The RPS Forums Lists: List Harder - Top 25 PC FPS of all time edition

[Lambchops]

Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to a new voting thread designed to ascertain the overall opinions of the RPS forum hivemind, which we'll undoubtedly all accept as gospel truth once voting is done.

Following on from having discovered the Top 25 PC games since 2006 (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foru...mes-since-2006) it has been suggested that we move on to all time lists for different genres. Not wishing to get involved in defining an RPG I've jumped at the chance to organise the FPS list.

How does it work? Simple. Just list your favourite 10 PC FPS games of all time (in order if you wish, but this wont be taken into account. If you can't name 10 then as many as you feel are justified is fine!). Also feel free to mention those games that are just outside your list but please be sure to clearly separate them to make my life easier. Two weeks from now I'll compile them to reveal the top 25 best PC FPS games of all time, as voted for by the RPS forum and thus the most accurate of all lists.

There's no IGN list to compare to this time so here's a link to PC Advisor and RPS's own Mr Alec Meer - http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features/...er-games/?pn=1 (warning: contains console titles, third person shooters and . . . umm . . . Typing of the Dead. I mean it is brilliant but it's not an FPS really!)

EDIT (damn, can't add the missing apostrophe to the thread title, that is going to irk me!)

EDIT 2: Flimsy justifications for including things (may or may not tally with my personal opinion!) Basically all the ones you think might be controversial, they're in. It's easiest that way! If enough people think it shouldn't count then it wont be troubling the list and you'll be basking in the glow of being vindicated!

Portal is in as you shoot a Portal gun from a first person perspective for a significant portion of the game. Other categories it also exists in: Puzzle
System Shock 2 and Deus Ex are in. Also would be included in RPG, action and, in the case of SS2, horror.
Thief is in. Less comfortable about this one but it's first person and I guess there are arrows to shoot! Also would be included in: Stealth.
Mods are in. Also would be included in . . . err . . . mods.
Mixes of first and third person - use your discretion. In my mind something like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, where you mostly do your shooting in first person, is in but something like Outcast, where you can choose a first person view but wouldn't do unless you were mad, should be out. Up to you though!

Third person games including over the shoulder stuff are out.

-----

OK Here's the top 25 in order (because reverse order looks silly with so many equals in there!) for more stats, comments and so on flip to page 5 on the thread now! - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foru...l=1#post253227)

Top 25 FPS of all time as voted for by RPS forums

1) Portal (26 votes)
2=) Deus Ex (23 votes)
2=) Half Life (23 votes)
2=) Half Life 2 (23 votes)
5) Team Fortress 2 (21 votes)
6) STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl (18 votes)
7) System Shock 2 (17 votes)
8) Unreal Tournament (14 votes)
9=) Crysis (13 votes)
9=) Duke Nukem 3d (13 votes)
11=) Battlefield 2 (12 votes)
11=) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (12 votes)
11=) Left4Dead 2 (12 votes)
14=) Bioshock (10 votes)
14=) No One Lives Forever (10 votes)
14=) Quake 3 Arena (10 votes)
14=) UT 2004 (10 votes)
18= (and rounding out the top 25 perfectly)) Battlefield: 1942, Call of Duty, Counterstrike, Doom, Metro 2033, Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, Quake, Serious Sam: The First Encounter (all on 9 votes)

[Grizzly]

Oh dear. I don't think there actually enough FPS games to fill the bill. Then I would have to go and list all the fps games which I thought were done "reasonably well" as well.

[Nalano]

Nalano's completely biased list of PCFPSs:

Unreal Tournament 2004
Counterstrike
Battlefield 2
Team Fortress 2
Half Life
Portal
Thief
System Shock 2
Deus Ex
Stalker: Call of Pripyat


Will all due respect to:

Doom
Quake 3 Arena
Tribes
Duke Nukem 3
No One Lives Forever
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Mirror's Edge
Metro 2033
Serious Sam

[Grizzly]

Okay fair enough. In order of awesomeness.

Mechwarrior 2. - Absolutely the best game ever and if you disagree you are an ignorant freebirth. Love the blend with tactics, precise aiming and hair raising tension.
Arma 2. - It's currently the game I have played the most on steam, and I am quite sure that only Mechwarrior, Need for Speed, and Age of Empires have eaten more of my time. Love the "You are there" feel. Love playing with the RPS dudes.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl. Beautifull game. Love the athmosphere and challanging combat. Very genuinely "new".
Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Clicked better then the first Deus Ex for me due to it's well oiled mechanics. I am sure I do not need to explain why Deus Ex itself is awesome.
Half Life 2 - Half Life and Counter Strike where my first FPS games (although I did not know they were called like that back then, as I played them on LAN and LAN only). Half Life 2 is the first FPS I have actually bought. It remaines the best oiled single player FPS game I have played to date. The attention to gameplay and level design is astonishing.
Bioshock. I wouldn't be acting kindly if I didn't include this one. Great story, visuals, athmossphere, and the gameplay was actually quite fun - athough I did go for a second replay halfway down - that is when I really got the mechanics down. THe Vita CHambers can destroy the flow if you die too often.
Tribes: Ascend - wohoo!
Battlefield 3 - Rather immersive even, especialy at night. Great fun, nice blend between individual player skill and grand scale things, between infantry and vehicular combat. especially fun when playing in groups. Excellent variaty in maps and gamemodes, especially with the DLC.
Counter-Strike: Subtitle - Any of em will do, although if there is an option I would go for Global Offensive, which I feel has the best mechanics. And the mechanics is what it is all about. The recoil system which rewards staying calm even whilst under fire is completely awesome. Getting to the level of consistent headshots is a great feat.
Metro 2033 - ALthough the mechanics are not always that awesome (play on hardcore or ranger!), the athmossphere is awesome, and the mechanics actually work really well once you understand them. Loved it all the way trough, and the alternative ending is worth the recommendation alone.

