All of these are either modern games to begin with, or old games that I have played recently and still feel confident giving them the nod.
1. Far Cry - When all is said and done, this is my favorite FPS. The scope of the levels, the combat, and the vehicles all make this a blast to play.
2. Descent - My biggest question is: Why hasn't this been done better, yet? This game is amazing with it's particular brand of 6-degree combat, but very few companies are willing to try something like this again. I replayed this one recently (in a modernized engine, of course) and feel confident giving it my #2 spot. The fully 3D movement in Descent's complex environments remain compelling to this day.
3. Strike Vector - Absolutely mind-blowing game... when there are people to play against. I love the movement, the pacing, the environments, and the combat. Duels vs enemies filled with harrowing escapes, strategic use of mines (and other items), weaving in and out of the environment, having a pursuer crash into the environment when they can't quite keep up with your superior movement capabilities, nitro boosts, stealth approaches, and more all contribute to my (thus far) game of the year for 2014. Thankfully, the devs say that bots are on the way, which should give me plenty of enemies to fight against in the years to come.
4. Hawken - This one is climbing up on my favorites. Fast-paced giant robots duke it out in a game that's far more about positioning and strategy than twitch reflexes.
5. Serious Sam: First & Second Encounter - Speaking of twitch reflexes... The sheer flood of enemies makes this game a blast.
6. Doom - The old classic. Still damn fine level design and atmosphere.
7. Far Cry 3 - IMO, this is the pinnacle of the modern FPS. I'll give Blood Dragon a nod here, too, since it tightens up the pacing significantly, but Far Cry 3 is still great in terms of both combat and exploration.
8. Borderlands 1/2 - The launch experience of Borderlands was one of the most fun gaming experiences that I've ever had. Borderlands 2 builds upon the original in many significant ways (oh, those exploding shotguns...) Fast-paced arcade FPS don't get much better than this. I'll pass on The Pre-Sequel, but I want to see what these guys do for their "Next Generation" game.
9. Battlefield: Bad COmpany 2 - Admittedly, Battlefield kind of lost me past this game, but Bad Company 2 represents what I like most about the Battlefield series. The destructible environments hugely contribute to the entertainment value of this game.
10. Metroid Prime - The least "Shooter" of anything on this list, but Metroid Prime does something truly special with its environments and exploration.
Dropped off of the list:
System Shock 2 - I once called this one of my favorite games of all time, but having replayed it recently, it doesn't quite hold up. Still a classic, but not something that I'm likely to go back and replay very often. In short, it's been done better by later games.
Magic Carpet 1&2 - It would probably still be up there if it went open-source (like Doom and Descent) to allow fans to modernize the engine, and still falls into the category of never having been done better. But since I can only play them in Dosbox, by now they're just janky as heck.
1. Far Cry - When all is said and done, this is my favorite FPS. The scope of the levels, the combat, and the vehicles all make this a blast to play.
2. Descent - My biggest question is: Why hasn't this been done better, yet? This game is amazing with it's particular brand of 6-degree combat, but very few companies are willing to try something like this again. I replayed this one recently (in a modernized engine, of course) and feel confident giving it my #2 spot. The fully 3D movement in Descent's complex environments remain compelling to this day.
3. Strike Vector - Absolutely mind-blowing game... when there are people to play against. I love the movement, the pacing, the environments, and the combat. Duels vs enemies filled with harrowing escapes, strategic use of mines (and other items), weaving in and out of the environment, having a pursuer crash into the environment when they can't quite keep up with your superior movement capabilities, nitro boosts, stealth approaches, and more all contribute to my (thus far) game of the year for 2014. Thankfully, the devs say that bots are on the way, which should give me plenty of enemies to fight against in the years to come.
4. Hawken - This one is climbing up on my favorites. Fast-paced giant robots duke it out in a game that's far more about positioning and strategy than twitch reflexes.
5. Serious Sam: First & Second Encounter - Speaking of twitch reflexes... The sheer flood of enemies makes this game a blast.
6. Doom - The old classic. Still damn fine level design and atmosphere.
7. Far Cry 3 - IMO, this is the pinnacle of the modern FPS. I'll give Blood Dragon a nod here, too, since it tightens up the pacing significantly, but Far Cry 3 is still great in terms of both combat and exploration.
8. Borderlands 1/2 - The launch experience of Borderlands was one of the most fun gaming experiences that I've ever had. Borderlands 2 builds upon the original in many significant ways (oh, those exploding shotguns...) Fast-paced arcade FPS don't get much better than this. I'll pass on The Pre-Sequel, but I want to see what these guys do for their "Next Generation" game.
9. Battlefield: Bad COmpany 2 - Admittedly, Battlefield kind of lost me past this game, but Bad Company 2 represents what I like most about the Battlefield series. The destructible environments hugely contribute to the entertainment value of this game.
10. Metroid Prime - The least "Shooter" of anything on this list, but Metroid Prime does something truly special with its environments and exploration.
Dropped off of the list:
System Shock 2 - I once called this one of my favorite games of all time, but having replayed it recently, it doesn't quite hold up. Still a classic, but not something that I'm likely to go back and replay very often. In short, it's been done better by later games.
Magic Carpet 1&2 - It would probably still be up there if it went open-source (like Doom and Descent) to allow fans to modernize the engine, and still falls into the category of never having been done better. But since I can only play them in Dosbox, by now they're just janky as heck.