First-person shooter

Not to be confused withLight gun shooter,Rail shooter,orShooting gallery game.

For other uses, seeFirst-person shooter (disambiguation).

"Doom clone" redirects here. For the modern revival, seeBoomer shooter.

A screenshot ofS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyatshowcasing the first-person perspective.

Afirst-person shooter(FPS) is avideo gamecentered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from afirst-person perspective,with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of themain character.This genre shares multiple common traits with othershooter games,and in turn falls under theaction gamescategory. Since the genre's inception, advanced3Dandpseudo-3Dgraphics have proven fundamental to allow a reasonable level of immersion in thegame world,and this type of game helped pushing technology progressively further, challenging hardware developers worldwide to introduce numerous innovations in the field ofgraphics processing units.Multiplayer gaminghas been an integral part of the experience, and became even more prominent with the diffusion of internet connectivity in recent years.

Although earlier games predate it by 20 years,Wolfenstein 3D(1992) was the highest-profile archetype upon which most subsequent first-person shooters were based. One such game, considered the progenitor of the genre's mainstream acceptance and popularity, wasDoom(1993), often cited as the most influential game in this category; for years, the term "Doom clone" was used to designate this type of game, due toDoom's enormous success.Another common name for the genre in its early days was "corridor shooter", since processing limitations of that era's computer hardware meant that most of the action had to take place in enclosed areas, such as corridors and small rooms.

During the 1990s, the genre was one of the main cornerstones for technological advancements of computer graphics, starting with the release ofQuakein 1996.Quakewas one of the first real-time 3D rendered video games in history, and quickly became one of the most acclaimed shooter games of all time.Graphics acceleratorhardware became essential to improve performances and add new effects such as fulltexture mapping,dynamic lightingandparticle processingto the 3Denginesthat powered the games of that period, such as the iconicid Tech 2,the first iteration of theUnreal Engine,or the more versatileBuild.Other seminal games were released during the years, withMarathonenhancing the narrative and puzzle elements,Duke Nukem 3Dintroducing voice acting, complete interactivity with the environment, and city-life settings to the genre, and games likeTom Clancy's Rainbow SixandCounter-Strikestarting to adopt a realistic and tactical approach aimed at simulating real life counter-terrorism situations.GoldenEye 007,released in 1997, was a landmark first-person shooter forhome consoles,while the critical and commercial success of later titles likePerfect Dark,Medal of Honorand theHaloseries helped to heighten the appeal of this genre for the consoles market, straightening the road to the current tendency to release most titles as cross-platform, like many games in theFar CryandCall of Dutyseries.

Definition

First-person shooters are a type ofshooter gamethat relies on afirst-personpoint of view with which the player experiences the action through the eyes of thecharacter.They differ fromthird-person shootersin that, in a third-person shooter, the player can see the character they are controlling (usually from behind, or above). The primary design focus is combat, mainly involving firearms or other types of long range weapons.

A defining feature of the genre is "player-guided navigation through a three-dimensional space." This is a defining characteristic that clearly distinguishes the genre from other types of shooting games that employ afirst-person perspective,includinglight gun shooters,rail shooters,shooting gallery games,or older shootingelectro-mechanical games.First person-shooter games are thus categorized as being distinct from light gun shooters, a similar genre with a first-person perspective which uses dedicatedlight gunperipherals, in contrast to the use of conventional input devices.Light-gun shooters (likeVirtua Cop) often feature "on-rails" (scripted) movement, whereas first-person shooters give the player complete freedom to roam the surroundings.

The first-person shooter may be considered a distinct genre itself, or a type of shooter game, in turn a subgenre of the wideraction gamegenre.Following the release ofDoomin 1993, games in this style were commonly referred to as "Doom clones";over time this term has largely been replaced by "first-person shooter".Wolfenstein 3D,released in 1992, the year beforeDoom,has been often credited with introducing the genre, but critics have since identified similar, though less advanced, games developed as far back as 1973.There are occasional disagreements regarding the specific design elements which constitute a first-person shooter. For example, titles likeDeus ExorBioShockmay be considered as first-person shooters, but may also fit into therole-playing gamescategory, as they borrow extensively from that genre.Other examples, likeFar CryandRage,could also be consideredadventure games,because they focus more on exploration than simple action, they task players with multiple different objectives other than just killing enemies, and they often revolve around the construction of complex cinematic storylines with a well defined cast ofsecondary charactersto interact with. Furthermore, certain puzzle or platforming games are also sometimes categorized as first-person shooters, in spite of lacking any direct combat or shooting element, instead using a first-person perspective to help players immerse within the game and better navigate 3D environments (for example, in the case ofPortal,the 'gun' the player character carries is used to create portals through walls rather than fire projectiles).Some commentators also extend the definition to includecombat flight simulatorsandspace battlegames, whenever the cockpit of the aircraft is depicted from a first-person point of view.

Game design

A player character examining their weapon inSCP: Secret Laboratory.

Like most shooter games, first-person shooters involve anavatar,one or more ranged weapons, and a varying number of enemies.Because they take place in a 3D environment, these games tend to be somewhat more realistic than2D shootergames, and have more accurate representations of gravity, lighting, sound and collisions.First-person shooters played onpersonal computersare most often controlled with a combination of akeyboardandmouse.This system has been claimed as superior to that found in console games,which frequently use twoanalog sticks:one used for running and sidestepping, the other forlooking and aiming.It is common to display the character's hands and weaponry in the main view, with aheads-up displayshowing health,ammunitionand location details. Often, it is possible to overlay a map of the surrounding area.

Combat and power-ups

First-person shooters generally focus on action gameplay, with fast-paced combat and dynamic firefights being a central point of the experience, though certain titles may also place a greater emphasis on narrative, problem-solving and logic puzzles.In addition to shooting,meleecombat may also be used extensively. In some games, melee weapons are especially powerful, as a reward for the risk the player must take in maneuvering his character into close proximity to the enemy.In other games, instead, melee weapons may be less effective but necessary as a last resort."Tactical shooters"tend to be more realistic, and require the players to use teamwork and strategy in order to succeed;the players can often command a squad of characters, which may be controlled by theA.I.or by human teammates,and can be given different tasks during the course of the mission.

First-person shooters typically present players with a vast arsenal of weapons, which can have a large impact on how they will approach the game.Some games offer realistic reproductions of actual existing (or even historical) firearms, simulating their rate of fire, magazine size, ammunition amount, recoil and accuracy. Depending on the context, other first-person shooters may incorporate some imaginative variations, including futuristic prototypes, alien-technology or magical weapons, and/or implementing a wide array of different projectiles, from lasers, to energy, plasma, rockets, and arrows. These many variations may also be applied to the tossing of grenades, bombs, spears and the like. Also, more unconventional modes of destruction may be employed by the playable character, such as flames, electricity, telekinesis or other supernatural powers, and traps.

