'Quantum Leap' Awards For FPS Games Revealed 130
simoniker writes "As voted by game industry professionals, the results of the Quantum Leap Awards for the first-person shooter genre have been revealed, honoring the titles which 'brought the FPS genre forward' in the biggest ways. The winner is a truly classic title, but there's at least one seminal FPS that, surprisingly enough, didn't make the top 5." The top 5 are, from 1 to 5, Half-Life, Quake, GoldenEye, Wolfenstein, and System Shock 2.
eh? (Score:3, Insightful)
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Re:eh? (Score:5, Insightful)
How can you put System Shock 2 in the top five when SS1 was the game that first introduced role playing/immersive elements into FPSs? Even the review basically admits SS2 just continued the direction SS1 had set and added more polish to the idea!
Now, SS2 might have been a better game, but it didn't "advance the genre" for shit compared to the original.
Likewise Goldeneye - what the fuck? So it was the first FPS on consoles, big whoop - it wasn't exactly groundbreaking at the time compared to what the PC was doing.
Sure it kick-started the market for FPSs on consoles, but "FPS market in consoles" != "FPS genre".
"Games such as Halo could only have been done thanks to Goldeneye" is complete bullshit, too. Halo was originally being developed for the PC before Microsoft bought Bungie, so we clearly would still have seen Halo, just on a different platform.
If, as they claim, we're rating "what pushed the genre forward", the list should have looked more like:
Wolfenstein 3D (invented the genre - try pushing harder than that!)
Doom (first made FPSs widely popular, kicked off the modding scene, invented "Deathmatch" multiplayer)
System Shock One (introduced the idea of "plot", and first to make an effort to immerse the player in a story)
Quake or Descent (first entirely true-3d games. Descent because it was the first, Quake because it was also massively popular and upped the bar for graphics/physics for all games to come)
Half-Life (upped player-immersion to truly cinematic levels, and pioneered playing the story rather than "play a bit/read some story/rinse and repeat")
Don't get me wrong - System Shock 2, Goldeneye and the rest were brilliant games (some better games than those above, but they didn't "push the genre forward" for shit.
Deus Ex (Score:2)
No gaming hall of fame is worth its salt without Deus Ex. Not RPG halls of fame or FPS. (Although The Elder Scrolls would utterly conquer any RPG hall of fame.)
Re:Deus Ex - deserves honorable mention (Score:2)
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Halo was being developed for the Macintosh. Of course, (assuming) thanks to Microsoft, it was the last platform to have the game released upon. Remember how Bungie used to make games for the Mac? Oh man, what was that one game.... Marathon? [bungie.org]
Marathon got an honorable mention, but I'm sure would have rated higher if it didn't have such a limited user
Descent! (Score:4, Informative)
I would personally put Descent in over Quake. I remember trying to explain to a friend in a multiplayer game how to navigate to a certain spot, and just causing confusion. When he finally got there, turns out our "ships" were upside down to one another. The fact that there really was no universal up or down, just in relation to your ship, was great, and something I really haven't seen since. It was a pain to play with just a keyboard though.
I'm surprised that no mention was made of the Half Life mod community. Sure, Doom started the FPS modding in earnest, but it really flourished with HL.
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True... It certainly broke new ground, and did something no other game really did before. It's just, though it led to new vistas, noone else followed.
Shame, really. Makes me want to try and make some UT2k4 maps to relive/revive the experience.
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I assume many other people did too, which is why Descent and its sequals seems to be the neanderthals of FPS evolution.
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How about Max Payne and bullet-time?
Ditto to others who mentioned UT and Descent.
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Both Thief and Deus Ex had elements of SS in them, so while they were both brilliant games, I don't think they brought a huge amount of advancement to the whole genre.
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I think other games had "goals" before Goldeneye, too - even Doom had coloured keycards/doors, switches and the like. I'm not sure what you mean by "per-point reactions" so I can't answer that one, but I think you'll find the standard for "fast-paced deathmatching" was set by the original Doom.
I never played GE through to the end (frankly, the controller was (and is) a shitty replacement for mouse and ke
Andrew Fort (Score:2)
(no-one will get joke this but me and you.. ok, just me.)
