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First-person shooter

A first-person shooter (FPS) is an action video game from the shooter game subgenre. Like all shooters, they involve "an avatar, one or more ranged weapons, and a varying number of enemies". FPSs are distinguished by a first person perspective, that renders the game world from the visual perspective of the player character. The character is nominally a literal person; humanoid movement is expected. Games that primarily involve piloting vehicles are more correctly classified as vehicle simulation games.

In the modern era of video games, FPS was one of the first genres to use key technologies such as 3D graphics, online play, and modding. Enhanced realism combined with graphic violence has also made FPS a common topic in ongoing controversies over video games.

Gameplay

All FPSs feature the core gameplay elements of movement and shooting, but many variations exist, with different titles emphasizing certain aspects of the gameplay. The lines between sub-genres are not distinct; some games include stealth elements in addition to action-packed sequences more typical of a "run and gun" FPS.

Structure

Most FPSs employ the videogame convention of being split into distinct levels separated in time and space, each set in a specific environment such as a warehouse, desert, laboratory, or castle. The most common style in earlier days of FPS gaming was the "level" system; however, Half-Life popularized a progressive system where the point-of-view never leaves the character and the entire game is a single continual campaign with no breaks in time. Both styles are now utilized extensively. The linearity of FPSs also varies, with some leading the player as directly as possible through the game through as many gunfights as possible, while others give the player numerous options regarding how they tackle each section. More recent titles, such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Crysis, have allowed the player to wander around large sandbox environments.

Environment interaction

Different FPSs allow different types and amount of environment interaction. The most common are simple doors which can be opened (either by pressing a specific "use" button or automatically) and the health and ammo packs and new weapons that can be collected (the player character gets the effect simply by walking over them in most games). Buttons in the game environment allow a bit more interaction: they can open a door, start or shut down some machinery in the game environment which do a certain task (create a lethal trap for enemies, lower a bridge over a chasm) or whatever the programmers have scripted. These have been used in FPS games since Doom, although the variations have slightly increased.

More recently games in general, but especially FPSs, have provided more realistic interactive environments. An old addition was the use of blood splatters and bullet holes as a graphical decal that are displayed on top of texture. Barriers and specific objects that can be destroyed are now common, while the walls and such are still immovable and indestructible. More realistic physics have allowed for background objects (tables, cars, garbage bins) to be interacted with; for example Half-Life 2 (2004) was among the first games to incorporate the manipulation of objects both as weapons and as keys to environmental puzzles.

Combat and pacing

Many FPSs maintain a focus on "run and gun" gameplay, with quick movement and near constant combat. Other titles adopt a slower pace, with the emphasis on puzzle-solving, or interaction with characters in ways other than combat. Stealth is a common feature of FPSs — firefights in some FPSs are extremely risky and require the player to avoid detection. These games also retain much more of a focus on melee weapons. But even in games that feature numerous shootouts, sneaking up on an unaware opponent is an advantageous technique.

Strategy and planning are emphasized in tactical shooters and military simulations. These often allow the player to fight alongside and issue commands to squads made up of AI-controlled companions or human teammates. There have also been games that blend real-time strategy gameplay to FPSs. In these games, the player appears on the field as a single unit, but is able to give commands to other units, construct new units, and control the overall strategy, such as in Battlezone (1998). Some RTS/FPS hybrids use teamplay approach where one player is the commanding officer, responsible for the strategy part, and the other team members are ordinary soldiers, as in Battlefield 2 (2005).

Multiplayer

Almost every FPS contains a multiplayer component, and it was the first genre to make extensive use of and popularize multiplayer gaming (beginning as far back as Doom). Some games have almost entirely eliminated the single-player component, restricting single-player game to combat against bots (or rarely eliminating it altogether) and keeping the focus almost entirely on the multiplayer component. The Quake games were the first popular games that were almost exclusively multiplayer. The Unreal Tournament and Battlefield series are other popular series that were designed almost exclusively for multiplayer play. Team Fortress 2 developed by Valve is an example of a game strictly limited to multiplayer which offers no single player mode. Also developed by VALVe, Counter-Strike is one of the most played tactical-FPS via internet, and it features only bots, but no single-player campaign. The MMOFPS genre (including Planetside) combines first-person shooter gameplay with a large number of simultaneous players over the Internet, but has struggled to gain prominence in a field dominated by MMORPGs.

