I found this stashed away in my documents folder, from back when I used to think that I could write a blog that people would read. Looking over it now, I still agree with most of this. Maybe I could come up with a few more entries if I thought about it... but either way, I thought it might be fun to discuss...the underrated aspects of thoroughly classic FPSs.

So, here's what I thought/think.


10. The Visuals - Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
This isn't necessarily something that nobody ever mentions, but I personally don't think that Serious Sam's visuals get nearly the credit they deserve. This game is beautiful. Nearly all textures feature some sort of detailing, the enemy count and level size is simply staggering, there are many kinds of great-looking graphical effects including lens flare, reflections, bloom, fog, etc, and best of all it runs on just about anything. It doesn't quite have the chops to stand up alongside Doom 3, Halflife 2, or Far Cry, but it's pretty darn close. And its texturing and scope are beyond anything that those games even dreamed of.

9. The Logs - Doom 3
We all know that Doom 3 pretty much sucked as a Doom game. But truthfully, taken on its own, it wasn't too shabby an FPS. The gunplay felt pretty nice, the environments were atmospheric, the monster designs were cool, and it looked great to boot. The biggest problem with it was that it took to many cues from System Shock 2, and not enough from its older brothers. And chief among these was its inclusion of "data logs," or audio journals left by dead crew members. And surprisingly, although this sort of thing has no place in a Doom game, the implementation of these logs was actually really really good. Unlike in System Shock 2, where each log was simply a single audio recording, Doom 3's logs included user emails and information as well as recorded diarys. Instead of feeling like you were picking up random recordings, you felt like you really were collecting the personal data of dead crew members. And best of all, most of the audio logs's voice acting was superb. Does Doom 3 deserve its title? Not really. But it should be given some credit for what it does succeed at, even if it's not what we had hoped for.

8. The Machine Gun - Wolfenstein 3d
Wolfenstein 3d...ahh, Wolfenstein 3d. It was so revolutionary, yet it's aged so poorly. Unlike Doom, whose lost none of its luster, Wolfenstein 3d just doesn't hold up too well today. Well... most of it, that is. Even in this day of bumpmapping, HDR, physics, and bloom, Wolf3d's machinegun is still one of the most satisfying weapons in any shooter. No, not the chaingun. Noob. I'm talking about the MACHINE gun. You remember, that gun you can get in the first level that makes you virtually unstoppable for the next dozen or so levels? Yeah, that machine gun. I don't know why, but there's something about it that just feels great. Perhaps it's the fact that it can massacre low-level enemies in one hit. Perhaps its the satisfying "choonk choonk choonk" sound it makes. Heck, I don't know. I just know that I've seldom enjoyed shooting a WWII weapon more than I have while mowing down Nazis in Wolfenstein 3d with my old buddy the machine gun.

7. The Interface - System Shock
The controls for System Shock SUCK. I mean, these are literally some of the worst FPS controls I have ever used. And, good lord, I wouldn't want it any other way. If System Shock had a nice, clean HUD, simple controls, and an easy-to-understand UI, it wouldn't be nearly as immersive and charming as it is. You aren't just told you're a hacker with a computerized neural implant... you FEEL like a hacker with a computerized neural implant. Your HUD is filled with text boxes, buttons, readouts, and menus. Your mouse is used for shooting, aiming, selecting HUD elements, interacting with the environment, and even movement should you choose it. The keyboard abandons WADS for a less traditional button setup that cannot be changed, and takes a huge amount of getting used to. But it all just WORKS. Instead of feeling frusdrated and overwhelmed, you feel like someone controling a highly sophisticated machine, as you bring up logs, resize your automap and activate awesome implants. When you screw something up, you feel a sense of "I need to work at that and get better" rather than "arrgh! This game sucks!" It takes a great game to disguise its flaws. It takes a fantastic game to convince you that its flaws are actually assets.

6. The Guns - Soldier of Fortune II
For a long time now, I've been paying close attention to the various effects, both visual and audio, that go with the firing of guns in videogames. The thing is, most FPSs don't do a very good job of capturing what it actually feels like. Virtual firearms lack the hard, brutal kick and feeling of power that they have in real life. Soldier of Fortune II, however, does the best job I've yet seen. When you pull the trigger of an M16 or a shotgun, you can feel the weapon slamming back into your avatar's shoulder, barely under control, and you can see in disturbing detail the effect your bullets have on enemies. You don't just hear "pew pew pew." Every bullet gives a powerful "boom" or "crack," and every reload heralds the sound of metal sliding against metal and loose moving parts. On top of this, the game has more buttons to change weapon functions than any other game I have played, including an alternate fire button, a toggle to switch between fire modes, and 4 seperate buttons for other actions such as scope zooming, dual weilding, tuning on lazer sights and flashlights, etc. If not for the fact that it's remembered as one of the most violently graphic FPSs ever made, Soldier of Fortune II would probably be remembered for its awesome weapons.