In the early era of first-person shooters, often designers allowed characters to carry a large number of different weapons with little to no reduction in speed or mobility. More modern games started to adopt a more realistic approach, where the player can only equip a handheld gun, coupled with a rifle, or even limiting the players to only one weapon of choice at a time, forcing them to swap between different alternatives according to the situation. In some games, there's the option to trade up or upgrade weapons, resulting in multiple degrees of customization. Thus, the standards of realism are extremely variable.The protagonist can generally get healing and equipment supplies by means of collectible items such asfirst aid kitsor ammunition packs, simply by walking over, or interacting with them.Some games allow players to accumulateexperience pointsin a role-playing game fashion, that can generally be used to unlock new weapons, bonuses and skills.

Level design

First-person shooters may be structurally composed oflevels,or use the technique of a continuous narrative in which the game never leaves the first-person perspective.Others feature largesandboxenvironments, which are not divided into levels and can be explored freely.In first-person shooters, protagonists interact with the environment to varying degrees, from basics such as using doors, to problem solving puzzles based on a variety of interactive objects.In some games, the player can damage the environment, also to varying degrees: one common device is the use of barrels containingexplosive materialwhich the player can shoot, harming nearby enemies.Other games feature environments which are extensively destructible, allowing for additional visual effects.The game world will often make use of science fiction, historic (particularlyWorld War II) ormodern militarythemes, with suchantagonistsasaliens,monsters,terroristsand soldiers of various types.Games feature multiple difficulty settings; in harder modes, enemies are tougher, more aggressive and do more damage, and power-ups are limited. In easier modes, the player can succeed through reaction times alone; on more difficult settings, it is often necessary to memorize the levels through trial and error.

Multiplayer

More 21st century first-person shooters utilize the Internet for multiplayer features, but local area networks were commonly used in early games.

First-person shooters may feature amultiplayermode, taking place on specialized levels. Some games are designed specifically for multiplayer gaming, and have very limited single player modes in which the player competes against game-controlled characters termed "bots".Massively multiplayer online first-person shooterslike those in thePlanetSideseries allow thousands of players to compete at once in apersistent world.Large scale multiplayer games allow multiple squads, with leaders issuing commands and a commander controlling the team's overall strategy.Multiplayer games have a variety of different styles of match.

The classic types are thedeathmatch(and its team-based variant) in which players score points by killing other players' characters; andcapture the flag,in which teams attempt to penetrate the opposing base, capture a flag and return it to their own base whilst preventing the other team from doing the same. Other game modes may involve attempting to capture enemy bases or areas of the map, attempting to take hold of an object for as long as possible while evading other players, or deathmatch variations involving limited lives or in which players fight over a particularly potentpower-up.These match types may also be customizable, allowing the players to vary weapons, health and power-ups found on the map, as well as victory criteria.Games may allow players to choose between variousclasses,each with its own strengths, weaknesses, equipment and roles within a team.

Free-to-play

Main article:Free-to-play

There are many free-to-play first-person shooters on the market now, includingWolfenstein: Enemy Territory,Apex Legends,Team Fortress 2,PlanetSide 2,andHalo Infinite Multiplayer.Some games are released as free-to-play as their intended business model and can be highly profitable (League of Legendsearned $2 billion in 2017),but others such asWarhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusadebegin their life as paid games and become free-to-play later to reach a wider audience after an initially disappointing reception.Some player communities complain about freemium first-person-shooters, fearing that they create unbalanced games, but many game designers have tweaked prices in response to criticism, and players can usually get the same benefits by playing longer rather than paying.

History

For the history of light gun shooter, rail shooter and shooting gallery games that employ a first-person perspective, seeShooter game § History,andLight gun shooter § History.

Origins: 1970s–1980s

Before the popularity of first-person shooters, the first-person viewpoint was used invehicle simulation gamessuch asBattlezone.

The earliest two documented first-person shooter video games areMaze WarandSpasim.Maze Warwas originally developed in 1973 by Greg Thompson, Steve Colley and Howard Palmer, high-school students in aNASAwork-study program trying to develop a program to help visualizefluid dynamicsfor spacecraft designs. The work became a maze game presented to the player in the first-person, and later included support for a second player and the ability to shoot the other player to win the game. Thompson took the game's code with him toMassachusetts Institute of Technology,where with help fromDave Leblingto create an eight-player version that could be played overARPANET,computer-run players using artificial intelligence, customizable maps, online scoreboards and a spectator mode.Spasimhad a documented debut at theUniversity of Illinoisin 1974 on the PLATO mainframe system. The game was a rudimentaryspace flight simulatorfor up to 32 players, featuring a first-person perspective.Both games were distinct from modern first-person shooters, involving simpletile-based movementwhere the player could only move from square to square and turn in90-degreeincrements.Such games spawned others that used similar visuals to display the player as part of a maze (such asAkalabeth: World of Doomin 1979), and were loosely called "rat's eye view" games, since they gave the appearance of a rat running through a maze.Another crucial early game that influenced first-person shooters wasWayout.It featured the player trying to escape a maze, usingray castingto render the environment, simulating visually how each wall segment would be rendered relative to the player's position and facing angle. This allowed more freeform movement compared to the grid-based and cardinalMaze WarandSpasim.Among PLATO games, Witz and Boland's 1977Futurewar,a dystopian 3D first-person dungeon shooter, has been argued to be the first true FPS. This is due to the combination of a fully perspective-shifting 3D maze with enemies ahead, and what may be the earliest representation of weapons appearing in perspective in front of the player.

A slightly more sophisticated first-person shooting mainframe game wasPanther(1975), atank simulatorfor thePLATO system.Atari's first-person tank shooterarcade video gameBattlezone(1980), modeled closely after PLATO Panther, was released forarcadesand presented using avector graphicsdisplay,with the game designed by Ed Rotberg. It is considered to be the first successful first-person shooter video game, making it a milestone for the genre. It was primarily inspired by Atari's top-down arcadeshooter gameTank(1974).The originalarcade cabinetalso employed aperiscopeviewfinder similar tosubmarineshootingarcade gamessuch asMidway's video gameSea Wolf(1976) andSega'selectro-mechanical gamePeriscope(1966).Battlezonebecame the first successful mass-market game featuring a first-person viewpoint andwireframe3D graphics,with a version later released for home computers in 1983.

Early first-person shooters: 1987–1992

MIDI Maze,a first-person shooter released in 1987 for theAtari ST,featuredmaze-based gameplayand character designs similar toPac-Man,but displayed in a first-person perspective.Later ported to various systems—including theGame BoyandSuper NESunder the titleFaceball 2000—it featured the first network multiplayerdeathmatches,using aMIDIinterface.Despite the inconvenience of connecting numerous machines together, it gained a cult following;1UPcalled it the "first multi-player 3D shooter on a mainstream system" and the first "major LAN action game".

