Top Ten FPS Games of All Time

The first-person shooter genre is massively popular and has a huge and loyal fan base committed to spending hours in virtual environments blowing each other to smithereens. There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline soaked chaos of a good FPS session. If it goes well it can be better than a course of anger management, if it goes badly then that’s what you’ll need to recover. There have been loads of great first-person shooters over the years but which are the best?

[Venoxn4g]

where's Half life 2? first one was good, but second for me was even better

[Setimerenptah]

it's mentioned, I agree HL2 was awesome, just not including more than one from the same series

[wallis]

I think hl2 should swap out with wolfenstein. Wolf and Doom are very close siblings and in a list with only 10 places it seems odd to have them occupy 2 places while half life gets one mention. Wolfenstein is closer to Doom in gameplay and graphics (story hardly matters) than hl1 is to hl2 in just about any department - graphics, story or gameplay.

I think the only change I'd make is either far cry 1 or stalker would make it on here. Probably stalker would be the most likely because I consider it an underrated classic. Beautiful graphics, tough but fun gunplay, and of course a superb open and living world. Maybe also fear 1 but saying that the current list is pretty good.

[Spydiggity]

Half-Life 2 is easily the best FPS game of all time...maybe the best game. I can't believe AvP is on this list. Or COD. both are great games, but definitely not top 10. and uh...where is goldeneye?

[im_right]

Yes Half-Life 2 is the best FPS ever, the online is great to and best of all free lol. :)

http://www.halflife2.net/fo...

[RedDead]

I ****ing love Avp2 though. I'd repalce Avp with Avp2, and stick Jedi knights(either Academy or Outcast) in there too

[STONEY4]

I'd go as far as to say that AvP2 is one of my top 10 games of all time, period. Single-player was great, multiplayer was amazing and thriving, until the Sierra-Activision merge happened and Activision decided to shut down master servers of "non-essential" games. AvP2 and the Tribes games being on the list.

I seriously played AvP2s multiplayer nearly every week from 2001-2008. That's how good it was.

[vortis]

After playing HL2 again, it was okay but it was mostly the story and atmosphere that carried it. The gunplay isn't quite as appealing as I once remembered.

I think Perfect Dark probably deserves a nod as well given that it did everything GoldenEye did but better. Strangely it didn't age that bad with time.

[Dysmorphic]

My top three (in no particular order).

- Black
- Timesplitters: Future Perfect
- Urban Chaos: Riot Response

I've played those three for more time than I'd like to admit. If you haven't played one of them, you owe it to yourself to check 'em out.

[JoeReno]

Black was awesome. Why nothing more was done with that IP I don't understand.

[otherZinc]

Only change should be:
Rainbow Six:Vegas or Vegas 2 in for Alien vs Predator.

[Zentrix]

No Time Splitters? lol

[DA_SHREDDER]

You read my mind Zen. Bubz for you dude.

[karlowma]

TimeSplitters 2 would be on my list, but I can't argue with this one.

[bozebo]

Yeah it's a good list. But TS needs a mention. (I'd sort of place it in the same series as PD and Goldeneye)

TBH I would have to make it a top 20 list, if I was making one myself, to be able to give worthy mentions to enough great FPSs.

[thedude44]

timesplitters is great!

also

turok
haze
resistance
killzone
mag
socom confrontation

[kaveti6616]

haze?

[insomnium2]

LOL Haze...smh

[StoneyYoshi]

I'm sure thedude44 just failed miserably at attempting to troll at ps3 shooters.

and socom confrontation is a TPS.....

[admiralthrawn87]

the top ten most rehashed article ideas of all time

[lorianguy]

You appear to be missing Star Wars: Battlefront.

Or does that not count because it could also be played in 3rd person?

[Prototype]

replace CoD with Goldeneye 007, and add Perfect Dark as an honorable mention

[SJPFTW]

Call of Duty 1, 2 and 4 were better games than goldeneye

[RememberThe357]

You got slapped with disagrees but your right, Goldeye is purely nostalgia at this point. But holy shit it was fun back in the day!

