This is my shrine/catalog page for early 'cinematic' FPS games, from about 1998-2008. This style leveraged rapidly advancing tech from the turn of the millenium to create more engaging stories and gameplay. I've always been fond of how creative and experimental some of these games were, so I made this as a place to collate posts about them, and list ones that I want to get to (eventually).
To better explain the type of game I am talking about, some common features that I think fit this style are: Solo/Co-op campaign (no multiplayer only), 'Realistic' graphics, Cinematic cutscenes or scripted cinematic moments in-game (Skaarj debut in Unreal, Foe Hammer's Pelican going down in Halo), 'Voice-in-your-ear' story guidance character (Hendrix in Red Faction, Aida in Unreal II, Cortana in Halo, etc.)
In the latter half of the 00s, these types of games had proven they were monolithic money makers, so the era of experimentation came to an end. The successful franchises generally became more 'safe' (regarding creative risk) mass-appeal tentpoles, for the benefit of investors.
Missions Complete
- Unreal
- Unreal II: The Awakening
- Red Faction
- Red Faction II
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Halo 2
- Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
- SWAT 4
Objectives
- Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force (in progress)
- Half Life
- Half Life 2
- Doom 3
- Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force II
- Halo 3
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
- Aliens Versus Predator (1999)
- Prey (2007)
- F.E.A.R
- Chaser
Log
Red Faction section; goty 2024 post
Red Faction II mention; goty 2024 post - worst games section