First-person shooters are relatively new when it comes to video game genres compared to those that started in arcades, such as beat 'em ups. Fate and Wolfenstein 3D they led the way in the 1990s and now, decades later, their cavalcade is ripe for the picking.
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The FPS genre has hit the bullseye so many times over the past few years, with both triple-A and indie developers producing absolute masterpieces.
We focus on triple-A games made by big studios, and there's something for everyone. Borderlands 2 is a great RPG shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare advanced to a more grounded war effort. What other games are worth picking up and are must-plays for this genre? These will be sorted by quality, replay value and if they last.
Click or tap the games that match the category
Start
10
Perfect darkness
Thriller full of plot
Perfect Dark (2000)
- Released
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May 22, 2000
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Animated Violence, Animated Blood
Perfect darkness was everything Rare did with the James Bond license Golden eye 007but better. Thanks to the original idea, the developer could go a little wild with his story of big corporations, conspiracies and aliens. As weird as the campaign was, it was kept grounded thanks to Special Agent Joanna Dark and her skill set.
Whether players were just shooting enemies or sneaking through compounds, each level had something new to offer. The gameplay isn't as sharp as it was on the N64, but shooter fans would still dig it.
9
Time dividers 2
Time crunch
Time dividers 2 has an excellent campaign that goes through several iconic periods in history. In order to stop the alien invasion, players will have to go through different periods and look for anomalies to prevent a universal catastrophe. From shooting soldiers and zombies in a freezing base in Siberia in the 1990s to shooting mobsters in 1930s Chicago, each level brought a new surprise.
Like Perfect darknesscontrols in Time dividers 2 it may not be as innovative as it once was, but it's an example where everything else is so well done that players will forgive some dated design choices and still call it a masterpiece.
8
Crysis
Jungle to jungle
Crysis
- Released
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November 13, 2007
- ESRB
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M
“Will Crysis launch?” This became a question many PC gamers asked themselves in the 2000s to gauge if the PC was running at full capacity, as Crysis was a marvel for years. It looked as good as it played, with stunning graphics, a steady frame rate and sharp gunplay in open levels set in brightly lit jungle landscapes.
Players are armed with a huge arsenal of weapons, an energy suit with several features such as invisibility, and there are vehicles that can be hijacked. For anyone who wants to feel like a superhero in a shooting game, this can be one hell of a powerful fantasy.
7
Battlefield 1
Arabian night
Battlefield 1 was a surprise hit because it didn't play with modern warfare, which was more attractive in the gaming space at the time, and it wasn't even WWII. Somehow, DICE have created an impressive WW1 game across different war scenes and each one is convincing, from riding horses through bombed out cities to driving tanks through trenches.
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The campaign had great settings, but the multiplayer was also excellent, making it one of the best balanced Battlefield games ever made. While some fans may prefer a more flashy modern or future setting, Battlefield 1 fans prefer a more limited approach to combat that makes things more visceral.
6
Borderlands 2
Beautiful RPG
There are plenty of great ones out there Border games and some have better RPG features than Borderlands 2. However, this first installment can't be beat as it has the best story of the pack thanks to its charismatic villain: Handsome Jack. He constantly reprimanded the players, making them hate him more and more as the campaign progressed.
Not only that, but Borderlands 2 it found the perfect balance in weaponry, characters, and surpassed the original without trying to do too much to feel bloated, and the first-person shooter remained solid and addictive.
5
Doom (2016)
Here comes the boom
After Doom 3which divided Fate fanbase and the long development cycle of the fourth game, many fans didn't have high hopes for the 2016 version. Fate. That made it that much sweeter because it was a surprise.
It felt just as brutal as the 1993 original, but now with better graphics, tighter gunplay, and a lot more gore. It was a throwback to arcade shooters, where the shooting mechanics were the most important feature over things like the story, which made the game fun in its own way.
4
Left 4 Dead 2
Resident Evil Co-Op
Left 4 Dead 2even though it looks a little dated now, it is one of those multiplayer experiences that hasn't aged since it was released in 2009. It surpasses the original in almost every way, players could face off against one of the survivors in this multiplayer zombie game.
The goal was to survive hordes of zombies through different scenarios such as a bay or a shopping mall, and the better players do, the smarter the AI becomes. Getting out of a match with all four players alive at the last second was excruciating, and today it's fun to jump into a dedicated group of friends.
3
Half-Life 2
At Crowbar We Trust
Half-Life 2 may not be the most intense shooter as Fate or Borderlands 2but it is one of the best representations of what the genre is capable of. It provided an engaging narrative through environmental storytelling and game scenarios without relying on cumbersome cutscenes.
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Once players got out of the city, it was also a more open game that allowed players to use physics to solve puzzles and enemy problems in several ways. It's an achievement for Valve as a company, and fans are still hungry for a third episode or a third game whenever they get around to it.
2
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
A modern reboot
The Call of Duty the series was big during the first three major releases but Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare changed everything. It brought the war front into the modern era with exciting scenes involving bombastic war zones and engaging covert missions involving sniping at enemies.
Multiplayer was the real selling point, giving players an almost RPG progression system that rewarded kills, or at least players trying to make them feel like defeat wasn't everything. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was basically like a reboot of the series, and Activision hasn't looked back since. Even with a modern reboot, this original game still rocks.
1
Halo: Combat Evolved
Redefining console shooters
original Fate pioneered the idea of first-person shooters in the 1990s for the PC audience but Halo: Combat Evolved was a game they enjoyed on consoles. The controls were intuitive, so players felt like they were controlling Master Chief even without a mouse and keyboard.
The game quickly became a template for all shooters to watch and love Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo: Combat Evolved it has a remaster but the original game is still amazing on the original xbox. Between Master Chief's moves, vehicles that players could pilot, strange weapons, and open level design, this is without a doubt the definitive shooter experience that Bungie has easily made a name for itself.
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