If you gre🍒w up during the 80s or 90s, there is n🌊o doubt that you experienced the origins of first-person shooters when Wolfenstein 3D was released by id software. It was both simplistic and revolutionary at the same time thanks to the concept of putting gamers in the perspective of the hero. Only being able to see your own gun (or knife) added to the suspense ꦛof trying to take on the entire Nazi army by yourself.

Following its debut, other FPS were released to phenomenal success, sparking an entirely new genre in gaming. As ♊time went on, they became less like their own genre and more like an entire category of games. Over the years we have seen first-person shooters implement other genres such as RPG 😼upgrades, or horror elements to stir in some suspense.

However, like so many genres, first-person shooters periodically makes the mistake of taking themselves too seriously. Overhypiꦏng a game before release can lead to failure, or at the very least financial turmoil. Some FPS make such mark in their first few installments that their marketing department ends up going too far in ♏ways of preconceived popularity.

The wors♕t offenders vary in style, ranging from retro games to brand-new IP.

15 Destiny

From the makers of Halo, Destiny was a highly anticipated release. The game centers around "Guardians" in a mythical 𝕴science-fiction first-pꦉerson shooter MMO. Destiny scrapped a traditional “campaign” mode and replaced it with an online-only stor🐭y that could be played with friends at a moments notice. This was an exciting prospect, because slaughtering A.I. is always more fun with a budd💯y.

And then the bad reviews started pouring in. Some critics called it a shooter for Farmville fans 🍎— and that wasn't far off-base. Players were constantly grinding for loot and XP. It was hyped for a long time before its release. Destiny is a great example of an overrated game🦋 that tried to combineꦰ too many genres.

14  Left 4 Dead 2

Over the past several years, z🐻ombies have been making a comeback after lying dormant since the days of George Romero. They have risen again as the scariest creatures around, thanks to graphic novels, TV shows, and the Resident Evil series. It’s only natural that an FPS would want to capitalize♌ on this in an attempt to breath new life into a video game genre that was beginning to become stagnant. Left 4 Dead 2’s story can only be described as a cliché knockoff where you must fight your way 🧔through hordes of zombies wꦏhile relying on your three AI-controlled companions — whether you like it or not.

The first game was sꦛuccessful because of its originality and because it’s just plain fun to kill zombies in multiple ways. However, the second installment suffered from an unimproved control scheme, moronic “helpers,” and zombies that seemed to have been bitten by Sonic the Hedgehog.

13 The Darkness

A few years into the 21st century, first-person shooters began to feel stagnant thanks to the ❀rise of military shooters. It took awhile, but FPS finally started getting incredibly creative with their storyline. The Darkness centers are an Italian-American hitman named Jackie who has the power of “the darkness” which enables him to summon imps, creep around with his black tentacles, and even make black holes a🌜ppear.

The game has been praised for its incredibly good story, but that ♒could be because of its basis on a comic book.🥃 The gameplay, on the other hand, was incredibly lackluster. An abundance of powers distracted from the core shooter, and the result was a mediocre game. The Darkness tried to do too much and just ended up not being wo🌱rth the hype; or the price tag𝓀.

12 F.E.A.R. 

Combining horror with the first-person perspective has been a popular idea for awhile now. An element ༺of absolute fear can go a long to induce tension in an FPS. As the name would suggest, F.E.A.R. is a horror༒ game. The protagonist has the ability to slow down time during intense shootouts which is called “reflex time”ღ much like “bullet time” in Max Payne.

The game received rather high praise upon release, being called “the best single-player shooter” of the year. Across the board, the biggest complaint was against its one unique mechanic: “reflex time." The mechanic distracted from what made the game interesting to begin with: the horror; F.E.A.R. could have lived up to the hype if it had only kept the suspense🅘 of the genrജe.

11 GoldenEye 007

The Ninten🐻do 64 has some great first-person shooters such as Quake, Duke Nukem 64, and Perfect Dark, but none as widely played as their adaptation ꦗof the hit movie▨ GoldenEye. The game should have been sold with four controllers, beꦐcause that was🌃 the only way to truly enjoy it with friends. Remember, this was a time before broadband internet connected us across the globe.

