Recommend (yes!) an FPS

[lord of the mark]

as i browse the dying EB used game racks, the pickings are getting slimmer in my favored genres. I just might take this opportunity to try out an FPS.

1. It should be single player oriented, as far as possible.

2. It should run on a P2, 266mhz, 48Meg Ram, Win 98 (dont ask)

3. The content matters - I dont want something real ghoulish, a la Doom, or where the goal is to kill civilians (Postal?) - Im thinking either a spy thriller, sci-fi, or historical type theme. But it should represent a good introduction to the genre, and be reasonably typical, if possible.

[Spiffor]

Half-life 1 should work acceptably on your machine. It has a good SP, with a plot, and it is enjoyable. It is typical and not too ghoulish too (though it is an FPS, so there will be blood and guts)

[Skanky Burns]

While not what you would call a typical FPS, I would recommend System Shock 2. Superb story, great gameplay (apart from the jumping puzzle), requires thought and is fairly old, so will work fine on that system. Its not completely goulish, but be prepared to get frightened and/or creeped out.

It just wouldn't be a FPS discussion without me bringing up Thief and Thief 2, either. Not only is it better to not kill others, you are generally forbidden from killing others. This is probably as close as you are going to get to a spy thriller, at least on that system. Regardless, Thief remains in the top 3 games I have ever played.

[Edan]

48 mb of ram?

Have you considered quake?



J/K

I really liked Redguard, although it's not really a shooter.

[DrSpike]

All the classics have been mentioned, but since it will be more authoritative coming from me I'll mention them again.

I would definitely start with Half Life. Quake and Doom are undeniable classics but you wont like them, and if truth be told the SP isn't good by today's standards. HL in contrast has stood the test of time. Many of the gameplay elements are cliches now........but it's HL that made them cliches. I can't overstate how important this game is to gaming history - it is with HL that the modern SP FPS era begins, and thus it is a great place to start.

I also think System Shock 2 will just about run well enough, though you'll have to turn down some settings to lowest. This game can show you just how immersive an FPS can be. It is the most atmospheric game I've played I would say, and has a stronger story than HL. The gameplay has small RPG elements and is a bit slower. I think you'd like this game.

To show the versatility of the genre you should follow Skanky's usual recommendation to play Thief. It's not really a shooter, so maybe you shouldn't start here, it's more of a sneaker. It is, however, a great game.

it's such a shame you can't play Deus Ex on your machine (it might be worth testing with everything turn to lowest settings). This is arguably the gold standard for immersive story driven FPS, and you should play it at least when you next upgrade. I played it on my p2-400 so you aren't far away.

Doc

[Sandman]

Half-Life is overrated, although it's a good introduction to the genre (and the attendant cliches).

The Thief games and Deus Ex are great pieces of work.

[DrSpike]

Sandman is overrated.

[Skanky Burns]

Overrating things is overrated.

[Gamecube64]

I am pretty sure you can run Jedi Knight: Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 with the expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith. Don't try Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast though. If you want something as a general intro to the genre you are probably going to need to play something from the Doom, Quake, Unreal, or Half-life series. It sounds like you would really like Deus Ex but there is no way that your computer could run it.

This thread is REALLY feeding my urge to break out Quake, Quake 2, and Half-Life. I barely even remember anything about Quake, other than how to get into the hellish difficulty, and how those zombies need to be boomed.

And how much the ending sucked...

[Kloreep]

I used to think First Person games were unworthwhile bloodfests. Thief and Deus Ex both changed my mind.

[Zevico]

Thief is a great, great game, and I think your old PC can run it.

[Traianvs]

yup, thief's the bomb
Halflife is overrated in the sense that it isn't the start of the modern era FPS (since most stuff had already been seen elsewhere tbh), but it is a good game, a true classic

Nobody mentioned duke nukem 3D which is a shame, cos it's magnificent in its originality. Be sure to play the atomic edition with the 4th episode, with lots of creative levels. Perhaps it's not your genre though, but it sure as hell made me laugh my ass off almost constantly!

ps: why don't you start with wolfenstein 3D, now there's a classic!!

[Verto]

WOLF3D!

[snoopy369]

Thief/Thief2. Don't go any further.

[RGBVideo]

Thief 2 requires 64mb of RAM IIRC... I had problems with that on my older PC.

If you want plot, neither Wolfenstein 3D or Duke Nukem 3D are your sort of games. Half-life's plot ain't that great either, basically it's just one massive cliff-hanger after another, with no explanations whatsoever.

System Shock 2 could be a good thriller for you.

And how much the [Quake] ending sucked...

qft