Get in position to enjoy these great games like Counterstrike.
Team-based shooters are popular for a reason. They strike just the right balance between the explosive aggression of deathmatch we grew up with and the patience of strategy games. This is our choice of the better games of the genre.
10. S4 League (2007)
A very anime-like experience
Developer: Pentavision
Genre: Third-person shooter
In this game, clothes do more than alter your appearance
Like most games on this list, S4 (Stylish eSper Shooting Sports) League doesn’t feature that much of a story. The point lies not with the why but with the how.
In this online shooter, you pick your character class and queue up for any one of eight game modes to choose from. After a match, you gain XP and level up (similar to LoL), which unlocks new options. You also gain access to something called PEN, which you can use to buy new skills (the aforementioned options) and clothes, which you can wear to actually increase your character’s stats.
Probably being the least realistic game on this list, it deserves a mention for the sheer energy it unleashes on your screen.
9. Warframe (2012)
Feel the power of the Tenno
Developer: Digital Extremes
Genre: Third-person shooter
They are even deadlier than they look
The only cooperatively focused game on the list, Warframe lets you play as one of the Tenno, an ancient race of warriors, returning to a universe that’s gone mad with conflict.
After creating a character, you pick one of the initially available exo-suits (the Tenno’s powered armor) and are introduced to a sprawling galactic map. From here on in, you have control over which missions you will undertake in order to level up and hunt for powerful drops. This, in turn, makes more missions available, and the cycle continues.
Although somewhat repetitive, Warframe feels like a cooperative Mass Effect, which is a good thing to think about when the grinding gets tiring. On a much brighter side, the graphics are nice, the combat is solid, and cybernetic ninjas are just about the coolest thing ever.
8. Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
Explosions and bullets galore
Developer: Infinity Ward
Genre: First-person shooter
The enemies are ruthless, deadly and bald
Take the role of Logan Walker, and fight for the legendary Ghosts unit along with your father, brother and dog, preventing the Federation of Americans from expanding further into US soil.
Although Ghosts has a single player campaign, the game is played mainly for the multiplayer. You can play a wide range of standard and less standard modes, but what truly stands out is the game’s Extinction mode, which is a cooperative, class based hunt for hostile aliens.
Call of Duty rarely innovates, but often improves, and Ghosts is no exception. The game is simply tight. If you want a modern military shooter, give this CoD a shot.
7. Alliance of Valiant Arms (2007)
A trip to the times of CS 1.6 – in a good way
Developer: Red Duck Inc.
Genre: First-Person shooter
Standing on open ground like this is an easy way to get killed
Join the war between the EU and the Neo Russia Federation (NRF) for supremacy of Europe.
AVA is similar in terms of gameplay to classic CS, but introduces three classes: Point man, Rifleman and Sniper, each with their own style of play (rush, classic soldier, long range).
As you play, you gain military ranks, which enable you to unlock various kinds of armor, equipment and weapons. This, along with the aforementioned classes, gives the tried and true formula some variety, making it a viable alternative for CS if you can’t stomach playing the same game for too long.
6. Soldier Front 2 (2012)
Being kind to your neighbors – the team FPS way
Developer: Dragonfly GF Co., Ltd
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Aztec themed maps are always a favorite
In the year 2020, during the second cold war, escaped alien prisoners called Xanthids have appeared out of nowhere and are raising hell. As a member of an elite special force, you are to take part in a secret war against rival nations, while surviving alien attacks.
Soldier Front 2 would only be a decent online team shooter if it didn’t have something called Hero mode. This game mode combines the game’s FPS mechanics with a MOBA inspired map, with minions to kill for money and experience. This being a shooter though, monsters have designated weak spots that you can exploit for dealing more damage.
Given the amount of fine tuning this game has been given, and considering the lack of similar titles of the market, Soldier Front 2 is pretty easy to like.
5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms (2014)
The classes are well implemented and effective
Developer: Ubisoft Singapore
Genre: Tactical shooter
The shades are an aiming aid
Phantoms (previously known as Ghost Recon Online) is a pure multiplayer game. Choose one of three classes, and battle it out in one of three distinct game modes. The classes themselves have multiple functions: The Recon class, for instance, can perform as either a sniper or mobile stealth ambusher.
The game itself is a third person shooter that lets you use optical sights to enter first person mode for better aiming. Phantoms has an automated matchmaking system that tries to put you games with people of similar skill, and often succeeds.
When compared to most Ghost Recon titles, this one places a bit more emphasis on action (due to all the advanced technology you can use) rather than patience and extended matches. This makes the game easier to get into and enjoy, with zero cost of depth or immersion.
4. Planetside 2 (2012)
The sheer number of players that can take part in a single battle is amazing
Developer: Daybreak Game Company
Genre: Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter
Putting the power back into “power armor”
Planetside 2 puts you in the middle of a large (huge) scale war for territory between three factions.
Drop from orbit right into a raging battlefield and fight against hundreds of other players in a spectacle of awesome you cannot find anywhere else. As you contribute to the war effort you rank up, which enables you to unlock skills that increase your performance in areas you want to specialize in.
Holding the world record for the largest number of players per single battle, this title represents the next step in the genre’s evolution, and there is no reason not to give it a shot.
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010)
Large fields, heavy machinery and men of battle
Developer: EA Digital Illusions CE
Genre: First-person shooter
Walk softly and carry a big gun
Take control of Preston Marlowe again, and lead the Bad Company toward securing scalar technology, the owner of which will be able to dictate the fate of the world.
While the single-player campaign is pretty good, the true appeal of every battlefield game lies in its multiplayer, and Bad Company 2 delivers this in spades. Choose between one of four classes, and use any one of the game’s fifteen vehicles to take control over the huge map and secure victory.
The Battlefield experience is almost always impressive, but it is the refinement of gameplay that Bad Company 2 has that makes it a game you want to play again and again.
2. Urban Terror (2000/2015)
Some of the many things you can do
Developer: Frozen Sand, LLC
Genre: First-person shooter
This is one (family) jewel of a game
Urban Terror is a Hollywood movie inspired shooter. No more, no less.
On one hand, this game has a lot of realism. Weapons deal significantly more damage depending on where you shoot someone. Wounds bleed if not tended to, and you can actually die from a minor injury if you don’t take the time to bandage it. On the other hand, your character is capable of obviously superhuman feats such as wall jumping, powersliding, and remaining on their feet after taking multiple gunshot wounds.
If you want an extremely fun and addictive game that floats somewhere between gritty and over the top (occasionally stepping into both territories), then Urban Terror is something you will love.
1. Team Fortress 2 (2007)
Free to play, but as good as ever
Developer: Valve Corporation
Genre: First-person shooter
Being a Spy isn’t as easy as it used to be
The crowned king of team-based infantry themed shooters takes his rightful place. TF2 is still fresh up to this day, even after 8 years of existence.
Pick your class (you can freely change it later) and dive into the team-based chaos of the game. Each class packs a different arsenal, stats and movement speed. Fight against the enemy team on any one of the game’s numerous maps, in various game modes.
In today’s online gaming world, a title needs to be truly exceptional in order to survive for long, and TF2 is one of the best. Having been in existence for a good while now, the matches aren’t exactly newb friendly though, but the character design and atmosphere serve to soften the blow of each death. Starting out can be rough, but it’s worth it for such a consistently fun experience.