From TFA... (Score:4, Informative)
Historical Correct: Wolf3D was the first popular First Person Shooter. It was preceeded by Id Software's [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacomb_3D]Cat
Wolf3D's success over Catacomb probably had more to do with Apogee's marketing muscle than with it being truly the first FPS.
s/Historical Correct/Historical Correction/g (Score:2)
Catacomb 3D [wikipedia.org]
Sorry about that. I'm not awake yet.
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Historical Correction: Wolf3D was the first popular First Person Shooter. It was preceeded by Id Software's Catacomb 3D [wikipedia.org], which was itself preceeded by Hov ertank3D [wikipedia.org]. The main technological difference between Hovertank and Catacomb is that Catacomb introduced textured walls.
Wolf3D's success over Catacomb probably had more to do with Apogee's marketing muscle than with it being truly the first FPS.
Ken's labyrinth (Score:2)
Re:From TFA... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yes but you're forgetting: (Score:2)
Not that I don't play Urban Terror, Enemy Territory, or Quake 2 on the regular still, I do. They are all great games. How did quake 2 not end up on the list? Stupid article. These guys are about as informed on FPS as I am in brain surgery.
Note to self: DO NOT PERFORM BRAIN SURGERY!
The Other Five? (Score:2)
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Castle Wolfenstein [wolf3d.co.uk] on the Apple II and Commodore 64?
(Caution: the above link is illegal in Germany.)
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Heh, i used to play it all the time on the ][e.
What? (Score:2)
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Bitches couldn't vote.
A travesty! (Score:2)
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Meh? (Score:4, Insightful)
Or System Shock 2. I mean, wtf?
I realize they didn't want to weigh down the list with Id games, but if you were going to drop one it would have to be Quake. Or Wolf3d. The BBS's were pretty excited about Wolf - but it was Doom that defined the genre and made it what it is.
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Quake = Network play (Score:2)
Don't get me wrong.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Quake: introduced solid multiplayer over unreliable networks
Doom: introduced multiplayer
Quake: introduced quality lit/textured graphics, pushed development of 3d accelerated graphic cards
Doom: introduced graphics
I realize that's overstating the case a bit. But not much. Doom was an absolute revelation from on high - and it made waves far outside the gaming community. When Wolf3d came out, I started work on my own raycasting 3d
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I agree with you that Doom needs to be there. I didn't get really hooked until Doom 2 but I spent a lot of free time absorbed in Doom II. The multiplayer aspect was the first time I experienced a LAN party, playing on Dwango (OMG ...the phone bills) and making endless levels. For me Doom II set the stage for Quake and other FPS to really refine the experience in tools, community, and sophistication.
Missing Marathon!? (Score:2)
But where's Bungie's Marathon? Robbed!
If Half-Life is on the list for having a compelling story, then Marathon deserves to be on the list for having a more compelling story than Half-Life years before HL came out. It's not a PC-only list, since Goldeneye is on it, but did they even consider Macintosh-exclusive games?
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I enjoyed the last paragraph... Marathon might not have been the most popular game, and might have come out on perhaps the least popular gaming platform in history, but it's damned good. For people who have played it, we know.
Doom (Score:1, Insightful)
Huh... (Score:1)
Oh wait, Halo isn't listed....
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introduced a dual joystick control scheme that makes FPS very natural on console,
utilized slight, almost unnoticable autoaim that makes up for lack of super precise controls,
eliminated ridiculous portable arsenels with a two weapon swap system,
kept the player always in the action by allowing him to pause under cover to recharge shields,
made grenades useful and reflexive by treating them different than other weapons,
and Halo 2 changed how we can play online by eliminating the often frustrating server ro
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- Old PC games also had autoaim because it was hard to aim with keyboards. A real step forward for consoles would be an aiming system that's as precise as the mouse.
- This is a subjective opinion on a gameplay decision, and not a revolution in gameplay. System Shock 2, for one, also forced the player to make strategic inventory
Doom? (Score:2)
THAT is the game that revolutionized FPS!
