For that reason, this list runs the gamut from genre classics to those released in the last year. You can turn the pages of this feature using the arrows by the header image, or using the arrow keys of your keyboard. Of course, a good shooter is not just about the shooting. What lies beyond are primarily games of skill and reflex, but they are often as much about movement as about violence. And hey, sometimes you get a decent gimmick or story thrown into the mix. Your favourite is at number 51. Make us converts with your glowing praise. Note: We first ran this list in mid-2015, and this is our second revision. Aim for the head. In the studio of New World Interactive, killcams and minimap radar never took off. Omnipresent voice communications was shunned. And the fatal danger of friendly fire never went away. You could call Day of Infamy old-fashioned and it is based partly on the nostalgia of Day of Defeat but that would ignore how much it refined the atmosphere of first-person WWII warfare. Here, you can take the usual role of assault troopers or medics, but also the specialist roles of radio operator and commanding officer. The latter two have to work together to provide artillery, and to give the other players direction and purpose. Here, bad leaders call in smokescreens on the wrong hill, or order an assault at the worst possible moment. But good leaders shout at you from the top of a trench, telling you to get the hell out there, into the fray. Although this warlike atmosphere sometimes falls apart in tight corridors and choke points, which become grenade spam hells. However, each respawn happens in tandem with others, and this forces everyone to move together in waves. Valve liked it so much they hired the creators and published the game for real monies. Where can I buy it:. What else should I be playing if I like this: , by the same developers, has a similar no-hands-held attitude. The Red Orchestra games are also punishing war zones. The Marathon games were hugely influential, but never enjoyed anything like the zeitgeist moment that Doom, Quake or Duke Nukem 3D did. Part of that is for another absurd-in-hindsight reason — it was initially released for Apple Mac rather than PC, and ended up overshadowed by all the flashy fare on what was then an infinitely more popular platform. But Marathon was groundbreaking, taking the Wolfenstein 3D and Doom formula and pinning a proper story to it for the first time, as well as giving us vertical axis aim, dual-wielded weapons and massive progress in multiplayer, physics and optional objectives. Notes: You should probably steer clear of the original Marathon release in favour of open source, streamlined and prettified version — with which you can use all three original Marathon games for free. Where can I buy it: Download for free. Though again, you probably want to stick the files into Aleph One see above. What else should I be playing if I like this: Halo, if you want to experience a similar story and some of the mechanics in far flashier fashion. Or perhaps Blood if you want an evolved version of the Doom concept but without all that lore crap in there. Read more: , 48. So often, this genre is just about what a pair hands do, but in F. As a gun game, it was also a relatively early proponent of any weapon can be equally deadly in the right circumstance, which is still a refreshing move on from the arms race of most shooters. Also spooky little girl with hair over her face wooooooooooooooooo. What else should I be playing if I like this: The Condemned games if you want more spooky horror-times mixed in with your action, or No-One Lives Forever if you want to see developers Monolith at the absolute top of their game. An alpha version is available and has most of the requisite bits and bobs in it, but progress towards a planned beta seemed to stall around a year ago. Where can I buy it: and. What else should I be playing if I like this: Duke Nukem 3D or Blood if you want more throwback shooters with more open environments than Doom, or space combat sims X-Wing or TIE Fighter if you want to explore other quintessential aspects of Star Wars. Serious Sam HD, meanwhile, embraces cray-cray early on. Huge open spaces, huge enemies, huge weapons: it passes all the way through parody and comes out the other side as something pure and earnest. Are you shooting and moving? Are you emitting a low, sustained scream? If not, you are not playing Serious Sam. This is bullet hell shump as FPS, a wild dance of breathless persistence. You could get Serious Sam HD Gold instead, which includes The Second Encounter HD and assorted DLC. Where can I buy it: , primarily, but boxed copies are still sold on yer Amazons and whatnot too. Alternatively has the significantly more archaic non-HD version if you want to do the DRM-free thing. Read more: , 45. Importantly, all this is him showing off, not the game showing off: it clearly wants to be a good time. Notes: Gunslinger was made and sold as something of a budget game, so be aware going in that there are compromises. Where can I buy it: or. Boxed copies are still available here and there too. Read more: , 44. To discuss that in detail would be unfair to those who have managed to remain unspoiled. Everything is built on the foundation of movement and observation. The city that felt like it could be home to a trilogy at the very least is only seen briefly, and most of the game takes place in a new city in a new region. Karnaca feels like a new home within a few hours and by the time the game is over, we know it better than we ever knew Dunwall. Now is the time to scour all of those in-game maps and charts to figure out where Arkane might take us next. Notes: Has bumped its predecessor from this list. Where can I buy it: , retail. What else should I be playing if I like this: The Thief series — particularly Thief 2 — which we cruelly removed from this list in favour of a more appropriate stealth one. See also Deus Ex. Read more: , , 43. On the surface, cold and radiation prevents all but the most monstrous life, while below ground various factions violently vie for control. While Metro 2033 is deeply uneven as an action game, with wildly spiking difficulty, an over-reliance on annoying monsters and infuriating quick-time events, it gets away with it thanks to its careful world-building best underground pig farm in games? Where can I buy it: , or disc. Rage is probably your best bet if that is the case. Read more: , 42. It works very, very hard to be dumb. Also it has lots and lots of dick jokes. Read more: , 41. Pairing up pure pulp with surprising heart, then earning both by underpinning the sci-fi gloss and melodrama with super-solid, impressively flexible combat, this alterna-history Nazi-shooter is the complete blockbuster package. The latter-day follow-up to the all guns, all-time granddaddy of first-person shooters even boasts a stealth option. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus on the other hand… Where can I buy it: ,. What else should I be playing if I like this: Half-Life is a clear inspiration for The New Order, in terms of being another resistance tale with dramatically changing environments and your trying to live up to the expectations of a fearful supporting cast. Read more: , 40. Team Fortress 2 2007 Developer: Valve Corporation Publisher: Valve Corporation That Team Fortress 2 is a sequel and a remake of a sober-as-a-nun multiplayer mod seems almost irrelevant now. Valve took years and years to settl
