Top 10 Best First Person Shooter (FPS) Games of All Time

The Top Ten
1 Half Life 2

Call of Duty 4 was good and all, but Half Life 2 put it in the corner - an old, dusty, cobweb-filled corner. To put it simply, the game offers amazing immersion. After about 30 seconds, you'll feel like you're Gordon Freeman himself. The environment in this game outmatches that of just about every other game. Many games send you into the first level with a "look how cool our game is" attitude, then offer nothing afterwards. Half Life 2 ignored that approach and continued to make the environment a living, breathing entity. Besides, the storyline is amazing, the gameplay is absolutely fantastic, and you don't have to deal with a terrible online community.

One of the things that makes this game great is how epic certain parts feel. The sound effects are amazing, and you always feel small and insignificant. Like the beginning of Our Benefactors, you are slowly making your way through the Citadel, and it actually feels huge compared to you. It feels real, terrifying, and exhilarating.

Most games seem to believe that more action and insanity creates awe-inspiring moments, but this game shows that sometimes you just need to take it slow and let it all sink in.

2 BioShock

I'm so glad that this masterpiece is number 2. In my mind, it's number one, though (I haven't played Half-Life 2). It's just so hard for me to imagine a better game than this one. It's like somebody entered my deepest dreams, perfected them, and turned them into a video game. A game where I can not only shoot at enemies like crazy (which we all, mostly boy gamers, love to do – and don't deny it), but I also get an immersive, genius, and surreal atmosphere. And if that wasn't enough, I also get a mind-blowing story. It's indeed like entering my own dreams.

This is so crazy that I now think there are two classes of video games: BioShock and the rest of them. The truth is, BioShock isn't just a good game. It's a CRAZY good game. Period.

I've played Half-Life 2, all the CoDs up to BO2, all the Halos, all the Battlefields, and Counter-Strike - just about every shooter worth playing. No other game has ever drawn me in, immersed me in its world, and then completely turned that world upside down with its head-spinning plot twists as BioShock has. Not only was the game absolutely beautiful when it came out (the art style remains fantastic all these years later), but it also introduced mechanics that no other major shooter on the market had anything close to.

Yes, BioShock Infinite improved upon those mechanics, and now we have other shooters like Destiny where shooters and RPGs are seeing some mixing. However, BioShock was the one that took the original formula and made it unbelievably fun and satisfying. Aside from maybe fighting Sephiroth in KH2 or Liquid Ocelot (or any other boss) in MGS4, few other things in gaming, in any other game at all, can compare to fighting a Big Daddy in a claustrophobic, wrecked underwater utopia. Few things in gaming are as satisfying as seeing those big brutes hit the floor cold after you've just emptied all your shotgun shells and half your EVE hypos into their giant metal cages.

In summary: Cool city, great inhabitants, interesting genetic modifications, and awesome commentary by your very own Atlas. In other words, the best shooter of all time.

3 Doom

Kids these days don't know what a real shooter is. I'm only 14 years old, and this game beats Call of Duty by miles. Here are my reasons why:

1. No dumb multiplayer that takes up 80% of the game. Sure, Skulltag brought in multiplayer, but at least it didn't take away from the story mode.
2. WADs are being made every day, featuring new levels, weapons, and more.
3. No copy-paste weapons. Only the standard pistol and no such thing as a pistol type.
4. Minimalistic. Low-design graphics, simple controls. Yet, it makes up for this in setting and challenge.
5. Diverse enemies to keep a challenge, instead of basing the challenge on how many soldiers are on screen.
6. A puzzling environment, offering a great way to incorporate exploration after some arena combat.

I could think of more, but I'll stop here.

I feel like every FPS has its own charm, and I wouldn't say many are better than others, but Doom stands out among the rest. It's reputable for not being a cookie-cutter fact in the industry, not trying too hard to be realistic, and not pulling players out of its immersive experience to play less fun side games.

Your average shooter game will consist of a variety of weapons, each only slightly different from the last. It'll have a campaign that's hard to track, focusing on governmental figures. It'll have gloomy colors and ultra-realistic graphics, and the campaign will have its highlights but fall short in some areas for stealth or a puzzle.

Doom cuts all of this out. It takes being eccentric and over the top seriously, hands you the bare essentials, and then throws you at the enemy with a "go get 'em, tiger." You don't have to conform to a realistic dark corner that you hide in to snipe enemies from, and you're not fleshy in the slightest. You can run out to demons in flashy apocalyptic environments, get in their faces while they're gunning you down, and blast them with the full force of a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun.

