10 First-Person Shooters You Should Avoid At All Costs

There are countless incredible FPS games on the market today for any type of player.

If you're looking for boomter shooters, then Mouse: P.I. for Hire is for you. ARC Raiders is the extraction shooter that continues to gain popularity. Battle Royales, led by Fortnite and Apex Legends, continue to rule the world. Then, of course, there's the never-ending juggernaut that is Counter-Strike 2.

However, for every good FPS game, there are a handful of terrible FPS games that should always be avoided. Don't worry, though, because we'll let you know what they are right now.

10 RoboCop

Combat Devolved

The Xbox/PS2/GameCube era had plenty of great FPS games. When one completely bombs, it stands out like a sore thumb.

Despite feeling like it nails the look and feel of the movie, 2003's RoboCop is one of the worst games you can play. It's buggy, boring, and quite frustrating.

RoboCop got quite an infamous reception as well, with some even calling it the worst video game since Superman 64. That's a list nobody wants to be on.

9 America's Army: True Soldiers

Genuine 360 Shovelware

Developer Red Storm Entertainment was no slouch back in the day, having worked on several entries in the Tom Clancy series. They made their Xbox 360 debut with 2006's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, which made its mark as one of the 360's best shooters in its early days.

That momentum wouldn't carry over to 2007's America's Army: True Soldiers, which quickly staked a claim as one of the 360's worst shooters. Everything that made Red Storm's entries in Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six great just wasn't on display.

There's a larger focus on multiplayer gaming, but I'm not sure who the target audience was to begin with, even if this game was fun. Spoiler alert: it's not fun at all and was quickly relegated to the discount bin.

8 Medal of Honor: Airborne

Dishonorable Discharge

There was once a time when Medal of Honor was the premier World War 2 FPS franchise in the market. Eventually, Call of Duty would catch up and surpass it while Medal of Honor floundered.

2007's Medal of Honor: Airborne gave some potential promise leading up to release, with the interesting gimmick of choosing where you drop into battle. The issue, though, is that it's merely the illusion of choice. All roads lead to a miserable gameplay experience.

Look, I get that there was this weird thing going on in the 2000s where shooters loved having enemies empty their magazines in your direction 24/7, but Airborne takes this too far. It's a short game that feels longer because you'll keep dying. Not because the game is hard, but because it's blatantly unfair at times.

7 Chicago Enforcer

Cool Idea, Poor Execution

On paper, the concept behind Chicago Enforcer sounds like a home run. An original Xbox era FPS where you're part of the mafia? Sign me up.

However, the issue here with Chicago Enforcer, specifically, is that it's a console port of a formerly PC-exclusive game (Mob Enforcer) that was already average at best.

By bringing the game to the Xbox console, the already uneven quality further deteriorated, and any potential was squandered. Long load times, uneven enemy AI, and repetitive gameplay ruined any chance this game had at being fun.

6 Shellshock 2: Blood Trails

A Bad Sequel to an Average Game

2004's Shellshock: Nam '67 was best known for being developed by Guerrilla Games, who would eventually go on to bigger and better things. It wasn't necessarily a bad game, but it wasn't a good one either. It did well enough, though, to warrant a sequel.

Guerrilla wouldn't return for Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, and responsibilities instead went to Rebellion Derby, who released the game in 2009. To give you an idea of how well-received Shellshock 2 was, the studio closed just a year later.

If anything, the game is best known for being banned in Australia and Germany due to its excessive violence.

5 Painkiller: Resurrection

This is (not) the Painkiller

2004's Painkiller is a cult classic boomer shooter that brings together the very best of Quake and Serious Sam into one excellent package. With all of that success, a sequel was all but given. Yet the original developer, People Can Fly, wouldn't be returning.

As a result, 2009's Painkiller: Resurrection is a massive disappointment. Rather than being a full-fledged sequel, it's an expansion that feels a little too similar to its predecessor. Well, similar in just about everything aside from quality.

Resurrection is a massive disappointment that ignores what made its predecessor great.

4 XIII (2020)

A Remake That Shouldn't Have Existed

Speaking of cult classics, 2003's XIII is an unheralded gem full of style and personality. It was admittedly lost in a shuffle in what was a golden era for the genre, but it has remained at the forefront of our minds for over two decades.

When word of a remake was coming in 2020, it's safe to say I was thrilled. Finally, a chance for the game to get the widespread recognition it so deserved, and its art style would surely age well, right? Well, about that.

I should have known this game was doomed when the art style changed. And the gameplay design changed. This wasn't so much of a remake, but instead a far worse game made up like the modern-day version of a cult classic.

3 GoldenEye Reloaded: 007

Bond of Duty

An updated version of GoldenEye 007 is all I wanted for so long. I'd eventually get that in 2023 (the game plays so well on Xbox, seriously, play it), but there was once a time I thought we'd get it sooner.

Advertised as a modern reimagining of the 1995 film and a remake of the 1997 Nintendo 64 game, it instead has far more in common with Call of Duty. To call it a massive disappointment is an understatement.

Believe it or not, this wasn't the first time someone slapped the GoldenEye game on a subpar FPS. 2004's GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is equally bad, but at least it didn't try to portray itself as the modern-day version of GoldenEye 007.

2 Rogue Warrior

Bethesda's Black Sheep

Basing an FPS on U.S. Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko's 1992 autobiography is an excellent idea. Despite sharing the same title, though, 2009's Rogue Warrior shares nothing in common with said autobiography.

One key reason for the game's failure is that it restarted development and changed studios. That's the recipe for disaster almost every time, no matter the game or the studio. The result is a game that's not only boring but also a technical mess in every way.

Unlike some of the other developers I've discussed, Rebellion would bounce back. 2025's Atomfall was a pleasant surprise and is even being adapted into a television series.

1 Blackwater

What Were They Thinking?!

The first warning sign should be the fact that the word "Kinect" is on Blackwater's box art.

Let's say you get past that, though. Let's say that you're picking it up out of morbid curiosity. I mean, how bad can a game truly be? Pretty bad.

First, it's an FPS game that encourages you to play without a controller, which goes over as well as you'd expect. The other issue is that it's, well, you know, a promotional tool for the controversial private military contractor of the same name.