Old But Gold

The Tru7h...

First person shooters from the '90s are definitely not the same like it is today. While to a casual player it may look similar, you run and shoot things that are a threat to you, but there's way more to that if you are an enthusiastic first person shooter player like I am. Here are some reasons why I believe first person shooters from the '90s are still a blast to play.


1. The ability to hold all weapons: This is starting to become a resurgence for future shooters are starting to bring back from the early days of the first person shooter genre. For example, Wolfenstein: The New Order decided to adapt this mechanic and the new Doom is also doing it too. This feature was one of the defining features for '90s first person shooters. Instead of having the usual two weapons only where you always have to make a sacrifice when you pick up a new weapon, the older games allowed you to keep it. This means, it gives you more options to play around with the weapons you acquire in combat scenarios rather than making sacrifices in the usual two weapon system for modern shooters.

2. Creative Arsenal: There are definitely some awesome weapons I've used playing many first person shooter from the early 2000s to present day. However, I can't help but feel really attached to the creative arsenals that the '90s have introduced. The BFG9000 is the first one to come to mind. It is truly the best weapon in the Doom series due to how powerful it is for close quarters and the ultimate crowd control weapon. You also had the Shrinker from Duke Nukem 3D and that game itself had multiple unorthodox weapons as well. I also loved the Assault Rifle or Dual Wielding Shotguns from the Marathon series. The weapons may sound very standard fair because most modern shooters do feature the usual fully automatic weapon or some sort of shotgun, but Marathon came out in the early '90s when first person shooters were a brand new genre. Marathon allowed players to shoot bullets and grenades from the Assault Rifle's mounted grenade launcher at the same time! A rarity from today's shooters. Also the game itself was one of the first games that allowed you to dual wield at that time and Marathon nailed it with its Dual Wielding Shotguns.
Do you know what BFG stands for? Look it up kids.

3. Level Design. Level design in the '90s were mostly complex and sometimes maze like. First Person Shooters are heavily reliant on map design because it enriches the combat aspect which is something that makes these kinds of game shine. Having good level design allow you to engage a combat scenario in multiple ways, but not only that, it also promotes exploration which does add depth to the experience rather than just relying on the combat. It also allow the map designer to experiment with the pacing of the game which also adds variety to the experience. There's a lot to what good level design can do to first person shooters and most modern shooters have pretty much down toned the complexity of '90s level design.

Still is fairly relevant to this day.

4. Arena Shooters. In today's age, the most popular first person shooters that people like to play are generally military shooters. These games are kind of more "realistic." The guns are generally based on real life guns, you do have recoil, and you die quickly like in real life. Well, to be honest, I don't really know if you can die really quickly in real life even if you're wearing a bullet proof vest, but I'm sure nobody wants to test that out. However, arena shooters are very frantic and on a whole different kind of level when it comes to the overall experience when you compare it to games like Call of Duty or Battlefield. They tend to be faster paced, more over the top with combat like using weapons that are not realistic at all, and there's a lot of emphasis on map control. I love these kinds of shooters because I grew up playing these games as my first taste in first person shooter multiplayer. I love the excitement I get when playing them and it's just something that feels home to me when I play them. This video I'm posting here is one of my favorite Quake 3 montages and it's pretty much a good viewing clarification of what arena shooters are all about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQJzUsZb7co

5. Amazing Single Player Games. In my opinion, I believe the best single player driven first person shooters were really from the '90s. Most first person shooters from back then didn't really care about including a story or trying to teach you some sort of moral lesson. It was all about having fun and just trying to deliver the best game they can possibly make. I think what makes me enjoy games like Doom or Quake 2 so much was just how enjoyable these games were. They all had great combat, moments, level design was top notch, and they were just so much fun to play in the first playthrough that you just want to come back and play it even more. Doom's first episode had really good pacing and it just felt right when you play level after level. Quake 2 also shined really well by allowing you really get creative with how you play because you were able to carry valuable power ups like Quad Damage or Invulnerability which allowed you to a certain combat scenario drastically different. You also wanted to at the same time because a lot of the action driven parts in Quake 2 were very fun to be involved and also experiment. Here's one of my videos I made; showing off the crazy amount of ways you can play in Quake 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huCAEL2AKEU


6. It Ages Well. There are some games that might not hold up its time as it gets older, but a lot of '90s first person shooters really holds up very well compared to today's shooters. There's a reason why the first person shooter genre is currently trying to look back at the older games and see what should return for the newer games in this genre. The new Doom is currently being faithful to the original by trying it make it fast paced or allowing you to have all weapons and so much more. There's also a possibility that other first person shooters will do the same. Many video game critics or reviewers usually rank a lot of these games in their Top 10 or Top 50 best first person shooters to further prove you how highly regarded they are. It is fairly self explanatory that first person shooters from the '90s are old, but they're still gold to this day.

Admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage.

Why I Love First Person Shooters: Five Reasons

      First person shooters have always been an exciting video game genre when games like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D were massive hits during the early age of its lifespan. It also seems like the genre itself is growing when we have games like Halo which is widely known as being an Xbox system seller and it's also one of the most successful exclusive for the platform itself. What about Call of Duty and it'spree of setting financial records? It's obvious that first person shooters aren't going anywhere and people are crazy over it? They might have their own reasons, but here are mine.

1. Something For Everyone: I love how first person shooters can be single player driven, but at the same time be multiplayer driven too. You have games like Doom or Half Life which are widely looked in high regards as being some of the best single player experiences that the genre can offer while Call of Duty or Battlefield can fix you up for your multiplayer fun. There are some games that can do both like the Halo series or Quake series.

2. Easy to Pick Up, Hard to Master: This is mostly relevant for the multiplayer side of first person shooters. I just love how since these games are easy to pick up, you can play with your friend easily even if he or she may not be as good as you. The most casual way to play a shooter is to run around and shoot anything that's a threat to you. I believe the fact that first person shooters are focused on this concept makes it easy for newcomers to play and get into. However, that doesn't mean first person shooter don't require a level of technicality.

The advance level comes from map knowledge, spawn knowledge, learning to use the weapons properly, timing items, crafting strategies, jump tricks, miscellaneous abilities like rocket jumping or button combos, and so much more.

3. The Feeling of Dominance: Most first person shooters tend to try to make the player feel like they are a force to be reckoned with. For example, in Doom, you're generally a space marine and you're fighting demons from hell; many of them all by yourself when you're playing the single player component. In Call of Duty, when I play the multiplayer online, it feels great when things are going my way and my killstreaks are up helping me and my teammates to victory.

4. Montages: First person shooters are widely popular for montages. I guess people just find it fun and exciting to see highlighted moments of a player taking out multiple players in quick succession. It can be an orgasmic experience too when watching them too if you know how the game is played. I believe the main reason why first person shooters are so appropriate to montages is because they are generally action driven. There's a lot of shooting and moving going on and I guess that kind of gameplay fits well with music and video editing all together. With that said, I love watching montages. It's always fun and exciting whether it's a montage based on a game I play or not because at the end of the day, it's really the action that's gonna steal the deal for me when it comes to the entertainment value.

5. id Software: I think the final reason should be the something that'll make a good closure to this blog. These guys were the pioneers of this genre and not only that, the Id Software from 1992 to 1999 in my eyes were the greatest video game developer ever. All the games they've made were really well designed and there's a lot of positive statements I can make to game a or game B. The fact that these guys really pushed themselves to make the first person shooter to be relevant back in the early '90s to being popular to this day is definitely a reason I have to put.

JOUR21B Intro

      Hello everyone. My name is Paul Hang and my blog will primarily be focused on first person shooters which is one of the many video game genres. I've always loved many types of video game genres, but the one I love the most are first person shooters. My very first video game I played was a first person shooter and my favorite developer are widely considered to be the pioneers of that genre. I feel like the fact that I have a specific focus in the video game world will probably make my blog "stand out" from other gaming blogs.

      I have many experience with first person shooters and not only I play a lot of different first  person shooter franchises ranging from Call of Duty or Halo, but I'm good in the technical aspects of them. For example,the difference between one game and another and I can also play them at a reasonably experienced level if I do find a game to be very entertaining where it gives me a good boost of enthusiasm to strive to become better. First person shooters are known to be multiplayer driven in this day and age, but my love for video games started with single player. It's only right for me to stay fervent and be loyal from where I started.

      I don't know what else to say. I hope my blog will be interesting and educational about video games even if you may or may not enjoy it as much as I do. I'll try the best of my ability to fulfill the blog assignments and be conscientious throughout the quarter.

For the websites I'm going to use, I plan on using websites like Gamespot, IGN, Giant Bomb, and more for my research stories or sharing them to my viewers.