Control schemes

The control scheme for first-person shooters require allowing the player to control the direction their character is looking, the direction the character is moving, other character movements such as running, crouching, or jumping, firing and switching weapons, and other actions that specific games may need. As such, the control schemes for first-person shooter games can be extremely varied depending on the game's platform, as well as with limitations of control hardware.

For most first-person shooter games on PCs, as well as for select console games that support such input hardware, the control scheme utilizes a combination of keyboard and mouse inputs. Directional keys are typically placed on the WASD keys, with other character actions such as strafing, jumping, and the like placed on nearby keys. "Free look" or "mouse look" is controlled by moving the mouse around, weapon activation by the mouse buttons, and weapon management through the scroll wheel. Prior to the common inclusion of the scroll wheel on computer mice, the number keys or the tab key was often used to switch weapons. Keyboard and mouse control schemes are almost always customizable, allowing the player to assign various actions to other keys or mouse actions to their preference.

The controls for console games are limited by the available keys and controls on the system's control pad. Pads for early consoles such as the Mega Drive's D-pad provided only a single digital directional input and limited buttons, and early FPS console games used the directional input and another button combination for the input of additional movement commands like jumping. With control pads with a single analog stick, movement is primarily controlled by the analog stick, and additional movement and actions are performed using the other face buttons. Most modern controllers offer two direction inputs through dual analog sticks in addition to several more buttons than previous systems. This had led to two primary control scheme variations. In one configuration, one analog stick is used for forward and reverse motion and strafing relative to the current viewpoint, and the other thumb stick used to look around. An alternate variation provided forward and reverse movement and to look left or right on one thumb stick, and vertical aiming and lateral motion on the other thumb stick. Weapon activation is set to the control's shoulder triggers, and other functions such as jumping, reloading, or interaction with the environment is performed on other buttons on the controller. Many console-based FPSs include or offer both "lock-on" (auto-centering the aim to a target) and "auto-aim" (adjustment of the user's aim to a target when they are aiming slightly away from it) features to account for the loss of precision that a player has when aiming with the analog controls over a PC mouse . Control customization is available for PC FPS titles, but is not as widely available as for console games. Many games for both PC and consoles allow the user to invert the look axes as to allow the controls to behave more like a flight simulator joystick.

Newer controllers for the current generation of console hardware have brought additional variation to how the player interacts with an FPS game. Motion-sensitive remote controllers have allowed several FPS games to use the remote similar to a mouse to provide more accurate aiming than a typical controller and a more immersive environment as actions acted out by the player with the controller (e.g., swinging a sword) translate into those same actions taken on the screen.

History

First-person shooters came to be recognized as a genre in the early 1990s, and many of the genre's most common conventions date to this time. However, the modern genre is an extension of earlier games, particularly those involving 3D graphics. While some of these early games are not first-person shooters in the modern sense, some of them might be retroactively included in the genre, and many others contained ideas which later influenced the modern genre.

Origins

It is not clear exactly when the first FPS was created. Maze War is the most likely candidate, but even its developer cannot remember exactly when it was produced. The initial development of Maze War probably occurred in the summer of 1973.

In the early 1980s, the home computer market grew rapidly. While these machines were relatively low-powered, limited first-person-perspective games appeared early on. In these games, computer-controlled opponents were drawn using bitmaps. Phantom Slayer and Dungeons of Daggorath (1982) restricted the player to 90-degree turns, allowing "3D" corridors to be drawn with simple fixed-perspective techniques.

Later in the decade, the arrival of a new generation of home computers such as the Atari ST and the Amiga increased the computing power and graphical capabilities available, leading to a new wave of innovation. 1987 saw the release of MIDI Maze (aka Faceball), an important transitional game for the genre. Unlike its polygonal contemporaries, MIDI Maze used a raycasting engine to speedily draw square corridors. It also offered a networked multiplayer deathmatch (communicating via the computer's MIDI interface).