Super duper honourable mentions: SWAT 4. Seriously. Although I personally do not view it as an FPS, more as an tactics game where you ocasionally shoot stuff yourself.
Freespace 2, Combat Flight Simulator, Wings of Prey - do not really fit the genre definitoin, although they are about first person and shooting. They are quite awesom though.
Neotokyo - Excellent tactical multiplayer game. Very relaxing for some reason. Not on the list because it's rather obscure for a reason: There is only one game mode (Albeit a ton of maps) - and the playerbase is very small. THe shooting mechanics are also rather dull, and the guns sound rather flat. The rest of the game, however, is so awesome that this game deserves a honourable mention. If the shooting mechanics were a bit more interesting I would have put it near Arma on that list.

[Sketch]

Half Life
Unreal Tournament
Halo
STALKER
Battlefront 2
Left 4 Dead 1/2
Duke Nukem 3D
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis
Quake 2
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

[Drake Sigar]

Call of Duty 1 - a lot of people forget it used to be really good.
Doom
Mirror's Edge
Stalker

...

That's pretty much all I've got. Every other shooter has been a slight variation of one or the other (though technically Medal of Honor beat Call of Duty to the punch) I'm really sorry to do this to you, but does Portal count? System Shock? Does it have to be first-person? If I can't add Max Payne 1 & 2, I'll cry.

[Nalano]

I'm really sorry to do this to you, but does Portal count? System Shock?

I would argue yes. Indeed, I added both of those to my list.

[Grizzly]

Call of Duty 1 - a lot of people forget it used to be really good.

TBH I actually liked the second one much better. The first stuck too much to some old conventions in shooters - Medkits are OK and all that, but some of the missions which let you lone wolf everything just were not up to snuff.

Also - Mirror's Edge? An FPS? I thought it more of an racing game.

[Nalano]

Also - Mirror's Edge? An FPS? I thought it more of an racing game.

It's an FPS with little to no S. I find that to be a very interesting inversion.

[QuantaCat]

System Shock 2
Doom
Duke Nukem 3D
Enemy Territory
Quake Wars
Half Life

Ill add the rest when I remember.

[Kadayi]

10? Hmm

Counter-strike
Battlefield 3
Half-life 2
Deus Ex
Modern Warfare
Farcry 3
System shock 2
Unreal tournament
Quake
Arma 2

[Spider Jerusalem]

mechwarrior 2: mercenaries
blood
shogo: mobile armor division
heavy gear 2
call of duty 1
battlefield 2
unreal tournament 2004
portal
portal 2
planetside 2

[Tikey]

Might be subject to changes as I might remember other games I liked.

System Shock 2
Deus Ex
Call of Duty
Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Unreal Tournament
Stalker SOC
Portal
Team Fortress 2
NOLF
Serious Sam The Second Encounter coop

[fiddlesticks]

Oh boy, lists!

In alphabetical order:

Bioshock 2
Deus Ex
Doom 2
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl
System Shock 2
Team Fortress 2

I feel a bit uneasy about putting Deus Ex and System Shock 2 on the list, because I value them a lot more as RPGs than as first person shooters. But I'd still say they deserve the recognition. Also, lots of sequels this time around for me.

[RakeShark]

Quake
TF2
Portal
Half Life
Mirror's Edge
Battlefield 2
Far Cry 2
Dark Forces
Metro 2033
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Honorable Mention:
Star Wars - Republic Commando

[The Pink Ninja]

Battlefield 2
Call of Duty 2
Counter Strike: Source
Crysis
F.E.A.R.
Half Life 2 (Plus episodes)
Halo: Combat Evolved
Left 4 Dead 2
Metro 2033
Serious Sam: First Encounter
TEAM FORTRESS 2

Having the Portals in an FPS list is insanity. They're first person yes but it's a puzzlers, not a shooter. Same for Mirror's Edge: Calling it a shooter is like saying Half Life 2 is a racing game because it has vehicle sections.

Not putting Deus Ex or Fallout 3/NV on either though I could see arguments. Thief seems weird to me, it's first person yes but hardly a shooter. Splinter Cell is more of an FPS and it's always in 3rd person.

This thread is going to turn in a massive shitstorm over genre boundaries. I'm complaining about people adding Portal and I don't even care. I guess it's best to remember that categories are just arbitrary boundaries created by people because they love rationalisation and order.

Given the OP has to tally it maybe they can layout which games will be included in the count and which ones will be excluded in the original post?

[Nalano]

I'm complaining about people adding Portal and I don't even care.

I don't even

[Tritagonist]

First-person shooters are something I enjoy from time to time, but are definitely not my main gaming interest. Nevertheless, ten FPS games I remember having a good time with:

Battlefield 1942
Bulletstorm
Call of Duty 1
Crysis 1
Halo: Combat Evolved
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis
Quake III: Arena
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
TimeShift

[Herzog]

Doom
Doom 2
Quake
Quake 3 Arena
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
No One Lives Forever
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Metro 2033
Left 4 Dead 2

[Kaira-]

Oomph. I'm going to be a dirty man and confess that I play most of my FPS games on consoleboxes. Anyhow, some that I've enjoyed greatly on PC:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
XIII
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl
Left 4 Dead
Serious Sam
UT 2k4
Team Fortress 2
No One Lives Forever
Planetside 2
Quake III Arena