At this point, the first-person shooter is ubiquitous within the gaming world. Many of the top franchises in games are first-person shooters due to their popularity but also due to their ability to be malleable and fit into a variety of other genres. There are first-person role-playing games, first-person puzzle games, and much more.
Because first-person shooters fit so well into a slew of different genres, you’ll often see many unique and creative games coming from the genre. The 2010s were no different, seeing some of the most creative outings for the genre. To look back on a fantastic decade for the genre, here are the best first-person shooters released in the 2010s.
10 Serious Sam 3
Developed by Croteam, there Serious Sam series takes the classic corridor shooter made popular by Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein and turns up the insanity. The series is filled with firefights that include an excessive amount of enemies all coming to take the head of the protagonist.
Serious Sam 3 is a prequel to the first two games in the series and takes place in Egypt during the 22nd century when Mental invades earth - something that was eluded to in the first game. On top of the story mission, Serious Sam 3 also includes 16-player online matches and up to 4-player cooperative mode for the campaign mode.
9 Borderlands 3
Borderlands series is a looter shooter that has an excessive amount of guns that are randomly generated. The series is also prominent for having some striking cel-shaded graphics as well as allowing you to play up to four-player cooperative through the campaign both online and offline.
Borderlands 3 allows you to choose from four different classes, all with different skills and attributes with new abilities unlocking as you level up your character. There is Amara who is a Siren with the ability to spawn ethereal fists; Moze, the gunner who rides a mech; Zane, the operative who is equipped with a variety of gadgets; and FL4K, the beastmaster who spawns beasts to help fight.
8 Super Hot
Possibly one of the most unique first-person shooters ever made, Super Hot stops time every time you stop moving. This allows you to plan your attack and take out everyone in the room before they have time to raise their guns.
While the time in the game does stop every time you stop moving, Super Hot still manages to be a fast and chaotic time. There is also an odd, ominous story about a computer program seeping into the mind of the player and brainwashing them to do its bidding.
7 Dusk
Dusk is one of the first retro first-person shooters to be released. Dusk looks incredibly similar to id’s Quake in both the chunky graphics and overall dark tone. Also like Quake, Dusk is very fast-paced and relies heavily on great sound design to help you navigate the world. With any great classic first-person shooter, every enemy makes a very distinct sound which allows you to know what exactly you are up against before entering a room and Dusk is no exception.
Many other great throwback shooters have come out since its release including Ion Maiden, Amid Evil, Project Warlock. These throwback shooters are a breath of fresh air in the indie scene which at this point is oversaturated with pixel art Metroidvanias.
6 Bulletstorm
Bulletstorm was developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and was released for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Bulletstorm adds a variety of different abilities to pump some new life into the first-person shooter genre. You have an energy leash that pulls enemies in and will hold them up in the air for a short period of time so you can kick them or shoot them out of the air, among many other abilities. There is a scoring system added to the game which awards you with a higher score when you perform more stylish or varied kills on your enemies.
5 Prey
Prey has a long and tumultuous development, starting off as a sequel to the 2006 first-person shooter of the same name. While there was a short cinematic trailer showing off what was then called Prey 2, it was entirely scrapped.
After some time, the project was reworked into a different game entirely which is mostly unrelated to 2006’s Prey. 2017’s Prey plays much more like an entry in the System Shock series opposed to the straight forward first-person shooter seen in the 2006 game. There is a wide variety of gameplay types, all of which can be upgraded through the game’s role-playing system.
4 Portal 2
The Portal series stars Chell, a silent protagonist who must work through a variety of different puzzles based around physics and a gun that is capable of creating portals that both she and objects can pass through. While the first game was set up as a series of tests, the second game is more of an adventure through the Aperture Science Centre.
On top of the story-driven single-player mode, there is also a cooperative mode that allows you and a friend to play through puzzles that emphasize teamwork and the use of four different portals.
3 The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim
The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim adds a multitude of improvements over its predecessor that make it overall a more digestible experience. Skyrim’s combat feels much more alive and interactive in comparison to previous entries in the series. Another large addition to the game is dragons; dragons will randomly appear and are some of the more difficult enemies in the game. After defeating a dragon you are awarded their soul which you can use to upgrade your dragon shouts which are magical abilities that are typically based around the game’s combat.
2 Doom
Doom 3 was somewhat of a departure for the series, emphasizing horror and slightly less fluid combat. Doom 2016 reboots the series and returns to the old, frantic gameplay made popular by the first two entries in the series.
You run through the game at a fast pace taking out enemies with your execution moves which will regain life, and chainsaw which will award you ammo. The entire game is based around balancing these abilities to ensure you keep moving while also never running out of health or ammo.
1 BioShock: Infinite
BioShock: Infinite is set in 1912 in Columbia, a fictional city in the sky held up by air balloons and inhabited by a population obsessed with creating an idealized America. While the first two game’s combat focuses more on tight corridors and claustrophobic atmosphere, BioShock Infinite’s combat takes place in wide-open spaces that emphasize verticality.
As with previous entries in the series, BioShock Infinite’s story is centered around philosophy and what a warped philosophy can do to a society. Also returning from previous games is plasmids which are gene splicing injections that give you the ability to fire elements and other objects out of your hands.