Doom (Score:1)
Doom (Score:5, Insightful)
Doom was the first game with graphics good enough for non-gamers to understand what I was so excited about. It basically had the first big mod community, started deathmatch, brought LAN parties and big gaming tournaments into reality, etc.
Think of it this way: There were games before Doom and there were games after Doom. This division is more clear than probably any other game in history. 13 years later (or so) we're still running around in a 3D-ish world and pointing at what we want to die.
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I wrote that in my "full disclosure" comment as a way of saying I have a personal bias towards the game, not as a way of saying it was important - I think this is very obvious in the context I wrote it.
One small step (Score:2)
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Well, quanta is actually just a precisely defined amount. Size actually doesn't come into it.
Okay, back to work...
Doom (Score:1)
It's historic value is so great that its non existence on this list makes as much sense as dividing by zero.
Well, end of reality, here we go!
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ROTT (Score:2)
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Soldier of Fortune 2 has a random level generator. For multiplayer, it creates a large outdoor scene with buildings.
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Am I the only person on the planet... (Score:2)
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Goldeneye was an awesome multiplayer experience if you were playing with a couple of friends. The fact that it's on a console really matters in that sense, because there's a so
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But a great memory can cover so much crap... (Score:2)
Several years ago, a friend of mine was stuck in a hospital for an exploratory op. My GF and I brought in a N64 (yes, checked out and approved by staff) and we played a few games, including GoldenEye. We eventually played with it set to insta-kill and slappers only. Oh, and my friend was doped up on morphine.
Damn, that was fun.
What about... (Score:1)
like...
5. Postal 2 (Cat's as silencers, gas can and shovel make this trashy, ultra-violent post appocolytic game. To bad the multi-player end hummed.)
4. Swat 3 (Some where between Shooter and Sneaker this squad based game is tatically entertaining, and in multiplayer can have complex and intresting goals.)
3. America's Army (Sure it's propaganda, but man is the sniper rife a pain, ie ealistic. The ROE violations
Rainbow 6/Ghost Recon (Score:1)
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I might agree, but the Rainbow Six (for at least a few games) series has a major problem - AI players have a level of accurracy that would cause multiplayers to be kicked from servers. Your AI teammates aren't able to compensate - and thus four guys can get wiped out all at once.
As an example, try one of the two "lone-wolf" maps in Eagle Watch -- you have to take out 20-30 enemies singlehandedly to complete the map. (As a side note, a graphics accell
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As for acceleration, I have had acceleration since the earlier days of Quake. From the Redline enhanced Doom to the voodoo, and then into Nvidia. As a gamer, I have had accelerated graphics since about the time they first started showing up. That DOES bring
That list is unreal! (Score:2)
actually, I'd put it on (Score:5, Insightful)
UT2004 should be in the halls of fame for getting everything right and balanced, and for looking good doing it.
The thing about Goldeneye... (Score:1)
Should be.. (Score:1)
All the rest are belong to these three
CS and FEAR (Score:2)
CS: Squad-based, limited time per match. Damage is realistic (relatively speaking) so teamwork, strategy (where to go, what your weapon's shot pattern is, etc), and good control are all vital to success. I suck at it, so I should know.
FEAR: With all effects on, it's like being in a firefight. Dust kicking up, sparks, explosions, enemies hopping over railings, flanking you, ragdoll physics. It's crazy good fun just for th
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Action Quake 2 did this all before CS.
Disappointed (Score:4, Insightful)
But this? It's more like "quantum leap" the TV show, you know, where it starts with the premise that the main character doesn't know shit about what he's supposed to be doing?
It's nothing more than a collection of submissions with apparently very little editor review and no explanation of how they came to their conclusions, such as they are. I have no idea how they picked things, but frankly this list has no more (and possibly less) credibility than a list of what Gabe & Tycho played last year.
I mean, they simply posted the (sometime anonymous) comments from people like:
"Tribes was one of the first titles that saw the popularization of teamplay and the 'capture the flag' scenario as a critical game element."
Um, you mean ASIDE from the plethora of Quake mods that focussed PRECISELY on this like, oh, Teamfortress (which predated Tribes by 3 years)? Fact check, anyone?
