It is pretty hard to have a conversation about FPS games without bringing up Call of Duty. Over the past few decades, the franchise has dominated the genre and the entire industry as a whole, dropping sequel after sequel, much to the delight of the global fan base that just can't seem to get enough of it. However, as important as the series is to the shooter world, there is another gaming universe that has had a slightly bigger impact over its lifetime, and that would, of course, be DOOM.

Long before the days of 6v6 firefights and kiting zombie hordes, players were treated to a host of fast-paced, demon-filled masterpieces, and despite having a sizable gap in between eras, the franchise continues to thrive all these years later. In any case, there can only be one true king of the genre, and out of the two titans, DOOM manages to take the throne.

DOOM Defined the FPS Genre Before Call of Duty Existed

Pushing The Genre Into The Limelight

Details:

• Established the core philosophies of the FPS genre
• Set the template for speed and level design

DOOM certainly wasn't the first FPS game out there, and as it turns out, there were many more first-person experiences around long before the series hit the shelves. However, thanks to the brilliant gameplay and forward-thinking design philosophy, the game managed to take off and quickly became a hit, launching the shooter genre into the mainstream in a matter of years.

More importantly, the game proved the commercial and technical viability of the genre, spawning countless successors and copycats that were all looking to claim some of that prize. And from a mechanical perspective, the ability to move around at high speed and constantly find firefights anywhere in the map added to the mainstream appeal, turning a first entry into a household name overnight.

COD Refined But Never Truly Invented

The DOOM Identity Always Remained

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• COD often takes inspiration but rarely pushes forward
• Streamlined systems rather than redefining them

The COD franchise started out with fairly grounded beginnings, presenting players with various active warzones and throwing them right into the center of them, with nothing but a gun to get them out. As successful as the early games were, they didn't exactly break the mold in a major way, instead taking components from existing franchises and combining them together into one cohesive whole.

That doesn't mean to say that the result wasn't impressive in its own right, it just means that, in terms of innovation and progress, it is safe to say that DOOM clears COD in just about every regard. Now in the modern era, the newer entries feel like a complete reinvention of the demonic franchise, whereas on the other side, many complain that the yearly installments have gotten pretty stale, adding another point to the boomer shooter icon's scoreboard.

The Culture Wouldn't Be The Same

Modding, File Sharing, And The Birth of FPS Communities

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• Sharing of content became much more popular
• Modding tools created early player-driven ecosystems

Video game communities are a big factor in deciding how successful a release can become, and in the case of DOOM, the fans showed their love right from the get-go. iD Software allowed players to distribute large portions of the game freely, effectively turning the audience into a marketing network, and this approach dramatically expanded its reach and set a precedent for how to do digital distribution right.

Mod support also became increasingly popular, with players adding their own custom maps and building a collaborative network that would continue to attract attention many years after launch. As if all that wasn't enough, the original game has turned into somewhat of a test for tech-savvy individuals, with many choosing to port it onto anything from watches to tablets, even to treadmills, an indicator of how diehard some fans really are for the classics.

Multiplayer FPS Battles

LAN Parties And Competitions Galore

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• Early deathmatch defined competitive FPSs
• LAN play established social interactions

Multiplayer has become a very important aspect of almost every modern FPS, and it is thanks to DOOM that players around the world all get to jump in and enjoy the same experience at the exact same time. Competitive gaming was still in its infancy, but there was a hunger for more, and now that there was a three-dimensional, fast-paced battleground to fight in, players suddenly kicked their skills into a whole new gear.

In the following years, games like Quake and Counter-Strike would run away with the idea of competitive shooters, and from there, the box could never be closed again. While it is uncommon to see any major esports events for DOOM nowadays, the impact it had on kickstarting the idea can never be taken for granted.

Countless Successors Even Today

Boomer Shooters Reign Supreme

Details:

• Entire boomer shooter genre based around it
• Sequels that continue to see widespread acclaim

The FPS genre has plenty of different sub-categories within it, ranging from tactical to horror, but one of the more interesting developments in recent times is the fascination with boomer shooters. There is a clear draw to the past and a desire to go back to the glory days, and the main reason for that is just how amazing the original DOOM games were and how influential they have been on the wider shooter space.

COD has carved out its own section of the market, one that has a very obvious and large audience, but the passion that comes from those in the boomer shooter world is far greater, with so many amazing new ideas and innovative designs that continue to test the limits of what is possible in a single title. To make things even better, the DOOM franchise itself has somehow stuck around, with a set of modern revivals that are widely considered to be some of the best FPS games ever made, showing that the old-school design can still stand tall over three decades on.