Exactly as the title asks. I’ll start, though. The link I placed in the URL section should potentially help with explaining it better than I can. For those unaware
If for some reason you don’t get that, I can provide it here: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=YqBX87fq_RU
For the above, this is a video by CoculesNation, of which I believe I’ve gone ahead and edited (I forgot if I did that one or not).
The hidden gem FPS I’d recommend big time is the AFPS known as Xonotic. If you’re part of the Linux gaming community, you’ve likely heard about it. For those completely out of the loop, I’ll catch you up to speed here.
Xonotic is a Free Software (as in FSF approved) AFPS (Arena FPS) made in the Doom 1 derivative engine called DarkPlaces. It’s the same engine used in Nexuiz Classic (which Xonotic is a fork of), and Rexuiz (a continuation of Nexuiz Classic, also a form of Rexuiz).
The licenses for these games are GPL-2.0 or later, per the compatibility with the id Tech 1 engine… also GPL-2.0+ licensed.
In terms of gameplay here, think Quake-style movement with Unreal Tournament customization. The movement is extremely fast Quake-style stuff with even CPMA (air turning), weapon combos that are satisfying, and for some reason, even designed with defrag in mind (as there’s an active community of pro defrag players in Xonotic). I focus on instagib, though, as that’s my current focus.
If y’all have any other ideas, feel free to express them here. I’d be happy to look into them as well, and see if they’re worth playing for either myself or Neigsendoig.
Selaco: I don’t own this game yet, but it’s on my wishlist and seems to have earned its spot. Beyond being a very fun and competent shooter, it seems to have that “Creative touch” where the devs are doing things like strong level variety, and attaching a nice mix of story.
HROT: Weird Czechloslovakia-styled game with a lot of levels, some good challenge, classic Doom/Quake-style exploration, no story.
Also kinda fun: Zortch. Pretty simple game that’s often generous with ammo, but overall a lot of fun.
None of them I’ve heard about yet. I could potentially take a look later and see if they look fun.
Damn, I was gonna say Xonotic, the game flows like nothing else.
Easy Red 2 and Operation Harsh Doorstop are two of my favorite FPS games (they are battlefield-likes).
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1324780/Easy_Red_2/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/736590/Operation_Harsh_Doorstop/
Also Angels Fall First is really underated in my opinion, it is a futuristic battlefield-like with space and ground battles.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/367270/Angels_Fall_First/
Or you want even more obscure and hidden how about Empires Mod
https://store.steampowered.com/app/17740/Empires_Mod/
Polygon
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1241100/POLYGON/
and Renegade X
OHD is fantastic. Bluedrake and his team are killing it, especially with what they do here. I hadn’t heard of Easy Red 2, so Neigsendoig (said content creator I mentioned) and I should look at that.
Angels Fall First seems real interesting as well.
Polygon is P2W. Sendo had played it, and found dark patterns out the wazoo. Not our cup of tea, but it’s also pretty decent if it weren’t clapped by P2W mechanics.
Renegade X looks absolutely sick in a positive way. I’ll have Sendo check this out ASAP.
I hadn’t heard of Easy Red 2, so Neigsendoig (said content creator I mentioned) and I should look at that.
I would just immediately buy it and all the expansions, no hesitation. I have no reasonable critiques. Easy Red 2 is awesome. It is exactly what it says on the tin with no bullshit.
Also hell yeah I love OHD!
Probably not a hidden gem anymore at this point but it’s been on my mind again so I have to go with STALKER: Anomaly. Free standalone fan project that was born out of a long series of mod projects stemming from GSC open sourcing the X-ray Engine.
It’s basically an amalgamation of all the maps from all three original STALKER games smushed together into a big giant sandbox. Each faction has a quest line, but the main focus is on survival, exploration and progression - as well as the emergent storytelling growing out of the simulated life in the zone happening both around you and in the background with the A-life system.
It’s got a modding scene that could probably rival Skyrim, and at this point there are numerous ready-to-install plug-and-play modpacks available that offer distinctly different experiences if you don’t want to fiddle with making your own modlist.