[jthamind]

no Half-Life 2 or Call of Duty 4?

i don't even....

[XboxInnovation]

What about MW3, I have a 0.92 KD and all my friends at pre-school play it too.

[Detoxx]

Nothing good about a 0.92 K/D on COD.. You must suck ass

[Exoil]

Oh my, that one really went over your head, didn't it?

[SJPFTW]

how is halo a "primarily single-player experience"? Yes the single player was good but its thrust into fame was due to its addictivly fun and balanced multiplayer

[Ravenor]

Being the only thing worth playing on the original Xbox helped a whole lot too.

[Marquis_de_Sade]

Ignorance is bliss, right?

[iamgoatman]

@Marquis_de_Sade

I always thought that would be a great motto for N4G.

[m-s-8-2]

Is it odd to anyone else that Jedi Outcast never makes these lists? IMO, it qualifies.

[Rampaged Death]

Ahh BioShock. It's one of my all time favourites too.

[JellyJelly]

Completely ignoring the Battlefield series. Imo the most addictive FPS gaming you can find.

[urwifeminder]

Well said mate been playing bbc2 vietnam again 15 veteran status now doesnt mean im any good but looks sweet taking a bf3 break back on homefront as well lots of japanese players on that game,the best games ever are subjective imo.

[Rob946]

Good list but to me the one game missing is Timesplitters 2, I think that's the best Mutiplayer FPS I ever played. Still though, great list :)

[bozebo]

System Shock 2 should be on that list. But who's place would it take?

[scrambles]

I think its some of the EARLIEST shooters not the best shooters though a lot of em on there are.

[PCgamer4ever]

System Shock 2,Half-Life 1,Deus Ex,Thief and S.T.A.L.K.E.R:Best first person games,then all the others.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

BioShock is number one on the list

[gamerwiips360]

Just gotta give to the Testament of Bioshock as the Single Game from Last Gen. compared to the others from Prev. Gens...

Truly a Masterpiece in every sense.. whether the Art, narration,Gameplay,RPG Elements... The Best thing was the Underwater Concept, Levine evolved a genre when everyone thought that FPS can't be creative anymore!!
My request to the ones who missed this masterpiece, Do Play it.. U will be blessed.

Cheers & YES, HL2 is the Best FPS of All Time. (VALVE is GOD when it comes to FPS Narration & Physics)

[spike]

Bioshock number 1. I'm actually playing that game again right now. Great game.

[omi25p]

Bioshock
The Darkness
Half Life 2
Call Of Duty 4
Halo 2
Battlefield 1942

[Phantasm]

Half-Life 2
Red Faction 1

[Brownghost]

no BF2

[PCE]

Ten are listed but only one of them is from this generation, the same generation that is defined by the over-saturated market of shooters. No wonder I think this generation's shooters are garbage.

[Squadron40Dive]

that list is dominated by Sci-fi games because Sci-Fi is the shit!!!!

[birdykilla]

I can come up with a pretty bad-ass top 5.
5. Goldeneye
4. BF3
3. Halo 2
2. Bioshock
1. Half-Life 2

[dreamoner]

most under-rated fps for these lists has been Far Cry.

[annus]

The original Far Cry is far from underated... at least to the PC crowd and anybody that knew a decent amount before consoles were main stream.

[Rivitur]

What this list should have been the entire cod series including the awesome mobile versions.-Sarcasm. That includes cod 1-3 because all the little bastards don't even know cod exists before 4. Damn Hipsters... on topic though where's Perfect Dark?

[BraveToaster]

1. Call of Duty
2. Call of Duty UO
3. Call of Duty 2
4. Call of Duty 3
5. Call of Duty 4
6. Call of Duty: World at War
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
10. Duke Nukem Forever

[brianunfried]

My Personal favorites that rarely ever get mentioned.

