01

[QUOTE="skrat_01"]

Deserves so much more attention then what it gets.

Things like its groundbreaking level design make it a highly noteable shooter.

JigglyWiggly_

I had so many good memories with that game....but it just looks so awful now, a mere year before the original Unreal blew everyone away with the new standard in graphics.

I found Mysteries of the Sith to be really hard though late in the game.

Ohhh shoot O.o I forgot about SHOGO: Mobile armor division ^^ Freakin awesome game ^^

I loved that doll (not really a weapon) but it would confuse the heck outta the enemies ^^

Maddie_Larkin

Shadow Warrior

Requiem:Avenging Angel

for me it would have to be "star wars dark forces." its my personal favorite FPS game of all time. I still consider it to be the best of its series and one of the best lucas arts games ever made. here is a link to a retrospective on it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-vi-star-wars/35912

arbitor365

Used to love playing Star Wars: Jedi Academy, brilliant fps and lightsaber combat.

Just written a review of it here on my blog, hoping to look at other star wars games as well!

http://realityglitch.wordpress.com/

[QUOTE="gamer620"]Never see anyone talking about shogo... it saddens me... Monolith actually has a lot of lost gems... Blood, Shogo, and No One Lives Forever, but I think Shogo is the most forgotten of them all.MyopicCanadian

Shogo, No One Lives Forever, No One Lives Forever 2 (basically, the games which ran on the LithTech engine)

Hexen, Heretic

America McGee's Alice in Wonderland

Redneck Rampage

Shogo, No One Lives Forever, No One Lives Forever 2 (basically, the games which ran on the LithTech engine)

Hexen, Heretic

America McGee's Alice in Wonderland

Redneck Rampage

sogni_belli

Blood

Awesome game.... Pretty sure it's freeware now too

almost all of the titles mentioned here have been a critical/commercial success.... they are anything but "forgotten".

• No One Lives Forever series
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein (I am not too sure if its forgotten or not)
• Deus Ex
• Jedi Outcast
• Call of Duty original

almost all of the titles mentioned here have been a critical/commercial success.... they are anything but "forgotten".

Jinroh_basic

What about Magic Carpet? No seems to remember that one and it was groundbreaking :(

Exhumed(powerslave in the US,I think).

...Is the whole Tribes series low-key enough to qualify?NamelessPlayer

-Rise of the Triad

-Blood

-System Shock 1/2

-Deus Ex

-Serious Sam

-Half-Life: Opposing Force