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[Tuba]

Unreal is a good addition to the list, I played a lot of UT but actually never played the original one, no one talks about it much nowadays.

Been playing Gunman Chronicles and it is surprisingly good. Level design is a little bland and pacing is kinda off but it has a lot of unique ideas like the weapon system that lets you change the settings of each weapon. It doesn't work very well though, changing the weapon mode is slow and a bit confusing, can't do it during battles. Also you have to press the shoot button to confirm the change, the feedback is pretty bad so a lot of times you think your weapon is ready to use and it's not. Anyway, cool game, shame that it's not available anywhere, I found a version that's patched to work on steam that's apparently made by the original developers but no idea of how legal that is  

[InfiniteStateMachine]

So much memories. How could I forget rise of the triad? That was the only game I could afford for a good chunk of time and as a result I beat it countless times.

Funny, I remember that exact dinosaur screenshot but I dont think I ever played gunman chronicles.

[FrankieSmileShow]

Someone listed it before here but Blake Stone is pretty interesting, if you have a strong stomach for Wolfenstein-age FPS games.


It's a sci fi take on Wolfenstein 3d. Lots of monsters, mutants, robots and aliens as enemies, lots of secrets, and an attempt at moving the game back to wolfenstein's covert ops-ish origins, though that never really pans out. Instead of maps being in a simple sequence of levels, an episode's levels are locked out by keycards you need to find, and you can go back and forth between levels. It never really took off, because by the time it came out, I think Doom 1 had already been released, making it look comparatively primitive right from the start.

This was one of the first 3d games I ever played, and as a kid it terrified me, because all the game's monsters are so big and scream at you when they see you. I had not played the game in a long time and my childhood memory twisted it into a straight up horror game, until I played it again more recently when it showed up on GOG, revealing it to be really not that scary at all!
I started a wolfenstein-like sci fi horror game project a while back inspired of this, but it never really went anywhere...

[Photon]

I actually picked up Blake Stone on Steam (yes, THAT Steam) some time ago. I tried it briefly but it just didn't feel as good; maybe I cranked up the difficulty too high to start. Even so, I felt like the scenery was a little too busy and that really turned me off initially.

[Raptor85]

already mentioned but I'll third unreal, it's a fantastic fps that always seems to be overlooked.  I'll also say that unreal2 has AWESOME gameplay in many parts (except the defense mission, though i appreciate the attempt at diversifying the gameplay) and the guns are very fun, the  story was pretty mehtacular though.

Also saw it on the list earlier and it's by far not an "unknown" game but it's kinda gone into that relm that nobody knows about it anymore because other stuff from the time stayed more popular...Hexen.

Also not unknowns, but somewhat overshadowed, Star Trek: Elite Force, Tron 2.0 (do NOT bother with the steam version, it's horrificly broken and unpatched sitting on steam forever now) and (though it's third person technically) the original American Mcgee's Alice. (madness returns is cool but the first game is by far the better game)

In no particular order
Aliens vs Predator Gold (1999)
Starsiege: Tribes
Thief: The Dark Project
Magic Carpet (<3 Bullfrog and this game is AWESOME) thought might be considered more a flight game.
MDK2 (third person but still...it's MDK2!)
Mech Warrior 3

[eyeliner]

Aliens vs Predator is in no way underrated. It is awesome, though.

[FrankieSmileShow]

Hexen is one of my favorite games, especially the n64 version for its mellotron-filled soundtrack, its level introductions that add a bit of context to your exploration and its really fun couch co-op mode.



Really a far cry from Doom's metal cover soundtrack.

It's a very decent attempt at making a dungeon crawl-like experience in a Doom engine. The levels are filled with traps and fun little sequences, and there are puzzles to solve that span numerous areas which you explore around from central hub-levels connecting them. Though those aren't really "puzzles" in any real sense, it's always just finding switches, keys and key items, there are no actual head-scratchers, just "explore the game more before going here, dweeb!".
The three character classes you can choose do a good job of feeling very different when you play, they have very different sets of weapons and even affect how you use other items you find lying around.
The game also has a lot of atmosphere, more than Doom ever had. Light fog effects, atmospheric sound effects like distant creaks and animal sounds, stuff like dead leaves falling off trees and being brushed off the ground by the wind, etc.


