I’ve been playing FPS games since I was a kid. Even though my very first video game wasn’t a shooter, I remember vividly watching my older brother play the Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII demo.
The snowy map of “Hellendoorn” has stayed in my mind ever since. I fell in love with the randomness of the game. For that time, the bots were surprisingly smart, and seeing 64 of them battling it out at once was phenomenal. No game back then could come close to that scale.
I even remember one time I was killed by a “friendly” bot with a Bazooka! I was in a Sherman tank, and the guy was right behind me. He fired, hit my engine, and blew me up. I was so furious that I spent the rest of the match hunting him down for revenge! Good times. I also preferred playing on the German side just because the Panzer IV felt so much more imposing than the Sherman.
(Sadly, I can’t find a way to legally obtain this game digitally anymore. If anyone knows where to find it, please let me know. I really wish EA would put this classic back in the store!)
The next big one was the Call of Duty 2 demo. My brother got it from a friend, and I was immediately addicted. I remember being terrified at the start of the level; there was a specific “moan” in the soundtrack at the 0:44 mark that haunted me for a while. I was only about 9 or 10 at the time-I didn’t even know it was a sequel, and I didn’t understand a single word the AI said. All I knew was one thing: kill the enemies.
Even with that creepy atmosphere, I couldn’t stop playing, though I do remember being incredibly angry with Pvt. MacGregor. He didn’t seem to do anything except boss me around while I was doing all the heavy lifting! (Fun fact: he was actually voiced by James Patrick Stuart, who delivered a fantastic Scottish accent despite being American). These moments, from the haunting sounds to the annoying squadmates, are what made the game so unforgettable for me.
These two games are the sole reason I’m a WW2 enthusiast today. They didn’t just teach me how to play; they sparked a lifelong fascination with history and the mechanical intensity of the FPS genre. Even after all these years, nothing beats the feeling of a well-designed shooter.
What about you guys? Are you fans of the FPS genre? Let me know your favorite childhood games in the comments!
