I've been toying with the idea to write this for quite some time now, ever since DOSBox was compiled for PSP and I could play Wolfenstein 3D on it, the game that started it all. Just recently a separate build of the game was made for PSP, thus giving me an excuse to finally present the development of
3D first person perspective shooters (abbreviated to FPS) through the looking glass of PSP screen.
I have been growing up with first computers and following the development of video games industry since I was nine. There were many milestones in the industry of digital entertainment since then, but one of them was the moment when first person perspective hit the mainstream. Wolfenstein 3D was a breakthrough, it spread like fire, everyone played it and so from that point on the FPSes have developed into a separate genre. Looking at how these games look nowadays (Call of Duty 4, Crysis) it's hard to imagine how it all started...
So whether you are a young enthusiast who have missed on observing the FPS genre gradually evolve to what they are now, or an old melancholic who would like to take a nostalgic trip to the happy times when both life and games were simpler and more enjoyable - provided that you have PSP, you can now relive the whole experience. From the genre's grand ancestor that is Wolfenstein 3D to lively grandpa Quake, the whole family can can now sit in your pocket and you can revisit them while commuting to work or during that particularly boring lesson.
Wolfenstein 3D
Although technically it was not the first game ever to use first person perspective (some will say Catacomb Abyss was the first, but actually the idea of
FPP was something that has begun already in
ZX Spectrum era), this is the grandfather of all of them. Wolfenstein 3D was so successful
While the levels were almost 2D with constantly grey untextured floor and ceiling, with all corners being exactly 90 degrees, the 3D illusion created unprecedented sense of immersion. I have mentioned in my post on
fear in games how I got shivers from the sound of heavy doors slamming in the distance when I played it as a kid. It just goes to show what impact this game had and it explains while it has spawned a whole army of followers.
The
PSP version can be downloaded from
here and as an additional bonus it contains
Nazi Requiem music in the first menu - I included it on my
list of the best game music remixes.
Doom
As a testament to how badly inaccurate my opinions may be sometimes, I should confess that when I first saw Doom on my friend's PC, I said "
nah, this is just some sci-fi clone of Wolfenstein, this isn't gonna stick around". Boy, was I wrong.
Doom took the execution of FPS games one step further. The graphics were unparalleled, the monsters suggestively scary, the sounds and the music unsettling. While still relatively 2D - player was not allowed to look up and down yet - Doom's engine allowed for more than just square rooms and constant grey floor. All surfaces were textured, labirynth of walls were running in all directions (all of them vertical, though) , first attempts at water were made, floors were at different heights (just a mathematical illusion in fact) connected with elevators, switches activated moving walls - the immersion factor increased tremendously.
I remember first approaching the window and observed the mountains in the background. At that moment it seemed so real, I felt like I could step forward, enter the game world and go climb this misty peaks and there would be more of the world behind them. My best friend was subconsciously ducking in front of computer when imps hurled fireballs at him. We were both drawn into the world of Doom.
Doom improved on his predecessor in many other aspects, introducing many distinct enemy types, increased number and types of weapons (compared to four simple weapons in Wolfenstein 3D), armors as well as multiplayer (over local network). No wonder it was a huge hit with so many people having played it that it has been remade to almost every platform out there, including Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, mobile phones and of course PSP (get it
here).
Hexen and Heretic
Essentially a fantazy shooting frenzy with thin layer of RPG on it, these two games based on Doom engine were quite popular in their time. And while neither of them really was as much of a breaktrough as Doom or later Quake, they have gained quite a following. They have also been remade for the PSP and can be downloaded
here (together with older Doom version), so I included them on the list, but more because of their sentimental value than due to merit in shaping the history of FPSs.
Duke Nukem 3D
This game marked my entering into adolescence. I first played it at my friend's place after school and I was stunned by how the graphics shone, how interactive the environment was and how addictive Duke Nukem 3D turned out to be.