I won't diss Half-Life - it really WAS a quantum leap forward in the ARTISTIC presentation of an FPS storyline (eat that, Roger Ebert), but to suggest that it somehow edges out Doom as the genesis of the genre? What universe did they live in?
And FWIW, I'd argue that 'honorable mention' should go to Gamespy. Anyone remember the horrible days of early quake connections? Gamespy (the launcher, as opposed to the megalomaniacal portal-site-empire) was a quantum leap forward in multiplaying, IMO.
Gamasutra, that was lame.
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Second, Tribes was the first game that banked EVERYTHING on multiplayer. It predated Unreal Tournament. It introduced a multitude of different game types. No longer did you have Team Death Match and CTF only. It put in jetpacks. And Jetpacks rule. It put vehcles in a game that worked well. It introduced the commander screen. One of its bigg
totally not serious (Score:1)
It seems like the editors mostly agree with us (Score:3, Informative)
So, they tallied up the votes, then decided that the results were totally stupid, and put some "honorable mentions" at the front of the list, including:
Doom
System Shock (the first one)
Marathon
Deus Ex
Alien vs Predator
Descent
Tribes
I think I like the "honorable mentions" list better than the actual top-5 list. I wonder if part of the problem was people not voting for Doom because it was "too obvious", and the wanted to pick something different.
du dee du du _du_ du du du.. (Score:2)
Also predicting a 89% probability that this thread will contain, in its entirety, posts talking about how their favourite game wasn't listed.
AL get me out of this thread!
*leaps into linux vs osx flamewar*
Oh boy...
Where's the freaking port of AvP for Jaguar? (Score:2)
The very best thing was it's freeform nature. All the ports I've tried to date, were more of a guided tour.
The discovery element to this game, done with the secuirty card device, made the whole experience for me. Playing the game, reading the hints from the computer consoles and finding the cards hooked the player solid, right out of the gate.
Nice ending too. Through hints, discovered and learned throughout the game, the player realizes they need to set the self-destruct and leave
Haplabalatlalab--what? (Score:2)
It was released on December 21, 1994. That's 18 months before Quake. It's barely a year after Doom came out and three months fater Doom 2. What's it got? Deathmatches. Easy deathmatches. No hacks, tweaks, or anything. If the Macs were on an Appletalk network you could deathmatch. It was awesome. It had specials maps for deathmatches, even. What else? Rocket-jum
Doom should have been #1 or #2. Sorry. (Score:2)
Doom clones - Pretty much any FPS game
Rainbow Six clones - pretty much any tactical shooter
Descent clone - 6-degrees of freedom games. (very tiny, niche market)
System Shock clone - FPS with an RPG element.
Not a lot there. Kind of surprised that SS2 was on the list
At least they mentioned Tribes (Score:2)
Mouse Look (Score:2)
Yet, even Marathon didn't quite do it.
I can understand that, say, a flight sim kind of game (Descent?) might be more fully 3D, but I don't really start feeling cramped playing an FPS until it becomes 2.5D, either with the control scheme or the mapping. That would make Quake a big one
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No, actually DOOM (including DOOM 2 and Final DOOM) did not have any vertical view control at all. It is Heretic and Hexen (both based on the DOOM engine) that added look up/down/center keys (and possibly also Strife, but I never played it).
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I've read that a possible fix to the motion sickness problem you are experiencing is to change the FOV (Field of View) from the default 75 to 90 (which supposedly is the norm for other FPSs).
In the console, enter the following:
sv_cheats 1
fov 90
If you want to change it back to the default, fov 0 does the trick.
At least, that's what I've read [com.com].
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I can play most FPS games, but my head almost explodes whenever the drugged about to explode effects come into play.
Most notably, in original Unreal tournament when you fall off a spaceship or into the pressure chamber the camera does some crazy shit and makes me want to puke.
Anyway, the HL2 camera might be outside your comfortable range.
You could try bringing up the console and changing this:
fov [angle] - Specifies the character's Field of View (fov)
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I don't know if they screwed with the FOV settings for that level or what, but it gave me the worst heada
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Tower and Drazen Isle custom maps rocked