1. Timesplitters 2
2. Red Faction
3. Darkwatch

[eARThRiot]

Legit list except no Goldeneye... come on man!

[Lord_Sloth]

Perfect Dark's remake on the XBLA.

It's the same game I knew and loved but with an actual framerate to handle tense firefights!

[Gigglefist]

This article forgets the fact that "groundbreaking" =/= "top ten"

It paved the way for something new, granted... but that doesn't make it a game worthy of being in the 10 best.

[theeg]

BF1942-pc
BF2-pc
BF3-pc
BF2142-pc
halo 1-pc
halo 2-pc
Half-Life 2-pc
Stalker-pc
Arma 2-pc
Far Cry-pc
Crysis-pc
Crysis Warhead-pc
Crysis 2-pc
BFBC2-pc
Stalker Clear Sky-pc
Stalker CoP-pc
UT2004-pc
Quake 3-pc
Serious Sam 2-pc
CoD4 MW -pc
Borderlands-pc
Prey-pc
Ghost Recon-pc
Rainbox Six-pc
Killzone 2-ps3
Resistance 1-ps3
Halo Reach-360
Halo 3-360
odst-sucked!!

[xVeZx]

IMO i think cod4 should be on that list....that game was almost perfect...it was so simple and fun

[gigreen]

Here's my list:

1. Medal of Honor (PSX)
2. No One Lives Forever 2
3. Half Life 2
4. Battlefield 1942
5. Counter Strike
6. Black
7. Vietcong
8. Call of Duty
9. America's Army
10. R6 Vegas 2

But I have to say, I haven't played many popular ones like Bioshock, Killzone 2 and Golden Eye, so I wouldn't know if they're good.

[Pintheshadows]

HL2, STALKER, System Shock 2, Timesplitters 2, Painkiller, Star Trek Elite Force 2, Deus Ex, Soldier of Fortune 2, Quake 2, Die Hard Nakatomi Plaza.

The last one was a joke. More likely I would say the original UT, Just for hours of facing worlds and the boat objective map. I don't recall the name.

I like the number 2. I'm tempted to replace Soldier of Fortune 2, with NOLF. I also quite enjoyed Far Cry. And Jedi Knight (all of them bar academy). Even Sin. Man, this is too hard. I've not even mentioned Doom or Goldeneye. Or Black, Medal of Honour and Red Faction. And what about Men of Valour Vietnam. Ahhhhh.

[megalonagyix]

Awesome list, pretty much agree with it.

[Goeres]

Alot of good games, and I've played almost all of them when they were at their prime. However, I have to ask, where's Battlefield?

[Tacklebait]

Quake should of been in there. So many great hours fragging ppl online

[Rhythmattic]

Quake III Arena...

For me. Loved it.

[MizTv]

kz2

[tigertron]

My list:

RFOM
Killzone 2
Halo CE
Halo Reach
Halo 3
Battlefield BC2
Star Wars Republic Commando
Timesplitters 2
Halo ODST
Halo 2

[Big_Dom]

New to gaming, I see.

Reach, KZ2, Timesplitters 2, Halo ODST, Halo 2 and BF:BC2 (although and excellent game online) should not touch any gamers list when it comes to seminal FPS gaming down the years. Just fucking no! Awful choices there.

[tigertron]

Seriously, you're calling those games awful? Have you even played those games? if so you wouldn't have posted. I can't believe you'd call the likes of Halo and Battlefield as "awful". Seems to me like someone is trolling.

Just for the record, I've been gaming since the early 90s.

[-Gespenst-]

All the Half Life games + all the Deus Ex games = All you need.

[Big_Dom]

A fairly accurate list let down by omitting one of the best games of all time that just so happens to be an FPS - Goldeneye. Such a blunder almost renders the list as rubbish.

[_LarZen_]

Half Life 2...the most over rated pc game of all time.