Video games have always been about the gameplay for me, and that should be true for everyone else. Secondary doctrines like how fast the game can run or its level of customization shouldn't determine its value. Only the fun and quality of the gameplay. I feel like most FPS games aren't worth buying because they try too hard to be more cutting-edge than others, but Doom doesn't need to do that. Its abrasive style and back-to-back gameplay, especially in recent installments like Doom Eternal, where heavy thinking is required, causes the player to have a more cognitive and badass experience for the ages.

4 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

2007 was a great year for gaming, specifically for first-person shooters. BioShock and The Orange Box were better than this game. However, in my opinion, this was the third-best FPS of the 7th generation. Unfortunately, the rest of the Call of Duty games were exactly the same as this one.

The multiplayer for this Call of Duty game is amazing. All of the guns are fun to use, and you don't get bored quickly like with some of the newer Call of Duty games. The campaign is perfectly put together, and when you play it, you can sense that the game was worked on hard.

It might not be the first FPS, nor does it have the best graphics, but it revolutionized FPS forever. After its release, we look at FPS games differently. Somehow, this became a benchmark of what a good FPS game should be, both in Single Campaign and Multiplayer.

5 Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo has one of the best stories in gaming history. Most shooters had just small stories to keep the person interested throughout the whole game. But Halo had a rich story that didn't drop you at the beginning of the whole Covenant-human war but after a massive assault on one of our colonies, and you are the only survivor who must flee. That's what makes it a great game. It has a deeper story than most other shooters. I'm not saying that any of the others on this list are bad, but this one has a backstory. Many fans had always wondered what happened in the story just hours before the opening cutscene. That's what makes not just a great shooter, but a great game - when they throw you into an already begun story and drop you right in the middle of one of the many high points of the story. I have played all of the shooters on this list, and though they are all great in their own way, this game has masterpiece spelled from corner to corner.

6 Halo 3

I am very surprised that this isn't the highest-ranked Halo game on this list. It revolutionized Halo as the first game with Forge. It gave you the opportunity to make your own maps, your own game types. You made the game. It was the first, and in my heart, the best game with Forge, let alone game in general. Ghostbusters and Cops n' Crooks leave memories of a great time in gaming. If you haven't played it, give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

It alarms me that people put Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 over this, as well as Call of Duty 2. Don't get me wrong, those are great games, but Halo 3 is a true masterpiece. It's the best-selling Xbox 360 game of all time and is ranked #15, well ahead of any Call of Duty game, with the possible exception of Call of Duty 4.

Common for people to choose Call of Duty over the one game that put the Xbox where it is today, but truly without Halo, the Xbox would not have been able to compete with the PlayStation and cement its spot in the platform competition today.

7 Goldeneye 007

When someone asks me what's the "best FPS," I still think of Goldeneye to this day. There might be an element of nostalgia at play, but I just can't explain the impact this game had on me!

I spent endless hours playing the campaign, even to the point of restarting a level if I didn't achieve 100% headshots and 100% accuracy. I also spent hours at a time with my best pals playing four-player split screen around a rubbish 14-inch TV! The three of them would gang up on me, and I would still win every time.

Playing Goldeneye was pretty much an obsession for me between the ages of 12 and 15. I played at least an hour a day for three years! One of my biggest regrets is selling my N64 to Kev Mitchell so I could go paintballing. What an idiot!

GoldenEye is the granddaddy of the FPS genre. Though Call of Duty maintains it, Halo revived it, and Half-Life reinvented it, GoldenEye raised it. If GoldenEye was never made, none of the FPS games we know and love would have ever existed. Don't believe me? Well, the game is on sale now at amazon.com for a whopping $145.95. And if you have the cojones to buy it and get four controllers for you and your buddies, it will still be fun today. Besides, how cool is it to kill somebody with a karate chop to the back of the neck?

8 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The original Modern Warfare is always going to be better. Honestly, I find this game to be a little overrated. But overall, I still found it to be a really good entry in the franchise.

After this game, every other Call of Duty sucked. But I think this is the best one with amazing graphics. Glad all the four-year-olds ditched this one for the latest one and FIFA. They also ruined BF3, TF2, and FC3.

Sure, there were a lot of glitches and problems, but come on, everyone played it, and I had so much fun even if people noob-tubed.

9 Halo 2

Revolutionized playing FPS games on a console and put Xbox on the map! From the launch of Xbox Live on the original Xbox until the end, Halo 2 was always the most played game. For sure, my favorite game of all time (of any genre)!

