Give that trigger finger a workout with the 10 Best First-Person Shooter Games To Play in 2015!
The PC gaming world can’t get enough of the first-person shooter.
Ever since 1992’s groundbreaking Wolfenstein 3D, we’ve been obsessed with the unparalleled level of immersion – not to mention visceral excitement – offered by the genre. One would think that, with the number of first-person shooters coming out each year, we’d already be in the throes of first-person shooter fatigue. But there’s something about shooting bad guys in the face that never gets old.
To help you pick out the best from an ocean of mediocrity, we’ve decided to make a list of the 10 Best First-Person Shooter Games To Play in 2015 – a list that’ll only include the genre’s best most recent PC titles. Counting backwards, let’s begin with game number…
10. Wolfenstein: The New Order
Not your typical Nazis
Let's be thankful the Nazis never developed their own super soldiers and robots
Like its legendary forefather, Wolfenstein: The New Order revels in the violence players are allowed to subject history’s worst villains to.
The New Order creates an alternate timeline where the Nazis won in World War II, then took over the world. As William “B.J.” Blazkowicz, your mission is to aid the Resistance in destroying the Nazis.
Though its gameplay lacks innovation, its dynamic combat – which swings between explosive gunfights and stealth assassinations – is satisfying.
It’s also the best-looking game in the franchise, with large, picturesque environments inspiring awe and dread. Stellar writing pulls you into the world, making you feel for its believable, relatable characters. Blazkowicz himself is given character development, not to mention a real personality – another first in the series.
And once you’re done with The New Order, why not try out its equally impressive expansion, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood?
The only good Nazi is a dead one
Impressive suit... too bad it's no match for B.J. Blazkowicz!
9. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Exo suits give you the boost you need to survive in the future of warfare!
Tanks sure look great in the future
Take a peek into the future of combat with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Set in the 2050s, Advanced Warfare involves Atlas, a technologically advanced private military organization that has become the world’s principal protector. But with that responsibility comes great power. And power changes everything.
Aside from the photorealistic Atlas CEO Jonathan Irons (played by the excellent Kevin Spacey), the greatest thing about the game is its depiction of futuristic warfare. There’s the Exo suit which augments natural abilities, which means faster sprints, higher jumps, and the ability to punch holes through doors. Firearms range from plasma rifles to grenades that lets you see concealed enemies. Then you’ve got cloaking, hoverbikes, drone swarms, tanks with legs… you get the picture!
The in-game tech provides a dramatic shift in the series, gameplay-wise. The enhanced mobility the futuristic gadgetry provides is felt even more keenly when playing with others. Combine this with excellent multiplayer maps featuring environmental hazards such as tsunamis and avalanches, and you’ve got one of the best first-person shooter games available today.
High-jumping soldiers are no joke!
What I'd give to ride one of these babies
8. PlanetSide 2
You'll need your squad to defeat the opposition
Any future that lets me wear an exo suit is a good future
An MMO first-person shooter, PlanetSide 2 is set on Auraxis, a humongous open world where thousands of players vie for control of numerous territories.
Players can choose from three factions: the authoritarian Terran Republic; the freedom fighters, the New Conglomerate; and the cult-like Vanu Sovereinty. After choosing a side, it’s off to war – either on foot, or in the cockpit of any of the land and air vehicles available.
PlanetSide 2 puts an emphasis on teamwork and player skill. Unique gameplay features include a persistent day/night cycle, which adds tactical considerations to combat, as darkness can offer concealment for coordinated offensives. Controlling territories also provides faction bonuses, while experience points allow players to unlock new skills, weapon and vehicle upgrades, and more.
Definitely a game worth checking out!
Gotta love those futuristic machine guns
All the toys you can play with!
7. Metro Redux
Can't go wrong with a Gatling gun
Fascism always rears its ugly head in these types of stories
Both based on a Russian novel, Metro 2033 and its sequel Metro Last Light come together in one exquisite package: Metro Redux.
Both games are set in a future, post-apocalyptic Moscow. Nuclear was has irradiated the surface world, mutating animals into monstrosities and forcing survivors to live in underground metro stations. As Artyom, you are one of those survivors.
Gameplay is a mix of the traditional shooter, stealth, and – as both games feature many dark, creepy areas populated by terrifying creatures – survival horror.
The survival aspect is most keenly felt aboveground; to survive the radiation, you’ll need a gas mask, which, unfortunately, doesn’t last forever. Ammunition is also hard to come by. Surface expeditions are therefore often mad dashes from one shelter to the next, in your desperate attempt to escape the ravenous beasts hunting you, and the toxic environment that’s killing you.
An excellent title to check out if you like your first-person shooter games with heavy helpings of panic and spine-tingling terror.
On the surface, the cold is the least of your worries
War is never a pretty sight
6. Crysis 3
Looking badass in that suit, friend
The Predator bow. 'Nuff said
Want to know what it’s like to be on permanent God mode? Play Crysis 3.
Crysis 3 has you returning to 2047 New York as the Prophet, a super soldier with a facility for major ass-kicking. Your Nanosuit is like the ultimate birthday gift, equipping you with cloaking capabilities, supreme armor – the works. You can now even hack electronic devices, from locked doors to turrets.
Then you’ve got the Predator bow, which can kill with one, well-placed shot. Combine this with your invisibility powers, and you’re virtually invincible.
This time, in order to stop the evil CELL corporation, the Prophet has to brave the dangers of a transformed New York. The once-thriving metropolis has become an urban rainforest split into seven sections, each with its own unique set of perils.
This well-polished sci-fi shooter is one of the best first-person shooter games to play in 2015.
Target soon to be eliminated
The ruins of a once-great metropolis (All images from EA.com)
5. Battlefield 4
Close quarters shootout
Bring the steel
One of the best multiplayer experiences returns in Battlefield 4.