Id Software'sHovertank 3Dpioneeredray castingtechnology in May 1991 to enable faster gameplay than 1980s vehicle simulators;andCatacomb 3-Dintroduced another advance,texture mapping,in November 1991. The second game to use texture mapping wasUltima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss,a March 1992action role-playing gamebyLooking Glass Technologiesthat featured a first-person viewpoint and an advanced graphics engine. In October 1990, id developer John Romero learned about texture mapping from a phone call to Paul Neurath. Romero described the texture mapping technique to id programmerJohn Carmack,who remarked, "I can do that.",and would feel motivated by Looking Glass's example to do the same inCatacomb 3-D.Catacomb 3-Dalso introduced the display of the protagonist's hand and weapon (in this case, magical spells) on the screen, whereas previously aspects of the player's avatar were not visible.The experience of developingUltima Underworldwould make it possible for Looking Glass to create theThiefandSystem Shockseries years later.

Rise in popularity: 1992–1993

From Wolfenstein 3D to Quake, FPS games were all about their game engines.id Software& Raven Software completely dominated the market, with Apogee Software/3D Realms and Epic MegaGames being their main competitors. This technological race, monopoly, and three-ways rivalry started during the Wolfenstein 3D's era from 1992 to 1993.

Although it was not the earliestshooter gamewith afirst-personperspective,Wolfenstein 3Dis often credited with establishing the first-person shooter genre and many of its staples.

Wolfenstein 3Dwas the first episodic FPS game developed byid Software,as a successor to the successful 1980s 2D infiltration video-gamesCastle WolfensteinandBeyond Castle WolfensteinfromMuse Software,and published byApogee Softwarethe 5th of May 1992in which the player had to explore mazes while battlingNazisto find keys required to unlock doors to reach each floor's exit all while searching every wall for secret areas filled with treasures for a higherscoreuntil each episode's last floor'sBossand was an instant success because of its first episode's distribution and spread assharewarewhereas the second and the third available after registration; and the three last prequel episodes available as a separate mission pack, to the point that it has since been credited for having single-handedly invented theconceptof first-person-shooter as a genre of video-games.It was built onJohn Carmack'sray casting technologyalready experimented into id's previous gamesHovertank OneandCatacomb 3Dto create a new standard for first-person-shooter video-games widely emulated, improved, and still applied to this day.Tom Halloriginally designed it to be a first-person infiltration game including stealth, hiding dead bodies, disguises and alarms, following the legacy of its predecessors, and the game engine does include these original features, howeverJohn RomeroandJohn Carmackwanted a simple shooter and Tom Hall had to fight hard to even include the secret areas.Despite its violent themes,Wolfensteinlargely escaped the controversy generated by the laterDoom,although it was banned fromGermanydue to the use ofNaziiconographywhich is a sensitive topic there where Wolfenstein has been forbidden until 2022andNintendotoo required id Software to removeblood,gore, and all Nazi iconography as well as replace the enemyattack dogswith giantratsto allow it to be released onSNESbecause of their anti-violence policy.id Software released amap editorto let players create and share online their own home-mademapsfor the game which started the players'modding communitieswho blossomed withDoomand maintain their games alive continuously sustaining new content for them. DuringDoom's development, id Software quickly developed a short extension forWolfenstein 3DtitledSpear of Destinyreleased the 19th of September 1992to tease the players with the Hell to come inDoomasSpear of Destinyconcluded into Hell,then two years later,Doom 2included twosecret levelsfeaturingWolfensteinin Hell while re-usingSpear of Destiny's Hell final level's music to close the loop.

Ken Silvermandecided to develop his owngame engineafter he playedWolfenstein 3Din 1992. His firstgame,that he namedWalkenas in "Ken's Walking simulator", was close toWolf3D engine.Then he improved his game with his friend Andrew Cotter, addednarrationto eachfloor,renamed itKen's Labyrinth,and released it onInternetassharewareunder his brother's companyAdvanced Systemson 1 January 1993.The game was about escaping a bizarre dream labyrinth full of people shooting projectiles at the player while projectiles were more balls than bullets, meaning they had limited range and were slow enough to dodge them as opposite toWolfenstein 3Dwhose weapons werehitscanfirearms,some walls reflected projectiles, killed enemies vanished without any death animation nor remnant body on the floor, and Ken himself voiced theprotagonistand filled his game with pictures of himself which hurt the player if they dared to shoot them, which made his game personal.Epic MegaGames,thenWolfenstein 3D'spublisherApogee Software's main competitor, noticed it, saw potential, then signed a commercial agreement with Ken's father, as Ken was still minor. However, the original Advanced Systems'Ken's Labyrinthwas made from Ken and Andrew's limited resources to the point that Ken made thesound effectswith his mouth, therefore Epic MegaGames made use of their resources to revamp the game, replaced the projectiles balls withbubble gum balls,starburstswhich bounced off walls, andhoming missiles,while collecting more of the same weapon increased their range and collectingthunderboltsincreased the range of all weapons at once, also replaced the originalfinal Bosswith Ken himself, added diverse monsters, temporarypower-upssuch as reflecting enemies' projectiles, kill enemies on contact, and invincibility, as well as treasures for buying these power-ups fromvending-machinesand for paying doors' toll,slot-machinesto wincoinsinstead of finding treasures in secret areas, death-traps such as holes in floors which were the only way to get rid of someinvulnerableenemies, water fountains which slowly restored health (much like inDuke Nukem 3Dthree years later), changed the goal from the original's merely escaping the labyrinth to rescue the player's abducteddogSparky and save the world, added the requirement to have Sparky follow the player to the exit of each floor to be able to reach the next floor, which made the player have to pay attention to another character beside their own, and commercializedKen's Labyrinth v2still as shareware the 21st of March 1993.All versions ofKen's Labyrinthgot to besource-portedmany times and even ontoNintendo Switchby a fan.As soon asid Softwareshowed off some previews ofDoomin the middle of its development, Ken Silverman started to develop his own game engine to rival withJohn Carmackonce again, used athesaurusto searchsynonymsfor the word "construction",and named his new game engine" Build ". Apogee Software wanted Build since id Software went their own way and didn't want to license their newDoom engine(yet). Both Epic MegaGames and Apogee Software attempted tocontractKen Silverman who chose Apogee Software which he never explained his reasons however Epic Games expressed noregretsince not relying on Ken Silvermanmotivatedthem to develop their own technologies, which paid off.

Most shooters in this period were developed for IBM PC compatible computers. On theMacintoshside,Bungiereleased its first shooter,Pathways into Darknessin August 1993,which featured more adventure and narrative elements alongside first-person shooter gameplay.Pathwayshad been inspired byWolfenstein 3D,and born out of an attempt to take their previous top-down dungeon exploration gameMinotaur: The Labyrinths of Creteinto a 3D setting.

