This week, we decided to take a trip down memory lane in a first person perspective. As a whole, what is now arguably today's most successful gaming genre started out with a bang. Created by id software back in 1992, Wolfenstein 3D took the world by storm. You literally could not go into a computer shop at the time and not find Wolfenstein 3D or one of its subsequent offshoots playing on a demo machine. For more on Wolfenstein and it's place in our top ten, let's see what td0t has to say:

10 - Wolfenstein 3D

This is the game that started it all, the quintessential shooter. id Software, the same company that created Doom and Quake, released Wolfenstein to the public in 1992. Well before the days of digital distribution, shareware was the name of the game. If you wanted to get your software into everybody's hands, all you had to do was make it shareware. Wolfenstein took off like hot cakes and never looked back. Everybody knew a friend who had this game on a floppy he got from a buddy of his dad's at work. Shareware was an awesome way to discover games, it's just a shame it had to go the way of the dinosaur.

We'd never seen anything like this before, a first person shooter. Taking the role of a silent protagonist, it was your goal to escape Castle Wolfenstein and take out some of the most fearsome Nazis we've ever seen. The gameplay for the time was pretty standard. Use your keyboard to move your character around and press a button to fire. You didn't need to worry about aiming up or down, everybody was on the same plane. Before regenerative health, we had health packs and lives. Carry as many weapons as you'd like? Why of course. Secret rooms, treasures and violence were plentiful in what was the first World War 2 shooter. Hell, this was a World War 2 game that actually featured Hitler, even if he was in a crazy robotic suit and was 8 feet tall. Wave after wave of Nazi zombies gets old, but taking out one of the most hated men in the history of the world never does.*

Even though the WW2 shooter genre is extremely played out, without Wolfenstein, you wouldn't have Modern Warfare today.

*Please don't take this as an open invitation to create another WW2 shooter. Please.

Moving along in our list we come across a title that really took quite some time to find its niche. Based on the Tom Clancy novel by the same name, Rainbow Six. Starting back in 1998, Rainbow Six introduced us to what we now know as the tactical first person shooter. The initial offerings in the series are solid enough for those interested in this style of gameplay. Rainbow Six 3 and its expansions were of particular worth, however, it wasn't until 2007 and the release of Rainbow Six Vegas that the series reached mainstream status. For more on the secret to success for RSV, we go to Nightshade:

9 - Rainbow Six Vegas

Need a good squad based shooter?  Like to play the slots?  Look no further than Rainbow Six Vegas!

Set during a terrorist attack on Las Vegas, you will lead a small squad through the streets and casinos to clean up the mess and ultimately stop the terrorists from blowing up the Nevada Dam, (based on the Hoover Dam).

Where R6V shines though is in it's use of your squad tactics for maximum damage.  Often you won't need to do much work on your own because you'll have set your squad up to succeed by tagging and prioritizing enemies and using a well placed breaching charge or two.  And while the game has no built in cover mechanic, hiding from enemy fire never feels clumsy like in many other FPS's.  If you haven't given this game a try, we recommend it wholeheartedly.

As we continue on our journey to the greatest FPS of all time, we come across a hidden gem in System Shock 2. Released during a time when character customization was really an after thought in games, System Shock 2 broke the mold.

8 - System Shock 2

As a hybrid of RPG and FPS gameplay, System Shock 2 was a groundbreaking title when released in 1999. You are a soldier assigned to a military spaceship that is escorting a faster than the speed of light experimental craft. Things go badly on a rescue mission though, and eventually you wind up waking up in a cryo-tube, with complete amnesia. What happens afterwards is for the gamer to discover but it is pure horror gaming bliss.

What sets the game apart outside of the excellent story though, is the ability to upgrade your characters psionic abilities, hacking skills, and other areas of expertise. How the player chooses to upgrade effects how you play the game.

With a plot that is heavy in cyber punk, and dystopian future themed events, you are given multiple options to solving almost all of the problems in the game. This level of choice, and character customization is what earns System Shock 2 a spot on our all time FPS list. What is common place now, in 1999 was unheard of.

