Old School Game Blog

Hi everyone,

Today I’m going to write about first person shooters for the Amiga. This may come as a surprise to some people, but the several Doom-clones were released for this computer back in the 90′s. People in the gaming industry back then said that the Amiga would never (at that time) be able to cope with texture-mapped based games. They were wrong.. Developer teams, including Team 17, went all-in and showed the world that the Amiga was still full of potential.

In this post, you’ll find an overview of the various first person shooters that are available for the Amiga. I’ve sorted them into two categories, native and ported. I’ve covered the native ones in detail, but I’ve only made a short list of the ports.

Hope you’ll enjoy it and that you might find a new game or two to play.

Please keep in mind that the games below are for classic Amiga systems, not next-generation machines. If there is a game that is missing from the list, please leave a comment, and I’ll add it as soon as possible. Thanks.

I’ve also included download links for the native games. These links will take you to the host-site in a new tab.

List of Native games

Alien Breed 3D by Team 17 (AGA/CD32) (1994)

This is one of the first commercial texture-mapped shooters for the Amiga. It was developed by Team 17, a company famous for the games like Project X, Superfrog and Speris Legacy. Alien Breed 3D was popular among gamers and it received splendid reviews in various magazines. CU Amiga and Amiga Format gave it 93%, The One 94% and Amiga Power 91%. I’ve written a review of the game, which you can find here.

Download: http://www.dream17.info/softography.php?id=28&s=downloads

Alien Breed 3D II – The Killing Grounds by Team 17 (AGA) (1996)

The Killing Grounds is the sequel to Alien Breed 3D. The expectations to this game were extremely high among Amiga magazines and users back in the 90′s. This was going to be a Doom-beater! Sadly it didn’t deliver as much as everyone had hoped. It received both good and bad reviews. Amiga Power gave it a measly 54%, while CU Amiga rated it 92%. Personally I think it is an average first person shooter. It has good graphics and the atmosphere is decent enough. You need a fast Amiga (or WinUAE) to play it as intended though.. it was a bit sluggish on my old Amiga 1200 with a 68030 turbo-card.

Download: http://www.dream17.info/softography.php?id=29&s=downloads

Behind the Iron Gate by Ego (OCS) (1995)

One positive aspect of this game is that it works fine on low-end Amiga machines. The 3D engine feels pretty smooth, but unfortunately the lack of variety in textures makes it very monochromatic. It can be difficult finding your way through the mazes sometimes and that can be frustrating. It’s worth mentioning that your arsenal in this game is impressive.. lot’s of cool firearms to find. I didn’t enjoy the game much though and prefer the likes of Alien Breed 3D and Gloom. Still, it’s worth a try. You might like it!

Download: http://www.amigafuture.de/downloads.php?view=detail&df_id=307

Breathless by Fields of Vision (AGA) (1995)

Now this is a feast for the eyes! Breathless takes your “breath away” with its wonderful graphics. I remember that it looked absolutely fabulous when it was released, but surprisingly it looks fine even today! The gameplay is not bad either, so this one is highly recommended. It’s worth noting that Breathless received favourable reviews in various magazines, like 95% in Amiga Format and 92% in CU Amiga. Be sure to have a turbo-card ready though, so that you experience it in full glory. Try it, you won’t regret it!

Download: http://www.emuparadise.me/Amiga_ROMs/Breathless_%28AGA%29/5690

Citadel by Virtual Design (OCS) (1995)

I’ll have to be honest here.. I’ve never played this game properly. I might have given it a try years ago, but I’ve forgotten all about it. As far as I can see from screenshots on the Internet, it doesn’t look bad when it comes to graphics. Don’t know about the 3D engine though, but it is supposed to work on an Amiga 500 with 1MB of RAM. That means that it should be playable on a stock Amiga 1200. It received average reviews, with the highest score being 85% in CU Amiga and the lowest being 67% in Amiga Power.

Download: http://www.back2roots.org/Get/Citadel%2C%20the%2C1/

Death Mask by Apache (OCS/CD32) (1995)

I pre-ordered this game in 1995 and looked forward to it with all of my heart. Imagine my disappointment when I ran the game.. it sucked.. There is so much wrong with Death Mask that I don’t know where to start. The only positive thing going for it is the two-player split-screen mode, but that is ruined by the awful controls. I can’t recommend this game to anyone. Sorry.

Download: http://www.emuparadise.me/Amiga_ROMs/Death_Mask_%28ECS_&_AGA%29/5940

Fears by Bomb Software (AGA/CD32) (1995)

If you’re interested in demos, you might have heard about a group called Bomb. They won the demo competition at The Party 1996 in Denmark with a demo called Shaft 7. What you might not know is that these guys are the ones behind Fears on the Amiga. It’s therefore not surprising that the 3D engine in this game is quite good and functional on a stock Amiga 1200. The gameplay is another story. I can’t help it, but the game just doesn’t “drag me in”.. it’s a bit dull to be honest. You are better of with the likes of Gloom that provides you with fast and furious action. That said, I must point out that there is nothing wrong with Fears when it comes to the technical stuff, it’s just not much fun.

Download: http://www.emuparadise.me/Amiga_ROMs/Fears_%28AGA%29/6130

Genetic Species by Marble Eyes (AGA/RTG) (1998)

Good golly Miss Molly! This is, in my humble opinion, one of the best first person shooters on the Amiga. Nice looking graphics, cool effects and many interesting features. In Genetic Species you play the role of a Bioshifter. This means that you can take over the bodies of humans, cyborgs and droids and inherit their skills and weapons. This is a feature I’ve yet to see in other Amiga games. Genetic Species needs quite a powerful machine to work properly though, such as a 68060-powered Amiga 1200. Highly recommended!