ShadowCaster,developed byRaven Softwareand published byOrigin Systemsthe 27th of October 1993,used a heavily modified version ofWolf3D enginemade byJohn Carmackduring summer 1992 who offered it to Raven Software after he was impressed with their firstRPVGBlack Cryptbecause he was curious about how Raven would use hisgame engineto make a RPVG instead of a FPSG.ShadowCasterwas the first commercial game released with classic "2.5DDoom engine"improvements such as distance fogging, non-orthogonal walls, textured ceilings and floors, etc beforeDoomitself came out. It introduced someRPGelements into aFPS game engineas well as a customizableHUD,anauto-map,jumping, swimming, flying,shapeshiftingwith each metamorphosis featuring its own characteristics to adapt to each situation.Then it got enhanced withredbook audionarration,voiced dialogues which replaced the text boxes, two new levels, and 3D renderedcutscenes,then re-released onCD-ROMin 1994.ShadowCasterstarted a durable close friendship between id Software and Raven Software as id will always share their technologies with Raven who will continuously use and upgrade them.

Apogee Software,the publisher ofWolfenstein 3D,followed up its success and released another FPS game based on itsenginetitledBlake Stone: Aliens of Goldfrom another developer Jam Productions 5 December 1993which featured asci-fisettingabout aBritishsecret agentnamed Blake Stone pursuing amad scientistthrough his facilities like a sci-fiJames Bond,a similar Wolf3D'sgameplayof exploring mazes while battling various foes to findkeycardsrequired to unlock doors to reach each floor's exit all while searching every wall for secret areas filled with treasures for a higherscoreuntil each episode's last floor'sBossbut with a far wider diversity of enemies,and added textured floors and ceilings, switches to find and to press to open new areas, traps, anauto-map,stats tracking, a grenade launcher, limited-usevending-machines,teleporters,enemies spawners, back-tracking to previous levels as well as some friendlyNPCsin the form of scientists who would give the player hints and supplies provided the player didn't kill them.The game was initially well-received but sales rapidly declined in the wake of the success of id'sDoom,released a week later.It still got a sequelBlake Stone: Planet Strikethe 28th of October 1994which integrated the auto-map into theHUDas a rotating mini-map which revealed secret doors at the cost of consuming auto-mapper charges and added some enemies whocamouflaged into the environmentor werecloakedto surprise the player though.

Advances in 3D engines: 1993-1997

During the Doom & Quake's era from 1993 to 1997, FPS games were still all about their game engines as original and innovative games were ignored for the only reason that their game engine was outdated. FPS games were simplistic shoot them all without any complex plot however their gameplay started to evolve and the combo id Software & Raven Software still dominated the market while a challenger Captone Software persisted at attempting to be original and compete with them and failed every time for diverse reasons where another challenger LucasArts succeeded and Bungie Software made FPS games featuring a complex plot, the modding communities who sustain life into their games blossomed starting from Doom, 2D sprites were replaced with 3D polygons starting from Descent then Quake and Apogee Software returned on the market as 3D Realms thanks to Ken Silverman and some personality.

Doom,released the 10th of December 1993,refinedWolfenstein 3D'stemplate by adding support for higher resolution, improved textures, variations in height (e.g., stairs and platforms the player's character could climb upon), more intricate level design (Wolfenstein 3Dwas limited to a grid based system where walls had to be orthogonal to each other, whereasDoomallowed for any inclination) and rudimentary illumination effects such as flickering lights and areas of darkness, creating a far more believable 3D environment thanWolfenstein 3D's levels, all of which had a flat-floor space and corridors.Doomallowed competitive matches between multiple players, termed "deathmatches", and the game was responsible for the word's subsequent entry into the video gaming lexicon.According to creatorJohn Romero,the game's deathmatch concept was inspired by the competitive multiplayer offighting gamessuch asStreet Fighter IIandFatal Fury.Doombecame so popular that its multiplayer features began to cause problems for companies whosenetworkswere used to play the game, causing frequent bandwidth reductions.Doomhas been considered the most important first-person shooter ever made.It was highly influential not only on subsequent shooter games but on video gaming in general,and has been made available on almost every video gaming system since.Multiplayer gaming, which is now integral to the first-person shooter genre, was first successfully achieved on a large scale byDoom.While its combination ofgory violence,dark humorandhellishimagery garnered acclaim from critics,these attributes also generated criticism from religious groups and censorship committees, with many commentators labelling the game a "murder simulator".There was further controversy when it emerged that theperpetratorsof theColumbine High School massacrewere fans of the game; the families of several victims later unsuccessfully attempted to sue numerous video game companies - among them id Software - whose work the families claimed inspired the massacre.John Carmack explained how he designed his Doom engine toKen Silvermanthat he considered his only equal which inspired Ken who was in the process of developing hisBuild engine.

Operation Body Count,developed onWolf3D engineand released byCapstone Softwareon 1 January 1994,was Capstone's first FPS game, was all about aterroristattack on theUNOtower, and was an early attempt at making a tactical FPS game since the player was in command of an anti-terrorist squad that they could order around and even switch to any of their body at any time as long as they were not dead and featured somedigitized graphics,transparent textures such as breakable glass,randomizationof enemies and items' placement,body armors,booby-traps,and a nearly fullydestructible environmentsince the flamethrower could set people and environments on fire, which could make movement extremely hazardous for the player, especially since the fire randomly spread, and the grenade-launcher too could destroy any wall (with somehard codedexceptions).OBCalso featured textured floors and ceilings and anauto-maplikeBlake Stonehowever, unlikeBS,OBCfeatured more than one floor texture per level although its floors and ceilings'graphicswere partiallyparallaxmeaning that they appeared to "warp" as the player moved around.Despite some of itsoriginalideas,it was badly made, the terrorists werestereotypesofArabianpeople, theAIwas not smart enough to make nor the enemies pose any challenge nor the squad's teammates be actually useful, and being based on Wolf3D engine afterDoomwas released made it already technologically outdated and "doomed" from the start as opposite toBlake Stonewhich did enjoy one week of glory beforeDoomwas released.OBC still got to besource-portedintoGZDoomandremasteredby itsmodding communityeventually though.

