FPS Games from the 90s That Need a Remake
Written by Erik Kubik Sunday, 21 November 2010 05:00
This year, gamers will look back and remember the N64 classic Goldeneye receiving a much needed face lift and was brought back to life on the Wii. This may remind gamers of a simpler time, the 1990s, when FPS games ruled. With the re-mastering of Goldeneye, gamers can only hope that some of the other great FPS games from the 90s are remade.
The list of mind-blowing 90s FPS games could go on and on. There are so many begging for attention. Personally, I think they need to remake Redneck Rampage; imagine how much fun the game would be with today’s graphics and some co-op gameplay. The debauchery could be taken to new levels in that game. This game truly makes me miss having a Windows 95 PC some days, nothing like some beer, shotguns and a few chickens. Ye-haww!
Most gamers agree that LucasArts needs to bring back Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. Jedi Academy and Jedi Knight Outcast are okay games but nothing tops the original. Just think how much better a remake of Dark Forces II would look and sound. Think of how much better a remake of this genre defining-FPS would be over the Force Unleashed 2. Kyle Kartan is a much better character then StarKiller ever was; at least Kyle was interesting. The chance to use force powers in a first person and third person environment is perfect; imagine slicing off limbs and heads while utilizing next gen graphics. I am sold. I never got tired of that game as the multiplayer mods were excellent. I can picture 32-man games on the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC, with flying light sabers, force powers, pipe bombs, and Jar-Jar. LucasArts, this could be your path back into the gaming market.
While we are at it, how about a remake of Starsiege Tribes? One cannot go wrong with another multiplayer classic from the 1990s. Give this classic game a face lift with some next generation graphics and bump up the matches to 64 players at least. Then, port the game to consoles and the PC. Fans both old and new will jump back in. Shazbot will become a common catch phrase again, and players everywhere will be utilizing jet packs to slide up and down hills. As gamers, we can expect to lose hours to a game like Tribes.
Finally, how about a remake of Hexen? Nothing like combining the elements of a good FPS game with magic and fantasy, throw in a decent story and it’s a system seller. Hexen to me is as if AD&D and Doom produced offspring. I remember liking Hexen way more than Doom due to the fact there was more to do in the game. Hexen was the game notorious for puzzles featuring three playable classes and a slew of items. Who puts items in FPS games these days? With a re-mastering, let’s hope the developer adds more classes and co-op. Gamers have gone too long without a fantasy FPS. Now is as good a time as ever to revitalize this genre and present what older gamers loved to a new generation.
Readers, what FPS games do you think needs a remake? Doom I, and Quake are screaming for remakes. What about Blood or Descent? How about Revenge of the Triads? What about the King, Duke Nukem 3D?
Comments
imagine Dune on Unreal engine - UDK - full 3D - all planet to explore in 'true' 3D - fly the 'thopter, ride the worm - sietches to explore!
gosh, got me self all excited now!
Quake III got a remake called Quake Live. Not the first Quake. Quake II got a kind of remake in Quake IV, but Quake 1 deverse his remake.
So much fail, win at fail! I love it. Go back to your hole, scrub.
It's "when you yourself don't" not "with you yourself don't" just to support your argument.
Although comments are worthless, just like your opinion. The difference between "your" and "you're" is only important if you officially post your work with your name attached to it. It doesn't count in comments, they're like jot notes...
AND THE GUY SPELLED FPS WRONG IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. Sorry, caps-lock was on.
Marathon was made open-source and is available on Linux and even Windows now, for those that want to re-live history (and there is an active net-play community). Google Aleph One.
Max Payne
Marathon
http://www.tribesuniverse.com/
Sign up for the beta!
There was a lot of games back then. Terminal Velocity, In Pursuit of Greed, Several sci fi games prior to Lucas that were better, Drakan ........... oh well.
Terminal velocity ftw! Great mix of open and closed areas. Loved flying above the clouds trying to get all of the basic ships to chase me, then hunting them down with basic lasers. I think it even allowed you to cripple them slowly and watch them fall to the ground. Fun times...
Thief 1 and 2
System Shock 1 and 2
Still hard to surpass for their 1st person immersion, once players learned the interface and got around the poorer graphics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Stone:_Aliens_of_Gold
Atari and Monolith are sitting on their hands...