Sadly, multiplayer is the only mode in GoldenEye where the game truly shined. The controls were horrendous, but it wasn’t all that bad since your buddies had the same handicap. The single-player campaign, however, was the game's true downfall. The missions were overly tedious, or just plain didn’t make sense half the time. When you get down t🐼o 🐼it, despite it being extremely liked among teenagers, GoldenEye 007 was the most overrated FPS of the 90s.

10 Counter-Strike: Global Offense

Online multiplayer means everything today. It was only a matter of time until we go🌸t an FPS that dominated the scene. Counter-Strike: Global Offense, is played almost completely online except for the “practice” area which is used to learn how to play the game and use weapons. Originally,𓆏 the game was intended to be played across a🌟ll platforms with the same team, but the logistics just never worked out.

Counter-Strike: Global Offense received mixed reviews because of how similar it is to its predecessor. Not the mention the fact that it cost full price, for a game most players had already been playing as a mode for years and year. Global Offensive feels cheap.

9 Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

Eventually, you get sick of killing Nazi and demons o🎶n Mars with a shot🐈gun, and you want something more. In Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, you are doing exactly what the name suggests: hunting dinos. In the comic book adaptation, you play as a Native American time-traveler sent to the barrier oꦅf Earth and the “lost land” to stop the evil Campaigner’s scheme to rule Earth.

Aside from killing rapto𝓡rs and fictional dinosaurs, the game really doesn’t have too much to offer. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is more of a novelty than anything and not even a convincing one. Granted, I’v🔯e never touched the scales of a prehistoric beast, but I’m pretty sure you can’t penetrate its skin with a bow and arrow. The premise was a good thought, but in the end, it was just plain overrated.

8 Battlefield 3

Surprisingly, Battlefield 3 is the eleventh installment of the Battlefield franchise can also take place in the air during dogfights. The game itself is your run of the mill military first-person shooter with great graphics and lots of g🥀uns to kill people with. The game truly shines with the PC version which has a possible 64 players at once.

This game would not make my list if it weren’t for the p𝔍lastering of ads all over the place for nearly a year leading up to its release. It could be understandable if it were something special, but it doesn’t exactly split the atom. Battlefield 3 is pretty much what you think of when you hear FPS; shooting and dodging bullets. This game is incredibly overrated because of the obscene amount of marketing𝓡 that it threw in our faces until its release and quite a bit aftꦑer too.

7 Doom (2016)

The first Doom in 1993 set the standard for non-military FPS. You play as a space suit-adorned marine w🎀ho must fight demons on the planet of mars and eventually in the depths of hell. Originally named Doom 4, Doom (2016) began development in 2008 in a more urban setting until scrapped in 2011 when💟 id decided to start again from scratch. The final product, released in 2016, returned to the roots of the first two games in the 90s whꦇere you gun down and chainsaw your way through imps, demons, and lost souls.

The game could have been the perfect reboot to the original if it weren’t for the overactive hype and the failed multiplayer mode which was critically slammed ꧟by nearly everyone. They spent eight years making this game, trying to re𝕴main real to the essence of the franchise, and failed by introducing an online element that has no business in Doom.

6 Halo

Halo debuted a “new generation” of first-person shooters at the launch of the original Xbox. At the time it was one of the only reasons to purchase Microsoft’sꦡ experi♚mental console. Halo is a science fiction military first-person shooter that puts you in control of Master Chief. During the game, you will battle a plethora of aliens called the Covenant. 𝓡When it was released in 2001, you couldn’t meet a person that hadn’t heard of Halo; even if they weren’t a gamer.

Despite triggering a televised tournament, this FPS was extremel🐠y overrated for what it was. Halo hadn’t exactly broken new ground in terms of gameplay or𒆙 graphics. Let’s be honest, if it hadn’t been released immediately (or been released on other platforms) it and the Xbox itself would have floundered faster ಌthan the 3DO. Halo and all its kin are ridiculously overrated.