First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre centered around gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective; that is, the player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist. FPS games typically map the gamer’s movements and provide a view of what an actual person would see and do in the game.
The genre shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn makes it fall under the heading action game. Since the genre’s inception, advanced 3D and pseudo-3D graphics have challenged hardware development, and multiplayer gaming has been integral.
FPS games can be played in two general modes, mission or quest mode and multiplayer mode. The mission mode is often the default mode for a single player. It usually involves the player battling through progressively harder game levels towards some ultimate goal. The multiplayer mode involves multiple gamers participating via a network and playing in a shared game environment. The multiplayer mode can take many forms, including:
- Deathmatches.
- Capture the flag.
- Team deathmatch.
- Search and destroy.
- Base (a.k.a assault or headquarters).
- Last man standing.
The shooter’s origins lie in labyrinths. Among the earliest pioneers of first-person video gaming is 1973’s Maze, a game written by high school students Greg Thompson, Steve Colley and Howard Palmer during a NASA work-study program, using Imlac PDS-1 and PDS-4 minicomputers.
Here are our top picks for the best open source first-person shooters, so you can frag fools and save money.
| First-Person Shooter Games | |
| AssaultCube | Multiplayer, first-person shooter game, based on the CUBE engine |
| Blood Frontier | Single-player and multi-player first-person shooter game |
| BZFlag | 3D networked multi-player multi-platform tank battle game |
| Cube MetalHeart 2 | Fast paced, multi-player shooter based on the Cube 2 Engine |
| Digital Paintball 2 | Fast-paced first-person game with capture the flag, elimination, siege, and deathmatch (free-for-all) styles of gameplay. |
| EDuke32 | Awesome, free homebrew game engine and source port of the classic PC first person shooter Duke Nukem 3D |
| Excalibur: Morgana’s Revenge | Combines time travel to take the player through the jurassic period, camelot period, and into the future chasing down Morgana |
| Hexen II: Hammer of Thyrion | Cross-platform port of Hexen II |
| Marathon: Aleph One | Descendant of Bungie’s Marathon 2 first-person 3D shooting game |
| OpenArena | Community-produced deathmatch FPS based on GPL idTech3 technology |
| Open Quartz | Ego shooter that can function as a remake of the Quake game content |
| RedEclipse | Single-player and multi-player first-person ego-shooter |
| Revenge Of The Cats: Ethernet | Home-made experimental FPS game. |
| Smokin’ Guns | Total conversion of id Software’s Quake III Arena |
| Tremulous | Blends a team based FPS with elements of an RTS |
| UrbanTerror | Multiplayer first person shooter developed by FrozenSand, that will run on any Quake III Arena compatible engine |
| Warsow | Set in a futuristic cartoonish world, Warsow is a completely free fast-paced first-person shooter |
| World of Padman | Originally conceived as a modification of Quake III Area, entitled PadMod |
| Zero Ballistics | Unique blend of first person shooter and tank combat, focusing on multiplayer gaming exclusively |
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