List of first-person shooter engines
This is a sortable list of first-person shooter engines.
Early FPS graphics engines
Early 1990s: wireframes to 2.5D worlds and textures
Game engine |
First used for |
date |
Other First-person shooters |
N/A |
The Super Spy |
1990 |
Crossed Swords (1991) |
N/A |
Hovertank 3D |
1990 |
|
N/A |
Catacomb 3D |
1991 |
|
N/A |
Gun Buster |
1992 |
|
Wolfenstein 3D engine |
Wolfenstein 3D |
1992 |
Spear of Destiny (1992), Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (1993), Operation Body Count (1994), Corridor 7: Alien Invasion (1994), Blake Stone: Planet Strike (1994), Rise of the Triad (1994) |
Underworld Engine |
Ultima Underworld |
1992 |
System Shock (1994) |
N/A |
Ken's Labyrinth |
1993 |
|
Pie in the Sky |
Lethal Tender |
1993 |
Terminal Terror (1994), Pencil Whipped (2000), various others (1994–1998) |
id Tech 1 |
Doom |
1993 |
Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994), Heretic (1994), The Ultimate Doom (1995), Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995), Master Levels for Doom II (1995), Hexen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel (1996), Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders (1996), Strife: Quest for the Sigil (1996), Final Doom (1996), Chex Quest (1996), Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis (1997) |
N/A |
Marathon |
1994 |
|
Marathon 2 |
Marathon 2: Durandal |
1995 |
Marathon Infinity (1996), Prime Target (1996), ZPC (1996), Damage Incorporated (1997) |
Jedi Engine |
Star Wars: Dark Forces |
1995 |
Outlaws (1997) |
Build engine |
Witchaven |
1995 |
William Shatner's TekWar (1995), Duke Nukem 3D (1996), Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance (1996), Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition (1996), PowerSlave (1996, PC version), Redneck Rampage (1997), Blood (1997), Shadow Warrior (1997), Redneck Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66 (1998), Redneck Rampage Rides Again (1998), NAM (1998), Extreme Paintbrawl (1998), World War II GI (1999) |
Gloom (engine) |
Gloom |
1995 |
Gloom 2, Gloom 3, Gloom Mods (1995-2015) |
AB3D (engine) |
Alien Breed 3D |
1995 |
Team 17 - Amiga only |
AB3D2 (engine) |
Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds |
1996 |
Team 17 - Advanced Amiga only (Full textured 3D with lightning (no 3D hardware)) |
N/A |
Assassin 2015 |
1996 |
Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant (1997) |
Mid 1990s: 3D models, beginnings of hardware acceleration
Game engine |
First used for |
date |
Other First-person shooters |
N/A |
Geograph Seal |
1994 |
Jumping Flash! (1995), Jumping Flash! 2 (1996), Robbit Mon Dieu (1999), Pocket MuuMuu (1999) |
N/A |
Descent |
1994 |
Descent II (1996), Descent to Undermountain (1997) |
N/A |
Metal Head |
1995 |
|
XnGine Engine |
The Terminator: Future Shock |
1995 |
The Terminator: SkyNET (1996) |
Quake engine |
Quake |
1996 |
Hexen II (1997), Malice (1997), X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse (1997), Laser Arena (2000) |
SlaveDriver engine |
PowerSlave (Sega Saturn version) |
1996 |
Quake (1997, Sega Saturn version), Duke Nukem 3D (1997, Sega Saturn version) |
GoldenEye engine |
GoldenEye 007 |
1997 |
Perfect Dark (2000) |
Sith engine |
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II |
1997 |
|
id Tech 2 |
Quake II |
1997 |
Heretic II (1998), SiN (1998), Kingpin: Life of Crime (1999), Soldier of Fortune (2000), Daikatana (2000) |
Lithtech 1.0 |
Shogo: Mobile Armor Division |
1998 |
Blood II: The Chosen (1998) |
Late 1990s: 32-bit color, GPUs become standard
Game engine |
First used for |
date |
Other First-person shooters |
Unreal engine |
Unreal |
1998 |
Unreal Tournament (1999), Deus Ex (2000), Clive Barker's Undying (2001) |
Dark engine |
Thief: The Dark Project |
1998 |
System Shock 2 (1999), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000) |
Torque Game Engine |
Starsiege: Tribes |
1998 |
Tribes 2 (2001) |
id Tech 3 |
Quake III Arena |
1999 |
Star Trek: Voyager: Elite Force (2000), Quake III: Team Arena (2000), Urban Terror (2000), Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001), Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002), Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002), Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002), Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003), Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003), Call of Duty (2003), ioquake3 (2005), OpenArena (2006), Tremulous (2006) |
Lithtech Talon |
No One Lives Forever |
2000 |
Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001) |
Fusion engine |
Descent 3 |
1999 |
|
GoldSrc Engine |
Half-Life |
1998 |
|
Early 2000s: increasing detail, outdoor environments, rag-doll physics
Game engine |
First used for |
date |
Other First-person shooters |
Refractor Engine |
Codename Eagle |
2000 |
|
Serious Engine |
Serious Sam: The First Encounter |
2001 |
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (2002), Serious Sam: Next Encounter (2004) |
Refractor 2 |
Battlefield 1942 |
2002 |
Battlefield Vietnam (2004), Battlefield 2 (2005), Battlefield 2142 (2006) |
Glacier engine |
Hitman: Codename 47 |
2000 |
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), Freedom Fighters (2003), Hitman: Contracts (2004), Hitman: Blood Money (2006) |
SAGE Engine |
Command & Conquer: Renegade |
2002 |
|
LS3D engine |
Mafia |
2002 |
Hidden & Dangerous 2 (2004), Chameleon (2005) |
