From Doom to Halo: A Short History of the FPS

Did you shell out a couple hundred bucks just to play Halo on X-Box? Do you find yourself dreaming of monsters from playing Doom years back? Do you consider your life comparable to a level on Duke Nukem? Do you have flashbacks based on World War games like Call of Duty? Did you buy Serious Sam: First Encounter for ten bucks thinking it would only entertain you for a few hours? Do you argue with others over what the best first person shooter (FPS) really is?

Hopefully some of that applied to you. I won't lie, FPS games aren't my bread and butter, I recently wrote an article on strategy games and, thinking as a gamer should, didn't want to leave out the fascinating stories behind some of the games that kept me addicted in the late hours. Strategy can only go. so far.

There have been many strong third person shooter games like Max Payne and Die Hard, but FPS games are popular enough for a serious discussion to be made.

According to the history books, it was Return to Castle Wolfenstein that really started the revolution of FPS. Doom was created by id, the same software company that made Wolfenstein, and this was the game that would keep many up all night.

Doom ignited the FPS popularity. It is considered by many to be the best computer game of all time. I differ, as a strategist should, Civilization was the best computer game ever. It is a reality that both these games came out about the same time, and started a cultural revolution into the vastly improving computer gaming market.

Doom had a simple story: Demons crossing over after a freak accident with a teleporter between planets. Yet the absolute mayhem of the fighting, whether they be the simple fire breathing monsters, the humans who changed over into mutants, or the bosses like the Minotaur. It was bloody, and turned away some, leaving others heavily addicted.

How did FPS evolve from Doom to Halo? Halo, created by Bungie, was a direct descendant of the Doom game. There were some sequels to Doom. Doom 2 was good but like its predecessor was ruined by cheat codes. The graphics evolved even more in Doom 3, which wasn't' praised as much as the first two.