Going all the way back to 1996, we arrive at number 7 on our list. With the release of Duke Nukem 3D, Apogee Software changed the video game landscape forever. Never before in gaming had we played a game with such a foul mouthed protagonist, featuring lewd sexual acts. While most of the humor in game was tongue-in-cheek, trendsetters rarely avoid the wrath of the concerned parent groups, and this was no exception. The group known as Media Watch to this day is asking people to boycott Toys R Us for selling games such as this at its stores [link to prove a point]. For more on the game and why it's on our list, here is td0t:

7 - Duke Nukem 3D

You knew you were in for a serious game as soon as the title screen loaded; that intro music was a hype factory. 1996 was a great year for shooters. Quake was released shortly after Duke Nukem and while Quake has lauded for the introduction of polygonal graphics over sprites, Duke Nukem took a more humorous stab at the genre. From the start, Duke let's you know that he's here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, but he's all out of gum. While some of the jokes haven't aged well, as a 13 year old, they were hilarious..

The levels were fairly non-linear, allowing players to try to find alternate routes from point a to point b. The environment featured destructible elements. The weapons included a freeze ray which was loads of fun when combined with your trusty kick to the face, a shrink ray and a rocket launcher that was quite the Scooty Puff Sr; that's a doombringer for you lay-folk. Add in the ability to pay a stripper for a small show and you've got yourself one near perfect game.

Changing speeds for a moment, we go a little more family friendly with our next entry to the list. Anyone who gamed in the mid to late 90's remembers this title with fondness. We of course, speak of none other than Goldeneye.

6 - Goldeneye

A seminal title in not just FPS gaming, but all gaming, Goldeneye has the distinction of not only being one of the top ten FPS games of all time, it may also be the greatest movie tie in game of all time.

As far as being a literal translation of the movie, Goldeneye is fairly successful. The mechanics of the game are solid enough considering the horrid controller it was saddled with.

What most players will remember about this title is the non-stop fun it introduced using 4-player deathmatch on one screen. Goldeneye was really the first tremendously fun and well done FPS on a console, which also featured multiplayer fun that greatly extended the life of the game itself. Everyone who is a gamer, owes it to themself to spend a night with friends enjoying a few rounds of split screen deathmatch.

Our next entry to the list introduced story telling in a FPS in a way that we've never experienced before. The second entry on the list developed by one my personal favorites, Ken Levine, Bioshock showed us that a non-military story and action packed gameplay in an FPS not only go hand in hand, but can excel when done properly. For more on the title, here's Nightshade:

5 - Bioshock

Released in the fall of 2007 for the 360 and PC, and then later on the PS3, Bioshock was the runaway winner of Game of the Year for many publications.  In fact, Bioshock may be one of those rare games that transcends genre.  But at it's core it's still one of the best FPS's we've ever played.  Add in the RPG-like plasmid upgrades and you've got some very compelling and creative gameplay.

Set in an underwater utopia based on ideas straight out of the mind of Ayn Rand is the city of Rapture.  You are the unfortunate soul who survives a mid-Atlantic plane crash only to end up in the underwater bowels of hell that Rapture has become.  You'll fight the stalking menaces that are the Big Daddies, as well as a number of Rapture's juiced up residents.

The thing about FPS's is that usually there's a lower sense of expectations from a storytelling standpoint.  FPS's often consist of a series of gameplay missions broken up by cutscenes to set the stage for the next piece of action or to keep driving the protagonist's motivations.  Bioshock does it very differently; by using radio signals and audio logs to move the plot along, you're never actually taken out of the action.  The audio diaries make the city feel somehow more alive than just another game setting.

Ultimately hidden just beneath the surface of fantastic gameplay and storytelling in Bioshock is a simple social message:  When an idea like Objectivisim is given free reign to run amok, bad things happen.  Really bad things.  This combination of gameplay and story is what makes Bioshock not just a memorable game, but one of the best FPS's we've ever played.

Continuing on our path towards number one, we find things a little darker than before. In 1994, id Software brought us a sequel that was a dramatic improvement on an already stellar product. We're talking of course about Doom 2.

4 - Doom 2

By now you know what the game is all about. If you don't...well look it up. The game that really set the stage for everyone else. Insert Space Marine, add a dash of evil minions, rescue the universe, bake for 40 minutes and you have a fresh batch of Doom. The Doom series wasn't without controversey at the time, as it dealt heavily with the Occult and Hell. But that's not why it makes the list.