Unreal Engine 2.0 |
America's Army |
2002 |
Unreal Tournament 2003 (2002) Unreal II: The Awakening (2003), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (2003), Devastation (2003), Postal 2 (2003), Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004) |
Lithtech Jupiter |
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way |
2002 |
Tron 2.0 (2003) |
Lithtech 2.5 |
Global Operations |
2002 |
|
N/A |
Metroid Prime |
2002 |
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) |
Cube Engine |
Cube (2002-2005) |
2002 |
Assault Cube |
Real Virtuality |
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis |
2001 |
VBS1 (2002), ArmA: Armed Assault (2007), ARMA II (2009) |
Mid 2000s: lighting and pixel shaders, physics
Game engine |
First used for |
date |
Other First-person shooters |
Zero (proprietary Pandemic Studios engine) |
Star Wars: The Clone Wars |
2002 |
Star Wars: Battlefront (2004), Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005), The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009) |
Unreal Engine 2.5 |
Tribes Vengeance |
2004 |
S.W.A.T. 4 (2004), Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004), BioShock (2007), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010), Duke Nukem Forever (2011) |
PAIN engine |
Painkiller |
2004 |
NecroVisioN (2009) |
CryEngine |
Far Cry |
2004 |
Aion: Tower of Eternity (2008) |
Cube 2 Engine |
Cube 2: Sauerbraten |
2004 |
Eisenstern, Red Eclipse (2011) |
id Tech 4 |
Doom 3 |
2004 |
Quake 4 (2005), Prey (2006), Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007), Wolfenstein (2009), Brink (2011) |
Halo engine |
Halo: Combat Evolved |
2001 |
Halo 2 (2004) |
Source engine |
Half-Life 2 |
2004 |
Counter-Strike Source (2004), Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004), Day of Defeat: Source (2005), Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006), Empires (2006), Sin Episodes - Emergence (2006), Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (2006), Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (2007), Team Fortress 2 (2007), Portal (2007), Left 4 Dead (2008), Zeno Clash (2009), Left 4 Dead 2 (2009), Portal 2 (2011), Postal III (2011) |
Lithtech Jupiter EX |
F.E.A.R. |
2005 |
Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005), Condemned 2: Bloodshot (2008), Combat Arms (2008), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009) |
X-ray engine |
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl |
2007 |
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (2008) |
Unity |
Unknown |
|
Deus Ex: The Fall (2013), Interstellar Marines (TBA) |
Late 2000s and beyond: the approach to photorealism
Game engine |
First used for |
date |
Other First-person shooters |
Unreal Engine 3 |
Gears of War |
2006 |
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (2006), Medal of Honor: Airborne (2007), Unreal Tournament 3 (2007), Turok (2008), Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (2008), Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013), Mirror's Edge (2008), Borderlands (2009), Tribes: Ascend (2012), BioShock Infinite (2013) |
CryEngine 2 |
Crysis |
2007 |
Crysis Warhead (2008) |
Dunia Engine |
Far Cry 2 |
2008 |
|
Dunia Engine 2 |
Far Cry 3 |
2012 |
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013) |
Frostbite Engine |
Battlefield: Bad Company |
2008 |
Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor (2010, multiplayer only), Battlefield 3, Mirror's Edge 2 (TBA) |
EGO engine |
Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising |
2009 |
|
Real Virtuality 3 |
ArmA 2 |
2009 |
|
Chrome Engine 4 |
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood |
2009 |
Dead Island (2011) |
Halo Reach Engine |
Halo: Reach |
2010 |
Halo 4 (2012) |
X-ray engine 1.6 |
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat |
2009 |
|
CryEngine 3 |
Crysis 2 |
2011 |
Crysis (2011, console versions), Crysis 3 (2013), Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (2013), Warface (2013) |
Fox Engine |
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes |
2014 |
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015), Silent Hills (2015), P.T. (2014) |
id Tech 5 |
Rage |
2011 |
Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014), The Evil Within (2014), Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (2015) |
Vision Engine 8 |
Dizzel |
|
7554 (November 26, 2011) |
Real Virtuality 4 |
ArmA 3 |
2013 |
|
IW 3.0 |
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare |
2007 |
Call of Duty: World at War (2008), 007: Quantum of Solace (2008), Call of Duty: Black Ops (2009), |
IW 4.0 |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 |
2009 |
|
IW 5.0 |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 |
2011 |
|
IW 6.0 |
Call of Duty: Ghosts |
2013 |
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014) |
id Tech 6 |
Doom |
2016 |
|
Unreal Engine 4 |
|
|
Unreal Tournament (TBA), Dead Island 2 (TBA), Ark: Survival Evolved (TBA) |
Specialized engines/engine middle-ware
Some features may or may not be integrated into engines. For instance for trees and foliage a special "engine" is available, SpeedTree, that does just that (or could be integrated into general engines). The Euphoria character's 3D animating engine can be used independently but is also integrated in the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine and the game Grand Theft Auto IV.
See also
References