Summary
The early 2000s finally sawFPS gamesbecome standard on consoles thanks to the incredible breakthrough withgames likeHalo: Combat Evolved. The PS2 was not left in the dust, either, and the dual analog sticks made it a great home for the genre.
Plenty of first-person shooters on the console have remained in gamers' hearts, likeTimeSplittersandRed Faction, but it is also important to highlight hidden gems that have not remained in the collective gaming consciousness. Most of these games are just as good, if not better, than the often talked about titles of the generation. It is just a shame they did not spawn any sequels.
This political thriller has everything one would want from an early 2000s first-person shooter; a great story, interactive environments, customizable multiplayer options for four players, and lots of blood. Seriously, the dismemberment inCold Winteris brutally detailed and goes hand-in-hand with its grounded, gritty take on spy stories.
The narrative starts with the protagonist being captured and tortured in a Chinese prison, and it really only gets darker from there. It perhaps would have done a little better if it came out a few years later on the PS3, where cynical,nihilistic shooters likeMax Payne 3andKane and Lynchwere more accepted.
Metacritic Score: 7.9
Black
As a BLACK operative, you’ll obey no laws, know no borders, kill without mercy, and live by the Five Rules of Guncraft.EGUNS ARE THE STARS. EVERY BULLET IS YOUR BABY. BIGGER GUNS, LOUDER EXPLOSIONS. LEAVE A TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION. GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR KILLS
Criterion is known for theBurnoutracing series,though it eventually moved onto theNeed for Speedgames and helped out withBattlefieldandStar Wars Battlefront. They also made a first-person shooter in between all those racing games calledBlack.Its main appeal was its graphical fidelity, attention to sound design, and environmental destruction.
It is short, but every level feels unique, and the length is about on par with the average military shooter that started coming out a few years later. The game received middling reviews, but it stands out as a unique example of the genre to this day.
When one hears the nameArea 51they are probably reminded of the arcadelight-gun shooter.However, the series did try to expand into a more traditional first-person shooter on consoles in 2007.
The game has a heavy feel and even has a scanning feature reminiscent ofMetroid Prime. Players also get to use alien weaponry for some variety beyond the typical FPS games of the time. If anyone is wondering why they have not heard of it, it is probably because the PS3 sequel,Blacksite: Area 51was lambasted at launch for a bevy of technical issues, stopping any hope of an ongoing series.
There have beenalmost too manyStar Trekgames to countin just as many different genres. There are adventure games, space battle simulators, and even first-person shooters.Star Trek Voyager: Elite Forceis a straightforward FPS.
Even though it is an FPS, there are quiet moments where fans get to absorb the world ofStar Trek, which was pretty unique for the time. At the turn of the century, most FPS games were mostly focused on action, but that tide was slowly turning with titles likeDeus ExandThief.
Though it has a notably low Metacritic score, critics were still quick to point out how much fans of the series would appreciate this adventure despite some complaints about the gameplay.
Successfully adapting a film into a video game is still a tough task, and it was thought impossible back in the mid-2000s.Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Moviemanages to be both a mouthful to pronounce and a surprisingly appealing tie-in game to the film.
It follows the movie faithfully and switches between first-person segments where players control humans and third-person segments from Kong’s perspective. The biggest complaint lobbied against it was its short length, but these days that means it in no way overstays its welcome.
For a lot of people, theMedal of Honor Seriesended afterFrontlineandAllied Assault.It went on in annual installments for some years, however, covering different parts of the conflict. AfterFrontline,consoles receivedRising Sun, which took place in Japan. It feels a lot different fromFrontlinein terms of basic feel, but it still holds up.
It opens with aharrowing recreation of the Pearl Harbor attacks.In addition to its single-player campaign, the multiplayer was also a fun way to pass time. One particular weapon, the Welrod, was notable for its one-shot kills balanced by one bullet per every gruelingly long reload animation.
Before Rocksteady Studios became a household namewith itsBatman Arkhamgames, it made a little PS2 FPS calledUrban Chaos: Riot Response.It set itself apart from other games of the time with a progression system that encouraged replaying missions while striving for different goals to earn more upgrades.
It was also ludicrously violent and indulged in slow-motion death animations that focused on corpses as they went limp after their death, similar toMax Payne 3. It also unexpectedly has an earworm of a main theme; a bluesy rock anthem called “Modern Romance” by The Metro Riots.