What dedicated people have been able to do with this old ass engine is a true marvel.
Both Sendo and I had tried Anomaly, and while it’s fantastic what the devs of this project were able to do, it isn’t our cup of tea.
That’s totally fair. It’s definitely a very specific type of gameplay and vibe. Just out of curiosity, did you play vanilla Anomaly or a modpack?
Vanilla Anomaly I think is what both of us played. That’s what I remember.
I see. Should you ever want to look into it again the modpacks are where it really shines. Anomaly itself is meant to be a unified stable platform for modders more than anything else, so I can understand if it felt a bit… bare bones.
What modpack would you recommend for beginners into the Stalker games?
Hm. Honestly the place I would try to get people to start is the original games. They will give the foundation for the lore and the story as well as introduce the world building and characters. They still have a large element of exploration and openness, but it’s layered on top of actual story instead of being a pure sandbox. You can probably skip Clear Sky (it has a lot of problems) but both Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat are great.
I don’t recommend playing the recent remasters as they censored a lot of stuff. For SoC there is stuff like Compatibility Modpack or Memories of the Zone for a vanilla+ experience or Radiophobia for a complete overhaul.
For CoP the best modpack was the SGM+Gunslinger merge, but I’m not sure where to download it anymore. This link is still up, but I haven’t personally tested that so YMMV. Plain SGM is on Moddb (not clear if it includes Gunslinger) and that’s probably good enough.
As far as Anomaly goes, the assortment is huge and I really would be wasting your time trying to summarise it when Cheeki Breeki just recently made two excellent videos for people in your shoes: (Part 1 & Part 2). The best way to get the lay of the land is watch those two videos, honestly. I’ll give my two cents but it really is just going to be parroting much of the videos.
G.A.M.M.A. is unparalleled when it comes to both balance and the survival gameplay, as well as rate of updates and tech support (their Discord is huge). It’s very complicated to learn though, and while their custom in-game guide is fantastic it’s still a lot to take in in terms of how to repair weapons and heal injuries and just in general stay alive. The scavenging and gear progression is very satisfying, but at the same time you’ll be spending a lot of time in menus. I also have mixed feelings about the Body Health System and medical items.
If you enjoy human-vs-human gunfights more I think E.F.P. and playing Warfare mode is my recommendation. It’s been a year or two since I last played that modpack myself but the vision hasn’t changed so I don’t imagine it will feel much different.
I used to recommend Dark Signal as a more vanilla+ alternative - and it still is fine - but it hasn’t been updated for years now so will be lacking the latest innovations. I’m currently using H.A.C.R. as a platform to mod on myself, and it’s been excellent for that. Might be a little barbones though if you’re not adding stuff yourself. Or maybe I’m just used to the huge 350-500 mod lists at this point 😅
I haven’t played enough of the others to comment (I tend to like making my own modlists). Anthology looks very interesting and I’m definitely going to be trying it out myself at some point.
Fistful of Frags
That one I’ve played. It’s pretty decent for a Source game.
I really love the old Painkiller series :3
There’s a modern one that came out this year I have been looking at. Inspired me to play the old ones again and they hold up great.
Is this the modern Painkiller you were talking about?
Taking a look, things don’t look that great. Anshar and 3D Realms behind it, and already people don’t really like it. Real sad, since they seem to have killed Painkiller like that.
Aww I saw Jerma playing it but I haven’t tried it yet
:c
Mine is Deadlink, a roguelike shooter with very tight gameplay reminding me of oldschool shooter times. Fast, tough, fair.
Lot a people hated it, but Homefront the Revolution, if you can get over how iffy the storyline is. The gunplay and tactical reclamation/raiding aspects of the city map were fun. Still frustrated they chose to make the big high tech villains the North Koreans.
Huh… it’s a Crytek game (since it’s made in CryEngine 3), which probably explains some of it. It’s on Steam for 85% off, but Sendo and I don’t really buy video games all that much to begin with. Looks dope, though.
