The 15 best FPS video games of all time

From Wolfenstein 3D to Overwatch, the first-person shooter has evolved dramatically over the last 25 years – and there has been absolute brilliance along the way. Whether you like an epic narrative campaign, a raucous loot hunt, a run-and-gun multiplayer blaster, or an objective-based team experience, this genre has something for you. And even some of its earliest, most primitive entries still hold up surprising well today. We’ve loved a whole load of shooters over the years, so trimming this down to 15 was no easy feat. But these are the shooters, PC and console alike, that have truly defined the experience and kept us happily blasting for hours on end.

15) BORDERLANDS 2 (2012)

Shoot… and loot? It might’ve seemed an unlikely pairing, but the original Borderlands’ promise of a bajillion different weapons kept players hunting together ’til the wee early hours, and Borderlands 2 amplified the experience to an incredible degree.

14) UNREAL TOURNAMENT (1999)

To anyone that thinks Unreal Tournament is just a “poor man’s Quake,” we have two words for you: Facing Worlds (the map). Epic’s frenetic first person shooter was at its best when you were strafe-dodging sniper fire, stolen enemy flag in hand, and turning simple corridors into tunnels of death with vicious flak cannon shells – all while the announcer screamed “MULTIKILL” at the top of his lungs.

13) TEAM FORTRESS 2 (2007)

Traditionally, first-person shooters were pretty grim and/or realistic-looking – and then Valve turned the genre on its head with Team Fortress 2. Updating the classic class-based approach and pairing it with bright, brilliant cartoon graphics, Team Fortress 2 became one of the essential multiplayer experiences of the late aughts, proving that intense gunplay and squad action doesn’t have to be gritty or bland-looking to pack a huge punch.

12) OVERWATCH (2016)

Team Fortress 2 undoubtedly paved the way for Overwatch, the current reigning champion in the multiplayer shooter world. Blizzard’s first-ever attempt at a shooter is an absolute knockout, pairing a wide array of distinctive heroes with dazzling graphics and objective-based gameplay. The result is an addictive concoction that we can’t stop playing.

11) LEFT 4 DEAD (2008)

Has there ever been a first-person shooter as terrifyingly intense and equally fulfilling as Left 4 Dead? Valve’s vision of a cooperative zombie shooter was spot-on from the start, as you paired with three other survivors to blast through an array of zombies and other freaky beasts through a series of tense campaigns.

10) BATTLEFIELD 2 (2005)

Born out of an incredibly successful mod scene, which saw more players dive-bombing Iraqi insurgents in the user-made “Desert Combat” than assaulting the Normandy beaches in the WW2 game it was based on, Battlefield 1942’s successor was bigger, browner, and a lot more modern. Massive maps opened up battles to 64 players at a time, and introduced a persistent progression system to the series for the first time.

9) WOLFENSTEIN 3D (1992)

Doom gets most of the love, but id Software’s Wolfenstein 3D came a year earlier and really established the framework for the modern first-person shooter. As badass B.J. Blazkowicz, you’d haunt the hallways pumping pixelated Nazis full of lead, and despite the rudimentary graphics of the era, damn did it feel great.

8) QUAKE (1996)

After a double dose of Doom, id Software made the huge pivot towards Quake, its first shooter to use a proper 3D engine – and the results were spectacular. The grim, gothic look was massively appealing, despite the very sharp angles everywhere, while the Nine Inch Nails (!) soundtrack was even more brilliant.

7) COUNTER-STRIKE (2000)

This may not be the greatest team-based FPS ever made, but it’s easily the most tactical. Counter-Strike has evolved over the years, over multiple iterations, but the objective has never changed: terrorists plant bombs, while counter-terrorists try to stop them. Sounds simple, but incredible levels of communication, map knowledge and tactics are needed to succeed at the top level.

6) GOLDENEYE 007 (1997)

The best Bond game ever was a superb and influential first-person shooter for many reasons, not least through its introduction of stealth elements, its innovative variety of weapons and its excellent, atmospheric single-player mode. But it was the local multiplayer that everyone remembers, and with good reason: gathering three mates round the telly and spending hours shooting each other to bits has never again been such fun.

5) CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (2007)

Maybe it was the constant drip-feed of unlocks and upgrades that kept players coming back. Maybe it was the finely-crafted selection of now-iconic maps. Or maybe it was the sublime, gung-ho gameplay that went at a mile a minute. We’re betting it was a combination of all three. Modern Warfare set the bar for multiplayer, and console shooters have been playing catch-up ever since – future Call of Duty games included.

4) HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (2001)

Bungie’s juggernaut needs no introduction, and it’s the biggest reason that Microsoft still makes consoles today. But the sci-fi series deserves all the praise in the world for delivering an epic, controller-based campaign, and giving us reason to haul our giant original Xbox’s around for console LAN parties.

3) BIOSHOCK (2007)

BioShock was not your average FPS game. Packed with allusions to author Ayn Rand’s Objectivism philosophy and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and with a gorgeous setting inspired by the Art Deco architectural movement, it was equal parts innovative, influential and inspirational – and stayed with you for long after you’d finished it.

2) DOOM (1993)

Doom remains without doubt the most influential of all FPS games and defined the genre for years to come. It was the first to serve up proper 3D in a playable way; it standardised the FPS weapon set of pistol, shotgun, machine gun, energy, rocket launcher and totally-insane-last-resort weapon; it made blood and gore key parts of the FPS experience; it birthed the idea of varied baddies who needed to be taken down in different ways; it basically set the tone for everything that followed.

1) HALF-LIFE 2 (2004)

There are many reasons why people regularly proclaim Half-Life 2 to be one of the greatest games ever, and they’re all valid. The graphics were fantastic for the time, the storyline was well written, the characters were well-rounded, and the enemies and weapons were impressively varied. And it’s a huge game with a lot going on. But really the reason why we’re naming Half-Life 2 as our greatest FPS game ever is simple: the gameplay. Oh, and the Gravity Gun.