I don't recommend playing at the highest difficulty level. The medium diff level is just fine. I did a hardest-level playthrough of the game as a Cleric on Twitch and beat the whole thing a few months ago, but damn, some of those last levels got very tedious. This game's combat is NOT its strong suit, and playing at higher diff levels makes this painfully obvious. This game is at its best when you are exploring, monsters are just there to make the exploration dangerous and exciting.
Fighting huge swarms of enemies isn't visceral and fun like in Doom. You have only 4 weapons in the game which change depending on your chosen class, and two ammo types, your strongest weapon wasting both ammo types together. You are always careful not to waste anything. Because of this, fighting big mobs becomes tedious instead of fun, every shot needs to count, at a much higher degree than it does in Doom, and especially at higher difficulty levels. However, items you gather around add a lot to the game's combat, gives you a lot of options, like discs of repulsion send enemies flying, green flasks can be thrown like grenades, used as poison gas bombs or set as invisible proximity mines depending on which character you play as.

Heretic was Hexen's predecessor and much closer to Doom level design-wise, and is also very fun. Its combat is better than Hexen's for sure. Sadly none of these games ever reach the heights of Doom and Doom 2 in excitement, level design and overall feel and pace, but they are both going for something slower paced anyway, and it mostly works. Both are worth playing. That said, I don't really know anything about the two games' various sequels. I think I remember playing and being very disappointed by Heretic 2? That was a while back though, maybe id feel differently now.

[s0]

why is hexen so forgotten compared to other "classic" FPS anyway? there needs to be a modern equivalent to hexen.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

Hexen was good. I remember people arguing what was best between Withaven and Hexen.


Witchaven

[NoLocality]

Hexen is one of my favorite games, especially the n64 version

Me to friend...me to.

Things that stick to mind are the surprising length of the game, the friggin cleric's ultimate weapon the crucifix that shot screaming-homing-slaughtering wraiths and the final battle...SPOILER WARNING FOR A 20 YEAR OLD GAME! in which 100 or so of the game's deadliest enemies attack not only you but each other while death traps and the big bad boss demon makes short work of everything in the room, effectively turning the battle into a panic inducing mosh-pit.

Oddly I don't remember co-op but I have fond memories of the "death match" mode with friends.

[Türbo Bröther]

Hexen was good. I remember people arguing what was best between Withaven and Hexen.

I'd say it was a pretty one-sided fight. Even an FPS tragic like myself who at one stage thought that The Fortress Of Dr. Radiaki, Terminator Rampage and Isle Of the Dead were the bee's knees purely because they were FPS even stayed clear and that's saying a lot.

Heretic

Despite Heretic being basically fantasy Doom which I don't think that anyone could argue was a bad thing, quite the contrary, it's actually got maps that are consistently better than Doom's and a damn sight better than Doom 2's. Maybe the weapons being a bit poo or people really hate elves or releasing a few months after D2 had something to do with it getting lost in the stream. Or maybe the combination of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D two years later reducing anything that wasn't Doom and Wolfenstein or that one with all the blood in it to a passing memory is the most likely culprit.

It's also a shame that Hexen 2 didn't turn out to be all that hot. It could've been a revival but it was just so frustrating to play and they skimped on the gore. It had the gibs but Hexen was much more brutally violent and a much crueller aesthetic. Not much from the community either, a handful of mods and next to no maps that weren't deathmatch maps plus that Quake again, it's like it was handed a death sentence. H2 deathmatch was oodles of fun though and such a good looking game too, it's easily got the best looking low poly fantasy monsters you'll ever find which is why it pains me to dislike it.

Let's also spare a thought for Space Hulk which was bloody impossible and Vengeance Of the Blood Angels it's much more manageably difficult sequel. It speaks volumes that both actually worked as FPS considering their roots.

[Magurp244]

I didn't particularly like Hexen 2 compared to the original, maybe it was the asthetic or the horribly skimpy ammo that you burned through way to fast. Heretic 2 also looked like an Ultima 9 knockoff (and U9 sucked).

