Guide to FPS MMO Games

Written by: Simon Hill • Edited by: Michael Hartman
Published Oct 14, 2009 • Related Guides: RPG | PS3 | Sony Online Entertainment

The idea of a first-person shooter on a massive scale has always been attractive. In this article we take a look at the history of FPS MMO games and bring you a guide to the best of the bunch, both current and due to be released soon.

MMOFPS Genre Set For Take Off

The MMOFPS genre is on the verge of taking off with some really exciting prospects on the horizon. It is perhaps surprising that there haven't been more releases in this genre especially with the level of competition in the MMORPG genre. We’ll take a brief look at the history of the genre and then run through a list of the most interesting MMOFPS games due to be released.

Definition and Limitations of MMOFPS Games

When looking at MMOFPS games we are talking about Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooters. The vast majority of FPS games out there have a server limit of 16 or 32 players. These games do not qualify as MMO games so they won’t be on this list. In order to bring FPS gaming to the masses on such a large scale it is inevitable that the artwork has to be scaled back. The trade off is bigger environments and more players but lower visual standards than the latest FPS games. That doesn’t mean MMOFPS games have to be ugly just don’t expect something that looks like Call of Duty 4.

The First MMOFPS Game

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There is some debate as to what constituted the first MMOFPS game. The first candidate was a game originally called 10SIX which is now known by the name Project Visitor. It was released back in 2000 and having never played it I can’t really comment although looking at the screenshots it appears to have been pretty basic. In 2001 there was World War II Online which tried to bring the most popular FPS backdrop to life in a realistic way. It encouraged team work and strived for historical accuracy. The graphics are very dated now and it was by all accounts a tough game to get into.

PlanetSide

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This is the first true MMOFPS game that I ever played. It was developed by Sony and released back in 2003. PlanetSide represented a terrific alternative to fantasy styled grinding and it offered epic battles with hundreds of players facing off against each other in a single fight. The mechanics and controls were standard first-person shooter and there were various specialized classes to choose from as three factions went head to head for dominance of the galaxy.

They did throw in a Battle Experience system which allowed you to climb ranks and by doing so you were able to unlock new weapons and vehicles. In fact one of the big attractions was the inclusion of 38 vehicles and 28 weapons in the game. The environments in PlanetSide were undeniably bland. It had a very basic sci-fi styling and the gameplay didn’t compare favourably with cutting edge FPS releases. The game is actually still running but my subscription lapsed years ago. Sony Online Entertainment recently revealed that there is a new version in the works. Find out more at the official website.

Fallen Earth

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This post-apocalyptic game is set a few years in the future after The Fall has wiped out millions. Competing factions struggle to gain control in a finely balanced cycle of violence. There are six in total and they each have a specific enemy and an ally. The game features FPS combat but includes a number of typical RPG features. It has been out for almost a month now and so it is early days. You can find out more about the game in our Fallen Earth Preview. You can also check it out for yourself at the official website.

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Simon Hill Feb 10, 2011 1:48 PM

RE: Guide to FPS MMO Games

Thanks for posting TheMartian, definitely sounds like it was ahead of its time, I'm sorry I never got the chance to play it. I definitely applaud any game that moves things away from the default fantasy backdrop.

TheMartian Feb 10, 2011 1:03 PM

Additional Information

Another interested footnote about 10six/project visitor, I mentioned that it did things other games had not done and in fact hardly any other MMO game ever created has done (except maybe second life) goes back to the idea of the PSW. Most games are really PSC (persistant state character games) your levels, your rank, etc is saved but most if not all of the world is completely static or nearly static (ie everquest, WoW, COH, COV, Champions, STO, etc).
But 10six/PV is a completely dynamic world, the whole entire world is persisted not just your character. You build and destroy the world around you. Most games do not do this because its difficult to get the game play right and it is hell on your infrastructure/Database/Networking. So that is another thing I would suggest was done first by 10six(persist the world that you build,not just the character you create). Especially given that it originally went beta in 1997. Then again in 98/99. It may not have ever been the biggest or most well-known MMO game in history but I think it deserves a place in MMO history, I've seen many ideas from it used in other MMO games that came out shortly after it launched. If anything it got people thinking differently, before, everything before was RPG and fantasy and it tried something outside the box, scifi, rts/fps.
Might have its typical first generation MMO flaws but it definitely tapped into a niche market that players still enjoy.
Maybe some day someone will remake it using modern technology and all the lessons we have learned about in terms of design and game play over the years. The heart of the game is still pretty cool, but the wrapper around the concept needs third and fourth generation MMO knowledge applied to it.

TheMartian Feb 9, 2011 8:50 PM

up for debate

Being that I was the original lead programmer for 10Six and am the force behind Project Visitor I dont think it is all that debatable, there was nothing like it in 2000 and it was indeed a true MMO game (back then they were called PSW's for persistant state world later dropped for the MMO anacronym) it was a hybrid RTS/FPS so although not a pure FPS game it was a huge part of the game. What was out then? UO? Everquest? meridian59? So yeah I think it is safe to say it was the first MMOFPS game. It was also the first to not use shards and present the game as a one world type of system (much like what eve online is today).
It is possibly the first sci-fi MMOFPS as well. So give it some credit it was a game put out long before anyone was really ready for it, it did a lot of leading edge stuff at the time that today we take for granted in MMO games. And to your comment that it looks simple, it is actually pretty complicated with a steep learning curve but so were any of the MMO games of that time frame. As developers and designers we have come along way since those days both in game design and technical implementation. But it is definitely one of the games that came onto the seen long before most people even knew what a PSW or MMO even meant.

Simon Hill Oct 19, 2009 6:40 AM

Thanks Benjamin, yeah there's some great stuff on the horizon :)

Benjamin Sell Oct 15, 2009 4:31 PM

Great article! The MMOFPS is a really underrepresented genre and I'm stoked for some of these upcoming games.

Guide to FPS MMO Games

MMOFPS Genre Set For Take Off

Definition and Limitations of MMOFPS Games

The First MMOFPS Game

PlanetSide

Fallen Earth

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