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The best FPS games to play in 2025

Originally posted on Video Games on SI | Last updated Jan 6, 2025 7:20 AM ET

When you’re in the mood to safely play with some weapons with friends, FPS games are the place to do it, and these are the best FPS games you can play in 2024. Whether you want to go in and play with a team of your friends, or you’re looking for a deep campaign experience to put your skills to the test, we have the game for you in this list.

All of these games are standouts in their genre, with refined shooting mechanics in all of them, and slick movement mechanics in many. Realistic shooters, military sims, old-school blasters, we have them all. If you want a new shooter to play this year, you need to play the FPS games in our list below.

If you want your first-person experiences to be a bit more tense, take a look at our best survival horror games list.

Halo: Infinite

Halo defined a generation of online shooters, and Halo: Infinite proudly carries that torch forward into the new generation. If you’re a true old-school Halo fan, you could always play The Master Chief Collection, but for the future of Halo, you have to look to Infinite. Infinite’s multiplayer is entirely free-to-play, making it more accessible than ever, and it plays brilliantly. For that classic feeling of blasting a shotgun and finishing the job with a melee attack, Halo: Infinite is the perfect choice.

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0

Warzone 2.0 has now replaced the original Warzone, and some key changes have been made. Loadout drops are harder to acquire, NPCs can now be found in the battle royale mode, you must find three-plate armor vests, and snipers aren't going to deliver you the instant-kill headshots you want. But Warzone 2 is an interesting battle royale, one that's much more welcoming for new players, and well worth playing at the low-low price of free.

Fortnite

Forget what you’ve heard, because Fortnite is a different game now. While it may enter your awareness thanks to absurd crossovers being shared on social media, there’s actually a pretty decent shooter underneath all of that. It's recently received a dedicated first-person mode in Fortnite Ballistic, but even outside of that, Fortnite’s shooter gameplay is still some of the very best you can enjoy on any platform, and the new modes that have been added since launch elevate this to one of the best shooters you can pick up and play today. Lego Fortnite, anyone?

Apex Legends

Yet another large-scale battle royale game, Apex Legends combines the Hero Shooter abilities of a game like Overwatch with the huge maps of Call of Duty: Warzone and the weapons of Titanfall 2 to make a masterpiece. Apex Legends’ cast of characters have become beloved and iconic, with distinctive silhouettes and quips as they move around the massive maps. Some fun movement mechanics and razor-sharp shooting make this one of the best games for both casual shooter fans and hardcore competitors.

Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 has finally launched and it’s a shooter you’ll have a really good time with. There are plenty of good reasons to criticize Overwatch 2, but the 5v5 team composition has finally shattered the two-tank meta, making games move much faster, with the ability to be more aggressive throughout. It’s a smart move, and Overwatch 2 is free-to-play, meaning everyone can download it and get started right now.

Hunt: Showdown

This PVP-PVE battle royale hybrid is one of the most unique shooters on this list, as real players aren’t actually your targets, they’re just obstacles. The real aim is to hunt, kill, and retrieve loot from dangerous monsters which usually haunt dark buildings. You must take the loot, and bring it back to an extraction point. But other teams of players will be doing the exact same thing, and there isn’t enough loot to share. You will, inevitably, have to fight other players in order to survive and escape, and that’s much easier said than done with some fairly old firearms.

PUBG: Battlegrounds

The battle royale game that really popularised the genre, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – now simply referred to as PUBG – gives players huge maps to play on, realistic weapons, attachments, and shooting physics. It’s not the smoothest shooter, with some slow animations that’ll feel awkward to anyone trained on Call of Duty, but the satisfaction you get from a perfectly executed siege on an enemy team is unparalleled.

I Am Your Beast

Strange Scaffold

This game gives you quick-fire over-the-top violence and action, constantly challenging you to be faster and more efficient in your kills. Each game’s level is only a minute or so long, but you’ll enjoy bathing in the glory of each kill as you tear your way through the military operation trying to bring you down. It may be a short campaign, but you’ll find plenty of reasons to come back and try things over and over to improve your time and fulfill optional objectives.

Valorant

Valorant is another Hero Shooter, but instead of being in the arcade-y camp, it’s one of the sharpest and most competitive shooters you can play. You’ll need excellent mouse skills in order to tap those headshots in Valorant, but even if you’re not at a competitive level, you can still have fun playing with the cast’s abilities and unloading a full clip at anyone that walks past.

Counter-Strike 2

CSGO has finally been usurped and now we have CS2, a full Counter-Strike sequel which is, actually, pretty familiar to CSGO fans. Well hey, you don't want things to change too much, do you? CS2 is a showpiece for Valve's new Source 2 game engine, and is hopefully just the beginning of Valve's Source 2 game output.

Doom: Eternal

Doom: Eternal does have a multiplayer mode, sure, but it the campaign is where the game truly comes to life. The Doom Guy has been given a bigger set of traversal tools than ever, shifting around in the air with dodges, double jumps, wall climbs, and much more. That’s already incredibly satisfying, but doesn’t even begin to mention the incredible array of weapons you use to blast demons in order to send them back to hell. Shooter perfection.

Titanfall 2

We may already have Apex Legends in the list, but this can't be ignored. Unfortunately modern-day Titanfall 2 multiplayer is plagued with hackers on PC, but it's still one of the slickest and most exciting shooters that you can play. Even if you ignore the multiplayer mode entirely, the campaign has some of the best shooter level design from the last generation of FPS games. Not to be ignored under any circumstances.

Selaco

Altered Orbit Studios

Selaco’s destructible environments are the star of the show. It’s one thing to have an intense gunfight, it’s another to finish that fight, look around, and realize that the room you’re in has now been reduced to nothing but scuffs and scrap. On top of that, enemies have quite intelligent AI and every encounter is very well-designed, meaning you’ll be put to the test in this one.

Metroid Prime Remastered

It's not a high-octane multiplayer game, nor is it a fast-paced shooter. Instead, Metroid Prime is more of a slow-paced exploration game, and is still one of the most atmospheric FPS games you can possibly play, even 20 years after its original launch. This is a truly unique and wonderful game, and is essential to play for Nintendo Switch owners.

MyHouse.wad

This level file mod for the original Doom game is bigger than the original DOOM game by several times. It's also become one of the most memorable gaming experiences in recent memory for those who have played it, so make sure to give it a go for yourself.

This article first appeared on Video Games on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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