Download: http://www.infinitefrontiers.0catch.com/DownloadsCommercial.htm

Gloom by Black Magic (AGA/CD32) (1995)

This is one of my favourite first person shooters on the Amiga. I’ve written a review about it earlier. You can find it here. A must!

Download: http://www.emuparadise.me/Amiga_ROMs/Gloom_%28AGA%29/6296

Gloom Deluxe by Black Magic (ECS/RTG) (1996)

This is the deluxe version of Gloom with many improvements. One of the first you’ll notice is that you have a gun in front of you. I missed that feature in the first version of Gloom and I was glad to see that they had implemented the gun in this one. The graphics are also much better. Now you can play full-screen 1×1 and the textures are well made. Great stuff and highly recommended. If you like fast and furious blasting, this is for you..

Download: http://www.old-games.com/download/417/gloom-deluxe-aga

Monster by Dual System (AGA) (1995)

I tried this game for the first time today. The graphics didn’t look very good and it was not much fun to play either. The aim of the game is to kill a certain amount of monsters to be transported to the next level, which is a bit different from other games in the genre. Can’t recommend this one I’m afraid.

Download: http://planetemu.net/index.php?section=roms&dat=754&page=m

Nemac IV by ZenTek (OCS/RTG) (1996)

This game looks very, very impressive. Awesome graphics for its time! Sadly it is let down by lack of gameplay and atmosphere. Some people might disagree with me, but I didn’t find it very engaging. I won’t discourage you to try it though, as you might enjoy it even if I didn’t.

Download: http://www.amigafuture.de/downloads.php?view=detail&df_id=3027&sid=2979afbc341e0ddf0e77243d45c952c3

Project Intercalaris by TSA (OCS) (1996)

Here’s another rare game that I’ve never tried before. It is completely in Polish, so I can’t understand what it’s really about. It was slow on my configuration and the AI was pretty bad. One of the first opponents got stuck behind a barrel right away. Not recommended.

Download: http://www.emuparadise.me/Amiga_ROMs/Project_Intercalaris/7078

Testament by Insanity (AGA) (1997)

Testament is a bit limited when it comes to controls, as you can’t jump or crouch. All levels are on one floor, so no stairs or passages leading up or down like in Alien Breed 3D. The game is therefore not as advanced as others in the genre. The 3D engine is quite fast though, and the game itself is easy to get into. It is also a bit atmospheric (dark and scary). Not the best first person shooter for the Amiga, but far from the worst. Amiga Format awarded it 92%, which is a very good score.

Download: http://planetemu.net/index.php?section=roms&dat=754&page=t

Trapped II by Oxyron (OCS/RTG) (1997)

Oxyron is a well-known group on the Demo Scene. They’ve released countless advanced productions for both the Commodore 64 and the Amiga. Not surprisingly, Trapped II sported an amazingly advanced 3D engine for the Amiga at the time, with effects like lens flares, glows, fire routines, mirrors and a whole lot more. The game contains 17 complex levels, 6000 frames of animation and more than 1000 different textures and hundreds of sound effects. The technical aspects are top-notch. It’s worth mentioning that Trapped II is more like a first person RPG than a shooter. It has more depth than the competition and builds on a decent storyline. It’s a great game that is perhaps a bit overlooked by Amiga users both in the past and today. Give it a go, you might be surprised.. maybe you’ll find yourself “trapped”?

Download: http://www.emuparadise.me/Amiga_CD_ISOs/Trapped_II_%281997%29/137019

Ubek by Twin Spark Soft (AGA) (1995)

I’m sorry, but this game doesn’t do it for me. It has both bad graphics and lack of gameplay. Avoid.

Download: http://thegamearchives.com/?val=0_2_1_0_0_9_60284_0_0_0_0

List of Ports

Doom by Unknown (AGA/RTG) (1998)

It’s Doom.. the legendary first person shooter. Can’t beat the feeling! Crowds went crazy when this game was ported to the Amiga. It even works well on a 68030 powered machine! A must try.

Doom II: Hell on Earth by Unknown (ECS/RTG) (open source conversion, original by ID Software)

I’ve yet to try Doom II on the Amiga, but I’m familiar with the PC version. A good, classic game. No doubt about it. I’m sure most of you are familiar with Doom II.

Duke Nuke’em by Unknown (AGA/RTG) (2003) (open source conversion, original by 3D Realms)

I haven’t tried the Amiga conversion of Duke Nuke’em. If it plays like the original it should be fun. You’ll probably need some serious hardware to run it properly though.

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders by Unknown (AGA/RTG) (1999) (open source conversion, original by Raven Software)

It’s Heretic.

Hexen: Beyond Heretic by Unknown (AGA/RTG) (1999) (open source conversion, original by Raven Software)

It’s Hexen.

Quake by ID clickBOOM (PXL) (AGA/RTG) (1998) (original game by ID Software)

This is not an open source conversion, but a full-blown port of Quake optimized for the Amiga. clickBOOM did a good job on this one and it was probably expensive for them to buy a licence from ID Software. If you’ve got a high-end machine, you should definitely give it a go.

Wolfenstein 3D by Unknown (AGA/RTG) (1999) (open source conversion, original by ID Software)

Wolfenstein 3D is like the father of first person shooters. Great action. It’s cool that it is available for the Amiga as well. The only thing I’d like to put my finger on is the speed. It’s a bit slow, even you’ve got a decent CPU. It’s probably possible to optimize it more for the Amiga.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post and that you’ve found something you were looking for

I’d love to hear your opinion about the different FPS games for the Amiga. Please leave a comment below, it is much appreciated. What are you favourite FPS games for the Amiga?

Have a nice weekend!