Now, I know that was a mouthful of a title but to put it more simple is to make it a bigger explanation. I am here to list the top five developers of the top FPS games and then I will explain why their franchises succeeded and also I will see them at a different angle.So here we go:
5. 3D Realms: Duke Nukem series: 3D Realms was at one point, not a FPS developer. Actually, the only Duke Nukem game developed by 3D Realms as a FPS was Duke Nukem 3D and while Duke Nukem Forever is a FPS in development, then ask me why 1 FPS game by 3DR is so revolutionary? Why, it was a game that provided politically incorrect humor and the most references to icons in pop culture. While it was obviously labeled a DOOM clone, this "clone" showed how much you could get away with in gaming and give it a sense of humor without space marines all serious. If you look at the game from a different angle, I should Duke was iconic because since DNF is taking so long Duke got lost in the new millenium and lost appeal and credibility to almost everyone except diehards like me.
4. Infinty Ward: Call of Duty series: You know the whole World War II trend in FPS gaming now, well your looking at the grandaddy. Infinity Ward developed the massively popular Call of Duty and its direct sequel into insanely popular WWII games and other developers followed suit. What really made them popular was when Infinity Ward left the trend they started and focused on modern middle eastern warfare. Thus Call of Duty 4 was made. The game brought about an epic way of immersing people into a virtual war and brought about an perfectly executed multiplayer. If you look at it from a different angle, one could say Wolfenstein was the grandaddy of WWII games and well Infinity Ward were the ones who made it more mainstream (that and the fact that if you can tell me at which point in Wolfenstein 3D did you fight on the Normandy beaches).
3. Bungie: Marathon/Halo trilogies: You know Bunie. I know Bungie. If you have lived since 2001 you know Bunie. Bungie first made games that like 3D Realms, weren't FPSs. GNOP was a MAC version of Pong made by 1 guy in his basement and named his "studio" Bungie. Skip ahead a little and we find Marathon, which is considered the MAC's response to PC's DOOM until MArathon was ported. It proved FPS's could be as fun on MACs as PCs back in the day. THen came this idea for a RTS called HALO. A few years later, this little game called HALO developed from a RTS to a TPS to finally a FPS. After it began production, Microsoft studios purchased Bungie in order to make HALO for the console known as Xbox. Soon after launch, HALO picked up steam, won awards, was praised by fans and critics, and became a pop culture phenomenon. This therefore proved that FPSs could play well on a console besides Goldeneye and Perfect Dark 64. From another perspective, if Halo became a PC FPS instead of the Xbox FPS we know it would have been labeled a highly polished DOOM clone, but never was on the console front.
2. Valve: Half Life series/Every other game they have made: Valve has not made a single flop for the PC. Not one. Every other game I have listed and even the #1 has had a flop. Valve hasn't. Back in the 90s Valve was formered by Gabe Newell and a friend. They thought that FPS games should tell a story amd imerse the player in this universe they create. In a contrast to DOOM, Valve began making a FPS with a story and the game began to take off. This game was Half Life. When it was released, it recieved inarguable perfect scores and was the #1 ranked game until its very sequel Half Life 2 was released. When Half Life was released with free source code, modders went nuts and created successes such as Team Fortress Classic, Natural Selection, and of course Counter Stike. Then Valve had a leaked source code of Half Life 2 released and nearlly killed the company. Even after Valve managed to move on to bigger success and created the idea that FPSs can have plot. (As for a retrospective, there is none. They are that good in every way)
1. id software: Wolfenstein/DOOM/Quake: id software is the grandaddy of the FPS. Without id, none of the previous games would exsist. Does the fact that they created FPS put them at #1? No, nut it helps. The other major thing is...well... the games are good. Aside from the flop of Quake 3, every game has sold magnificently well. Their design works, their ideas work and they know what scares you. C'mon, look at me and tell me you weren't strartled once playing DOOM 3, my favorite. In each of the previous paragrapghs I have mentioned an id game. It serves and always will serve as the reference for FPS devloping. Their is no way in the history books of videogaming that their won't be a chapter on id. If you dont like this pick then got to HELL.
*Honorable Mentions: Rare, Guerilla Games, Ubisoft, Insomniac, Monolith