Set in 2020, the story involves a war between superpowers Russia, China, and the USA, and follows Sgt. Daniel Recker as he attempts to tip the scales in favor of his country.
But multiplayer is where the game truly shines. Up to 64 players can duke it out in any of the game’s enormous, dynamic, destructible environments. Buildings and other significant structures can be destroyed during battle, altering the map and necessitating quick, intelligent adjustments in tactics. For example, a house can be collapsed to provide cover or obstruct the path of vehicles. Even the weather can affect how players approach every battle.
One player in the team takes the role of Commander, giving him the tactical view of an RTS game. This lets him issue commands to his teammates, and even order missile strikes and send reinforcements.
Several expansions, such as Naval Strike and Second Assault provide new maps and game types, extending the game’s replayability and securing its place on this list of the best most recent first-person shooter games.
Explosive
Urban mayhem
4. Far Cry 4
The wildlife doesn't take kindly to tresspassers
Chaos amidst beauty
In Far Cry 4, you are Ajay Ghale, a Kyrati-American who has come to Himalayan Kyrat to scatter the ashes of your dead mother. But you are soon ensnared in a bloody civil war between the country’s oppressive Royal Army, led by the diabolical Pagan Min, and the rebel fighters known as the Golden Path.
Kyrat is a massive, open world, and as beautiful as it is, the game’s greatest strength is how it lets you interact with it. There are cliffs to scale, fortresses to capture, and hostages to liberate. Mountains hide secrets ranging from treasure to religious sites. And aside from the dangerous animals and enemies out for your blood, there’s a serial killer on the loose.
Far Cry 4 is chockfull of variety, from its diverse, unpredictable world to its well-designed side quests, from the gear you collect to the skills you can upgrade, RPG style. It even has an awesome competitive and cooperative multiplayer. Because there’s so much to do and so much to see in Far Cry 4, it’s one of the best first-person shooter games around.
That's one way to stop a jet ski
There is nothing ordinary about this place
3. Titanfall
Wall-running is a blast!
Giant robot fight!
What’s better than a game that lets you play a super agile, free-running soldier? How about one that also lets you ride a 20-foot-tall machine of destruction?
In Titanfall, players group into two teams of six, then do battle in any of several huge maps. Players assume the role of pilots, who can also control giant, robotic exoskeletons called Titans. The three Titan types – the lumbering Ogre, nimble Stryder, and well-rounded Atlas – play differently, but are well-balanced.
Titans may be incredibly powerful, but your pilot is lithe enough to make his way up to its head and blow its brains out. Of course, there are ways to counter different tactics using various items you unlock as you gain experience points and level up. Matches always feel fresh and exciting as your abilities and strategies evolve.
Its invigorating combination of giant robot and super soldier action makes Titanfall one of the most unique first-person shooter games to play in 2015.
Man and machine
Destruction under a giant moon
2. Borderlands 2
With this many monsters to kill, the cold will never bother you
A little Siren magic
Ultra-violent and boasting about a bazillion guns, Borderlands 2 embraces the ridiculous and runs away with it.
Borderlands 2 is set on Pandora, which is ruled by the sadistic despot, Handsome Jack. As one of the six Vault Hunters – the Siren, Commando, Assassin, Gunzerker, Mechromancer, and Psycho – you must put a stop to his tyrannical rule by any means necessary.
As an RPG, each class has a host of special skills that can be upgraded as you level up. Thankfully, killing foes is made easy by the sheer amount of guns and other loot the game throws at you. Imagine Diablo as a first-person shooter that’s set in space, with thousands of guns, and a distinctively space western feel, and you’ve got the insanely addictive Borderlands 2.
The gunplay is exemplary, but so is the writing. This is one of the funniest games you’ll ever play, mostly thanks to one of the most unforgettable bad guys ever made – the narcissistic Handsome Jack.
Expansions offer new locations, more bad guys to murder, and even more guns to collect.
Meat shield
Cartoon violence
1. Bioshock Infinite
Columbia - the city above the clouds
The horrors of the sky
Here it is: one of the finest first-person shooter games of this generation: BioShock Infinite.
Buried in debt, Booker DeWitt’s ticket to freedom is Elizabeth, whom he’s charged with kidnapping from the beautiful floating city, Columbia.
The two become unlikely allies as they’re dragged into a rebellion threatening to destroy Columbia, and worse. The theory of parallel dimensions soon takes center stage in the plot, and when it does, things get really, really weird. Infinite also touches on several social issues, presenting humanity at its ugliest.
Infinite combines first-person shooter goodness with RPG elements. Upgradable Vigors grant Booker amazing abilities, such as possessing enemies, and summoning murderous crows, fire, and lightning. Gears augment Booker’s passive abilities.
As for Elizabeth, she can pick locks, scrounge around for helpful stuff, and, open Tears in reality, allowing access to items and interactive environmental features. And the best thing about her? She’s totally capable of fending for herself in any ruckus. No babysitting required!
Another exciting feature in Infinite is the Sky-Line. These are roller coaster-like rail systems that you can dangle from and speed around the environment on. Used creatively, they can provide a tactical advantage in combat.
Once you’ve seen everything Infinite has to offer, you can download its Burial at Sea expansions, which return you to Rapture. Episode 2 even has you playing as Elizabeth!
There’s much to love in Infinite, which is why it’s #1 on this list of great first-person shooter games.
Good ole George is looking a little worse for wear
Plasmids and vigors... where would we be without you?
And so we end our list of the 10 Best First-Person Shooter Games To Play in 2015. Now, we’d like to hear your thoughts! What do you think are the best first-person shooter games to play this year? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below!