Corridor 7: Alien Invasion,developed and published byCapstone Softwarethe 1st of March 1994,was their second attempt to make a FPS game. Still based onWolf3D engine,theplotreminds strikingly ofHalf-Life's, four years later, since it was aboutscientific experimentswithgamma beamon an alien artifact brought fromMarsby a team ofAmericanscientistswhich opened a portal and connectedEarthto another world from which an alieninvasionstarted into theresearch facility.Corridor 7added animatedtexturessuch as computer screens, distant shading which darkened distant areas to limit the player's sight's distance, dark areas andnight visionmode to see into them, some invisible aliens and traps which could only be seen throughinfrared visionmode, some energy stations to recharge the visor's battery, some aliens whocamouflaged into the environments(likeBlake Stone: Planet Strikereleased half a year later),screen jumpscareswhenever the player was idle for 10 seconds,body armors,limited-use healing chambers,force fieldswhich hurt the player if they walked into them,minesto trap corridors, maps of the floors, and replaced keys with security computer screens which unlocked all doors of the same color within the floor whereas some computers were traps which triggered analarmwhich attracted nearby enemies to the player. Capstone Software releasedCorridor 7first asfloppy disks,then as aCD-ROMthe 6th of May 1995 which featured a differentsoundtrack,randomizationof placements within floors, and added 10 morelevelsinto the alien homeworld with new weapons and alien types along withmultiplayerin the form of up to 12 players'deathmatchandteam deathmatchmodes (believed to be the first FPS game to allow that many players) and 8 additional maps made specially for it. In deathmatch, the player could choose among 12 of the game'scharactersbothhumansand aliens who had different speed and health stats, however all characters used the same weapons though.Corridor 7was a significant improvement after Capstone's previous FPS gameOperation Body Count(read above), the atmosphere was gripping, the aliens were more appreciated than thestereotypesofArabianpeople, theAIwas improved with some enemies patrolling routes and some others camouflaging into environments or being invisible and not attacking until the player was close enough to ambush them, providing an actual challenge to players, and the game was considerably more evolved thanWolfenstein 3DandBlake Stone,however it was still based on the thenoutdatedWolf3D engine afterDoomwas released and therefore was "doomed" from the start too even if it did better than its predecessor, it was still not technologically on par withDoomand Capstone moved onto another newgame engineafter this game.Still,Corridor 7was so appreciated that it got to besource-portedonly five years after its original release into theDoomsday engineand completelyremasteredby itsmodding community.

The 12th of March 1994, the Japanese company Exact releasedGeograph Sealfor theSharp X68000home computer.An obscure import title as far as the Western market is concerned, it was nonetheless an early example of a3Dpolygonal first-person shooter, with innovativeplatform gamemechanics andfree-roamingoutdoor environments.

CyCloneswas begun in February 1994 and published byRaven Softwarethe 1st of November 1994,marking the beginning of a new period for Raven who split into two groups: One which worked withid's newDOOM engineto createMage,a fantasy action game, which would eventually evolve into the gameHeretic.The other team started on a project that was to use theenginefromShadowCasterto create a futuristic missions-based FPS game calledCyClones.The name referred toCyberneticClones,the minions of aliens who had ravaged and devastatedEarth.The game was infirst person3D,as was most other Raven games, so reusing theShadowCasterengine and its tools was a natural choice. But within a short time, the team found that they wanted to do more with the game and engine than they had done before. A new, 100% in-house engine was created that could handle moving platforms, catwalks, sloped areas, and transparent textures. The engine, by Carl Stika, was nicknamed STEAM. A small budget was granted forfull-motion video sequencesto be created for the game, to be presented between missions as briefings.CyClonesallowed to use the mouse to aim without moving, as opposite to other FPS games from the time which bound the mouse to both aiming and moving simultaneously, and without turning either, as thecrosshairwas not fixed at the center of the screen on which it could move freely as opposite to nowadays standard fixed aiming,CyClones's aiming was comparable toMetroid Prime's years later.CyClonesused the mouse not only for aiming but also for picking up objects and interacting with the environment such as doors and switches and even revealedsecret doorssince the crosshair changed color upon pointing a secret door. It also included vertical aiming, jumping, various missions objectives as well as one of the first training modes in a FPS game.

Apogee Software'sRise of the Triad: Dark War,released the 21th of December 1994,began as a sequel toWolfenstein 3D,but was soon altered and became a stand-alone game. The game included "ludicrous" gibs, bullet holes persisted, and sheets of glass could be shattered by shooting or running through them.

Bungie Softwarereleased thesci-fiFPS gameMarathonthe 21th of December 1994 still exclusively onMac,which streamlined concepts from their previous gamePathways Into Darknessby eliminating role-playing elements in favor of the shooter action spurred byDoom's success.Marathonwas highly successful, leading to two sequelsMarathon 2: Durandalreleased the 24th of November 1995thenMarathon: Infinityreleased the 15th of October 1996to form theMarathon Trilogy,and becoming the standard for FPS games on Mac which pioneered or was an early adopter of several newgameplayfeatures such as defaultfreelook,ammo clipsand weapons reloading though not manually, forcing the player to keep an eye on their ammo clips to anticipate the next reloading, dual-wielded and dual-function weapons, amotion sensorto detect both enemies and allies in the area,gravityalterations, swimming, interactive environments such as healing stations,oxygenstations,save points,teleporters,manycomputer terminalsspread all around thelevelsasplot deviceswhich provided messages, informations, various objectives and maps to theplayer's characteras well as friendly defense drones andnon-player characters(NPCs), versatile multiplayer modes (such as King of the Hill, Kill the Man with the Ball, and cooperative campaign) and amap editorfor players to create and share their own maps for the games. TheMarathongames also had a strong emphasis on storytelling in addition to the action, which revolved around evolving relationships between the human player's character and someAIsduring a surprise invasion and subsequent war against a hostile alienEmpirewhich already conquered and enslaved some other alien species, much like Bungie's future projects such as theHaloandDestinyseries which took a lot from the Marathon trilogywhich is no more exclusive to Mac since Bungie Softwareopen-sourcedit in 2000 then released the original trilogy asfreewarein 2005, some fans havesource-portedit to Windows and Linux as well asremasteredthem using the open-source engineAleph Oneand have even been developing many new scenarios, total conversions, and multiplayer maps sustaining a still active community.Many sci-fi games both from Bungie themselves and from other studios have cited the Marathon trilogy as a huge influence on their stories and settings such as the seriesHalo,Destiny,Mass EffectandWarframe.

After having provided a modifiedWolfenstein 3DenginetoRaven SoftwareforShadowCasterand being impressed by the final result,id Softwarerequested that Raven develop a medieval-themed/dark fantasy game using a modified version of id'sDoomengine.Raven considered themselves as typicalD&Dfans and initially drafted the game withrole-playingelements. They then took instruction from idprogrammerJohn Carmackto simply "do it likeDoom,and add the fantasy flavor. "Raven Softwarethen used and upgraded theDoom engineand releasedHereticthe 23th of December 1994which introduced largermaps,vertical aiming, flying,gibs,randomized ambient sound effects, interactive environments such as rushing water and winds which push the player along, an inventory system to store and select many different items which range from health potions to the "morph ovum" which transforms enemies into chickens and one of the most notable item that can be found is the "Tome of Power" which acts as a secondary firing mode for certain weapons, resulting in a much more powerful projectile for each weapon, some of which change the look of the projectile entirely,then Raven added two more episodes and re-released it asHeretic: Shadow of the Serpent Ridersthe 31st of March 1996.