And now, yet another list dump in no particular order:

-Stellar 7 (circa 1983) Players must defend earth from the invading forces of Gir Draxon and his armada. Created by dynamix, its sequel Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon (circa 1991) is more of the same.

-ArcticFox (circa 1986) A wireframe shooter, players must pilot their tank to destroy an alien base.

-The Colony (circa 1988) For those with a true classical bent (or masocism), The Colony features an early and basic representation of First Person exploration in a derelict colony where you must discover what happened to its inhabitants.

-Killing Time (circa 1996) Originally for the 3D0, players control an ex-egyptology student trapped in a fictional 1930's version of Matinucus Isle within a wealthy estate. The goal being to find and destroy the "water clock" and discover the estates secrets. (also live actors and FMV)

-Purge Jihad (circa 2003) I had the misfortune of picking this craptastic title up from a bargain bin for 5$. It was overpriced. The game is an Unreal Tournament knockoff and is multiplayer only, and the online servers were ghost town's, whats more when I tired to play it again some time later you required the latest patch to connect to the official servers. You needed to pay around 15-20$ to get said patch. In 2007 it apparently went freeware, so enjoy at your own risk.

-H.U.R.L. (circa 1995) A non-violent fps aimed at children by Deep River Publishing (think teletubbies meets sesame street asthetic). No, i'm not making this up.

-Shattered Steel (circa 1996) A mech warfare title by BioWare (it handles more like a traditional FPS than a mech sim), Humanity is on the verge of extinction and the player must (surprise) destroy hybrid mechanoid aliens and discover who is controlling them.

-Project Eden (circa 2001) A quazi puzzle game, the player controls 4 team members (through optional first/third person) solving puzzles and navigating environmental hazards as they decend to the lower level's of the undercity investigating the "Real Meat Company(tm)".

-Arx Fatalis (circa 2002) A spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld, it features gesture based spell casting, cooking, and open world exploration (the art esthetic is also pretty good for its time).

-Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Series (circa 1997-2008) Play the role of a native american time travelling warrior as you collect the 8 pieces of the "Chronoscepter" to stop the machinations of the "Campaigner's" scheme to shatter the barriers that separate the ages of time, allowing him to (somehow) rule the universe.

-Savage: The Battle for Newerth (circa 2003) This little gem is another FPS/RTS Hybrid, online only players face off against intelligent beasts, commanders help direct their team and construct buildings, workers, and supplying buffs to teammates. Its source code was made available to the public and was made freeware in 2006. Its sequel Savage 2: A Tortured Soul (circa 2008) refines many aspects of the original was released on steam and went F2P in 2008.

-PainKiller (circa 2004) The plot revolves around biblical themes, trapped in purgatory, and angel tells you that you must destroy 4 of Lucifers generals to prevent a war between heaven and hell. Really though who cares? The gameplay largely features relentless (and fun!) monster slaughter.

-Natural Selection (circa 2002) Another hybrid FPS/RTS, players fight one another inonline matches with a player taking the role of commander, constructing buildings and providing benefits to teammates who would then fight for region control and resources. People may be more familiar with its sequel Natural Selection 2 (circa 2012), which features improvements over the originals mechanics, and also featured development assistance from the community.

-Deer Hunter Series (circa 1997-2016) You hunt Deer.

-Carnivores Series (circa 1998-2013) Like its Deer hunting sire, you Hunt things. Unlike its Deer hunting parent however, you hunt vicious Dinosaurs that can horrifyingly stalk and devour you (unless your packing major heat and don't give a shit, just like real hunting!).

-Sin (circa 1998) In the future of 2027, police forces have collapsed and have been replaced by private security companies. Play as Blade as you work to wipe a potent new drug named U4 off the screets. Features the ability to shoot weapons out of opponents hands, and area specific damage, lots of environment interaction, and multiple approaches and solutions to levels that could effect later gameplay.

-Delta V (circa 1994) A first person trench Flyer developed by Bethesda, do runs in cyberspace against rival corporations to steal valuable data, and defend the Blak Sun Corporation from rival hackers.

-Damage Incorporated (circa 1997) A game using Marathon 2 engine, players command a squad of 4 marines in counter-terrorism missions (multiplayer is deathmatch only though). Could be considered a Hybrid FPS/RTS with its squad mechanics, but is otherwise "meh".

