Friendly fire is one of the most annoying yet hilarious mechanics in gaming. It also serves as a simple yet smart way to make players think twice before firing off an attack at a cluster of enemies without taking their own allies into account. That being said, most modern games have decided to make friendly fire a thing of the past, actively discouraging players from shooting their friends so that frustrations remain low and the narrative of certain single-player games isn't hampered.
Thankfully, not all developers have completely removed friendly fire from their games. In fact, there are some games that absolutely revel in the idea of making players pay for the costly mistakes they make. The following games do a great job of making friendly fire something important to consider if players want to get through certain combat encounters without encountering a game over.
8 Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is a sequel to a critically-acclaimed co-op shooter that pits a bunch of survivors against a zombie horde that's hell-bent on eating their flesh. The game is a tense and exciting romp through a series of levels that showcase just how incredible Valve as a studio really is.
In such a scary environment where players need to be extremely wary about making noise, a single mistake can cause things to go haywire in the span of seconds. Panicking and firing aimlessly is the worst thing players can do here since friendly fire will make their teammates pay for their careless actions.
7 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Tactical shooters do a great job of punishing players for firing carelessly. Such is the case in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as well, where players are punished for accidentally putting their allies in the line of fire.
Sometimes, players on the same squad might start bickering and killing each other, but disruptive teammates can always be kicked out if need be. Given how popular Global Offensive is, it's easy to see why friendly fire can prove to be both an annoying and hilarious mechanic, depending on the context.
6 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Speaking of tactical shooters, another game that comes to mind is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. Ubisoft's tactical shooter has become one of the most popular games around, with a sizeable fanbase playing the game regularly to this day.
Rainbow Six Siege prioritizes proper tactics and discourages players from treating it like a normal FPS. As a result, it's easy to see why friendly fire is enabled here, with the game also having a Reverse Friendly Fire mechanic where team killers get damaged instead if they constantly fire at their own squad.
5 Escape From Tarkov
Escape from Tarkov is one of the most brutally difficult first-person shooters ever made. In fact, it's the sheer toughness of this game that makes it such a massive draw for so many players.
With this in mind, it goes without saying that this game features friendly fire to deter players from firing wildly. Of course, players who don't have sound strategies will be taken out even if friendly fire wasn't an issue.
4 Halo Infinite
Friendly fire has been a mechanic in the entirety of the Halo series, and Halo Infinite is no exception to this golden rule. The game might not have reached the heights of other such titles in the Halo universe, but this title's FPS gameplay is still as competitive as ever.
Halo Infinite features friendly fire in both co-op and multiplayer. While the arcadey nature of this title means that running and gunning is a viable strategy, it's still important to cooperate with teammates to prevent any unnecessary team kills.
3 Insurgency: Sandstorm
Insurgency: Sandstorm is a game that takes no prisoners and forces players to abide by its ruthless tactical gameplay. A single step in the wrong direction can have disastrous consequences for both the player and their teammates.
Friendly fire in Insurgency: Sandstorm can be quite damaging and players need to make sure that every shot counts for them and not against them. Given how tough each match already is, killing a friendly squad member is pretty much a declaration of defeat.
2 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty is one of the most popular FPS franchises of all time. While friendly fire is mostly disabled in the majority of game modes, the same isn't true for the hardcore modes.
In this mode, Call of Duty players need to be extremely wary of accidentally hitting their teammates. Only the most adept CoD veterans try out hardcore modes, meaning that mistakes like these will be severely punished.
1 Battlefield 1
Battlefield 1 is arguably the most universally beloved title in the series before the fanbase started harboring a ton of mixed opinions about most of the other games released since then. The shift to a World War 1 setting was a source of great PR for the franchise, coming out during a time when players had had enough of futuristic shooters.
Friendly fire is only enabled in hardcore modes, but players can still take down their teammates during normal gameplay as well. This mainly happens when players crash vehicles in the vicinity of friendly squad members or indirectly cause some debris to hit their allies.