Top 5 Cult Shooters
I am a huge fan of the shooter genre. FPS and RPG are my jam, but I’ve never lost track of time like I do in an FPS. Here are 5 franchises that are addicting cult classics that most people would still play today if they had the means.
Gradius – There are many different kinds of shooters, though the genre is dominated by the FPS sub genre today. I love side scrolling shooters, and still enjoy finding classics to play through DLC or Steam games designed to pay homage. Most games of this type took many of their elements from this cult franchise that spawned countless sequels and even more ripoffs.
House of the Dead – The most popular rail shooter franchise, it sports an addicting style, while also fulfilling one of the key ingredients to any good cult game: a hilarious element that is so bad you love it. The dialogue and voice acting can literally make you laugh out loud. It almost seems on purpose, just to keep you lighthearted while you shred through zombies and decrepit monsters.
Duck Hunt – Where would the FPS genre be without Duck Hunt? And nothing says cult element like that chuckling dog.
Counter-Strike – I used to not have a computer that could even handle this basic game, but my friends were kind enough to join me at a PC gaming center. We would spend hours tearing through opponents and admittedly ghosting on occasion to much hilarity. Like number one on this list, it is almost the simplicity of the game that has made it an addicting cult classic.
Goldeneye – The N64 developed the persona as the party system, which became a concept Nintendo embraced in its evolution of the Gamecube and Wii systems. One of the catalysts for this party style was Goldeneye. I spent countless hours growing up playing this with three other friends, of course, most often on the Complex map. The game offered a variety of options in its multiplayer mode that made it engaging and addicting, and still remains a popular game to compare even today’s FPS games to.