-The Suffering (circa 2004) Developed by one of the creators of Damaged Incorporated, the protagonist is put in prison for murdering his family (which he doesn't remember). Players must fight their way through a Demon infested prison trying to remember what really happened, with multiple endings depending on their actions. Its sequel The Suffering: Ties That Bind (circa 2005) picks up where the first leaves off and has the protagonist return home and face his past and nemesis. The sequel is reverse compatible with the original and uses its save games to choose one of 3 openings, along with 3 different endings.

-Soldier of Fortune Series (circa 2000-2007) Play as a mercenary fighting counter-terrorism missions. This series has many interesting mechanical features, the original SOF was the first to use the GHOUL damage model system found in later sequels and Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2. The player has the ability to shoot specific body parts on opponents (graphically) and have them react, or shoot the weapons out of their hands to disarm them and render them harmless.

-Delta Force Series (1998-present) The Delta Force series is not unlike counter-strike in gameplay and story, and many of its titles make use of proprietary Voxel Rendering engines (Delta Force 2 is particularly nice).

-Serious Sam Series (circa 2001-2014) Control Sam "Serious" Stone as he travels across time to destroy the evil forces of Mental.

-Isle of the Dead (circa 1993) After your plane crash lands, you must survive on an island infested with zombies. The game is a bit of a point and click FPS hybrid of sorts, the 15th anniversary issue of Computer Gaming World rated the it the #32 worst game of all time.

-Command & Conquer: Renegade (circa 2002) Just like the C&C you know and love, only your the grunt getting run over. Play the commando and go through various missions against NOD (who you can't play as in SP), or pilot various vehicles and choose from various classes in multiplayer matches as you try and destroy the enemies base. Did I mention you can run people over in harvesters?

-Planetside 1 (circa 2003) Much can be said about planetside, its persistent battlefield, stealth, and vehicle mechanics created some amazing battles that would be hard to replicate anywhere else. The original is still available as F2P now (along with Planetside 2), but for its time it was a pretty great experience. That is of course, if you could deal with the understated system requirements, lack of (working) tutorials, and steep learning curve as you get spawn camped and curb-stomped relentlessly.

-Terminal Velocity (circa 1995) The alien alliance (of which earth is a member) inexplicatbly carpet bombs Humanity, the player must cruise through various open world missions to destroy the X.I. Computer responsible for starting the war. In some respects this is alot like Descent, albet with a minimum velocity.

-Fury3 (circa 1995) Spawned by the same engine as Terminal Velocity, it features similar gameplay. Players must fight the Bions across various planets in the solar system, and halt their invasion force. Its sequel Hellbender (circa 1996) is more of the same.

-Iron Angel of the Apocalypse (circa 1994) A title for the 3DO, you are a cyborg created by an evil scientist, however you seek to turn against your creator and escape. Its sequel (also for the 3DO) Iron Angel of the Apocalypse: The Return (circa 1995) picks up where the first left off. The plsyer finds themselves disembodied, with a mysterious corporation known as SCR giving you a new body, with plans unknown.

-Baroque (circa 1998) The original Baroque for the Sega Saturn/Playstation involves guiding an Amnesiac protagonist to the bottom floor of a randomly generated Tower. Death, strangely enough advances the plot and opens new area's, as opposed to ending the game. Certainly some interesting mechancis in there.

-Techmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness (circa 1996) Developed for the playstation, the player has been falsely accused and burned at the stake, the Devil however saves your life and give you the power to seek vengence. Customize your mansion with devious traps, wear various masks, and lure unsuspecting people to their deaths (or don't), the story takes multiple paths depending on your choices. Later sequels of the series are in 3rd person.

-Defcon 5 (circa 1995) An unusual game where you can deploy and contol turrets, doors, and various defense systems to repel invading forces via terminals (its been suggested its reminicient of system shock in term's of gameplay). You play as a "cyberneer" working for the Tyron Corporation, and are tasked with installing an automated defense system on a remote deep space mining operation. Shortly after landing however the facility is attacked, your goal is to escape with evidence of what has happened.

