What are the Best FPS games out today?
With all of the stresses that the world has been putting us through these days, I think everyone wants to let loose. And for some of us, there's no better way to do that than by slaughtering demons and zombies with huge, awesome guns.
First-person shooters (FPS) are by far the most popular type of game at the moment, but there are always some that will rise to the top among their peers. Here are the 11 best horror FPS games that you can play right now.
11. Metro Exodus (PC, macOS, Linux, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Xbox Series X, Stadia, Amazon Luna)
Metro Exodus Official Trailer
Moscow, 2035. Arytom is on a quest to prove that human survivors are living outside of Moscow after the nuclear disaster that left the world devastated. After a run-in with a group of soldiers, Artyom and his wife Anna embark on a journey to make contact with other survivors beyond the world they've come to feel safe in.
Fans of the Metro series will love this installment. Because the game's plot takes Artyom outside of Moscow, veteran Metro players will delight in coming across new monsters and challenges, as well as hostile human characters to deal with. The game's unique handmade weapons system returns for this game, but the access to new types of materials has made it even more expansive.
10. Hunt: Showdown (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Hunt: Showdown Steam Trailer
In this unique mashup of Monster Hunter and Hitman, you take the role of a bounty hunter tasked with hunting down mythical creatures and making it back to claim your spoils. You can work alone or team up with other bounty hunters to collect clues and track the monster to its lair. After that, you must use your wits and the tools available to you to kill the beast, collect your bounty, and make it back to the exfiltration point alive.
That type of game on its own would be super fun, but Hunt: Showdown takes it a step further by adding a battle royale element - each match consists of up to 12 bounty hunters, all searching for the same bounty. If you didn't manage to kill the monster you're after, you still have a shot at collecting the reward - if you kill the person who has it and take it from them.
The gameplay concept is wild, and it is incredibly fun. The prospect of trying to track down and kill a dangerous mythical beast while also doing battle with other bounty hunters makes each match a whole new challenge, depending on how your opponents decide to play. This game is especially good for players that are bored of more straightforward games.
9. Resident Evil Village (PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Xbox Series X, Stadia)
Resident Evil Village Teaser Trailer
The latest installment in the Resident Evil franchise hasn't been fully released yet, but what I know about it has me excited. It follows Ethan Winters, the protagonist from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and, as in the last game, it is made for first-person perspective rather than third-person. The theme is centred around medieval castles and the vampire aesthetic, but Capcom has been pretty secretive about overarching plot details up to this point.
Mechanically, we can assume that it runs much like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, but I'm excited to see what types of new enemies and environments that the game has in store for us. It's due to be released for all platforms on May 7, 2021.
8. GTFO (PC)
GTFO Official Trailer
You're a prisoner - to whom, and for what, you're not sure. All you know is that you have been forced into a mysterious underground complex built inside an ancient crater to scavenge for items and complete objectives for your captor, the mysterious Warden. Surviving will require smarts, teamwork, and more than a little luck.
Though this little gem has yet to be fully released, we had to include it on our list. GTFO is a cooperative FPS that supports up to four players. You and your friends must scavenge for items while exploring the huge complex, killing monsters and solving puzzles as you go. The game is still in early access on Steam, but even this version is worth a try.
I liked the mix of first-person shooter mechanics and puzzle mechanics - it makes the game unique, especially for something that is largely a multiplayer game. I'm really excited to see what the developers do with the game as it gets closer to the release date.
7. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Luna, Stadia)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Official Trailer
Ethan Winters thought that his wife Mia was dead - she's been missing for three years, after all. But when he receives a strange message from her, he immediately drives out to an abandoned plantation in Louisiana to find his wife. What he finds there is a deranged family that has been infected with a terrifying fungus that makes them into monsters. Ethan must fight to save himself and his allies from the twisted family members and make it out of the plantation alive.
While this game is a bit more of a survival horror game than an FPS, it is still a fantastic entry to our list. The decision to make the game in a first-person view rather than a third-person view like previous games was controversial, but it adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the game and the terror that builds when you're being chased or walking through dark areas of the map. The Molded enemies are terrifying, and the various encounters that Ethan has with the Baker family are harrowing, to say the least.
Mechanically, the game calls back to a lot of mechanics that are standards in the Resident Evil franchise, such as finding and blending herbs to make healing salves or solving elaborate environmental puzzles to navigate the setting. In terms of the game's FPS qualities, they exist to bolster the horror elements - for example, needing to manage and conserve ammo adds an extra layer of anxiety to certain boss fights and chase sequences.
6. Black Mesa (PC, Linux)
Black Mesa Official Trailer
Gordon Freeman is a theoretical physicist for Black Mesa. After a sample of strange material tears an interdimensional hole in the facility and allows alien entities to attack Earth, he must fight his way to the surface to try and get help before all hope is lost.
This remake of beloved FPS Half-Life remains mostly true to the source material, though many updates and improvements have been made. Enemies have better AI that makes them more challenging, and some combat spaces have been retooled to give players more directions to take. Half-Life has remained a gaming legend for over 20 years, and this remake is an excellent way for a new generation of gamers to enjoy it.
5. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Trailer
In an alternate timeline, a second disaster at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone caused the area around it to become otherworldly and dangerous. You only know yourself as The Marked One - you have amnesia, and all you know is that you're attempting to track and kill a mysterious creature called a Strelok inside this mysterious Zone.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. does include some RPG elements, but it's mostly a first-person survival shooter. It includes the interesting mechanic of attaching artifacts to your character to change their attributes, rather than a traditional XP or upgrade system.
The most interesting thing about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is that you can come across strange anomalies caused by the second disaster that you must navigate through or around, much like traps. You can use an item called a bolt to try and trigger them from a safe distance or use other means to avoid them; I liked that it added an extra later of strategy beyond just shooting everything you see.
4. Killing Floor 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Killing Floor 2 Official Trailer
After a European biotech firm's military clone experiment was unleashed on the world, society has started to collapse. As one of the few remaining survivors, you must constantly fight for your life against zombie-like creatures called Zeds. Fight them off with guns and melee weapons, gather supplies, and seal off passages to ensure your safety in this engaging zombie shooter.
This game is yet another cooperative title, which makes it great in these tough times while we quarantine away from our friends. The gameplay is pretty simple - you fight through waves of Zeds that get progressively more difficult until you trigger a boss fight. The game has a range of unique bosses that spawn randomly, and each has its own boss mechanics to figure out and defeat.
What's interesting about this otherwise fairly standard (but still fun) FPS is that there is a class system that players can adhere to - before you start a match, you select a class and its associated perk. Players can earn XP in various classes and get even better boons if they put time and effort into a particular class. I like the class system because it adds the multiplayer dynamic of crafting a party that is effective across the board.
3. Prey (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Prey Official Trailer
Nothing is ever as it seems...
Welcome to Talos I, a space station in orbit around one of Earth's moons. You're Morgan Yu, and you're supposed to be aboard the station to assist with scientific research. But when you arrive, you discover that the research has not gone as planned and that there are now hostile aliens overrunning the station. Your only choice is to fight for your life.
Prey is a spiritual successor to big names like System Shock and BioShock, and it doesn't disappoint. The atmosphere is terrifying, and I experienced genuine anxiety when interacting with perfectly ordinary objects. The main story campaign is very well-paced, and the two new expansions have added a lot of replayability. Mooncrash is a procedurally generated roguelike mode, and Typhon Hunt is a multiplayer hide-and-seek mode similar to games like Prop Hunt.
If you're looking for an FPS game that has more story elements and RPG mechanics, then look no further. Prey makes your choices feel like they matter in determining outcomes, and the upgrades system came with interesting story tie-ins that made it more than just a means to an end.
2. Doom Eternal (PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Stadia)
Doom Eternal Official Trailer 2
The Doom Slayer is back, and he's going to rip and tear every demon that crosses his path. Earth has been devastated by a massive demon invasion, and the only one that could stop the carnage is the Doom Slayer, who has returned after being exiled in a previous game. He must embark on a quest to kill all of the Hell Priests before Earth is destroyed.
2020's blockbuster horror FPS is exactly what we needed during a global pandemic - pure, unadulterated carnage, amazing weapons and gear, and a fantastic soundtrack. Being the Doom Slayer is probably the most powerful feeling I've ever gotten from a video game, and Doom Eternal has made him even more awesome. I love the new "Meat Hook" attachment for the Super Shotgun, which is great for exploring the game's environments or dragging some poor demon into your ripping and tearing grasp.
The game is pure experience, and it's a great place to start if you're new to FPS games, simply because it's just so fun. The mechanics aren't too complicated to pick up quickly, and the thrill of "glory kills" and bloody animations will make even the most timid of gamers howl with victory.
1. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, macOS, Linux, Xbox 360)
Left 4 Dead 2 Official Trailer
The world is ending. Thousands of zombies stalk city streets. You and your friends must make your way between a network of safehouses to survive. You'll need teamwork, wits, lots of guns, and a healing gnome to make it back alive. Welcome to Left 4 Dead 2.
Left 4 Dead 2 is a very popular horror FPS, mostly because of its excellent cooperative multiplayer mode. Each campaign is made up of between three and five smaller levels - the point of each level is to make it from one safe house to the next. Each player can only carry one item from each category, so teams must work together so that they can effectively navigate the level.
The game also features other multiplayer modes for all sorts of fun - the Versus mode allows some players to take on the role of Infected to try and prevent the other players from completing a level, while the Scavenge mode features a team of four Survivors trying to fill a generator with fuel scattered around the level while a team of Infected players try to stop them.
This focus on cooperative play makes Left 4 Dead 2 unique, but one of the best things about the game is that Valve's AI Director 2.0. can procedurally alter the levels so they're always challenging. The game's tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and wide range of interesting weapons and items can also make it endlessly entertaining, even if you aren't normally an FPS fan.
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