Gaming is one of the most fun hobbies, and millions of people enjoy playing games; the numbers don’t lie – there are around 3.2 billion gamers across the globe. However, one of the most frustrating things that you might experience is downloading a game that looks great, but doesn’t run very well on your computer. There’s no joy in watching the action frame by frame, and when it comes to FPS games, performance is important.
If you don’t have the beefiest computer, that doesn’t mean you can’t experience the joy of firing an RPG into groups of enemies, or feel the thrill of carefully managing your ammo to get through a level. Here are 10 of the best FPS games that you can play on a low-end PC.
10. Far Cry 2 (PC | Xbox 360 | PS3)
Far Cry 2 - Meet The Jackal
When Far Cry 2 was released in 2008, after being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, it was a game changer for the series and set the tone for games to come. You play the role of a mercenary who was deployed in a fictional East African country, with the objective of killing an arms dealer by the name of the Jackal.
Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done, since the country is engulfed in a civil war, and enemies show you no mercy. You will need to unlock new weapons, do missions for various factions, and explore the open world to get the location of the Jackal, all the while battling malaria.
The minimum system requirements for Far Cry 2 are 1 GB of RAM, 3.2GHz Pentium 4 or equivalent, and a graphics card that has 256 MB of video RAM with Shader model 3. If you are looking for an open world shooter to run on a low-end PC, this would probably be your best choice.
9. Soldier of Fortune (PC | Dreamcast | PS2)
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Dismemberment at its finest!
Soldier of Fortune, published by Activision in 2000, and developed by Raven Software, is best described by its stylistic display of violence. You play as John Mullins, and have been tasked with preventing nukes from reaching the hands of terrorists.
Extreme force has been authorized, and you can take full advantage of this by separating enemies from their limbs; in many different ways depending on which body part you shoot at. The game is famous for its violence and gore, although you can turn that off... or shoot the guns out of your enemies' hands.
To run this game all you need is 64 MB of RAM, a Pentium 233 MHz processor or better, and any graphics card that supports DirectX 9 and OpenGL.
8. Paladins (PC | PS4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch)
Paladins - Be More Than a Hero - Official Trailer
If you have ever wanted to play Overwatch, but your computer can’t handle it, then Paladins would be a great choice. Even though many comparisons have been made between the two games, they are vastly different. Paladins was released in 2018 by Hi-Rez, and was developed by Evil Mojo, and quickly became popular.
The easiest way to think of Paladins would be League of Legends with guns. The game features a roster of 46 different champions which all have different playstyles, and MOBA elements such as building a loadout of cards that buff skills or abilities.
There are also 3 game modes to choose from; Onslaught, Siege, and Team Deathmatch. To run Paladins, you’ll need 2 GB or RAM, a graphics card with 512 MB of RAM, and the equivalent of a Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or better.
7. Crossfire (PC)
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Dominating the battle in Crossfire!
You may or may not have heard of this game, but 1 billion registered players have. You read that correctly; Crossfire is actually the most played FPS game in the world, according to the developer Smilegate. This Counterstrike looking FPS game was released in 2007, in South Korea, and quickly became popular in China too.
The game features 8 different weapon categories and has over 400 weapons to choose from. There are also more than 110 different maps and modes, as well as around 6 million users playing at any given time, meaning you will never have to wait long to find a server.
If you are using a relatively old computer or laptop, this game will run without any problems since it was designed for low-end PCs. Minimum requirements are 1 GB or RAM, an Intel Pentium E2180 equivalent or better, and a NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT equivalent or better.
6. F.E.A.R (PC | PS3 | Xbox 360)
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Jump scares are plenty in F.E.A.R.
One of the most well received FPS games during the era of amazing FPS titles is F.E.A.R, or otherwise known as First Encounter Assault Recon. The game was released in 2005 by publishers Vivendi Universal Games and Warner Bros. Games, and was developed by Monolith Productions.
