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If you're a fan of first-person shooters, you shouldn't miss this upcoming documentary recounting 50 years of FPS history, "exploring the creation, impact, and legacy of a wide range of genre-defining classics from Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and GoldenEye, to Half-Life, Halo, and beyond."
You will hear the developers and artists of these and other iconic games talking about their own projects and what inspired them.
Expect to see veterans of the industry, including John Carmack and John Romero "sharing stories from id Software’s early days", Cliff Bleszinski discussing Unreal and Unreal Tournament, Warren Spector talking about System Shock and Deus Ex, Marcus Lehto and Joseph Staten speaking about Halo, and many more notable creators.
"Beginning in the 1970s, First Person Shooter takes you back to the earliest days of the genre, when a group of high-school students went from building simple 3D mazes to creating the first vital building blocks of the genre - including rudimentary online deathmatch and spectator modes - in the game that became known as Maze War.
From there, we go on a game-by-game journey through the genre, reintroducing you to the beloved classics you grew up playing and highlighting the lesser-known pioneering titles you may have never heard of before."
From what I've read in its reviews, the documentary is a compilation of interviews with well-known FPS developers revealing pieces of information about their games that will be interesting for the fans of the genre.
Here is a glimpse of what you'll get if you buy the movie:
- John Romero shares the exciting moment when Doom's level design and aesthetic crystallized in a way that guaranteed it would become an evolutionary leap beyond Wolfenstein 3D.
- John Carmack speaks candidly about the challenge Quake's true-3D engine posed for him, going into detail on the obstacles he faced bringing it to life, and how this impacted the team.
- Hilton and Jones discuss how Nintendo cautioned studios against making first-person shooters for the Nintendo 64, claiming the hardware wouldn't be up to the task - and the design hacks the Rare team used to prove them wrong.
- Quake III designer Tim Willits and Unreal Tournament designer Cliff Bleszinski go head-to-head on their respective arena shooters
- Warren Spector discusses the importance of immersion, storytelling, and emergent gameplay in System Shock and Deus Ex.
And there is much, much more in this four-hour-long documentary available in both digital and physical formats.
The FPS doc is available for pre-order: the prices range from $49 for a digital copy to $5,999 for an Executive Producer one, giving you credit on IMDB, merch, and tickets for the film's premiere.
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