Surely, Halo 2 revolutionized online gaming, particularly Xbox Live.

10 Team Fortress 2

I have been playing for about half a year now and invest at least an hour each day. This is possibly the most addictive game I've ever played and one of the only FPS games I actually like. It's not like the others because it focuses on fun and teamwork. It's unique. The loadouts are great because the weapons are different, not just "Oh, it shoots faster... Oh, it has a scope... Oh, there is slightly more ammo," like in Call of Duty.

In TF2, it's "Oh, these do more critical hits in a certain scenario, look completely different, and can completely change this class's style of gameplay." It isn't just about going somewhere, shooting something, and winning. Instead, it has fun objectives that you have to work with a team to achieve. It isn't bland, and the art style is amazing with a 50's painting look that still holds up today, even though it was made in 2008 or 2007. The game was in development for a long time and turned out to be amazing!

It is also free to play now, so there is no reason not to get it if you have a good PC. Also, hats. Enough said.

The Contenders
11 Metroid Prime

It's more about adventure than killing. That's something almost all FPS franchises fail to understand. Metroid Prime should be number 1. It's very creative how it makes you go down to a planet infused in Phazon, so then you have to track the source down that killed the Chozos and most of the inhabitants. It also has beautiful scenery and every enemy is different.

Shooters aren't my favorite, but some of them I do really like, like Metroid Prime here. But seriously, Half-Life 2 at number 1? I know people will hate me for saying this, but I tried Half-Life 2 and saw nothing special about it. Sorry, just my opinion. I'd take Metroid, or even Call of Duty any day. Also, Titanfall is a good recent shooter, from what I've played.

No other FPS, besides Half-Life and Bioshock, are able to completely immerse the player in its world. Metroid Prime's environments across all three games are absolutely stellar, and the adventure-like gameplay takes full use of these beautiful locales. The boss fights are also spot on.

12 Half-Life

Half-Life has a great variety of different kinds of gameplay throughout the game. Each mission introduces new kinds of mechanics, ensuring that nothing feels repetitive, making Half-Life engaging and fun throughout the whole game. Congratulations to Valve on accomplishing something great like this!

No other title, with the exception of Doom, has revolutionized the world of gaming as much as Half-Life. This game single-handedly changed storytelling in games forever. I personally prefer this game to Half-Life 2, but this franchise as a whole is a must-play for anyone who calls themselves a gamer.

One of the pioneer games of the FPS genre, Half-Life paved the way for many of the games people know and love today. Great storyline and design, it should never be forgotten.

13 Call of Duty: Black Ops II

My fourth favorite Call of Duty game. There's not much to say except this game is amazing. I personally think that it was the last good Call of Duty game ever made.

The campaign is super good! The best Call of Duty ever! Zombies is very fun, especially Origins! Most fun multiplayer! #Call of Duty BLACK OPS 2

It's only number 19? This game is the best, though...

14 CounterStrike

This should be #1 permanently. Young kids who only started with Call of Duty or Battlefield are the reason those games are popular, but no other game can ever defeat the original team-based FPS that is Counter Strike. Even Battlefield version 1,000,000+ or Call of Duty version 1,000,000+ can never ever top this game.

Why isn't this #1?

Counter Strike is a perfectly balanced game for everyone. It's like the basketball or football (soccer for those less familiar) of esports, but much more balanced because your body doesn't matter. If esports are accepted by everyone in the future, this game will obviously be the most popular.

This is the best FPS of all time, hands down. Nothing else comes even remotely close. The fact that pros still make a living playing this game 13 years after its release is mind-blowing.

15 Battlefield 4

An awe-inspiring game. From the personal and intense campaign to the stunning graphics and level design. In no other game can you fly a jet, then parachute out, counter a knife attack, get in a jeep, set C4, and sprint away from an 80-story skyscraper falling on top of you. Also, none of the guns are completely better than one another. They each have their own strengths. This game is a stepping stone to the next era of first-person shooters.

What the heck is Battlefield 4 doing in 38th? Its campaign is epic and has a great storyline, its multiplayer is better by far than any other FPS game due to: Levolution, counter-knife, vehicles ranging from jeeps to attack jets, dynamic maps, a wider variety of weapons than any other game, not to mention it has 64 simultaneous players, etc. Battlefield 4, in my opinion, is far too underrated for such an amazing game, and it is better than Call of Duty and Halo alike.

16 Duke Nukem 3D

Well-balanced and sophisticated levels, humor, and a one-of-a-kind style of action make this one's replayability the main reason to deem it a king of all FPS games ever.

