Doom (1993)

Impact:  Doom busted the door wide open for the FPS (First Person Shooter) multiplayer genre. Being able to play a friend with a full screen dedicated to your perspective was really a revelation. Suddenly playing split-screen multiplayer games on consoles seemed archaic.

Gaming Bliss: 

• Being the first mega-hit FPS, just about every caffeine fueled moment of mayhem was a thrill. 
• Discovering what bleary-eyed really means with all night matches in the school computer lab.
• Breaking "durable" computer equipment like the mouse and keyboard due to excessive spastic playing.
• Having to bust open CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to get the game to work.  Old school computer geekery.

Quake (1996)

Impact: Connecting to other gamers over Al Gore's Internet (that shit never gets old!) changed everything.  The intense graphics forced many-a-player to upgrade their computer.

Gaming Bliss: 

• Talking trash to someone who isn't in the room (maybe not even in the same city!) after a good frag.
• Getting a good ping (it sounds dirty but it's not).
• The heroic leaps allowed by "rocket jumping" made you feel like a B-list superhero.
• Having full 3-D FPS-style dreams after a marathon session.
• Chosing a "handle" that suited everyone's short-tempered alter ego. (PRO TIP: Using the same handle for all games assures that you'll be instantly unpopular no matter where you venture)

GoldenEye 007 (1997)

Impact:  Until Halo came along for the Xbox, GoldenEye 007 (N64) was the only console multiplayer FPS to offer "fun".  The game offered several creative modes of play, a wide array of weapons and many different characters.

Gaming Bliss: 

• In addition to playing as 007, you could play as Bond villains like the infamous Jaws. Although playing as anybody but a "small" model character put you at a disadvantage, playing as the lumbering Jaws just had to be done.
• Finding the one-hit-wonder Golden Gun allowing you to smoke all comers with a single shot.
• Hiding like a scared little bunny while being "it" in the Living Daylights gameplay mode.
• Slap happy deathmatchs. We've all been waiting years for the first dedicated First Person Slapper to come along. Alas, nothing.

Favorite Maps:  Complex, Temple, Library 

Rainbow Six (1998)

Impact:  The terrific tactical gameplay in the single player campaign was unparalleled at the time. It also introduced a lot of gamers to everyone's favorite term for a bad guy -- "tango". 

Gaming Bliss:  

• Teabagging victims. For whatever reason every match was filled with people rapidly crouching/standing over their victims (round based games usually allow you to watch the action after being killed). The "taunt" in all its forms is really a great motivator for round based FPS games since the victim is forced to watch you go to town on their fallen avatar. 
• Although teamwork was kind of a new concept in multiplayer shooters, Rainbow Six's gameplay did an admirable job of forcing players to cooperate (when they weren't busy teabagging).
• Joining a "clan" -- no kilts or white hoods required.  It's commonplace now, but meeting up with strangers to "practice" playing a videogame was very new and weird in 1998.

Favorite Maps:  Killhouse, Mint, Airport

Half-Life (1998)

Impact: The terrific mods including Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic and Ricochet almost overshadow Half-Life's excellent multiplayer.  Half-Life took taunting to the next level with integrated voice (for verbal barbs) and customizable sprays (say hello to in-game porn).

Gaming Bliss:

• Doming some sucker with a crowbar is still the most satisfying melee attack in any FPS. The goofy server-side Bubble Mod took it a step further by allowing you to throw your crowbar.
• Setting up traps with trip mines and satchel charges.
• Snarks!  Lousy weapons but a lot of fun to unleash in a room. 
• Gauss jumping high into the air and then nailing an opponent through a wall. 
• Getting killed by an RPG-toting Kermit the Frog (a custom model) never lost its charm.

Favorite Maps: Crossfire, Killbox, Rats

Starsiege: Tribes (1998)

Impact: Even casual players (were there any?) can appreciate the different approach this game took to the FPS genre. The large maps required cooperation with vehicles and mastery of a vertical gameplay element -- the jetpack. 

Gaming Bliss: 

• Nailing your jump targets was challenging and immensely satisfying.
• Hitting an enemy moving on all three axises in Tribes was an artform. Sadly, this is what probably kept less hardcore players out and led to the series never catching on in the mainstream.  
• Tribes featured something completely lacking from most online games especially in the FPS genre -- a community willing to help you learn the game.  No matter what server you joined there was always at least one person willing to show you the ropes.

