Video game genres ebb and flow in terms of popularity, but the first-person shooter (FPS) has remained one of the biggest for generations.
While there are plenty of amazing FPS games on PS5 and Xbox Series X, with most even being cross-platform games, the PC is still the ideal platform for shooters. You’re free to use a standard controller on PC, but mastering the mouse and keyboard controls allows you to play at a much higher level. Of course, not every FPS game is a multiplayer game, and developers have pushed the genre to its creative limits on PC.
Steam alone is overflowing with options, with more upcoming video games releasing every day. If you need a new FPS in your life and want to weed out the duds, check out our selection of amazing FPS games on PC.
Valorant
Hyper-competitive shooters are in a league of their own on PC. Valorant builds on the solid foundation Counter-Strike established decades ago but incorporates some hero-shooter elements to add even more tactical options. You’re still never one bad peak away from death, and you only have one life per round, but special abilities mean you have more to think about than just positioning and aiming.
This is a hardcore game but has still amassed a huge community of players to compete with and is still being supported with new heroes, maps, and modes.
Counter-Strike 2
We couldn’t refer to Counter-Strike without giving proper credit to the current entry, Counter-Strike 2. All these decades later, the format hasn’t changed much but it clearly isn’t broken.
This is routinely the most popular game on Steam and for good reason. The guns are (for the most part) perfectly balanced, the maps dynamic, and the skill ceiling almost limitless. Despite its apparent simplicity, there is a ton of depth to learning how to manage your money between rounds, how to approach or defend points, and how to master the recoil patterns.
It can be a little overwhelming and hard to adjust to at first for players not used to games that are so punishing to aggressive plays, but deeply rewarding once you learn its pacing.
Half-Life 2
In the world of single-player FPS games, Half-Life 2 has become something of a legend. While time has certainly worn away some of its shine, it is still a masterpiece in FPS design. As long as you’re okay with the story never concluding, the adventures of Gordan Freeman here offer a bit of everything, from horror to platforming and puzzle-solving.
But the real star of the show is the Gravity Gun, which is still a blast to play around with over 20 years later. Any aspiring designer could learn a few things playing this.
Apex Legends
PC players have no shortage of battle royal games to pick from, but none have the look or feel of Apex Legends. Coming from the Titalfall 2 team (which we will talk about soon), the influences of that game are clear. It is a bit like Valorant in how it melds hero-shooter mechanics into the established BR format, but also ups the speed with the slick parkour systems of Titanfall.
It is easily the fastest game in the space, which makes it a perfect fit on PC to pull off crazy trick shots and clutch plays. And hey, it’s free, so you have nothing to lose by giving it a shot.
Titanfall 2
The only game that people generally accept as the first FPS game to rival Half-Life 2 is Titanfall 2. In our opinion, it outdoes it in every way. The single-player campaign is astounding, full of creative levels and epic battles at every scale. You never feel like you’re doing the same thing for too long, and it paces out new options perfectly. On top of that, the multiplayer is woefully underappreciated.
There’s a hardcore community keeping it alive, but the speed and push/pull of fighting as a pilot or in your Titan is something no other game offers.If you have been hearing people sing this game’s praises but never picked it up, this is your wake-up call.
Doom Eternal
It wasn’t the first FPS ever made, but Doom is the most influential and showed the potential of the genre. Somehow, that series is still going strong as one of the best FPS franchises today. Doom: Eternal is the most complex the series ever got, and is a bit divisive for it.
If you can get a grip on the acrobatic nature, the flow of attacking to get health, armor, and ammo, and swapping weapons to exploit weaknesses, you will feel like an unstoppable death machine. The game won’t make it easy to reach that point, though, so be prepared for a steep challenge.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Halo proved that FPS games could work on consoles, but once Halo: The Master Chief Collection hit PC we realized just how far the gap was. This collection bundles all the best Halo titles (and Halo 4) into one complete package. You can run through all the campaigns in remade or remastered forms, or boot up multiplayer to relive the old days of Blood Gulch matches. Playing these games on PC almost feels like cheating with how much more precise you can be, but they’re still as fun as ever.
If you never had an Xbox and missed out on the Halo hype, this collection will convince you it wasn’t overblown.
Left 4 Dead 2
Many have tried, but no other co-op survival shooter has been able to dethrone Left 4 Dead 2 as the best in the business. Despite having just a handful of weapons and enemy types, the core gameplay and dynamic way each game changes is endlessly addicting.
All the content of the first game was also ported into the sequel, completely invalidating the first entry, plus the community has built tons of new campaigns if you somehow do get tired of the standard ones.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
If Valorant is Counter-Strike with heroes, Rainbow Six Siege is Counter-Strike with fully destructible environments…and heroes. This game didn’t find its audience out of the gate but managed to do the almost impossible task of adapting and changing itself to be a smash hit that has only gotten more popular as the years go on. It is deeply tactical and skill-dependant but also allows for tons of creativity using your gadgets and skills.
Since you can create sightlines almost anywhere, destroy cover, and make entrances, every match is intense and unpredictable.
Team Fortress 2
We didn’t know it at the time, but Team Fortress 2 was the first hero shooter most of us played. Unlike others that have come, mainly Overwatch 2, Team Fortress 2 never messed with its finely tuned balance of characters. The same set of classes are here that existed on day-one, though there have been new weapons and items added.
Depending on what type of player you are, you can always feel like you’re contributing to the team once you find the right class. The cell-shaded art and diverse characters who manage to show off a ton of personality in just their appearance and voice clips keep this game feeling new to this day.
So long as you can avoid some major bot problems and ignore the whole hat market, there’s still a ton of fun to be had here.
