Most Influential and Genre Defining FPS Games of all Time...

Wolfenstein 3D

Doom

Quake

GoldenEye

Half-Life

Counter Strike

Halo

Honourable mentions: Duke Nukem 3D, Deus Ex, Battlefield 1942 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

That's what I would say anyway.

You forgot two: System Shock, first FPS game with RPG elements and story

Strife, first FPS that allowed you to talk with NPCs, had multiple quests, different factions to ally with and 3 different endings.

In my opinion Doom started what it meant to be an FPS. Kickass music, the shotgun, moddability, deathmatch, Co-op just to name a few.

CoD4 is not really influential.

Nor are DE or SS, considering they're hardly categorized as FPSs.

Wolfenstein

Doom

Quake

GoldenEye

Half-Life

Counter Strike

Halo

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Honourable mentions: Duke Nukem 3D, Deus Ex and Battlefield 1942

That's what I would say anyway.

amaneuvering

Wolfenstein created FPS, Half Life perfected FPS, Golden Eye consoled FPS, Halo mainstreamed FPS, CoD 4 further mainstreamed FPS.

I don't actually like COD4: MW that much but I can't deny it's influence and mainstream impact. I mean pretty much every game has some kind of load-out and levelling system now, and it's record breaking launch and sales numbers deserve some kind of respect. It's probably the only game in my list that I don't personally like but I think it should be there, and I know if it wasn't there would be more people complaining it wasn't there than those who will complain because it is.

Edit: Actually, I decided to add COD4: MW into the honourable mentions since I don't think it's really defined that much in current-gen FPS games and it's more just an unbelievably popular example of modern FPS games that's benefited by incorporating most of the elements from the truly influential FPS games that came before it in a popular modern day war setting.

Wolfenstein 3D

Doom

Quake

Goldeneye

Half-Life

Quake, Half-Life, Doom (the classics)

Wolfenstein created FPS, Half Life perfected FPS, Golden Eye consoled FPS, Halo mainstreamed FPS, CoD 4 further mainstreamed FPS.

stevoqwerty

I don't actually like COD4: MW that much but I can't deny it's influence and mainstream impact. I mean pretty much every game has some kind of load-out system now, and it's record breaking launch and sales numbers deserve some kind of respect.It's probably the only game in my list that I don't personally like but I think it should be there, and I know if it wasn't there would be more people complaining it wasn't there than those who will complain because it is.

amaneuvering

Doom is the correct answer, obviously. The most important to me personally though is Red Faction. It was the game that really got me into the genra.

You forgot System Shock, first FPS game with RPG elements and story

Icarian

You might be right there, but System Shock borrowed a lot from Ultima Underwold - the first person RPG that inspired Wolfenstein 3D. Had Ultima Underworld had guns instead of swords, it might have been considered the first FPS (it was definitely more advanced than Wolf3D at the time).

CoD4 is not really influential.

N30F3N1X

Well, it must have done something to become by far the highest selling FPS of all time (a record later demolished by its sequel).

Well, it must have done something to become by far the highest selling FPS of all time (a record later demolished by its sequel).

EliteKitteh

Influential =/= popular.

Doom obviously

Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...Insecticidius

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

Honestly, there isn't really just one.

Doom, while not being the first, really popularized the genre. After that, it's all just iteration.

The next big change in my eyes, came with Rainbow Six, then Deus Ex.

The answer is Doom. Anyone who answers this differently probably wasn'tgaming when Doom was at it's peek. Goldeneye would probably be my number 2 followed by Half Life.

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"]Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...Orchid87

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...Insecticidius

because it was influential I suppose.

and play Star Wars Republic Commando MP. minus Halo's jumping mechanic, it's a Halo clone in the Star Wars universe, of all things.

[QUOTE="Orchid87"]

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"]Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...Insecticidius

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

I gotta agree. Halo didn't really change anything in the genra. It's just rediculously popular.

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"]Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...Orchid87

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

... on consoles, to be more specific. It did for consoles what Doom did for PC we back when. Golden Eye in its day was great, but FPSs still remained a niche genre on the consoles. It was only with Halo did FPSs really come in its own on the set top boxes.

killzone!!Renzokucant

:lol: No...

[QUOTE="Orchid87"]

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"]Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...VoodooHak

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

... on consoles, to be more specific. It did for consoles what Doom did for PC we back when. Golden Eye in its day was great, but FPSs still remained a niche genre on the consoles. It was only with Halo did FPSs really come in its own on the set top boxes.

Well, I said "...console fps games'..."

..

