I was just wondering if there are any multiplayer first-person period games out there involving swords, spears, etc. instead of guns. Either historical or fantasy would be of interest to me. Can anyone make any recommendations?
http://www.taleworlds.com/main.aspx
I give you Mount & Blade: Warband. Not the best end-game in the single player campaign, but the multiplayer is a complete blast. Also, the FPS battle system includes weapons such as swords, shields, cavalry jousting, crossbows, archery, etc. It will completely spoil you for every other game that has attempted medieval combat.
If you start playing regularly let me know, there’s a few dopers who get together on a server, ride around on warhorses, and joust the unsuspecting 
The original would be Heretic and its far-superior sequel Hexen, from back in the Doom days. Heretic was basically just Doom with the sprites and names changed (the crossbow was functionally identical to the shotgun, for instance), but Hexen brought a lot of new concepts to the table, such as multiple classes (the Mage was all ranged, the Fighter was mostly melee, and the Cleric was somewhere in between). There was also eventually a Hexen II, built on the Quake engine, but I never played enough of that one to judge.
Another vote for Mount and Blade, i have not tried the multiplayer version but the original is incredibly satisfying medieval combat.
The Elder Scrolls games (Oblivion, Morrowind, and whatever came before) would presumably count.
The “Thief” series was described as a “first-person sneaker”- you played and moved in a traditional FPS way, but your character was pretty underpowered compared to the guards and the like around. It’s in a pretty steampunk-y environment, and you do indeed carry a sword.
Half-life 2 has the mods Pirates, Vikings and Knights II and Age of Chivalry. Never played them myself, so I can’t comment on quality. If you’ve already got HL2 I think they’re free.
Besides the already mentioned games, there’s Hexen (itself a sequel to Heretic), but they’re from the mid-90s so don’t expect much in the graphics department there.
Great suggestions, all. I had actually thought of Oblivion, but it’s single-player. I own it. I was looking more for multi-player games like Halo, but without guns.
Mount & Blade: Warband looks interesting. I might have to check that out.
You might enjoy PvP in an MMORG like WoW. You can do individual duels, 2,3, or 5 player team fights, large scale battles, and even a sort of free-for-all in some areas. The down side is that to do PvP at the highest end, you have to take a character all the way to maximum level, and acquire the best equipment available, which takes a lot of non-pvp time.
Well, I play FFXI, which by no means has a strong PvP system.
I guess I’m looking for something like Oblivion, but multiplayer. Something that uses first-person camera, but I can see my shield, weapons, and arms move (like in Hexen or Quake).
**Dark Messiah of Might and Magic ** is fairly recent (Half-Life 2 engine), and has a pretty decent combat system to boot.
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is excellent, although its main draw is the single player portion. It does have multiplayer, but I don’t think there are many people still playing it.
Zeno Clash is a single player first person brawler that takes place in a weird fantasyish setting. You beat up creatures with your fists and a few melee and ranged weapons. I haven’t played it myself, but I’ve heard it’s good.