First Person Shooters have a come a long way since they first gained prominence with earlier examples in the genre, such as Wolfenstein 3D and Quake. Now arguably the single genre that defines video gaming (within the mainstream at least), they’re not going away any time soon. It’s a good thing then that they’ve evolved the way they have, a shown by this video from French site NoFrag that details the graphical evolution of the FPS.
From Wolfenstein to Battlefield 3, this video shows just how much they’ve changed – and just how much they’ve largely remained the same. There are about a dozen or so shooters shown here – though, because they’ve used just one FPS per year there are obviously a number of different games using different engines that, for some or other reason, just haven’t made the cut; most notably Duke Nukem 3D, Hexen/Heretic, Halo and Unreal Tournament anything.
Which FPS’ are conspicuous by their absence?
Last Updated: February 28, 2013
AndriyP
February 28, 2013 at 12:35
Quake i miss thee
Used to play with mates first to 100 kills
Matthew Holliday
March 1, 2013 at 09:13
i think i am going to install arena again, that looked exciting
Banana Jim
February 28, 2013 at 12:54
And as the details improved, the corridors narrowed…. :/
AndriyP
February 28, 2013 at 13:02
“corridors narrowed”
I heard a little echo in my head
Dragon Age..Dragon Age……………Dragon Age……………Dragon Age……..Dragon Age..
Banana Jim
February 28, 2013 at 13:16
And the Cave remained the same.
Darth_Clericus_The_Ultimate
February 28, 2013 at 13:41
HAHA! Was going to say the same thing….
Banana Jim
February 28, 2013 at 13:20
Yeah, but it’s actually amazing how the game world shrunk as the graphics improved. The older FPS games were huge, the current ones… meh!
Uberutang
February 28, 2013 at 13:14
I can identify my ‘console’ years by the games I do not recognize.
Banana Jim
February 28, 2013 at 13:19
Where’s Marathon? Why isn’t Marathon there… dammit . it’s THE FPS. Always preferred it to Doom.
Red Worked
March 1, 2013 at 13:34
Wasn’t it also made by Bungie?
Banana Jim
March 1, 2013 at 13:41
Yep! 😀
Red Worked
March 1, 2013 at 15:37
Man… played the crap out of that game in the early 90’s when the only PC at home was my dad’s mac power PC he used for freelance work… Game had quite a deep dead space style story IIRC. Something about being on an alien-overrun Starship Marathon and being manipulated by a ghost-in-the-machine type dude called Durandal. So long ago… hard to remember.
Red Worked
March 1, 2013 at 15:38
Of course… it being a mac-native game from the 90’s is probably why it’s not in the list…
Banana Jim
February 28, 2013 at 13:26
The Battlefield games are over-represented in the video…. :/ I mean, hate COD but the earlier games changed the genre and even the current ones have been influential. Speaking of which, where the heck is Medal of Honor?
Tarisma
February 28, 2013 at 13:46
I was wondering the same. Allied Assault FTW
Banana Jim
February 28, 2013 at 14:46
And also no mention of Metroid for GCN, or GoldenEye 64 (Nintendo 6) man those were cool FPS games.
Matthew Holliday
March 1, 2013 at 09:07
MOH underground was the first shooter i owned, i was sad i didnt see it :<
CypherGate
February 28, 2013 at 13:30
I always found the hand/arm animations in FPS’s weird. The improvement in them hasnt been a real big difference. The first few FPS’s has the gun and hands moving back and forth when walking or running. Then more advanced FPS’s has them moving side to side. Then Battlefield 3 popped up (Im sure there a few others that does this as well) Where the gun is tilted so you see more of the gun and movement is left to right. Its a bit more of a natural look. Apart from that minor improvement in form and animation in FPS’s, doesnt anyone feel that it should have been much more improved than it actually is?
GooseZA
February 28, 2013 at 14:04
Where is Bioshock?
Gavman
February 28, 2013 at 14:14
Unreal Tournament, Modern Warfare
Matthew Holliday
March 1, 2013 at 09:12
medal of honor, farcry 1, fallout and fear 1
especially in the graphics timeline, they were all pretty distinctive
Driagnor
February 28, 2013 at 15:19
I’d forgotten how epic that Quake NIN soundtrack was.
Eric Viljoen
February 28, 2013 at 15:51
As the video went on the shooting became less and less. The Quake 3 bit looked tense.
Colin Dos Santos
February 28, 2013 at 16:35
i agree with banana jim. battlefield who? and farcry where that? fear as well. pffft.
Tbone187
March 1, 2013 at 09:03
No COD…Survival mode on MW3 is the ultimate FPS experience imo…No mention of Medal of Honour as well… My evolution order would be Doom – Half Life – Modern Warfare…
HvR
March 1, 2013 at 09:53
Duke Nukem 3D ?????? WTF???
Time to kick and chew bubblegum and I’m all out out of gum.
Pixelated titties!!!
Such a shame they never made a sequel.
Red Worked
March 1, 2013 at 13:35
“…since they first gamed prominence.” Nice typo there 😛