Why is Halo up there? Which game copied Halo? I see a lot more games copying Call of Duty... And remember UT and Quake etc before you claim every sci fi FPS is a Halo knock off...Insecticidius

[QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

[QUOTE="Orchid87"]

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

Orchid87

... on consoles, to be more specific. It did for consoles what Doom did for PC we back when. Golden Eye in its day was great, but FPSs still remained a niche genre on the consoles. It was only with Halo did FPSs really come in its own on the set top boxes.

Well, I said "...console fps games'..."

Right. I repeated for emphasis since, as you can see, some people didn't get it.

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"][QUOTE="Orchid87"]

Halo streamlined console fps games' controls and online play.

Master_ShakeXXX

I gotta agree. Halo didn't really change anything in the genre. It's just ridiculously popular.

Recharging shields/energy and switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once. These are pretty much staples of all current-gen FPS games these days and it was Halo that really introduced and implemented them in the way we all know and use them in the FPS genre. It also is one of the most influential FPS games in making the genre truly mainstream on consoles and pretty much defining the whole online multi-player console FPS experience as we know it. It also pretty much defined and entire generation of Xbox gamers and was, and quite possibly still is, arguably the undisputed console FPS king (the sales and online take-up of Reach will tell). It's place in the list is deserved.

[QUOTE="Master_ShakeXXX"]

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"] No it didn't, there were very popular conosle FPS's before Halo, not to mention PC FPS's... That's just wanting to give Halo credit for somehting it doesn't deserve. amaneuvering

I gotta agree. Halo didn't really change anything in the genra. It's just rediculously popular.

Recharging shields/energy and switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once. These are pretty much staples of all current-gen FPS games these days and it was Halo that really introduced and implemented them in the way we all know and use them in the FPS genre. It also is one of the most influential FPS games in making the genre truly mainstream on consoles and pretty much defining the whole online multi-player console FPS experience as we know it.

Marathon :P introduced vertical aiming (apparently)....emperorzhang66

switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once.amaneuvering

Half-Life

Goldeneye

Halo: Combat Evolved

Counter-Strike

Wolfenstein

Doom

[QUOTE="amaneuvering"]

[QUOTE="Master_ShakeXXX"]

I gotta agree. Halo didn't really change anything in the genra. It's just rediculously popular.

Insecticidius

Recharging shields/energy and switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once. These are pretty much staples of all current-gen FPS games these days and it was Halo that really introduced and implemented them in the way we all know and use them in the FPS genre. It also is one of the most influential FPS games in making the genre truly mainstream on consoles and pretty much defining the whole online multi-player console FPS experience as we know it.

Yes it was.

In the same way GoldenEye defined the console FPS genre in it's time, and it also sold a crap load of units to boot, Halo did exactly the same when it was released. It was the culmination of everything that had come before executed to near perfection in almost every single area and on top of that it introduced some brand new staples to the genre too that are still being used to this day. It's impact and influence on the genre is not yours to debate. You personally might not think the game is that significant but it's already guaranteed it's influence and place in history.

[QUOTE="amaneuvering"]

[QUOTE="Master_ShakeXXX"]

I gotta agree. Halo didn't really change anything in the genra. It's just rediculously popular.

Insecticidius

Recharging shields/energy and switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once. These are pretty much staples of all current-gen FPS games these days and it was Halo that really introduced and implemented them in the way we all know and use them in the FPS genre. It also is one of the most influential FPS games in making the genre truly mainstream on consoles and pretty much defining the whole online multi-player console FPS experience as we know it.

• Wolfenstein
• Doom
• Half-Life

[QUOTE="amaneuvering"]switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once.Orchid87

Yes but Halo did it where the weapons were all so well balanced that the combination actually meant something and you had to actually think about which two you thought were the best to take into any given situation. Counter Strike was more about choosing a preferred primary weapon and simply having your handgun as a backup. Halo was about the strategic way you used the two weapons and it evolved the idea to near perfection. It's implementation was absolutely of massive impact and importance in the whole FPS genre.

Half life without a doubt. Unparalelled gameplay and story telling

[QUOTE="Insecticidius"][QUOTE="amaneuvering"]Recharging shields/energy and switching between a couple of main weapons rather than carrying 10-20 or so at once. These are pretty much staples of all current-gen FPS games these days and it was Halo that really introduced and implemented them in the way we all know and use them in the FPS genre. It also is one of the most influential FPS games in making the genre truly mainstream on consoles and pretty much defining the whole online multi-player console FPS experience as we know it.DarkLink77

No, Cod perfected console FPS controls. Halo is not influential at all.Insecticidius

Do you even know when Call of Duty came to consoles?