Help me find a good single player PC FPS.

[Kelthaz]

I consider myself far more of a console gamer than a PC gamer, but recently I've been in the mood to blow some shit up. What I'm looking for is a good single player PC FPS with an excellent campaign. I do have a few criteria though and this is where all my difficulty in finding a good FPS lies.

• Linear (No sandboxes)
• Short Length (say 20 hours max)
• No RPG elements
• Very challenging with intelligent AI
• Light on story (aka. no 30 minute cut scenes)
• No World War II games

Basically I'm looking for something somewhat similar to FarCry, Half-Life 2, or GoldenEye/Perfect Dark. I'm trying to avoid games like Deus Ex and BioShock. I also don't care how old the game is or how bad the graphics are as long as the game is good. Any suggestions?

 

[Sephiroth]

Get Duke Nukem 3D and download the hi-res pack

 

[Jono]

CoD: Modern Warfare I/II/Black Ops
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Doom
Star Trek: Elite Force I/II
Star Wars: Dark Forces (sequels might be too RPG for your liking)
Star Wars: Republic Commando
No One Lives Forever I/II

 

[Servo]

Aliens vs Predator (1999). You can get The Classic 2000 verison, which is coded to work on modern PC's and has Xbox 360 controller support, off Steam for next to nothing (I paid £2.99 for it last year).

 

[Jadzia]

What about good old Quake?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The original Red Faction would seem to fit the bill, I think.

Also try the original Unreal and Unreal II: The Awakening.

Unfortunately, the kind of game you're talking about is almost never made anymore. Its heyday was really back in the mid-'90s when every other game was a Wolfenstein/Doom clone.

 

[Kelthaz]

Unfortunately, the kind of game you're talking about is almost never made anymore. Its heyday was really back in the mid-'90s when every other game was a Wolfenstein/Doom clone.

Sadly that does seem to be the case. Finding something in between the primitive Doom clones of the 90's and the non-linear FPS/RPGs of today is pretty difficult.

I looked into the games suggested and I think I'll like "No One Lives Forever", "Star Wars: Republic Commando", and "Red Faction". I really like the 60's/Hippie style of NOLF (beats gruff space marines), so that will be my first stop. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Oh, a couple others just occurred to me: SiN and Soldier of Fortune. Both of those are pretty good. SOF is notable for having a localized damage system. Shoot a guy in the crotch, and he'll double over in pain. Shoot him in the head, instant death. Shoot him in the leg, he'll fall down. Stuff like that. Pretty cool for a game made in the late '90s.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

Despite all the knocks it's been taking from those damn youngun's these days I thought the original Halo was plenty good. Shit explodes, you get an indestructible jeep, etc.

Although it was the founder of the modern FPS genre, Doom doesn't really hold it's own anymore in my opinion. The levels kind of start to blend together after a while, as does the "find key, open door, kill people, repeat" gameplay.

Although it doesn't include a single-player component, QuakeLive is free (if you can do without some maps and game modes) and offers a pretty fun experience for fans of the original Quake 3.

 

[Yoda]

Serious Sam?

 

[Cutter John]

Serious Sam?

This.

Of course if you just want to blow stuff away, its hard to beat Left 4 Dead 1 or 2. Nothing lets off steam better than blowing the heads off (literally) a few dozen ravenous undead with an auto shotty.

 

[captcalhoun]

serious sam 1st encounter

serious sam 2nd and Serious Sam 2 got bloody annoying for some of the callenges in defeating bosses. 'specially the final boss in 2. never did finish it.

 

[The Fatman]

Its been a while, but iirc F.E.A.R. Fits the bill of what youre looking for pretty well

 

[Dr. Chandra]

What about good old Quake?

Best. game. Ever.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Quake was nothing without mods. Team Fortress FTW!

I'm also one of the ten people who bought the X-Men total conversion.

 

[clint g]

Another vote for FEAR and FEAR 2. Both were great games with tight gunplay. The third one is coming out sometime soon as well. It has a story (a pretty decent one actually) but you can ignore it if you choose to do so and there are no lengthy cinematics.