Blood could be redone and restarted without having someone like GT ship the second version long before it is done--and enjoy a long and healthy FPS life.
==Sodomized!==
If any older games deserve a remake these days, it's those three.
Once we have those we could look into some of the not-as-great-but-great-nonetheless games like Shadow Warrior, Blood, Descent and the like.
But I think the crown goes to...
Blood
If for no other reason than that the original sources are lost and gone and a remake would be the only way of getting it going again...
add Battlezone II to the list.
System Shock 1 and 2.
Especially the first one, since I think the level design and the story were better than in the sequel (with respect to the technical limitations). SS2 was more linear, which I dislike.
It's being developed by the same team that make "Global Agenda" so they have some credibility and there's a strong chance this game will actually get made.
quakeulf.suxos.org/h3/ (HeXXXen)
The Accolade post apocalyptic FPS that allowed the player to also drive vehicles. Awesome story line. and the best PvP game I have every played. I keep two Win98 systems running just so that I can play it.
System Shock 2
Blood
I lost many hours to those games.
Now if we're adding non-FPS games to the list...I'll be here all day.
I don't know if the original X-Wing counts as a 90's FPS, but X-Wing / Tie Fighter / X-Wing Alliance would certainly get my votes.
I would have said American McGee's Alice, but we're getting a sequel anyway.
Soldier of Fortune 2 (another one that's aged pretty well).
http://www.descent2.de/d2x.html
Also, Interplay announced that there will be a version of Descent for the WiiWare in the fall of 2010! SWEET!
Some of my favorite games from the 90's include:
Quake 1 & 3 (never liked 2)
RISE of the Triad
Solar Winds (ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS GAME!)
Legend of the Red Dragon (BBS Door Game)
Land of Devastation (BBS Door Game)
Tradewinds (BBS Door Game)
Blood
Castle of the Winds (Windows based icon adventure / strategy game)
Warcraft II (my favorite Warcraft game to date)
Starcraft (although, Starcraft II is blows the original away)
Diablo II
GTA
Half-Life
Counter-Strike
Sango Fighter
One Must Fall 2097
Scorched Earth
System Shock 2
C&C: Tiberian Sun
Final Fantasy 7
Any other suggestions not listed previously? There are a few more, but I can't remember their names!
Transfusion, isn't getting the job done and the community has fractured into a hand full of competing projects.
Heretic II - In my opinion one of the most underrated games ever, the 3rd person shooter combination worked really well, and I really love this game myself.
Wizardry 8 - Not really a FPS, but a AWESOME game that a lot of people just did not get, it got a lot of awards, but also really a underrated game.
Decent 3 - A lot of people are talking about the first 2 parts of this game, but Decent 3 was just awesome!, it really sucked when they closed down the servers for online play, I loved that!
Shogo MAD - Also a really underestimated game, I loved how they combined Mecha and traditional FPS components, and the story was just great!
Also, Hexen got a remake in the Doom 3 engine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz4PFYcYYac&) and as far as I know, they are also planning a Hexen 2 remake, I have not played it yet, but it seems very interesting.
I haven't seen if there are updates to the first Unreal, but a full on remake of that (with perhaps a bit more depth to the story telling) would be good.
As for Descent, check out www.minerwars.com/. It looks like a spiritual successor as I don't think any of the original developers are involved in this, but it looks freaking sweet!
you can find it on moddb.com
happy spinfusering
007: Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, Turok: Rage Wars, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Battle Tanx, Battle Tanx: Global Assault
The last two deviate from the standard by being centered around vehicular combat but still get a pass due to the look and feel of the game; and if the Battle Tanx series can carry the FPS banner, just about any of the other Star Wars games are ripe for remaking as well with the original Rogue Squadron topping the list.
While we're on the topic, the PC had so many great games that centered around vehicles (and happened to employ a first-person perspective) that it would be difficult to list them all. Obvious classics like Mech Warrior and Wing Commander get a nod, but how about an updated Tanarus? Sadly, vehicle simulation is a dead genre.
Blood, Duke Nukem 3D and Perfect Dark I would love to see.
The Spring Project is a good TA successor, but I'd like to see a new and fresh look (different from SupCom)
As for FPSes...
Rrhhhh SHAZBOT! My Spinfusor thirsts for human flesh!! For the (Bioderm) horde!
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