In early 1991, Data East released Silent Debuggers for the TurboGrafx-16. This game featured a minimum ability to look up and down. In late 1991, the fledgling id Software released Catacomb 3D, which introduced the concept of showing the player's hand on-screen, strengthening the illusion that the player is viewing the world through the character's eyes. In 1992, id improved the technology by adding support for VGA graphics in Wolfenstein 3D. With these improvements over its predecessors, Wolfenstein 3D was a hit. It would be widely imitated in the years to follow, and thus marked the beginning of many conventions in the genre, including collecting different weapons that can be switched between using the keyboard's number keys, and ammo conservation.

In the year that followed the success of Wolfenstein 3-D, many imitators quickly arose, including Ken's Labyrinth by Epic Games, and several games licensing the Wolfenstein 3-D technology like Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold. Softdisk also released a series of sequels to Catacomb 3D using a modified version of id's engine, but id had no involvement with these games. Because of this sudden boom of games with a pronounced influence from id's games, the term "first-person shooter" was coined to describe the budding genre.

Doom era

Id followed up Wolfenstein 3D the following year with Doom (1993). While still using sprites to render in-game opponents, and raycasting to render the levels, Doom added texture-mapping to the floor and ceiling, and removed some of the restrictions of earlier games. Walls could vary in height, with floor and ceiling changing levels to create cavernous spaces and raised platforms. In some areas, the ceiling textures were dependent on the position of the player, create the illusion of outdoor environments that were generally lacking in previous genre games. However, Doom wasn't truly 3D; id used a line map system which the game would make into a 3D looking environment, and they added the height later; this meant they couldn't put a room on top of a room, but they could create an Automap more easily.

While the graphical enhancements were notable, Doom also introduced network multiplayer against human opponents. Similar multiplayer modes existed in mainframe and arcade-based games, but Doom was the first PC game to gain a significant following dedicated to multiplayer. Doom was also one of the earliest FPS games to gain an active community of fans producing add-on maps.

Doom dominated the genre for years after its release. Every new game in the genre was held up against it, and usually suffered by comparison. However, some developers opted not to attack Doom head-on, but instead to concentrate on its weaker aspects or expand the new genre in alternative directions.

After Doom

Duke Nukem 3D, released in 1996, was the first game using what proved to be the most popular engine of the decade (12 released titles), Ken Silverman's Build engine. Build was outwardly similar to Doom's engine in that it used many 2D tricks, but was somewhat more advanced in this regard. It introduced the ability for players to swim and fly using a jetpack. Duke Nukem and its Build engine are also notable for having one of the simplest map editors of any 3D game ever made.

In 1996 id Software released their eagerly-anticipated Quake, which significantly enhanced the network gaming concept introduced by Doom. Like earlier Descent (video game), it used a 3D polygonal graphics engine to render enemies, but also added support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics with GLQuake. In addition, id released an internet-optimized network client called QuakeWorld. Quake also actively encouraged user-made modifications. These "mods" contributed to its longevity and popularity with players; the most important of these was Threewave's CTF mod, which defined the now-standard Capture the Flag mode found in many FPS games. In 1997, GoldenEye 007 was released for the Nintendo 64. It was praised for a realistic setting, incorporating impressive artificial intelligence and animation, elaborate bullet-hit detection (permitting a player to inflict maximum damage through accurate "head shots"; a practice encouraged through the incorporation of a "sniper scope" weapon function), and mission objectives and well-designed environments based on the GoldenEye film's sets. Its split screen multiplayer deathmatch mode was also well-regarded for the range of options offered. Console first-person shooters have for many years been criticized for having control schemes less precise than the keyboard and mouse of PC titles, yet GoldenEye overcame such complaints to be considered the first great FPS for a console, as well as one of the best movie-to-game adaptations genre-wide.

In early 1998, Rainbow Six helped to popularize tactical FPS by using a realistic combat-simulation approach to the genre. Player characters and enemies could be killed or critically wounded with one shot, and weapons were relatively inaccurate and unreliable, especially at long range -- a player could not aim a perfect shot just by keeping the crosshairs steady. As a result, the game encouraged players to employ real-world tactics such as taking cover and using flashbangs and other forms of stun grenades to incapacitate enemies before exposing one's own body. Additionally, the cartoonish acrobatics that are possible with most FPS games were eliminated in Rainbow Six -- players could not jump, and movement speed was relatively slow. In 1998, Half-Life was released, featuring a single-player game with a narrative focus directing the action and the goals of the player. The combat sequences were heavily scripted throughout the game. Half-Life was among the first games to feature a continually-progressing campaign with no true level breaks, and also eliminated cut scenes, never removing the player from the point-of-view of the main character. It was also among the first games to place ammunition and health in more realistic settings, doing-away with the "power-up" feature that was the standard of FPS games, when ammo, health packs, and special abilities, among other items, would be scattered in random places around the map.