Super 3D Noah's Ark,developed onWolf3D engineand published by thechristianvideo-games companyWisdom Tree(formerly namedColor Dreams) the 1st of January 1995,was the firstnon-violent FPS gamealong with being the firstreligiousFPS game (Doomwas already based onchristian mythologyas well since the enemy was christian's Hell however unlikeSuper 3D Noah's Ark,it merely used it as asettingand didn't attempt to teach religion) which featuredNoahfromAbrahamic mythology'sNoah's Arkas theprotagonistand re-usedWolfenstein 3D'sgameplayandlevel-designwhile replacing enemies' death animations by seemingly friendly animals falling asleep upon being hit by the player's weapon which was aslingshotshooting food to feed the unresting hungry animals aboardgoatsfilled Noah's Ark made of the recycled originalmapsfromWolfenstein 3Dincluding the same items' placements and even theSNESversion was itself a mere reskin from Wolfenstein 3D's SNES version as well however the PC version did upgrade some things upon Wolfenstein 3D such as textured floors (likeBlake Stone) along with higher resolutions graphics andMIDImusic, and added a new gameplay feature such asquizzeswhich tested the player's religious knowledge whose rewards were more ammo to keep playing the game along with somescore's points. This is not what Wisdom Tree had originally designed though, since they originally designed a FPS game based on the horror moviesHellraiserthemselves adapted fromClive Barker'snovels,until they realized that this was incontradictionwith their christiansocialimage then designed Super 3D Noah's Ark instead. A popularrumorhas it that Wolf3D engine was given to Wisdom Tree byid Softwareas a kind of "revenge"againstNintendofor all thecensorshipthatWolfenstein 3Dhad to go through to be on the Super Nintendo. However, there's no proof of this, and Wisdom Tree bought a license for thegame enginelike everybody else instead of having it "given" to them.The SNES version was not licensed by Nintendo and therefore couldn't be played on a SNES by itself which is why the SNESgame cartridgewas actually an adapter cartridge which required another licensed SNES game cartridge to be inserted into it in order to get Super 3D Noah's Ark to work despite being unlicensed.

Star Wars: Dark Forceswas released the 6th of February 1995afterLucasArtsdecidedStar Warswould make appropriate material for a game in the style ofDoom.However,Star Wars: Dark Forcesimproved on several technical features thatDoomlacked, such as the ability to crouch, jump, or look and aim up and down.Dark Forcesalso was one of the first games to incorporate 3D-designed objects rendered into the game's 2.5D graphics engine.The game's success launched theStar Wars: Jedi Knightseries, beginning with the direct sequelStar Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces IIthe 9th of October 1997.

Descent(released byParallax Softwarethe 17th of March 1995), a game in which the player pilots aspacecraftaround caves and factory ducts, was among the earliest truly three-dimensional first-person shooters. It abandonedspritesand ray casting in favour ofpolygonal modelsand allowed movement through all of thesix possible degrees of freedom.

The 28th of April 1995, the Japanese company Exact released the successor toGeograph Sealfor thePlayStationconsole, calledJumping Flash!,which placed more emphasis on its platform elements.

Witchaven,developed byCapstone Softwareand published by theirparent companyIntraCorpthe 20th of September 1995,was the first commercial game licensed onApogee Softwarerebranded3D Realms'Ken Silverman's newBuild engineto rivalid Software'sJohn Carmack'sDoom engineand was amedieval fantasyFirst Person Slasher game as in amelee-focused FPS game, reminiscent ofRaven Software'sHereticincluding an inventory system, both a single-player campaign and multiplayer, but far harder as it was far moretactical,making use of environmental hazards such asmagmaand traps against enemies, while implementing more of aRPGgameplaysuch as weapons' durability which broke after many uses, requiring the player to find other weapons and save the strongest weapons for the strongest foes, evolving stats from earned experience where each level up unlocked new spells and abilities such aslockpickingin the form of an unlocking spell as well asdual wieldingsome weapons.The campaign involved a knight on an epicquestto defeat awitchwho cast acurseof never-endingdarknessonto his land. In order to complete this quest, he had to battle hordes of minions with both medieval weapons and magical spells to reach the witch on hervolcanic island.It featureddigitized graphics,however the characters made of clay didn't appeal to everyone and the environments were empty, as well as adjustable level of gore, the sameCorridor 7's trick to spawn ascreen jumpscarewhenever the player is idle, and it is known for game logic issues, dumbAI,hazardousmaptriggers andgame physicsthat cause slippery player movement, sudden deaths, and faulty hit detection.That didn't stop an original fan of the game to eventually name hisblack metalband after it.Witchavenwasopen-sourcedin 2006 thensource-portedinto JFBuild by JonoF and into BuildGDX by its community which fixed most of its original issues in 2018.

William Shatner's TekWar,developed byCapstone Softwareand published bySoftKey Multimedia Inc.the 30th of September 1995,barely ten days afterWitchaven(read above), was the second commercial game licensed onApogee Softwarerebranded3D Realms'Ken Silverman's newBuild engineto rivalid Software'sJohn Carmack'sDoom engineand was a FPS game adapted fromWilliam Shatner's TekWarnovelsandTV serieswho personally contributed to the video-game to the point of live-acting the player's Boss during briefings and debriefings.William Shatner's TekWar,both novels, TV series and video-game, is asci-fistory revolving around a neural drug named Tek and the Matrix, avirtual reality(four years beforethe first Matrix movie).The video-game featured FMVs, digitized live-actors and actresses, a stun gun to neutralize people in anon-lethal fashion,andgibsand dropped the player into a livelyopen-worldfutureLos Angeles,making it the first FPS game which featured an open-world modern city, full of civilians, cops and enemies where civilians panicked if the player drew a weapon who they begged to not shoot while holding their hands up and ran away for their life whereas cops drew their gun onto the player and ordered him to drop their weapon and enemies shot him on sight from everywhere without the cops ever reacting whereas they shot the player if he dared to shoot back at the enemies, which is the main issue with this game: everyone is allowed to shoot you but you are not allowed to shoot anyone.Some civilians were actually kamikazeandroidswho self-destructed when close to the player, taking them into theirexplosion.Half of the game also took place into the Matrix.William Shatner's TekWarwas the worst of Capstone's FPS games however it still got to besource-portedinto BuildGDX.

Raven Softwareupgraded theDoom enginefurther and releasedHexen: Beyond Hereticthe 30th of October 1995which added jumping, moreimmersiveenvironments with effects such as swirlingleavesor scatteringbatsupon the player's approach, weather effects, some destructible objects, scripted environmental changes such as earthquakes, differentcharacter classesto allow different playstyles as well as interconnected maps through hub maps instead of the standard linear succession of maps which granted a taste ofopen-worldin a FPS game.

Apogee Software,then renamed3D Realms,followed up withDuke Nukem 3D(sequel to the earlierplatformersDuke NukemandDuke Nukem II), released as shareware the 29th of January 1996,which ran on the then newBuild enginedeveloped byKen Silvermanwith the support ofJohn Carmack.Duke Nukem 3Dwon acclaim for its humour based around stereotypedmachismoas well as its adrenalinic gameplay and graphics. However, some found the game's (and later the whole series') treatment of women to be derogatory and tasteless.

