5. Star Wars: Dark Forces I & II (1995 & 1997)

You'll be shooting plenty of Stormtroopers with a variety of guns in Dark Forces.

The Dark Forces series was designed as LucasArt's answer to Doom. A FPS set in the Star Wars universe, Dark Forces I & II focus on Kyle Katarn, who joins the Imperial Army as a Stormtrooper after his father is killed, only to eventually join the Rebellion with the help of Jan Ors, an Imperial double agent. Both characters, and the story overall, are incredibly popular with fans, and even saw LucasFilm releasing official toys of the two.

As a first-person shooter, the game mainly focuses on levels full of enemies to shoot at with a variety of guns and powerups. In addition, there are interesting environmental puzzles and platforming elements, which give a good feeling of exploration through familiar locations like a Star Destroyer, Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, and the planet of Coruscant (which hadn't actually been seen yet).

In Dark Forces II, you start to learn how to be a Jedi, which means lightsaber combat!

As Kyle's journey goes on, he begins to discover that he can use the Force, and begins training as Jedi, which leads to new combat and puzzles involving lightsabers and Force powers. Lightsabers are used for everything from deflecting blaster fire to lighting a dark room. For powers, there's 14 total that you can upgrade, including Force abilities for light, dark, and neutral Jedi.

It's a cool progression, going from Stormtrooper to Rebel soldier to Jedi, and watching how the gameplay and levels change for that. If you enjoy classic shooters like Doom and Wolfenstein, definitely check out Dark Forces to start Kyle Katarn's story.