Dec 4 2007
Ever since Quake started offering options for play over the Internet, multiplayer first-person shooters have been a dominant force in online gaming. Naturally, the hardware and software has improved over the years, and today's action gamer has a remarkable variety of genres and mods to choose from. These are some of top titles currently available for the PC. Hands-on experience and user feedback are among things I consider when rating these games, so if you have an opinion, post a comment or contact me by email.
1. Team Fortress 2
This is a stand-alone remake of the famous Team Fortress mod for Quake that helped popularize online gaming back in the late 90s. Team Fortress 2 isn't the most sophisticated multiplayer shooter on the market, but it recaptures the player classes and teamplay of earlier games in the series beautifully. It features a distinctly cartoonish appearance that fits it extremely well and gives it an extra dose of character. You can buy it separately on Steam or as part of The Orange Box compilation of games on store shelves.
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Renowned for intense World War II infantry combat, Call of Duty 4 brings the series into a modern warfare setting. Multiplayer features received special attention in the latest release, which has a deep and very addictive persistent stats system that rewards players with upgraded skills and items as they gain experience. Call of Duty 4 also offers a robust variety of multiplayer modes and some of the best graphics in its class.
3. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
This is the first shooter from Splash Damage and id Software that has included a full compliment of player-controlled vehicles. The battle is between humans and an alien invasion of Strogg, with first-rate graphics and detailed objective-based maps. Objectives are made crystal clear and the game has some cool deployables. Integrated voice chat was added to Quake Wars with patch 1.2.
4. Unreal Tournament 3
The Unreal Tournament series has always been a solid contender among multiplayer shooters, and Unreal Tournament 3 brings it up to date with Epic's new Unreal 3 graphics engine. Bombing Run and Assault modes are gone, Vehicle CTF has been added, and Onslaught mode has been transformed into the new, but very similar, Warfare mode. Along with many of the vehicles from UT 2004, there are a bunch of new machines to drive, including the incredibly cool Darkwalker and Hoverboards that let you "hitch a ride" on other vehicles. True to the Unreal Tournament tradition, the game comes with a full suite of editing tools.
5. Crysis
One of 2007's most popular FPS games, Crysis pushes PC graphics to the next level, not only with first-rate visuals, but also some of the best physics in a game to date. As well as the standard Deathmatch mode, Crysis offers Power Struggle, which has players capturing bases to dominate the map, similar to the Battlefield series. The game has 5 multiplayer maps and supports up to 32 players. Although you'll need a good system to run it on high settings, it looks like online play will catch on better than it did with its predecessor, Far Cry.
6. Battlefield 2142
As the name implies, the latest addition to the Battlefield series is set about a century into the future. War is fought with a variety of high-tech weapons and vehicles, including large 2-man Battle Walkers. Battlefield 2142 has a lot in common with its predecessor, Battlefield 2, with some appealing new features such as an objective-based gameplay mode and a deeper item unlock tree.7. Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source is the multiplayer portion of Half-Life 2, bringing the beloved mod up to date with the latest graphics technology. It can now be purchased separately either on disk or through Steam. Gameplay is quite similar to the original, and the most popular of the old maps have been redone, but of course, it looks a lot better. CS is still the darling of online shooters, with an enormous following and a huge number of servers to play on.8. Battlefield 2
Modern combat is the focus of this popular Battlefield sequel, complete with guided missiles and artillery strikes. New features include built-in voice chat, a persistent player ranking system, and a commander position which introduces some unique tools to facilitate team organization. The graphics are very impressive, especially if your computer can handle the game at high settings.9. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
This title in the Wolfenstein series from Activision is an excellent multiplayer first-person shooter that you can download and play online for free. It's set in World War II and in addition to being a bargain, it has some terrific features, including a simple experience system. Enemy Territory focuses on infantry combat and uses the aging Quake 3 graphics engine, but it still has a very large following. There are more details and download locations in the review.10. Half-Life: Counter-Strike 1.6
Although it has been around for a long time, and it's actually just a free mod for a game that is even older, Counter-Strike 1.6 is still among the most popular multiplayer FPS games for the PC. This game lives on despite the release of Counter-Strike: Source and many much newer shooters, and continues to be mainstay at pro game competitions. As has been the case for over half a decade, there's always a good game underway on a low-ping server nearby, not to mention plenty of fiercely challenging opponents.