(rest incoming after 10 minutes has passed)

5. The Effects - Halo: Combat Evolved
It's actually quite surprising that one of the most overhyped FPSs of the past decade could have anything in it that's underrated. But, such is the case with Halo's effects. Nobody ever seems to mention them. And they're fantastic. Just the spark effects alone are well beyond what most FPSs do. They actually bounce and riccochet off walls, which may not sound all that special, but it looks completely awesome. Or how about the dirt chunks that fly off your tires as you're driving the Warthog? They actually roll down hills and pile up in corners. Or what about the grenade explosions that fling huge chunks of rubble into the air? Or the fact that the game had god rays a generation before they became fasionable? Or the primative quasi-bumpmapping on ice and alien walls? Or the wonderful texture detailing? It may be an overrated game, but Halo's graphical effects are actually pretty severely underrated.

4. The Open-Ended Level Designs - Unreal
When I ordered Unreal off Amazon for a measely $5, I never expected that it would be anything more than a moderatly entertaining shooter with a cool atmosphere. It actually turned out to be one of the best FPSs I have ever played. I loved the atmosphere, the weapons, the visuals, and blah blah blah... but what really surprised and pleased me about the game were its huge, open-ended levels. I completed one level twice and covered completely different ground both times. In another level I chose to jump off a cliff into the water, and discovered a network of caves and hidden houses that I would have never seen had I not gone out of my way. Sure, some of the levels are pretty linear, and even at it's most open the game is only really at the level of Crysis, but even so I'm surprised that this aspect of Unreal isn't more commonly listed amoung its other awesome features.

3. The Atmosphere - Quake
When I say the phrase "dark brown color pallete" what game immediatly comes to mind? No, not Far Cry 2...Quake! Quake is notorious for its grainy, gritty brown and grey visuals, to the point where some gamers use it as an example of "what not to do with FPS graphics." And while I admit that it's not exactly the most visually varied game ever made, it's pretty frusgrating to me that people are so wrapped up in Quake's lack of color that they ignore what is probably one of the most awesome atmospheres in all of gaming. Seriously. There is nothing else out there, to my knowledge, that quite accomplishes what Quake does. EVERYTHING fits perfectly into its rotting, rusty, dirty, gothic world. Everything from the enemies, to the weapons, to the fonts, even to the primative engine all contribute to the game's style, and make it feel completely unique. Whenever I get around to making a Top 10 Most Atmospheric FPSs list, Quake is going to be right up there at the top, alongside STALKER and Painkiller.


2. The Stealth - Far Cry
Just as Quake is something of the poster child for lack of visual variety, Far Cry ends up being the poster child for poor stealth. Just about anyone who has ever played it complains about "omnicent enemies" that can "see you a mile off when you're hiding in a bush," or something like that. And while I admit that there are occasinal moments where the AI can be a little uncanny, I found Far Cry to have some of the most believible and satisfying stealth mechanics of any game I've played. Sure, you can't play hide and seek in the middle of an open field or bypass a guard by hiding in a little dim area of the map, and you can't disappear behind a small shrub and be immediatly forgotten, but that's REALISTIC. What you CAN do is engage in tense games of cat and mouse with intelligent but out-smartable enemies, and know that even if you screw up or are spotted, you have the chance to retreat back into the jungle and hide, and try again. I always found it workable to use stealth in Far Cry, even if I couldn't bypass guards as easily as in Thief II or Deus Ex, and I think that people should re-examine their views of the game and its sneaking mechanics.

1. The Sandbox Puzzles - Halflife
Is there ANYONE else out there that noticed this?? Halflife set the bar for scripted events, sure, and storytelling in FPSs, granted, and blah blah blah tons of other stuff. But am I the only one who's noticed how many solutions the game's environmental puzzles have?? I literally find a new way to do something every time I play through it. I have NEVER played a FPS with puzzles that open-ended. Ok, maybe Deus Ex. But other than that, never. And I have yet to hear a single person allude to this fact. So am I just nuts? Have I been playing all the wrong games? I don't know. Regardless, Halflife's sandbox puzzles are my #1 pick for most underrated aspects of classic FPSs.