I've also dug up a youtube channel (here) featuring some pretty obscure fps's and mods (total 74), featuring titles such as:

-Zero Population Count (circa 1996) An unusual FPS whose artwork is reminicient of WW2 propaganda posters.

-Hades (circa 1995) An obscure Korean FPS (what may be Korea's first), the plots unknown but seems to resemble Doom, environments also feature voxel terrain.

-Hades 2 (circa 1999) No relation to the Korean Hades above, having been developed by a separate Brazilian company. In the year 2356, the Grogr army invades an important base of the Universal Federation on Pluto. Guided by Central Command, you must repel the invading forces and defend the Antauros facility. The game was released into the public domain and offered as freeware in 2009 (you can find a link on its wikipedia page).

-Kreed (circa 2003) A Russian title where the player investigates and attempts to hunt down a traitorous Officer siding with alien forces (whom you slaughter, naturally).

-Cyberdillo (circa 1996) A FPS 3D0 title featuring an Armadillo with apparent bowl issues and desire for violence...?

On the even more unusual side are a selection of a few Audio FPS's for the blind, typically these focus on Stereo Positioning and Binaural Audio for navigating spaces with a decided lack of traditional visual graphics:

-Shades of Doom (circa 2001) Inspired by the Doom series of games, this may be the first FPS for the blind. Much like their sighted cousins, the goal is to collect key's and kill assorted creatures on your way to the goal.

-Swamp (circa 2011) Created by the developer Aprone, Swamp a zombie survival horror, and is currently the most popular online FPS for the Blind.

-AudioQuake (circa 2003) An accessible (open source) version of the Quake engine for the Blind.

-Papa Sangre (circa 2010) Along with its sequel, Papa Sangre 2 (circa 2013) for IOS, players navigate a world using a custom Binaural Audio engine. In the past few months the developers have stated that they won't be resubmitting their audio games to the Apple App store any longer, and are working to release the games and source code to the public.

[Schoq]

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/christianfps/christianfps.htm

[Tuba]

Heretic was pretty much just medieval/fantasy DOOM, never appealed to me when I was a kid. Hexen on the other hand is almost an RPG, backtracking through different areas was pretty cool at the time. It also had jumping!

[Razz]

hexen is cool until you realize the entire game is basically switchunting / key collecting. not much fun. but I think the idea of a connected world like that in the doom engine was really interesting

[battlerager]

Aliens vs Predator is in no way underrated. It is awesome, though.

What's the consenus on AVP vs AVP2?

[Magurp244]

I'd say that AvP 1 has more of the tense feelings associated with the franchise, but that AvP 2 is just a straight up improvement. The stories more engaging, gameplays more balanced, and you can do/be a lot more such as a Face Hugger/Chest Burster/Runner/Drone/Pred Alien/Queen, and the predators aren't rediculously overpowered with their inescapable instagib disc and fire supression system. The expansion for AvP 2 was also kind of phoned in and the game still has its own quirks, but still way better.

[Raptor85]

I'd say that AvP 1 has more of the tense feelings associated with the franchise, but that AvP 2 is just a straight up improvement. The stories more engaging, gameplays more balanced, and you can do/be a lot more such as a Face Hugger/Chest Burster/Runner/Drone/Pred Alien/Queen, and the predators aren't rediculously overpowered with their inescapable instagib disc and fire supression system. The expansion for AvP 2 was also kind of phoned in and the game still has its own quirks, but still way better.

mechanically avp2 is a much better game but when it comes down to it, honestly, i had WAY more fun in AVP1  than i ever did in 2.

[Sik]

Mr. Pibb




Yes, you fight zombies by burping into them.

[Magurp244]

mechanically avp2 is a much better game but when it comes down to it, honestly, i had WAY more fun in AVP1  than i ever did in 2.

In some ways AvP 1 was more challenging and rewarding than AvP 2, in single player anyway. The secret level unlocks for completing campaigns on max difficulty, the score based cheat unlocks, and general tension from having infinitely spawning enemies (with crazier wall running AI) with finite resources and not being able to save, really built a strong atmosphere. Though some people were turned off by that, so they later patched in a limited number of saves with AvP Gold Edition.

Heh, I guess I shouldn't play favorites.