Another game of 1998, Starsiege: Tribes, was the first attempt to create a large, team-based arena FPS requiring strategic coordination. Supporting large numbers of players, vehicles, wide-open landscapes and movement mechanics provided by the jetpack all players spawned with, Tribes can be considered the ancestor of shooters like Battlefield 1942 and contributed greatly to the creation of the massively multiplayer FPS genre. This game also spawned a large functionality-based modding community that created numerous user interface changes and scripts that made play easier, including complicated inventory management scripts and movement aides.

1999 was another important year for FPS, as two competing franchises were pitched head-to-head: Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament. At this point both franchises concentrated on multiplayer gameplay over a LAN or the internet, reducing the single player experience to arena-based bot matches.

The Half-Life mod Counter-Strike was released in mid-1999, and became one of the most popular multiplayer FPS titles ever released. The game is a tactical shooter in much the same vein as Rainbow Six, though it places much less emphasis on realism and more on team coordination.

Genre-blending

While not an FPS, Ultima Underworld (1992) is of importance to the genre's development. It was a 3D role-playing game developed by Blue Sky Productions, (later merged with another developer to create Looking Glass Studios) and marketed by Origin Systems. Unlike Wolfenstein 3D, Ultima Underworld supported many true 3D features such as non-perpendicular walls, walls of varying heights, and inclined surfaces. A technology demo of this game was, in fact, John Carmack’s inspiration for Wolfenstein 3-D’s game engine.

In 1993, Pathways into Darkness was released by Bungie. It mixed the elements from an FPS with those of an adventure game. It is notable for having a stronger narrative component than its contemporaries. However, Pathways only experienced limited commercial success, partially due to its difficulty level, but mainly due to being available only for Apple computers. It is considered the spiritual ancestor of the Marathon and Halo series developed by Bungie.

The 1995 game Descent used a fully 3D polygonal graphics engine to render opponents (previous games had used sprites). It also escaped the "pure vertical walls" graphical restrictions of earlier games in the genre, and allowed the player six degrees of freedom of movement (up/down, left/right, forward/backward, pitch, roll and yaw). Thus, Descent was the first FPS in the modern era to use a fully 3D engine. However, because the player character is in actuality a space vehicle, Descent is not always considered an FPS in the traditional sense and may be classified as a space-sim hybrid.

In 2000, Deus Ex was released, a single-player FPS that blended elements from RPG and adventure games. It featured many side-quests and multiple ways of completing each mission. This game also had a character building system similar to an RPG where the player gained experience points for completing various objectives, which were then spent on upgrades for your character, as in the System Shock games. Additionally, it incorporated stealth elements that first appeared in Thief: The Dark Project.

The Half-Life mod Natural Selection blended a multiplayer FPS with some RTS elements. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory blended some RPG elements with an experience and skill-based point system that can work across matches. Battlefield 2 has a stats-tracking system similar to that of Enemy Territory, as well as a complex scoring system. The Wheel of Time attempted to blend an FPS with an RPG and was one of the few fantasy games to be a first-person shooter, as most fantasy games are RPG's. The game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl also blends FPS and RPG elements, notably creating a sense of non linearity gameplay in which the player can set their own pace or choose to accomplish sidequests.

The New Mirror's Edge game will mostly feature platforming but elements of first person shooting will be included.

Controversy

Critics argue that the first-person perspective adds a level of imitable realism to the act of killing, and that FPS desensitizes gamers to this sort of behavior. The most widely publicized link between FPS and real-world violence is the Columbine High School massacre. Both of the shooters were fans of Doom, and Eric Harris had actually published a set of Doom levels on his website; the levels are now known as the "Harris levels".