DOS was in use ever since the year 1980 but only grew popular during the early ’90s, becoming depreciated with Windows XP. Naturally, the platform became the ground where first-person shooters really became a genre of their own. As computers grew popular in the mid and late ’90s, the genre flourished.

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When DOS began falling out of use, coinciding with the release of Windows 1995, PC shooters were already extremely popular. Most famously, the shareware version of DOOM has been said to have been installed on more machines than Windows itself. Surprisingly, a genre only born in 1991, either with id Software’s Hovertank 3D or Catacombs 3D, managed to release so many titles before the DOS became unpopular.

10 Wolfenstein 3D

the cover art for Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D might be the granddaddy of all first-person shooters (except perhaps for the dungeon crawler/shooter hybrid Catacombs 3D), but it’s still as enjoyable as any of its successors. The slow pacing and awkward controls that were the result of now-antiquated tech have gone full circle, feeling novel again.

Wolfenstein 3D is most well known as the originator of MachineGames’ 2015 reboot of the series, but not many know that the original was a reboot itself. 1981 Castle Wolfenstein is a clear inspiration for id Software’s classic shooter, from the maze-like castle to the integration of light stealth mechanics.

9 Heretic

a screenshot from Heretic

Heretic is the rare fantasy shooter, a genre that has remained underserved to this day, besides the Heretic series itself. Even now, the idea of playing as an elf wizard with a staff-machine gun seems like a parody. Heretic decides to take this setup completely straight and ends up a more self-serious game than DOOM or Wolfenstein 3D.

Owing to the tradition of dungeon crawlers and RPGs, the levels in Heretic feel complex and labyrinthian, at least when compared to the murder corridors of its contemporaries. They also take more care to look like realistic spaces first and combat arenas second.

8 Rise Of The Triads

the cover art for Rise Of The Triads

Rise of the Triads wasn’t always the cult classic it is today. In 1995, the year of its full release, the market was saturated with DOOM clones. Audiences were similarly lukewarm. Though it’s unexpected, Rise of the Triads and its playful approach to 3D shooters might be easier to appreciate now than it was back then.

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Rise of the Triads was developed on a modified version of the Wolfenstein 3D engine and was intended to be an expansion of id Software’s title. That’s probably why the game, otherwise set in modern times, has so many World War 2 references, from SS-inspired enemies to the omnipresence of the MP 40 submachine gun.

7 Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri

a screenshot from Terra Nova Strike Force Centauri

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a unique shooter from unique developer Looking Glass Studio, of Thief and System Shock fame. There is plenty that makes Terra Nova unique: it’s a mech game that’s not too much of a simulation, a tactical shooter with convincing AI, and an early story-focused entry in the FPS genre.

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is truly like nothing else on the market. Even later entries in the mech battle simulator genre, like Battle Engine Aquila or Gun Metal, don’t inspire the same feeling of being part of a thinking whole, with AI partners that are fundamental to finding success.

6 BLOOD

a screenshot from BLOOD

BLOOD might be the weirdest of the MS-DOS shooter releases. Not because it’s an odd game, though it certainly is, but because it was a 1997 DOS exclusive using the Build engine from Duke Nukem 3D. Within a year from release, BLOOD would find its competitors in the likes of Quake 2, UnReal, and the original Half-Life.

BLOOD was a late title for DOS, but it made good use of those extra years of experience with the system. It’s certainly one of the busiest shooters of its time, with unique special effects and an unrivaled amount of blood and gore. It’s also one of the few that manages to create a truly oppressive atmosphere.

5 Descent

a screenshot from Descent

Descent is a 3D shooter in every sense of the word. It has fully realized, explorable 3D spaces. Its 3D models are made of polygons, not 2D sprites oriented towards the camera. Even its movement, the most noticeable aspect, is the most 3D it could ever be: players control not a soldier on the ground, but a small spacecraft in space, which moves with 360 degrees of control.

Descent might take place in space, technically, but its levels bear a striking resemblance to the shooting corridors of its FPS contemporaries. And while the movement is very complex, it’s not overwhelming. Even without gravity, there is an up and down in Descent. Conveniently, down is usually where players are supposed to go first.

4 Duke Nukem 3D

the cover art for Duke Nukem 3D

If DOOM revolutionized shooters from a technological standpoint, Duke Nukem 3D anticipated the natural design evolution that was to come. Instead of fighting aliens on a random military base, somewhere on one of the moons of Mars, players are taking the fight to the street of a named location, the city of Shrapnel.

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Duke Nukem 3D is the first FPS with a living, breathing protagonist. He speaks in action movie quotes and often interacts with the environment, serving as the point of view character the whole way through. But giving voice to the walking macho-man stereotype has the drawback of having to listen to him and explore the world through his eyes, a drawback that, depending on the player, goes from slightly annoying to actually unsettling.

3 Quake

a screenshot from Quake

Quake is remembered for many reasons. For one, it’s the first shooter that popularized polygonal graphics, cementing id Software as the greatest FPS developer of its time. The presentation, a mix of medieval, gothic, and Lovecraftian elements set to music by Nine Inch Nails managed to capture the spirit of the decade like few other things.

Most famously, Quake is where online multiplayer was first popularized. In 1996, internet connections were still limited, and online services weren’t taken for granted. On top of making a polished multiplayer shooter, id Software had to clear the way for some of the earliest matchmaking tools ever made like QuakeSpy, later renamed GameSpy.

2 Star Wars: Dark Forces

a screenshot from Star Wars Dark Forces

LucasArts isn’t just adventure games and bad platformers. In 1996, right in the middle of the FPS craze of the ’90s, the time was right to make it clear. Far from being a DOOM clone, Star Wars: Dark Forces introduced story cutscenes and large, explorable levels to the FPS formula. Its name might be confusing, but this is the first title in the popular Jedi Knight series of Star Wars shooters.

Star Wars: Dark Forces marks LucasArts’s foray into the FPS genre, even if it didn’t usher in a new era of story-focused PC shooters. It did introduce an audience of Star Wars and adventure games fans to the world of first-person shooters.

1 DOOM

the cover art from doom

DOOM doesn’t need any special introduction. It doesn’t even need to be justified as the greatest FPS on the MS-DOS system and an essential step for the whole genre. It’s the spirit of early ’90s teen angst as delivered through sheer talent. Not only is DOOM a gem of design, but it’s also a technical marvel and makes extremely clever use of its cutting-edge technology.

DOOM might not be true 3D but the world it simulates feels much more real than id’s next shooter, Quake. Chapter 1 in particular, the levels distributed as shareware, use clever design and some creative skyboxes to give a sense of realism. DOOM isn’t perfect: the story is barely anything, and finding three keycards per level gets repetitive by Chapter 3. Still, the core gameplay is plenty of fun to entertain FPS fans to this day.

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