It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum. This game has the best cheesy lines out of any FPS games.

Fantastic game. One of the first shooters to bring an inventory into the mix!

17 Halo Reach

This one had the most immersive story in my opinion. When the characters died, I felt sad and knew I would miss them. The main character is just as enjoyable as the Master Chief, and they kill him off to heighten the drama, which worked, might I add. The multiplayer and firefight modes really add to the experience and show just what Halo can do with the right tools and its excellence.

This game should be around the top tens, along with the great first three Halo games. All four of these are originally made by Bungie. I have always considered Bungie's original creations to be the best in the Halo series.

It's a superb game. A person can play this all day and still be willing to play more. When I started playing, my home was filled with my friends, and the most interesting thing is... his sword.

18 Call of Duty: Black Ops

My favorite game in the Call of Duty series. The single-player storyline is a little weak, but online multiplayer and zombies are the best.

Call of Duty 4 just makes you worse at the game. Black Ops has zombies, an awesome multiplayer, and campaign.

19 BioShock Infinite

It has a story and atmosphere that almost rivals the original, but more than makes up for it in gameplay. In terms of gameplay alone, this is the best shooter I have ever played. Add to that an amazingly well-told story and, bada bing bada boom, best FPS of all time.

Crazy good. Executing enemies that are already being attacked by a murder of crows on fire. Good lord, violent games have evolved in my opinion with this game. Stunning perfection that every FPS gamer loves. Yeah, even if they have not played it. It's just mind-blowing.

This is literally my favorite game of all time. The story is so well thought out, and the characters bring you into the narrative. Irrational Games did a fantastic job with the storyline. Great game!

20 Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D broke the entire ground that FPS stands on. And it wasn't just a groundbreaker in that mindset. It featured bosses that were extremely evil and sadistic, from the maniacal and diabolical Doctor Schabbs, who experimented on humans and created deadly mutated fighting machines, to the menacingly demonic Hitler, who wore a battle suit and fought with brutal precision with dual chainguns and rapid fire. The game was not just a breakthrough for FPS games, a definitive game for bosses, a controversial title for the Nazi enemies, and a title adding a tremendous amount of levels and secrets. It was also the most powerful title that fed into the mainstream for decades to follow. Wolfenstein 3D is the legend of all FPS games, hands down.

Though it looks cheap by today's standards, think about when this came out. A great innovation in gaming history.

21 Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 is the new age of amazing First Person Shooters. I don't understand how this game can be so low? The music, the graphics, the story, and the multiplayer? DICE have really put effort into this game, and not a game like Call of Duty where they use the same engine for all their games. It's like buying Counter-Strike: Source, downloading some skins and new maps, and selling it as a whole new game. GG.

Totally agree, this should be number one, let alone in the top ten. Can you fly jets and helicopters in Call of Duty? Can you drive buggies and tanks? No. That alone makes BF3 better than any Call of Duty game in the past, present, and future.

I just got it recently, and right off the bat, it was better than Call of Duty. The only Call of Duty that could beat it is Modern Warfare 1, because it is a classic modern online shooter.

22 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

If you play a lot of Call of Duty, you should try this game because it has a great campaign, good Spec Ops missions, and its multiplayer is so intense. A good game.

MW3 has cool weapons, cool maps that are bigger than the ones in Black Ops 2, a cool story, and exciting multiplayer. Just the best game ever.

Most addictive for me. Riot Shield all the way!

23 Overwatch

This game has amazing characters and graphics. All the characters except Mei are likable and fun to play as. The workshop made the game more interesting and better, and the events are great.

Overwatch is pretty awesome. It's maybe not the most original game ever (since the concept is kind of like TF2), but with all the new original heroes added, I think it deserves a spot in the top 20.

Overwatch is a really fun game. One of the best games of all time. And not only that, Overwatch is the best shooter game ever made.

24 Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 is very fun. The story is fun, and it's great to find legendary weapons. The gameplay is so fun, and this game dumps on the idea that all FPS games are the same, as it has RPG elements and the characters are amazing.

It definitely has the most to do out of all FPS games.

It's the best FPS I've ever played in my life, and I'm still playing it to this day. I have not stopped, and the reason behind that is because Borderlands 2 has a very fun lore if you're into that, or the awesome loot system it has. It is clearly one of, if not the best, games ever. -UNCLEsammy1776

25 Doom II

While the first Doom game was a classic, Doom II took everything to the next level. As far as I'm concerned, the Doom franchise opened the path for every FPS to follow.

Sweet childhood memories: playing doom and listening to slayer

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