Virtual Sex with Jenna Jameson (1999)

Impact: Put a whole new spin on "First Person Shooter".

Gaming Bliss:

• Virtual sex with Jenna Jameson.
• Virtual sex with Jenna Jameson.

Favorite Maps:  The one where you have virtual sex with Jenna Jameson.

Team Fortress Classic (1999 Half-Life Mod)

Impact:  Tremendous variety of gameplay due to the nine available classes. A Quake mod was the source for Team Fortress -- TFC just smoothed out the rough edges.

Gaming Bliss: 

• Snatching a flag away from a sprinting Scout just before they reached the capture point. 
• Infecting a team with the Medic around the enemy's spawn could cause all kinds of squirrelly running around to avoid spreading the disease to other teammates.  
• Igniting all the ammo of a Pyro or Demoman with the EMP grenades of the Engineers could rack up a bunch of kills with a massive (and purty) explosion.
• As an Demoman you could litter an opposing team's spawn point with sticky bombs -- yeah, it's a cheap shot, but damn if it wasn't a good time. 
• The rocket jump of the Solider class could give you the upper hand on players not aware of their surroundings.
• The Spy class, with its ability to impersonate the other team, allowed for all kinds of sneaky shank opportunities.
• Getting that fully charge "red dot" lined up on an opposing sniper and watching him disintegrate as you let fly. Beautiful.

Favorite Maps: dustbowl, 2fort, murderball

Counter-Strike (1999 Half-Life Mod)

Impact:  The very pinnacle of late 90s mutliplayer gaming. The tense and exhilarating action is relentless and addicting as hell. Upgrading weapons in-game seems like a recipe for disaster and it can sometimes lead to a rout, but it provides a whole new level of strategy. For all its flaws (rampant cheating, hacking accusations, hitbox complaints) Counter-Strike can still provide the ultimate rush for a hardcore FPS gamer.

Gaming Bliss:

• Nothing is quite as thrilling as a flashbanged room followed by an unforgiving shank or a blazing glock. 
• "No-scoping" a close-range challenger with a Scout/AWP (I can dance all day, I can dance all day). 
• Defusing a bomb or defending a set bomb at the last possible second while under fire. 
• Using the hostages as shields. Damn, that line sounds pretty awful out of context.
• Running around with dual pistols blazing. 
• TMP/Mac10 run and gun sessions. Aiming at about head level while spraying away could get a lucky player a string of headshots.
• Shanking the resident "awp whore" (teabagging optional).
• Those rare warm, fuzzy moments when your team is functioning as one.  Covering all the choke points, hitting bombsites from multiple angles, checking each other's backs... good stuff.
• This is one of those games where you realize you're an FPS junkie. The relevation usually comes after a bathroom break where you frantically try to make it back to your PC before the next round starts.  Pondering pissing in a bottle is the clincher.

Favorite Maps: de_dust2, scoutzknivez, cs_office, cs_italy, de_dust, cs_militia

Unreal Tournament (1999)

Impact: The excellent weapons (especially the controllable Redeemer and the dual Enforcers), a powerful and easy to use GUI and different modes of gameplay had legions of gamers coming back night after night. The Assault gameplay mode was a breath of fresh air. Any game that lets you do a pelvic thrust is gold..

Gaming Bliss:

• Hearing the announcer boom headshot/Godlike was like getting a pat on the back from dear old dad. 
• Spamming a small room with the alternate attack on the rocket launcher.
• Pushing through defenders on an Assault map was probably the most satisfying coordinated team attack outside of Rainbow Six.
• Telefragging was an oft-unintentional joy.

Favorite Maps:  Facing Worlds, Overlord, November

Quake III Arena (1999)

Impact:  Once again id forced gamers to upgrade their hardware.  The very definition of "twitch" gameplay, reflexes are paramount over all else in this unrelenting game. If games were drugs Quake III would be crack with a speedball chaser.

Gaming Bliss: 

• The game is so punishing that just surviving for a few seconds to catch your breath is a minor miracle.
• Even a mediocre player equipped with rockets stumbling upon the Quad Damage upgrade instilled palpable fear in a server full of deathmatch veterans.
• A few rounds of this would cause an epileptic's head to explode. Sweet!

Favorite Maps:  Space CTF, Courtyard Conundrum

In part two of the obsessive geek's guide to FPS multiplayer games we'll delve into the year 2000 and beyond. It should be up sometime in the next few days.