Credit Where Credit is Due: id Software

One of the most anticipated games still to come this year is undoubtedly Rage from id Software. A post-apocalyptic, sandbox, first-person shooter, the game promises to be an eye-popping and engrossing shooter with RPG elements that has drawn early comparisons to games like Fallout 3 and Borderlands (fairly or otherwise).

But before this game hits store shelves, let’s take a moment to look back and reflect on four games from the 1990s that reserved id Software’s spot as legends in the games industry:

1990: Commander Keen - My fellow old-school PC gamers might remember this one. id Software released the first episode of Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons as shareware for MS-DOS computers in 1990.

The title was significant for helping to pioneer the shareware effort which entailed distributing a free - or extremely inexpensive - portion of the game to entice players to purchase the full version. Whereas modern game demos are free but very short, many shareware versions of titles were rather lengthy, in this case a full third of the game.

Commander Keen was also important for providing one of the first successful side-scrolling Super Mario Bros.-style platform games on the PC. And it touted EGA graphics. That’s 16 simultaneous colors for you noobs. Yes, that was pretty darn good at the time.

If you’re curious about Commander Keen, have a PC, and have $5 to burn, head to Steam and pick up all five episodes for $4.99.

1992: Wolfenstein 3D - So... How are you liking Halo? Call of Duty? Battlefield? Goldeneye? If any of these games offered up some of your favorite gaming memories, then it’s time to kneel down and kiss the feet of the grand-daddy of them all: Wolfenstein 3D.

With this game, id Software is credited for not only popularizing the entire first-person shooter genre, but creating the template by which all other games of its kind would follow. Another shareware game, its free version spanned 10 levels entailing the main character’s escape from a Nazi prison. But who didn’t want to pick up the full version so that they could eventually face off against Hitler himself in a mechanized suit??

Wolfenstein 3D was ported to many other platforms - including, but not limited to, Atari Jaguar, Panasonic 3DO, and Super Nintendo - but it’s this original MS-DOS version that started it all. And like Commander Keen, you can pick this up off of Steam at a bargain, and there are also versions available today on the Playstation Network for PS3 and XBLA for Xbox 360.

1993: Doom - While Wolfenstein 3D showed that playing shooting games from a first-person perspective could be fun, it was id Software’s next title that blew the genre wide open: Doom.

Doom took Wolfenstein’s formula and ran with it, introducing levels that could be built with non-perpendicular walls, vertically extended areas, texture mapping of all surfaces, and standard-setting graphics that surpassed anything anyone had seen on any platform at the time (including console and arcade). It truly was a sight to behold.

But beyond the mind-blowing visuals and single-player experience, Doom also introduced the multiplayer LAN deathmatch. That’s right, the feature that virtually no FPS game is considered complete without started right here. And it was popular. So popular, in fact, that many workplaces had to establish explicit rules against playing Doom deathmatches during work hours. Novell Networks even implemented a package called Antidoom that would shut down any games of Doom being played over a network running its platform. In late 1995, it was estimated that more computers had Doom installed on them than Microsoft’s flagship Windows 95 operating system.

No matter what they do from here on out, id Software are iron-clad legends of the gaming industry for bringing Doom to the masses. If you missed out, just drop by Steam to revisit a classic.

1996: Quake - Even with the enormous success of Doom, id Software introduced Quake three years later, and the gaming industry appropriately shook.

I distinctly remember going to my friend’s house to see this game in action, since he had a powerhouse Pentium 90 computer that could actually handle it. My poor 486 DX2/66 didn’t have a prayer.

In traditional id Software fashion, Quake set new standards in presentation, making unprecedented use of polygons and lighting. And being a Nine Inch Nails fan myself, it sure didn’t hurt that the game’s instrumental soundtrack was composed by Trent Reznor (many years before winning an Oscar for scoring The Social Network).

But just as with Doom, id Software used Quake to fully embrace the multiplayer gaming scene. But where Doom’s deathmatch mode was largely restricted to LAN environments, Quake allowed multiplayer gaming over the Internet, effectively taking the experience to the WAN. It was a veritable phenomenon. Through multiplayer competition, Quake was actually one of the first games considered as electronic sport, an idea that has definitely expanded in recent years (Starcraft matches are televised in Korea!).

But Quake also played host to the burgeoning “mod” community. What started as simple gameplay fixes and weapons tweaks as developed by the players themselves later grew into completely new versions of the game. Some of these could be considered brand new games in and of themselves, and some even turned out to be.

If you’ve ever played the hugely popular Team Fortress 2 by Valve Software, that game started as a mod for Quake called Team Fortress. But not only did the Team Fortress mod launch its own standalone franchise, it’s also credited for popularizing Capture the Flag in multiplayer FPS games, something that has since become a mainstay in the genre.

Quake even inspired an annual, competitive, multi-day gaming convention in Dallas, Texas called QuakeCon. 1996 marked the first event which started with only 30 people and grew to 100 by the end of the weekend. Fast forward to 2010 where attendance surpassed 8,500 gamers. But even through its enormous growth in popularity, one thing that has not changed over the years is that QuakeCon remains free to all attendants, relying on volunteer work and industry sponsors while earning the nickname “Woodstock of Gaming.”

Just as with all of the other games mentioned, Quake and each of its sequels can be found on Steam for Windows PCs.

Several iterations of each of these games were introduced over the years, and who knows if any of these franchises are even considered complete. Doom 4 was announced as being in production in May of 2008, and id Software director John Carmack recently teased at a new Quake game in the making which may serve as a reboot to the original title in the franchise.

With the substantial impact that these games have had on the industry, it’s easy to understand why all eyes are on id Software’s newest release in Rage coming out on October 4th for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. Think it will have the legs to stand next to these other four landmark achievements? For now, check out the trailer and get excited.

Pick up Rage at these local video game retailers:

• , 545 South Broad St., Lansdale. (215) 368-1955
• GameStop, 1551 Valley Forge Road, Lansdale. (215) 631-1230
• , 2333 W. Main St., Lansdale. (215) 855-4280
• GameStop, 801 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales. (215) 412-2900
• GameStop, Montgomery Mall, North Wales. (215) 362-2036
• Toys R Us, 2 Airport Square, North Wales. (215) 368-8050
• Best Buy, 801 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales. (215) 855-3528