The simple fact that Duke would reload his pistol every eight or so shots and that the bullet shells would fly from it was a peak of realism at that time (compared to Doom it indeed was a huge step forward). Being able to use surveillance camera, turn on the movie in the theatre, switch lights on and off, operate different devices was a level of environment interaction unseen before. It also made multiplayer matches so much more fun (strippers!).
Wolfenstein 3D and Doom both included silent protagonist, but Duke Nukem was a talkative guy, commenting the action with catchy one-liners. The fact that our hero would occasionally crack some funny line was a definite novelty.
Even though contrary to its name Duke Nukem 3D was still not full 3D game, player would be allowed to look up and down. The perspective was distorted while doing so, but the illusion of going through a real world was one step ahead of Doom.
Duke Nukem 3D was also very important due to the fact that its engine got licensed and thus players received Blood and Shadow Warrior. The first one was a self-mocking horror pastiche, the other one Hong Kong ninja movies spoof with, both with memorable protagonists cracking cool lines while hacking swarms of enemies to pieces. Unfortunately, they have not been ported to PSP (yet?).
Download Duke Nukem 3D for PSP
here.
Quake
I remember that Polish game magazine Secret Service wrote in their review of Quake:
Duke Nukem 3D unveils its secrets slowly and it always has something hidden up its sleeve, while Quake just shows off everything in one mighty blow and after that you are left with just more of the same
It was a little unfair to say that, especially since the two were obviously designed with different philosophies, both in terms on engine and of gameplay. Duke Nukem 3D had more parodistic tone to it, less powerful graphical engine, and many switches and devices to interact with, while Quake was serious, gritty, dark shooter with great gothic visuals and no funny distractions - it was all about pure slaughter in 3D environment.
Quake became the first truly 3D game in which player could turn their head around and look at level architecture. I am of course aware that technically it was still more of a 2.5D, but from the players perspective it was already a marvellous three dimensional world, complete with archways, spires, towers and occasional outdoor fragments. The violet clouds speeding over the horizon were making one hell of an impression. The dynamic lightning, while present, was still more of a hack from technical standpoint, as lightning maps were calculated during level creation, but the flying rockets would brighten up their immediate surroundings.
Quake was among the first games to profit from the hardware graphics acceleration that was just being born (we're talking about 1996). VQuake and GLQuake took advantage of the new graphical possibilities and Quake was the first FPS to use bilinear filtering, dynamic lights and higher colour palette.
Another thing that Quake has done for FPS development was introduction of client-server multiplayer. While it was technically possible to play Duke Nukem 3D over internet in multiplayer mode, it required additional program. It wasn't until Quake that internet FPS carnage has really begun.
It was also one of the first games that required using keyboard and mouse simultaneously. While Duke Nukem 3D and its counterparts could easily be finished without, this was not the case of Quake anymore, since flying enemies in real 3D were hard to shoot down using just keyboard. Although finishing the game without mouse aiming was feasible, it was definitely hard.
The port of Quake on PSP is almost perfect - it is running smoothly, it has mouse mapped to analog stick, it even allows multiplayer over Wi-fi in Ad Hoc mode, all the sounds are there. So you have no excuse not to
download it.
Later times
What happened next? Quake II introduced OpenGL to the masses in the flashy galore of colourful lights, as well as popularised rocket jumps (
one day it might also be remade for PSP). Half Life demonstrated how powerful a narrative using FPS can be. Unreal Tournament broke the rule that a FPS game must have single player story mode by essentially being just a multiplayer game. Quake III joined this school of thought and introduced great level design. Unreal Tournament 2003 dazed everyone with incredible graphics and its 2004 edition introduced vehicles as well as new story modes. Enemy Territory became first free multiplayer FPS that would include different classes of players. Far Cry raised the bar in graphics department, took players for a walk outside and topped that with pretty smart AI. The story continues...
But while all FPS lovers owe much to each of the aforementioned titles, it's really Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Quake that have laid the foundations for the genre. Playing them in chronological order give an opportunity to see how much FPS games have progressed over time. And having them all in my pocket on PSP is a marvel of XXI century, which I didn't even imagine when I was playing them as a kid, teenager and student.