Witchaven 2: Blood Vengeance,developed byCapstone Softwareand published by theirparent companyIntraCorpthe 6th of May 1996,was asequelto the firstWitchavenwhich set the knight from the first game onto an even more perilousquestto rescue the princess abducted by thewitch's sister seeking vengeance, still licensed on3D Realms'Build engine,it addeddual weapons wieldingor wielding ashieldin the place of the second weapon as well as amap editorto let players create and share their ownmaps,however Capstone didn't fix the first game's issuesand it was their last game before going extinct as they were developing a Build-based sequel to their previousWolf3D-based gameCorridor 7when their parent company IntraCorp wentbankrupt.Witchaven 2wasopen-sourcedin 2006 thensource-portedinto BuildGDX by its community which fixed most of its original issues in 2018.

The gamePowerSlavewas initially designed using theBuild engineforMS-DOS,but was later spun off into releases forSega SaturnandSony PlayStationusing developerLobotomy Software's in-house SlaveDriver engine. While the PC version is a traditional linear first-person shooter, the console versions feature non-linear progression and unlockable player abilities reminiscent of ametroidvania.

Strife,developed byRogue Entertainmentand published by Velocity Inc. the 15th of May 1996,was the last commercial game which used and modified theDoom enginebeforeidreleased the newQuake enginethe following monthand it introduced someRPVG's features into the standard FPS formula such as an actual livelyopen-worldfilled withNPCs,dialogues with choices of answers, some of them were even voiced, trade, reinforcements who engage the enemies in battle, mandatory and optional quests, character's evolution of his abilities, an intriguing plot branching into different routes and conclusions according to the player's choices and actions, some burning effects as well as some infiltration gameplay such as stealth, disguises and alarms. The plot takes place in amedievalworld struck by acometwhich released aviruswhich wiped out almost alllifeon theplanetand corrupted most of the remaining people who created ahigh-techtheocraticnew world order known as "The Order" whereas the few remaining free people organized into an underground resistance known as "The Front" and the player is an unnamedmercenary(sometimes referred to as the Strifeguy) who joins the Front to fight the Order's oppressive rule while being remotely assisted by a Front's radio operative woman nicknamed Blackbird who occasionally comments with humor the situations that the player encounters.However despite all of its innovations, Strife went relatively unnoticed because it was released right between the two other overwhelmingly popular gamesDuke Nukem 3DandQuakewhich made the Doom engine already outdated by then.Still, players who discovered it many years after its original release appreciated its originality for its time and even compared it toDeus ExandMarathon.Doom's modding communitysource-portedStrifeintoGZDoomto update and upgrade it from its original version to modern standards.

Shortly after the release ofDuke Nukem 3D,id Software released the much anticipatedQuakethe 22nd of June 1996.LikeDoom,Quakewas influential and genre-defining, featuring fast-paced, gory gameplay, within a completely 3D game environment, and making use of real-time rendered polygonal models instead of sprites. It was centered ononline gamingand featured multiple match types still found in first-person shooter games today. It was the first FPS game to gain a cult following of playerclans(although the concept had existed previously inMechWarrior 2'sNetmech,with itsBattletechlore as well as amongstMUDplayers), and would inspire popularLAN partiesand events such asQuakeCon.The game's popularity and use of 3D polygonal graphics also helped to expand the growing market forvideo cardhardware;and the additional support and encouragement forgame modificationsattracted players who wanted to tinker with the game and create their own modules.According to creator John Romero,Quake's 3D world was inspired by the 3D fighting gameVirtua Fighter.Quakewas also intended to expand the genre withVirtua Fighterinfluencedmelee brawling,but this element was eventually scrapped from the final game.

Shadow Warrior,developed and published by3D Realmsthe 13th of May 1997,introduced3D voxelsinstead of2D spritesfor weapons and inventory items as well as weapons' secondary firing mode, climbable ladders, trueroom-over-roomsituations, transparent water, some vehicles to drive, and a brand new Asian hero named Lo Wang into a brand new Asian setting in contrast to its predecessor Duke Nukem 3D's occidental atmosphere and Shadow Warrior, just as its predecessor, features deliberately immature and politically incorrect humor, as well as a protagonist who delivers regularone-liners,commenting upon the situation at hand. Much of the humor is derived from over-the-top,stereotypicalportrayals ofAsian culture.

Online and console games: 1997-2020

Based on theJames Bondfilm,Rare'sGoldenEye 007was released in 1997, and as of 2004 it was still the best-sellingNintendo 64game in the United States.It has been the first landmark first-person shooter for console gamers and was highly acclaimed for its atmospheric single-player campaign and well designed multiplayer maps. It featured asniper rifle,the ability to perform head-shots, and the incorporation of stealth elements(all of these aspects were also included in the game's spiritual sequel,Perfect Dark) as well as someVirtua Cop-inspired features such as weapon reloading, position-dependent hit reaction animations, penalties for killing innocents, and a newly designed aiming system that allowed players to aim at a precise spot on the screen.

Though not the first of its kind,Tom Clancy's Rainbow Sixstarted a popular trend oftactical first-person shootersin 1998. It featured a team-based, realistic design and themes based aroundcounter-terrorism,requiring missions to be planned before execution and in it, a single hit was sometimes enough to kill a character.Medal of Honor,released in 1999, gave birth to a long running proliferation of simulative first-person shooters set during World War II.

Valve'sHalf-Lifewas released in 1998, based uponQuake's graphics technology.Initially met with only mild anticipation, it went on to become a commercial success.While most of the previous first-person shooters on the IBM PC platform had focused on visceral gameplay with relatively weak or irrelevant plots,Half-Lifeplaced a far bigger focus on strong narrative; the game featured nocut scenesbut remained in the first-person perspective at all times. It capitalized heavily on the concepts ofnon-enemy characters(previously featured in many other titles, such as theMarathon seriesandStrife)and wider in-game interactivity (as first introduced by the likes ofDuke Nukem 3DandSystem Shock) but did not employpower-upsin the traditional sense,making for a somewhat more believable overall experience. The game was praised for itsartificial intelligence,selection of weapons and attention to detail and "has since been recognized as one of the greatest games of all time" according to GameSpot. Its sequel,Half-Life 2,(released in 2004), was less influential though "arguably a more impressive game".

Starsiege: Tribes,also released in 1998, was a multiplayer online shooter allowing more than 32 players in a single match. It featured team-based gameplay with a variety of specialized roles, and an unusualjet packfeature. The game was highly popular and later imitated by many other titles such as theBattlefieldseries.Id'sQuake III Arenaand Epic'sUnreal Tournament,both released in 1999, became the real milestones for multiplayer gaming, thanks to their incredible graphics and frenetic, yet accessible and perfectly balanced online modes; on the other hand, both games only featured a very limited single player campaign designed for a more "disposable"arcadeapproach.Counter-Strikewas also released in 1999, aHalf-Lifemodificationwith a counter-terrorism theme copied fromRainbow Six.The game and later versionCounter-Strike: Source(2004) went on to become the most popular multiplayer game modification ever, with over 90,000 players competing online at any one time during its peak.