What this game brought to the table that earns it a spot at the All-time table, is the ability to play co-op or LAN together for deathmatch. To put that into perspective, imagine what FPS games would be like today as a soley single player endeavor.

Granted, eventually another title would come along and introduce the genre to multiplayer FPS action, but to come from a trendsetter such as Doom insured the innovation was more than just a fad.

For number three on our list, we are going to go a little more mainstream. Possibly the most hyped game of all time, Halo 2 brought FPS gaming to the masses, and did it quite successfully.

3 - Halo 2

As with Doom, by now you know the story. If you do not, take a few moments and look it up on wikipedia. When Halo 2 launched, the hype at the time was unmatched. Riding the coat tails of tremendous expectations set forth by the success of the first in the series, the second in line did not fail to deliver.

In Halo 2, you came for the story, and stayed for the multiplayer. What sets Halo apart from the rest of the FPS world are the immaculate controls. The aiming and gameplay is smooth and never waivers. For the pure FPS player it may not be the game of choice, but there can be no denying that Halo has made a mark on gaming. What Halo did was make hardcore gaming accessible to the general public. Being considered a gamer is no longer considered as taboo as it once was, and part of this can be attributed to Halo and its mainstream success.

Our runner up for greatest FPS of all time, is no slouch. Two years after its initial release the game still is one of the most played games online, and still sells for a price point of $40 PREOWNED. To put that in perspective, most titles drop to $20-$30 NEW after a year.  For more on this great title, here is Nightshade:

2 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Those rare websites and magazines that didn't give the 2007 Game of the Year award to Bioshock gave it almost unanimously to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.  Hard to believe that Activision almost didn't let Infinity Ward take the CoD series modern, huh?

CoD 4 does a lot of things right.  From the amazing ability of Infinity Ward to create amazing storytelling through set pieces of gameplay in the single player campaign, to the absolutely precise shooter controls, it's hard to find fault with Call of Duty 4.  You'll be hard pressed to find a more shocking moment in a game than the ending of the last U.S. mission.

But where the game truly shined is online.  Two years after it's release, Call of Duty 4 still has a ravenous online following.  The addition of online perks and upgrades encourages a sense of community by making people want to keep coming back and try out the next new thing they've unlocked, or to experience grind for the next big thing after that.  It's easy to see why we consider Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare one of the best shooters on the market.

Our winner of greatest FPS of all time is brought to us by a little company known as Valve. Released in 2004, the game is as good today as it was then. The secret to success for a lot of these games has been the focus on story as much as quality of gameplay and Half-Life 2 is no exception. With its subsequent expansion chapters, the story in Half-Life 2 is second to none and features my personal all-time 'Holy $%*#" moment in gaming history. In my personal opinion, if you haven't played this game and it's subsequent releases, you should be ashamed of yourself. For more on the success of Half-Life 2, td0t takes us home:

1 - Half-Life 2

Choosing Half-Life 2 over the original was a difficult decision. Much like the first game, the story was gripping. Players once again take on the role of Gordon Freeman, a silent hero who triggered the resonance cascade incident years earlier. Storytelling in Half-Life 2 wasn't delivered through cutscenes, it ocurred with in-game events. Graphically speaking, HL2 was jaw dropping. The Source engine may be showing its age a bit now, but when HL2 was released, we were treated to a magnificent display. Along with a wonderful game engine, the Havok physics engine made the game feel so much more realistic. Death animations were gone and AI became much smarter. The same level never played the same way twice and from a weapons standpoint, the modified gravity gun is probably the most satisfying piece of equipment I've ever had the pleasure of using in a game.

The single player experience of Half-Life 2 was great, but the multiplayer offerings were what kept the kids coming back. Counter-Strike: Source was released along with HL2 and gave me many sleepless nights. I'd played Counter-Strike way back when it was still Beta 1, so seeing where the game is today compared to its foundation is inspiring; a couple of guys made a Half-Life mod that caught on and was bought by Valve. Keep your dreams alive kids. Some of the maps may have been removed or changed from Beta, to full version to Source, but the core of the game is still alive and well. I'll take the organization of a CS:S objective based match any day over a standard and messy death match.

That's it for this week, be sure to check back daily for more news and reviews here at Gamerswishlist.com.

Next week, our Weekly Top Ten will be featuring our Top Ten Greatest RPG's of All Time. Be sure to check it out.