I loved the muted color scheme of quake. I played it in the dark with my favorite cd's in the drive. I was shocked to find out people thought it was crap. But I never was the gigantic fan of primary colors that everyone else seems to be.

What about Halo's vehicle control? Those were pretty good.

This.

I replayed SS last year and absolutely loved the interface. You're right... you do feel like a hacker when you're playing it.

Great post, by the way. Half-Life rules. SPOILER ALERT. When I finally figured out that giant crableg-monster in the blast pit was listening to you, not watching you, it was one of the truly amazing and original "Ah ha!" moments in gaming.

IMO, Marathon did that much better (and it did it before SS, as well).

/Bungienerd

Yes, i do love Serious Sam TSE visual art and environment esepcially the HD version. It's so big, open, diverse and colourful. From a narrow corridor pyramid to lush jungle with waterfall, that's absolutely stunning.

Good list, and I really agree with most of what's in there. Good of you to mention SOF2 too, which also brings to mind one of id's earlier games' most underrated aspects - how satisfying it is to shoot something. Whether you're playing Quake or Doom, the guns feel right, and it's not just because of the deep booms of gunshots. If you fire a shotgun at a horde of imps, chances are you'll kill 3-4, and not just one single target alone. It will never come close to being a realistic game no matter how you try to argue it, but if you close your eyes and imagine yourself manhandling a bunch of demons with a boomstick, chances are you're more inclined to think of Doom than Doom 3.

Soldier of Fortune 2 had satisfying guns, but they are nowhere near as realistic as the ones from the Infiltration MOD for Unreal Tournament 99. This MOD has still the most realistic weapons handling of any game, even 6 years after its last release. The weapons feel, handle, react and sound more realistic than in any other game I've tried before and after (and this includes ARMA2). It's really a shame that it's almost impossible to find a multi-player server with active players nowadays.

Video of some of the realistic weapons features

Official Infiltration page with downloads

Interesting read, but for me, all those qualities are very minor details. They don't really influence my decision of whether to (re)play one of these games ... and if I do, I inevitably reach the point where I'll get bored, say "bah, it's just a shooter", and uninstall it. The whole genre is just very boring for me, and one possibly interesting weapon, or a few scripted events, just aren't enough to change that.

Still an interesting read though. :)

An interesting read, thanks for sharing. I don't agree with the bit about the Wolfenstein machine gun, but I kind of see where you're coming from with that because there is a weapon that impressed me in a very similar fashion: The Shotgun in Doom. It must be one of the most powerful non-superguns in FPS history.

Mind you, I'm a bit staggered to find that there isn't a single mention of Marathon games in that list, which I assume means you haven't played them. Do give them a try one day. Marathon showed the world that FPS's could have a story, and a good one at that. The stereotypical setting of the FPS is reversed; instead of being a super-soldier who guns down thousands of aliens in a determined effort to reach his ultimate goal, the protagonist of Marathon is a super-soldier who guns down thousands of aliens in a clueless effort to reach someone else's ultimate goal because he hasn't got a choice in the matter. He gets bounced all over the place, sometimes across space, to do whatever the hell he is told to do at any given time, often not knowing the consequences until much later. It might sound a bit baffling and stupid at first, but it works extremely well.

Yah, same with Borderlands. What shocks me is seeing people complain about that being "consolized" when I think it is by FAR a better way to control a vehicle than WASD. Use that mouse!

I certainly will have to try that out, then. I'm still very interested in all things having to do with firing guns.
I have the first game installed, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. The HD remakes are beautiful. Seriously (heh), I think they're some of the more attractive shooters of the current gen.

Open ended level design in Unreal, yeah, but don't forget old build-engine games had that too. Actually, I think that is the very reason I won't enjoy most FPS games as much as Unreal or Blood: Because modern shooters just push you down a single corridor. When Bulletstorm wanted to be another Duke Nukem 3D, they thought all they have to do is to put a lot of ways to kill baddies with; that's a wrong approach, it's at least some amount of freedom of movement AND satisfying ways to kill baddies.

I know very well what people complain about, in SP of Borderlands (or when you're driving alone), it's not a bad idea to have an independent turret and vehicle control. WSAD for driving a vehicle and mouse for controlling turret works fantastic, but borderlands won't let you do that