At theE3game show in 1999,Bungieunveiled areal-time strategygame calledHalo;aka Halo CE at the following E3, an overhauledthird-person shooterversion was displayed. In 2000, Bungie was bought byMicrosoft.Halowas then revamped and released as a first-person shooter; it was one of thelaunch titlesfor theXboxconsole. It was a runaway critical and commercial success, and is considered a premier console first-person shooter. It featured narrative and storyline reminiscent of Bungie's earlierMarathonseries but now told largely through in-game dialog and cut scenes. It also received acclaim for its characters, both the protagonist,Master Chiefand itsalien antagonists.The sequel,Halo 2(2004), brought the popularity ofonline gamingto the console market through the medium ofXbox Live,on which it was the most played game for almost two years.

Deus Ex,released byIon Stormin 2000, featured a levelling system similar to that found in role-playing games; it also had multiple narratives depending on how the player completed missions and won acclaim for its serious, artistic style.TheResident EvilgamesSurvivorin 2000 andDead Aimin 2003 attempted to combine thelight gunand first-person shooter genres along withsurvival horrorelements.Metroid Prime,released in 2002 for theGameCube,a highly praised first-person shooter, incorporatedaction adventureelements such asjumping puzzlesand built on theMetroidseries of2Dside-scrollingplatform-adventures.Taking a "massive stride forward for first-person games", the game emphasized its adventure elements rather than shooting and was credited by journalist Chris Kohler with "breaking the genre free from the clutches ofDoom".

Efforts to develop earlyhandheld video gameswith 3-D graphics have eventually led to the dawn of ambitious handheld first-person shooter games, starting with twoGame Boy Advanceports ofBack TrackandDoomnot long after the system was launched in 2001.The GBA eventually saw the release of several first-person shooter games specifically tailored for it, includingDuke Nukem Advance,Ecks vs. SeverandDark Arena,with a sizable amount of them being praised for pushing the hardware to the limit while providing satisfying gameplay.Despite their varying reception, they would demonstrate the viability of first-person shooters on handhelds, which became more apparent with new technological advances that accompanied future handheld systems.

World War II Online,released in 2001, featured a persistent and "massively multiplayer environment", althoughIGNsaid that "the full realization of that environment is probably still a few years away."Battlefield 1942,another World War II shooter released in 2002, featured large scale battles incorporating aircraft, naval vessels, land vehicles and infantry combat.In 2003,PlanetSideallowed hundreds of players at once to compete in a persistent world,and was also promoted as the "world's first massively multiplayer online first person shooter."TheSerious Samseries, first released in 2001, andPainkiller,released in 2004, both emphasized fighting waves of enemies in large open arenas, in an attempt to hearken back to the genre's roots.

Doom 3,released in 2004, placed a greater emphasis on horror and frightening the player than previous games in the series and was a critically acclaimed best seller,though some commentators felt it lacked gameplay substance and innovation, putting too much emphasis on impressive graphics.In 2005, afilm based onDoomfeatured a sequence that emulated the viewpoint and action of the first-person shooter, but was critically derided as deliberately unintelligent and gratuitously violent.In 2005,F.E.A.R.was acclaimedfor successfully combining first-person shooter gameplay with aJapanese horroratmosphere.Later in 2007,Irrational Games'BioShockwould be acclaimed by some commentators as the best game of that year for its innovation in artistry, narrative and design,with some calling it the "spiritual successor"to Irrational's earlierSystem Shock 2.

Finally, theCrytekgamesFar Cry(2004) andCrysis(2007) as well asUbisoft'sFar Cry 2(2008) would break new ground in terms of graphics and large,open-endedlevel design,whereasCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare(2007),Resistance: Fall of Man(2006) and its sequelResistance 2(2008) presented increasingly refined linear levels and narratives,with the fast pace and linearity of theCall of Dutygames bearing a resemblance to rail shooters.BLACK in 2006 was considered to be a leader in cinematic game design, with strong sound design and destructible environments.In 2007,Portalpopularized the concept of puzzles mechanics in first-person perspective.In 2006, Gamasutra reported the first-person shooter as one of the biggest and fastest growing video game genres in terms of revenue for publishers.

Team Fortress 2,originally a user-made mod forQuakebut made into an official product by Valve by its release in 2007, launched a new type of team-based subgenre calledhero shooters,which consist of first-person and third-person shooters where players selected from one of several pre-made characters with existing weapons and skill sets, using those different characters effectively to complete objectives against their opponents.The hero shooter genre had significant growth following the release ofOverwatchin which refined the hero shooter formula by adding unique characters and larger narrative as they expanded the game in future updates.

The use of motion-detectinggame controllers– particularly theWii's – "promised to make FPS controls more approachable and precise with an interface as simple as literally pointing to aim" and thus "dramatically reshape the first-person shooter." However, technical difficulties pertinent to functions other than aiming – such as maneuvering or reloading – prevented their widespread use among first-person shooters. ThePointmanuser interface combines a motion-sensitive gamepad, head tracker and sliding foot pedals to increase the precision and level of control over one's avatarin military first-person shooter games.

2011 shooterXonotic

In the late 2010s, first-person and third-person shooters enjoyed a surge in popularity with the rise ofbattle royale games,in which many players battle for survival on a large map to be the last man or team standing through intense action-packed combat, andPlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds(2017) reached the highest number of concurrent players ever to be recorded onSteam.Itsfree-to-playmobile gameversion,PUBG Mobile(2018), reached over1 billiondownloads worldwide by early 2021and grossed over$8 billionby early 2022.

Rise of VR technology: 2020–present

AsVirtual Reality(VR) technologies are being developed, FPS games are being developed right along-side the variousVR gaming platforms.The new immersive 3D environments using VR headsets and motion controllers enable some entirely unique experiences and mechanics for FPS games, such as physically ducking / dodging, precise control for throwing objects, and individual finger control, enhancing the interactivity with in-game wearables and other objects in the environment. VR Games naturally have a greater focus on the players' spatial presence and the 3D environment itself rather than the actual challenge / competitiveness of the game,which also extends to first-person shooters, especially in the horror sub-genre.Half-Life Alyx,released in 2020, is to date (2023) the highest grossing VR first-person shooter and is usually considered the firstAAA titlein VR.While there is much hype in the Virtual Reality arena, it is still an emerging technology, and it has yet to be determined if VR FPS titles will become mainstream competitive or how these platforms will influence the genre in the future.

Research

In 2010, researchers atLeiden Universityshowed that playing first-person shooter video games is associated with superior mental flexibility. Compared to non-players, players of such games were found to require a significantly shorter reaction time while switching between complex tasks, possibly because they are required to develop a more responsive mindset to rapidly react to fast-moving visual and auditory stimuli, and to shift back and forth between different sub-duties.

See also

• First-person shooter engine
• List of first-person shooters
• Social interaction and first-person shooters
• Violence and video games