The Best FPS Games

Platform: Xbox One The Halo franchise has played a pivotal role in the evolution of FPS combat and is, for many, a defining appeal of the Xbox experience. Until we can get our hands on Halo: Infinite later this year, Halo 5: Guardians takes the top spot in the series. While the campaign is solid, it's the online modes that make the game truly stand out. The weapons have real weight and power, and the hover mechanics help add some new tactics and verticality into the gameplay. Xbox owners with an itchy trigger finger should head here for a multiplayer thrill (and it's on Game Pass).

Platform: Multi In 1999, Doom set the standard for early FPS gaming. 21 years later, and the folks at iD Software are still showing everyone how to do it. Eternal is everything that Doom can be - chaotic, fast-paced and brutal. The game rewards bravery and skill and punishes indecision and player error, never letting up (apart from the occasional spell of platforming). Matching the over-the-top gameplay is the heavy metal soundtrack, composed by the award-winning Mick Gordon (who famously brought his soundtrack to the original Doom soundtrack kicking and screaming to the Game Awards in 2016). Doom Eternal is also one of the best games currently available on Xbox Game Pass.

Platform: PC (VR) Chronologically, Alyx comes before the events of Half-Life 2 and sees players return to dystopian City 17. Valve has taken its time with Alyx, ensuring that the game isnu2019t just some on-rails shooter cashing in on the Half-Life name but a finely crafted and fully formed experience that will define the VR space and feature in the best PC game lits for years to come. The only downside with Half-Life: Alyx is that there is a barrier to entry: you need a PC-powered VR headset to play, and ideally, it should be the Valve Index. For those without VR, jumping back into Half-Life 2 is still a treat.

Platform: Multi While Far Cry is famed for dragging its protagonists to troubled exotic locales, the fifth instalment of the series takes place in the heart of the USA. Hope County, a fictional region set in Montana, is under the oppressive grip of a doomsday cult which, while not worshipping its psychotic leader Joseph Seed, violently brainwashes the local communities. While the story is pretty great, the standout features of Far Cry 5 are the beautiful landscape and the excellent, refined gunplay. The arsenal is broad and varied, allowing players to experiment and freestyle with new tactics on the fly. Easily one of, if not the, best open-world FPS games available today. Here is hoping that Far Cry 6 can build on its accomplishments when it releases later this year.

Platform: Multi Metro Exodus is the third instalment of the Metro series. In it, the player controls Artyom as he crawls from the eponymous underground system and breaks out onto the barren, harsh wastelands and nuclear winter above. Exodus has the series’ best level design, featuring open sandboxes for exploration and keen storytelling. Itu2019s also home to the best FPS action that developer 4A Games has ever crafted, mixed with health dashes of survival horror and stealth.

Platform: Multi In 2007, the original Modern Warfare introduced the gaming world to the addictive highs of online multiplayer firefights and set an exceptionally high benchmark for the COD name. In 2019, the game came in for an inevitable remake. Natural fan-wariness soon fell away on the release of the game. To help the title keep up, Infinity Ward has sharpened up the mechanics – it's just as chaotic, tactical and thrilling as it was years ago, just with a fresh, welcome polish.

Platform: Multi The invasion of the Battle Royale genre has been nothing short of monumental. It has been responsible for drawing vast qualities of FPS fans from more traditional shooter titles and into huge, open-world maps populated with tens-and-tens of hostelsu2026 for free. Itu2019s no wonder that Activision took notice and, off the back of Modern Warefare (2019), launched its answer to the trend: Warzone. Up to 150 players can compete in one match alone, with each vying for survival. The ability to experience Call Of Duty's precise and visceral mechanics isn't something to miss.

Platform: PSVR Blood & Truth is the ideal purchase for anyone with a PSVR headset and fantasies of being Jason Statham. While there is a narrative thread in there somewhere, it's pretty much beside the point, acting only as a vehicle to let players experience an action movie first-hand. As players rip through the streets of London, the PSVR system fully immerses them in a white-knuckled ride of thrilling conflicts, explosions and chases.

Platform: Multi The FPS genre is flooded with OTT weapons, frenetic battles and taunting team chats. Rainbow Six Siege offers an alternative through deep and well-implemented team-centric tactics. Featuring 5v5 player objective-based battles, Siege requires teamwork rather than mindless bravado to ensure success. Weapons are for appropriate and sparing use, and close-quarters gunfights are inevitable. The short round time means that sharp and decisive teamwork is a must, and while no respawns makes the initial learning curve feel a tad harsh, eventual success feels far more meaningful than in most online shooters.

Platform: Multi Apex Legends is just one of many Battle Royale titles to have emerged over recent years. Very few have been so acclaimed, nor so consistent. It's got quick-fire gunplay and epic, ever-developing maps (which will have a tad of the uncanny to Titanfall veterans), a splash of goofy character design and a thriving online community. It's free to download, but special editions are available through retailers like Amazon, offering special skins and weapons.

Platform: Multi Like Doom, Wolfenstein is a granddaddy of the FPS genre and received a successful reboot in recent years. Wolfenstein 2 takes place in an alternate timeline in which Nazi Germany managed to conquer the United States. As William "B.J." Blazkowicz, the player joins the resistance, a collection of memorable folks dedicated to bringing down the fascist regime. The game looks great, and the combat allows players to mix it up between stealthy melee and ambush attacks to straight off-the-wall, bullet-spraying mayhem. A true action game, if ever there was one.

Platform: Multi (VR) With its stripped-back aesthetic, innovative gameplay and immersive application of VR tech, Superhot VR is undoubtedly one of the best FPS games available. The player takes on hordes of enemies with an array of weapons and Matrix-esque time-bending abilities. Player movement controls time, and as the player attempts to travel around levels, dodge bullets and karate chop red-coloured hostiles in the face, they will be switching between flurries of movements and sudden position holds. Satisfaction, guaranteed.

Platform: Multi BioShock: The Collection consists of three games that rank amongst the best video games of all time. Merging compelling alternative histories, fantastical worlds and megalomanic plots with impressive gameplay. The first two games see the player taken to Rapture, a fallen capitalist utopia inhabited by lunatic citizens, unsettling young girls and the iconic Big Daddies. The third instalment heads into the clouds with the airborne city of Columbia and features a thrilling, mind-bending plot (we recommend you avoid spoilers to get the full effect). All three games feature a great mix of melee, shooting and supernatural abilities; thrilling, from start to finish.