This one’s going to be a little different and here’s why. So once again, I thought I would start in 1990. I mean, that seems to be a pretty good year to start with and it worked with everything else, so why not? I’LL TELL YOU WHY NOT. Wolfenstein 3D wasn’t even released until 1992. BUT that’s not to say there weren’t FPSs before then. So let’s briefly go over…those that came before.

Corporation

You know, there are two things very wrong with this game. Firstly, since it has such a generic name like Corporation, it’s a pain in the ass to find information on it outside of Wiki. As a result, I couldn’t find any youtube vids for it, so I apologize about that. Nevermind that my emulator apparently doesn’t like to record for some reason, but that’s another issue for another time.

The second main thing wrong with this game is that it SUCKS. It takes forever to turn, the graphics are pretty terrible (though still impressive they could do something like that on the Sega), and there’s absolutely no explanation of any of the items, controls, or whatever. It’s shoddy, hard to figure out, and still very easy because it auto-aims.

Cybercon 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmZ3LjlMFW4

Next up we have Cybercon 3, which looks like Descent if it was made by a kindergartner. Ugh, sounds like it too. While it does look fairly interesting, especially given the year it was released (1991), it also doesn’t look like it’s very pick up and play. I know, I know…just going off of how a game looks shouldn’t be a factor in whether I play it or not, but…well, just watch that video and you’ll see why I didn’t.

Silent Debuggers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Sa9Dvw4OU

Not going to lie, this one actually looks pretty fun, but it doesn’t 100% qualify. See, they’re employing a cheap trick that was used in a lot of dungeon crawlers where it’s just shifting to a new frame based on different environmental factors. It still looks decent in this one, but ultimately it’s not really a first person shooter. And again, it can be debated that it is from a first person perspective and there are shooting elements, but I can also claim that Resident Evil 4 was about survival and it was horror-themed, while not being a survival/horror game in the classical sense.

Catacomb 3D

Oh snap, I’d totally forgotten about this one. See, my babysitter way back when had a VGA computer loaded with a few of these as well as Wolfenstein 3D. Man…I’m going to have to download this when I’m done with this article. So yeah, this doesn’t suck then. In fact, it was released in 1991, a whole year before the immensely popular Wolfenstein 3D. Yeah, check this one out, but in the meantime, let’s move on.

Terminator 2029

Again, this looks like it might be fun, but it doesn’t 100% qualify. It’s basically a dungeon crawler a la Eye of the Beholder or Dungeon Master, but with a Terminator theme to it. It looks like it might be fun, though, especially since it’s Bethesda, so I’ll have to check it out when I’m done writing.

Conclusion

So that was 1990 and 1991. I actually skipped one because according to wikipedia, Gunbuster was a FPS. No, actually it’s a rail shooter. Just because you can turn the camera slightly to find targets, it doesn’t mean you have full control of your surroundings. BUT…it also looked pretty badass. It’s for the arcade, if anyone’s interested in tracking it down. I’ll probably briefly touch on 1992, since Wolfenstein 3D was that year, but so was Ultima Underworld, which I’ve already reviewed.