10 Video Games That Influenced EVERYTHING You Play
6. Half-Life
It would be ignorant to say that before Half-Life, first person shooters "didn't have stories". Yes, on the surface Doom and Wolfenstein just seemed like brainless shooters with Hell and Nazi themes, respectively, but there was an underlying story.
Even Star Wars: Dark Forces in '95 had one, but at first glance it was just another FPS... with Star Wars.
Come the turn of the century though, Valve had other ideas. Much like another example in this list, Half-Life chose to incorporate its story into the game as you play. Which has probably made a lot of you think, "Yeah, and...?"
But think about it; a FPS that had you stop all the run-and-gunning to take in the world, its inhabitants and the story around you rather than you blasting your way through hordes of Xen and soldiers.
I mean, you still had sections of that, but Half-Life wove its narrative into the gameplay so well that it made for a more immersive experience than say, Duke Nukem offered.
Going on to influence games like Deus Ex, Halo and Metroid Prime, Half-Life is rightly heralded as a turning point.