First-Person Shooters, or FPS games, make up some of the most popular games out there. There's just something special about finding yourself inside your character, strong enough to take on a litany of enemies, with an arsenal of weapons of your choice.
While many FPS games are very traditional, others have implemented secondary skills and abilities to spice up the traditional shooter experience. If you feel like as an FPS game fan you've played and seen all of them, you might be in for some surprises with this list of 10 of the best FPS games of all time, as scored by Metacritic. Next time you're looking for a great new title to play, refer to this!
10 Bioshock Infinite (Score: 94)
Bioshock Infinite is a very unique FPS experience because of all the different things you can do. Not only will you have a nice range of different weapons you can pick up and trade at almost any point in the game, but you also have something called Vigors.
These are special abilities that have mutated your body enough for you to perform awesome elemental and environmental feats. From charming your enemies to scorching them with blazing hot fire, you have tons of strategies and possibilities that can serve you well in different types of environments. And as for the story, well, we won't spoil you, but it will make your jaw drop.
9 Portal 2 (Score: 95)
We know what you're thinking: Portal 2 isn't a shooter game. That's true, to a degree. However, the game still qualifies as an FPS game by Metacritic's standards and with its high popularity rate, it would be an insult not to discuss it in this list. Portal 2 is for those who love to play in first-person perspective, but find action and shooting games too overwhelming.
Armed with a portal gun instead, you'll be solving environmental puzzles to progress from one area to another guided by an artificial intelligence. All the while you'll discover the story of what exactly happened to you and the people who once worked in these laboratories.
8 Halo 2 (Score: 95)
Halo 2 was the much hyped sequel to Combat Evolved, and boy did it deliver. This game was what came to define multiplayer FPS games for the next years and became one of the most popular games of its time on Xbox Live.
While the campaign experience left players a bit disappointed by poor execution, everything was forgiven by just how good the shooter experience turned out to be in multiplayer, a feature that was poorly available in Combat Evolved. If you ever want to relive the heydays of multiplayer Halo, this is the game to go for.
7 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Score: 96)
Bethesda is very well known for its amazing titles, which is why this list wouldn't be complete without naming Skyrim. While you don't exactly get to hold guns and the like in this game, the medieval fantasy open-world experience is truly unique and has come to define a decade of gaming.
From spells to axes to bows and arrows, you have a wide variety of weapons to use and a rich world to discover with compelling stories and quests. And if for some reason you don't like the game from a first-person perspective, you can always scroll back and play it from a third-person perspective, too.
6 GoldenEye 007 (Score: 96)
When thinking about classic FPS games we tend to usually think about PC gaming, since aiming on console just doesn't feel the same. However, GoldenEye 007 proved everyone wrong when it was released and much like Halo 2 came to challenge the gaming industry.
Considered one of the best console shooters, the game is even getting a remake in 2020 which should satisfy all hardcore James Bond fans, as well as FPS maniacs. In the meantime, why not give this nostalgic game a chance and test your aim?
5 BioShock (Score: 96)
BioShock was the spin-off that System Shock deserved, with a completely new and remastered setting and story. Without it, Bioshock Infinite would not even be a thing. Through an arsenal of all the classic FPS weapons you could think of from and with the help of powerful Plasmid mutations, you adventure through the underwater city of Rapture in search for a way out.
On your journey you find out the truth about yourself and why you ended up here in the first place, as you encounter powerful Big Daddies and creepy splicers.
4 Half-Life 2 (Score: 96)
The Half-Life franchise is absolutely iconic in so many ways. Any true gamer should give these titles a shot, despite their age. In Half-Life 2, you take on the role of Gordon Freeman once again, as a hostile alien force known as the Combine has conquered and now rules over humanity in an oppressive fashion.
Any lover of classic shooter games will appreciate Half-Life 2, where you have a wide variety of unique weapons, such as the famous Gravity Gun, at your disposal. Not to mention, the story will definitely grip you by your heart and hook you in immediately. Just don't expect a third installment, because it's not going to happen.
3 Halo: Combat Evolved (Score: 97)
Halo: Combat Evolved condenses into a game everything you could hope to get from a classic FPS sci-fi game: a cool supersoldier Master Chief, a really interesting and compelling story and excellent shooter mechanics. It's no accident that this game sparked one of the most popular FPS shooter franchises that still live to this day, even if its sequels haven't always lived up to the original hype.
Regardless, the first game established the very standards for a great FPS game, and also illustrated the need for an actual, supported online multiplayer mode, which thankfully followed in Halo 2.
2 Metroid Prime (Score: 97)
You might not remember this, but GameCube was once a thing. If you still have that console in your closet, time to dust it off and power up Metroid Prime. Although fairly old, this sci-fi game is considered by many as one of the best titles ever published.
Hop into the shoes of Samus Aran, tasked with finding and collecting twelve objects that will eventually allow her to access the Phazon crater. Like in any excellent shooter, Samus will need to gear up by grabbing upgrades and new weapons along her path as she progresses through the story.
1 Perfect Dark (Score: 97)
Nintendo 64 might have been a long time ago, but old games like Perfect Dark are good precisely because of what they achieved for titles that followed after. In this futuristic sci-fi shooter, you play as Joanna Dark, a highly skilled agent working for Carrington Institute in an era of warfare between two species.
The nostalgia factor of this game is massive, but we have to admit the range of different weapons, the sheer challenge of the gameplay itself with every mission Joanna must complete, as well as the addicting multiplayer game modes truly do give Perfect Dark its deserved highest score on Metacritic.