Question of the Day, September 4, 2010

[The Escapist Staff]

Question of the Day, September 4, 2010



In his latest article [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/8066-Experienced-Points-Before-There-Was-Halo], Shamus Young details how Halo reinvented the shooter genre. Which shooter do you think had the most influence on the genre? How come?

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[Katherine Kerensky]

Pong.
What?
Everything has to start somewhere... just think of pong as the game that first had the ability to throw back grenades...
Honestly, I don't know enough to choose any of those. Although I've heard good things about what GoldenEye 007 did for the genre.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Half-Life was the first FPS which was genuinely clever and had an emphasis on story that combines with the gameplay. It was basically the first, truly good FPS. And the one that set the standard for single-player shooters.

As far as multiplayer shooters go, Quake was probably the one. And GoldenEye007 for console multiplayer shooters.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

DOOM hands down. It made the FPS Genre... literally.

Calumon: Space Invaders! ^^

 

[dragonslayer32]

It has to be goldeneye. It was the first decent FPS and still is one of my favourite FPS's.

 

[Zhukov]

Uhh... depends.

Influence on the general concept? Influence on specific mechanics? Influence on the current generation?

Question really isn't specific enough.

I guess my vote goes to Doom. Sure, Halo might be the father of the genre, but Doom is the great-grandad.

 

[silentsentinel]

I know it's not the most popular, but after Halo's release regenerating health became a staple in all modern shooters, so I voted that...

 

[Cynical skeptic]

I'd love to be able to say half-life, but its not like there have been many other first person shooters with a large emphasis on story told primarily through gameplay. Some fps have tried to have a story, but its typically told in clumsy exposition dumps. Then, once halo hit, story stopped being a priority and the genre functionally took several steps back into "doom/wolfenstein" territory.

Before you say anything, if a game wants a story, it can't be sold separately.

 

[neoontime]

Goldeneye, I had the most fun playing it.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

DOOM.

Ummm...because it's DOOM?

 

[viranimus]

I am torn on this one. As the poll reflects, Im torn between Doom and Halo. I have to ask are we weighing these as franchises or single titles?

Doom technically has influenced virtually every shooter that has came out since.

However I tend to think Halo was instrumental in the massive surge in popularity that lead to other shooter popularity

If were talking about franchises, Im going to go with Halo, Halo 1 for condensing the control mechanics down to a logical gamepad format, Halo 2 for proliferating and expanding the notion of console online multiplayer.

If were talking only the first installment of each respective franchise, Doom.

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

Really hard to tell now - Doom or Quake. Probably both.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Bah, so many influential shooters it's hard to choose one.

While Doom helped get the genre going, Half-Life and Quake helped it a lot.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Doom, anyday.

 

[Blue Musician]

Half Life, as it brough us games like FEAR, Area 51, and basically every game that you don't need to snap your wrist to play it properly.

 

[Arella18]

Wolfenstein 3D was the first FPS game in existence so it influenced the shooter genre more than any other

 

[aaaaaDisregard]

Of course it's DOOM! No other game has ever influenced FPS genre more than id's creation.

The second place should be forever reserved for Half-Life, as first-person storytelling and highly scripted levels of modern shooters are clearly derived from HL.

What has Golden Eye achieved? It's an FPS on the console? And that's all?
Quake? I like all id's games and just love first Quake, but there was nothing innovative in it except 3D graphics, really.
Unreal Tournament was good online shooter, but are there many MP shooters now with the same concept? DOOM 2 and Quake defined "classic" multiplayer, while Team Fortress (classic) AFAIK introduced class-based warfare to it. Oh, and there was Counter Strike, which was almost a revolution with it's highly tactical gameplay. UT - nothing new.
Call of Duty is basically rail-shooter with scripted scenes all over the place - it's a Half-Life derivative, so nothing new here either.

Halo. Well, it could get third place with health regeneration and one of the earliest successful use of vehicles in shooters, but I'd rather put Team Fortess (original late 90's version) there for class-based MP, which is now everywhere, while regeneration isn't.

 

[Polaris19]

Glad to see the big four are getting their dues.

 

[TheBoulder]

Wolfenstein 3D has to be one of the most influential shooters of all time, also, it came out one year before Doom.

 

[The Great JT]

Sadly, Quake, because they all took that game and made slight adjustments to it. Most modern FPSes are brown-colored, space marine in power armor slogs through mediocrity.

Duke Nukem Forever, you can take another 12 years in development for all I care, JUST BRING BACK THE COLOR AND PERSONALITY AND LET ME CARRY MORE THAN TWO GUNS AND FOUR GRENADES AGAIN!