The best FPS games on PC

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What are the best shooting games on PC? From the classic physics chaos of Half-Life 2 to Overwatch’s incredible guns, these are the finest first-person shooters.

For more than two decades, the best FPS games have been the driving force of the PC games industry. They’ve let us travel from the depths of Hell in Doom to the outer reaches of space in Titanfall 2. Others have taken us on a detour through the likes of Half-Life 2’s zombie-infested Ravenholm, while some have embraced futuristic cities.

Some of these shooters are old, others are new, all are great. Wolfenstein 2’s amazing campaign; Rainbow Six Siege and its tight tactical multiplayer; Overwatch and its vast array of amazing heroes. No matter what sort of virtual gunplay you’re after, the following FPS games will satisfy your itchy trigger finger.

So crack those knuckles, get ready to make all the headshots, and keep in mind that guns will solve all your problems in the following shooty gems. These are the best FPS games on PC. We hope your aim isn’t off…

HALF-LIFE 2

So much more than an evolution of its superb predecessor, Half-Life 2 is frequently hailed as the best PC games of all time. Such accolades are not undeserved, either. The long-awaited sequel to Half-Life is hugely ambitious, benefitting from being developed by a much more confident Valve.

Everything is bigger than the 1998 original: the environments, the enemies, the story – it’s a blockbuster, but a smart one. There are decent AI companions; real characters who exist to do more than die comically; physics that transform the world into a seemingly real, tangible place.

Valve again works magic with its environments. Despite often being larger and more open than Half-Life’s, they are still crafted with the same care and attention to detail. And, importantly, they remain memorable, from the haunted streets of Ravenholm to the ominous Citadel, standing over City 17 like a steel and glass tyrant. Age may have worn away some of the sheen, but it remains a striking, compelling FPS.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE
Thanks to continued support from Ubisoft, Rainbow Six Siege is almost completely unrecognisable from the so-so shooter that emerged with a whimper rather than a bang in 2015. Now, with its burgeoning e-sports scene, a constant flow of Rainbow Six Siege operators, and some of the best multiplayer gameplay around, it has become one of the best shooting games on PC.

Every moment of Siege’s boxed-in battles is fraught with tension and danger, from the moment you start scouting an area with your drone – praying your enemies don’t spot it before you can find the hostage – to that final attempt to save the day by shooting down walls and smashing through the ceiling. Its asymmetrical multiplayer and tactical openness mean no round plays out the same way.

It is a psychological battle as much as it is a series of gunfights; a game about mani[CENSORED]tion and control as you attempt to make your foes react in specific ways while you try to keep your own team working together. You never feel safe: an attack can come from anywhere, usually everywhere all at once. After all these years of feeling safe behind walls, Siege’s destructible environments force you to think on your feet and trust no wall.

Siege features a relatively high barrier to entry, but unsure players can jump into the fray cheaply with the Rainbow Six Siege Starter Edition. For those who take to Rainbow’s punishing gameplay, you can be assured Ubisoft Montreal’s shooter is here to stay with new seasons and content coming all the time.

LEFT 4 DEAD 2
Valve’s zombies are not like other zombies. In Left 4 Dead 2, they crash over you like waves, crawling up walls and leaping across gaps. They are accompanied by specials: highly-evolved undead that force you to work together. A Smoker will drag you off into an alley with its long tongue where you’ll be mobbed by common undead. A Hunter will pin you to the asphalt before tearing out your throat. A Boomer will charge right into your face and explode, drowning you in green gloop.

Even though zombies are a dime a dozen and Left 4 Dead 2 has been around for a long time, the tension, level design, and countless mods ensure it remains a compelling romp. It remains one of the best co-op games on PC.

TEAM FORTRESS 2
In this extra shooty, class-based affair, angry cartoon men capture briefcases, escort bombs, and stand on nodes. Team Fortress 2 is brilliant, and it’s still easily one of the best shooting games on PC. It has also evolved, with mountains of user-created content, maps, modes, and new Team Fortress 2 gadgets helping keep the shooter relevant.

The premise is as simple as ever: you pick a character from a cast of nine and take your place on a team. Modes include Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, and Payload – the latter seeing a team drive a bomb forward on a rail track, while their opponents desperately attempt to hold them back. It is a classic that has become the flagship mode of Overwatch, but it was refined to perfection here in Team Fortress 2 first.

UNREAL TOURNAMENT
Epic made a name for itself with Unreal – impressive in a time when shooters were dominated by id – but it was with 1999’s Unreal Tournament that Epic earned its grand moniker. Tournament had the same core concept of Quake Arena but offered an alternative for those looking for a few more frills.

Among the game’s exciting weapons is the BioRifle, which weaponises toxic sludge. You can even charge it up and release a great bulb of the stuff, using it as a gelatinous landmine. Then there is Redeemer, a rocket launcher that flings a pilotable thermonuclear warhead at your enemies. You should also try the Ripper, which fires saw blades that bounce around corners. Each gun has separate strengths and alternate fire modes that need mastering in order for you to dominate in the arena.

Tournament’s maps – old and new – are filled with memorably mad architecture. There is nothing quite like leaping in low gravity between the three stratospheric towers in DM-Morpheus – particularly if you can gib someone in mid-air, spraying their gore through the sky.

FAR CRY 3
Even after more than half a decade, Far Cry 3 remains the high point for this sandbox shooter series. Set in a lush tropical paradise, one moment you’re diving off a boat to hunt sharks, the next you’re infiltrating an enemy outpost with nothing but a bow and some Molotov cocktails.

There is an interesting story beneath it all, too. With Far Cry 3, Ubisoft Montreal subverted colonial fiction, skewering it while also firing shots at its legacy of entitled Western holidaymakers. Sometimes it gets a bit too close to simply mimicking colonial fiction, but it is bold for one of the best shooting games to attempt to say anything at all. Spin-off Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s gameplay is a thoroughly campy, affection nod to ’80s sci-fi, and is also well worth playing.

 

So there you have it, the best FPS games on PC. 2018 has already been very good to shooter fans, and as you can tell from our Far Cry 5 PC review, we have a particular soft spot for Ubi’s latest open world. With so many upcoming PC games taking the form of shooters – we can still dream of a Half-Life 3 release date being announced, right? – now is a glorious time to be an FPS fan. So give that trigger finger a stretch, and keep practicing your virtual headshots. After all, those Nazis, zombies, and virtual terrorists won’t shoot themselves.