You play as Point Man, a member of a special forces team that is tasked with containing a supernatural threat. The game blends action, suspense, tension, jump scares and superb gunplay in one cohesive package that makes you feel as if you are the main character in an action movie. Enemies are smart and will hide behind cover, or coordinate as a team to flank you, so at no point should you feel entirely safe.
To run this game, all you will need is 512 MB of RAM, Pentium® 4 1.7 GHz processor or better, and a 64 MB graphics card or better.
5. Team Fortress 2 (PC | macOS | Linux | Xbox 360 | PS3)
Team Fortress 2 Trailer
One of the most fun games to be released in the last 20 years is Team Fortress 2, developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007, the game now has a userbase of around 50 million players.
In case you aren’t aware, Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer FPS game that allows you to choose from a range of 9 different classes. There are also many game modes to choose from, such as King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, Attack and Defend, Payload and more. You will instantly be hooked to the fast gameplay, great humor and quirky characters, as well as the hours of endless fun community maps provide.
To run the game, all you will need is 512 MB RAM, an Intel Pentium 4 1.70GHz processor or better, and the equivalent of an AMD Radeon X1600 graphics card or better.
4. Iron Sight (PC)
Official Ironsight Trailer #1
Ironsight is a free-to-play multiplayer FPS game that was released in 2018 by Wiple Games, and has been well received by FPS players. There are over 100 different weapons to choose from, as well as characters that can be customized to your hearts content.
As far as a F2P title goes, this game does everything you would expect and is quite polished. There are a variety of different game modes to choose from, such as Secure Point, Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, among many more.
All in all, if you have been wanting to play Call of Duty, but your rig just can’t handle it, Ironsight will provide the classic team deathmatch cravings you are having. To run the game, you will need 2 GB of RAM, a 512 MB graphics card, and an Intel Core2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz equivalent or better.
3. Combat Arms (PC)
Combat Arms: Promotional Trailer
Combat Arms is another entry in the free-to-play multiplayer FPS realm, and it doesn’t disappoint. If you have seen gameplay, then you might have realized it gets a lot of inspiration from popular FPS games like Call of Duty and Counter-Strike.
The game was published by VALOFE in 2008, and was developed by Nexon. If you are looking for an FPS game that will provide hours of play, Combat Arms will deliver, and has many game modes to choose from. Fireteam, Capture the Flag, One Man Army, and Elimination are just a few of the modes you can try out.
If you were unable to run Ironsight, you will have an easier time running Combat Arms; 1 GB of RAM, a Pentium4 2.4GHz processor, and a GeForce FX 5600 equivalent or better is all that is needed to run this game.
2. Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC | Xbox | PS2 | mac OS X | Linux)
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Miniguns and Skeletal Monsters - what more could you ask for?
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, or as it's known amongst its fans – RtCW, was published by Activision in 2001, and developed by Gray Matter Interactive. It was one of the most influential FPS games of the era.
As William "B.J." Blazkowicz, a US Army Ranger, you will blast your way through levels using a wide variety of guns from WW2, as well as some destructive fictional German weaponry. Enemies that need to be defeated include creatures, zombies and ordinary soldiers. 20 years has done nothing to dampen the gameplay in this masterpiece, and is still one of the most fun FPS games to date.
To run this game all you will need is 128 MB of RAM, a Pentium® II 400 MHz processor or better, and any graphics card will do.
Half-Life 1 was published in 1998 by Sierra Studios, and developed by Valve. The thing that really set this FPS gem apart from other games at the time was the fact that it had a narrative, and the player was able witness scripted events as they happened, rather than through a cinematic cutscene.
You will take control of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist, and fight your way through a facility to close a portal to another dimension that was opened. Along the way, in addition to collecting and using an arsenal of guns, you will need to solve puzzles and interact with the environment in a way that other FPS games of the time hadn’t explored yet.
To run the game, you will need 96 MB of RAM, a 16 MB video card and an Intel Pentium 4 1.6GHz processor or better.
