The early 2000s finally saw FPS games become standard on consoles thanks to the incredible breakthrough with games like Halo: Combat Evolved. The PS2 was not left in the dust, either, and the dual analog sticks made it a great home for the genre.

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The Best FPS Games From The 1990s

The '90s felt like a decade basically dedicated to the rise of the first-person shooter genre. These great games showcase why.

Plenty of first-person shooters on the console have remained in gamers' hearts, like TimeSplitters and Red Faction, but it is also important to highlight hidden gems that have not remained in the collective gaming consciousness. Most of these games are just as good, if not better, than the often talked about titles of the generation. It is just a shame they did not spawn any sequels.

7 Cold Winter

Metacritic Score: 73

This political thriller has everything one would want from an early 2000s first-person shooter; a great story, interactive environments, customizable multiplayer options for four players, and lots of blood. Seriously, the dismemberment in Cold Winter is brutally detailed and goes hand-in-hand with its grounded, gritty take on spy stories.

The narrative starts with the protagonist being captured and tortured in a Chinese prison, and it really only gets darker from there. It perhaps would have done a little better if it came out a few years later on the PS3, where cynical, nihilistic shooters like Max Payne 3 and Kane and Lynch were more accepted.

6 Black

Metacritic Score: 7.9

Criterion is known for the Burnout racing series, though it eventually moved onto the Need for Speed games and helped out with Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront. They also made a first-person shooter in between all those racing games called Black. Its main appeal was its graphical fidelity, attention to sound design, and environmental destruction.

It is short, but every level feels unique, and the length is about on par with the average military shooter that started coming out a few years later. The game received middling reviews, but it stands out as a unique example of the genre to this day.

5 Area 51

Metacritic Score: 72

When one hears the name Area 51 they are probably reminded of the arcade light-gun shooter. However, the series did try to expand into a more traditional first-person shooter on consoles in 2007.

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The game has a heavy feel and even has a scanning feature reminiscent of Metroid Prime. Players also get to use alien weaponry for some variety beyond the typical FPS games of the time. If anyone is wondering why they have not heard of it, it is probably because the PS3 sequel, Blacksite: Area 51 was lambasted at launch for a bevy of technical issues, stopping any hope of an ongoing series.

4 Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force

Metacritic Score: 52

There have been almost too many Star Trek games to count in just as many different genres. There are adventure games, space battle simulators, and even first-person shooters. Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is a straightforward FPS.

Even though it is an FPS, there are quiet moments where fans get to absorb the world of Star Trek, which was pretty unique for the time. At the turn of the century, most FPS games were mostly focused on action, but that tide was slowly turning with titles like Deus Ex and Thief.

3 Peter Jackson's King Kong

Metacritic Score: 82

Successfully adapting a film into a video game is still a tough task, and it was thought impossible back in the mid-2000s. Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie manages to be both a mouthful to pronounce and a surprisingly appealing tie-in game to the film.

It follows the movie faithfully and switches between first-person segments where players control humans and third-person segments from Kong's perspective. The biggest complaint lobbied against it was its short length, but these days that means it in no way overstays its welcome.

2 Medal Of Honor: Rising Sun

Metacritic Score: 68

For a lot of people, the Medal of Honor Series ended after Frontline and Allied Assault. It went on in annual installments for some years, however, covering different parts of the conflict. After Frontline, consoles received Rising Sun, which took place in Japan. It feels a lot different from Frontline in terms of basic feel, but it still holds up.

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23 Games Set In World War 2 (That Aren't Call of Duty: Vanguard)

Call of Duty: Vanguard isn't for everyone. Luckily for history buff gamers, World War 2 is a popular setting for shooters and strategy titles.

It opens with a harrowing recreation of the Pearl Harbor attacks. In addition to its single-player campaign, the multiplayer was also a fun way to pass time. One particular weapon, the Welrod, was notable for its one-shot kills balanced by one bullet per every gruelingly long reload animation.

1 Urban Chaos: Riot Response

Metacritic Score: 73

Before Rocksteady Studios became a household name with its Batman Arkham games, it made a little PS2 FPS called Urban Chaos: Riot Response. It set itself apart from other games of the time with a progression system that encouraged replaying missions while striving for different goals to earn more upgrades.

It was also ludicrously violent and indulged in slow-motion death animations that focused on corpses as they went limp after their death, similar to Max Payne 3. It also unexpectedly has an earworm of a main theme; a bluesy rock anthem called "Modern Romance" by The Metro Riots.

MORE: Oldest First-Person Shooters (That You Can Still Play)