Now this is going to derive some controversy and that is understandable. But unless you have an intelligent response please do us all a favor and not respond.
10. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (2006, 360) Pretty much the best military FPS (some) out there, and deserves it's place along all the death match oriented games.
9. Quake (1996) Quake, one of the pioneers of internet gaming. Still being played around and still hosting tournaments can bring nostalgia and competition out of the wood work.
8. Unreal Tournament (1999, PC) A straight death match, and nothing like hearing MONSTER KILL! when you start wasting opponents. This was just a fun game, and it still holds strong on online multiplayer today and staying poer like that is hard to ignore 10 years later.
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007, 360/PS3) A game that brings a different kind of multiplayer to the scene. A good story and mixed with a very complex ranking system online it what it is about.
6. Counter Strike ( 1999/2000, PC) A mod of a game later in the in the countdown, Counter Strike brings teams together and tournaments are still being run today. This was a great team based game.
5. Halo 2 ( 2004, Xbox) For what Goldeneye did for console gaming together, Halo 2 does for the Xbox bringing people online with death matches and a ranking system that is questionable at times. But this just shows that a game doesn't have to have a long or interesting story as long as it has strong multiplayer.
4. Half Life ( 1998, PC) This is perhaps the Holy Grail of a FPS, this game brings a fantastic story and incredible gameplay and brought many mods that still are in use today.
3. Goldeneye 007 ( 1997, N64). The game that brought the whole mutliplayer FPS experience to the home console. 4 player death match was the first of it's time on a home console.
2. Doom (1992, PC). The same studio that made the next in the list, this is Doom. This is one of the reasons why there is an ESRB rating system. The game show cased the most blood and and gore at it the time.
1. Wolfenstein 3d (1992, DOS) The original FPS, made in 1992 this was the game that started it all. And deserves all the praise it gets. It is 2009 and they are still releasing sequels to this game. This is one of the reasons that is is number 1.
