10 Great FPS Games That Are Fun Right Away

If there’s one thing that almost every game strives for, it’s putting players into an immersive experience. One of the more innovative ways to do this in the early days of games was to try and create the sense of being in a 3D world. That’s where the concept of first-person games really started.

Walking around in a digital world is cool and all, but you need action as well. That’s where the shooter part of first-person shooters, or FPS for short, comes in. The FPS adds elements of danger and excitement that raise the overall stakes for the players. They first started gaining popularity in the early 1990s, but have since become a mainstay in the lexicon of modern video games as well.

There are so many good FPS titles out there that vary in so many ways that it can be hard to know which ones are worth hopping into and aren’t going to waste your time. Fortunately for you, I’ve been playing FPS games since they’ve been around and picked out a few of my favorites to share with you all.

10 Wolfenstein 3D

Where it All Started

As the first game to popularize the FPS genre, Wolfenstein 3D threw you into the middle of a German castle and tasked you with killing robo-Hitler. Along the way, you picked up a few weapons, like a Gatling gun that you could use to mow down a Nazi armada. Levels were also full of all sorts of hidden rooms and secrets to be revealed, which encouraged players to explore and hit the space bar against every wall panel.

While it may be rudimentary by today’s standards, it was the shooter that launched a thousand ships and established FPS games’ popularity with PC gamers. And hey, it’s hard not to have fun shooting up a robo-Hitler!

9 BioShock

The Dad Who Stepped Up

The journey players take through the underwater city of Rapture in BioShock is a perfect blend of gameplay mechanics and atmosphere. The little sisters and their creepy, possessed-doll-like appearances are a stark contrast to the giant steampunk-inspired Big Daddy.

Nonetheless, despite being trapped in Ayn Rand’s wet dream manifest, you can’t help but be drawn down the rabbit hole the minute you lay eyes on BioShock.

There’s a reason that BioShock has gone on to influence a number of FPS franchises since its inception, and that becomes clear if you spend even a small amount of time giving it a playthrough. It’s not only enjoyable and chock-full of depth, but easy to get into.

8 Halo: Combat Evolved

Put a Ring on it

From the moment you stepped into Master Chief’s massive, metal boots in the first Halo, it was too late. This is what you were doing with the rest of your day. It was an immersive experience, to say the least, with a variety of weapons, both human and alien, to play around with. And the vehicles, such as the warthog, were so much fun to mess around with. Then there are the multiplayer campaigns and deathmatches that may be the first example of console-based LAN parties.

Halo: Combat Evolved did it all and was really fun from moment to moment. It probably single-handedly saved the original Xbox and helped establish Microsoft as a real competitor in the home console biz.

7 Crysis

A Real Power Fantasy

For a number of years, any gaming rigs’ values were based on how well it could run Crysis. The game and its many tropical environments were lauded with praise for just how impressively gorgeous they were for the time. And the gameplay was essentially a power fantasy that put players in a super suit and let them run wild.

Crysis was a sandbox of destruction that gamers couldn’t get enough of and put the team at Crytek on the map. If you want a fun FPS experience that lets you amok, be sure to give this one a try.

6 Doom

Rip and Tear!

I personally think that the FPS genre would not have had a huge impact on modern video games as a whole without the existence of Doom. The game literally put you through Hell via the moons of Mars. Whether you were hacking through demons with a chainsaw or watching them melt from a BFG blast, Doom was unrelenting. The game was visceral and just got tougher and tougher as you descend.

Today, just about everything can run Doom. I mean everything literally. I recently saw someone playing it on a pregnancy test. You don’t get a cult following like Doom’s without being fun from start to finish.

5 Duke Nukem 3D

All Out of Bubblegum

While I think later iterations of Duke Nukem turned the character and franchise into a parody of itself, Duke Nukem 3D itself nailed it. It turned the trope of the muscle-bound action hero that had become popular throughout the 80s and on into the 90s on its head and then took a jab at FPS trends as well. I mean, the first level has a jetpack and wild hogs dressed as cops.

Duke Nukem 3D also took steps forward with world interactions that were more than just flipping a switch. While many of them, like the ability to trip strippers, weren’t exactly wholesome, it made the world feel more alive and made you play more to try and find all the little easter egg moments you could. I have no idea why my mom let me get this game, but I’m glad she did.

4 Left 4 Dead 2

Lend Me a Hand

From the moment you open the exit to the first level’s safe house until you make it to the next one, Left 4 Dead 2 keeps the tension high. The original was a revolution in co-op FPS gaming, and 2 just improved upon the excellent co-op FPS formula in every way it could. It added new zombie types, the jockey and the spitter, and gave players a new selection of melee weapons for more dynamic combat.

Nowadays, Left 4 Dead 2 is still a great choice if you like co-op FPS games. It’s ideal for a night of online hangouts with your friends. Just make sure you’ve got enough med kits!

3 Portal

I’m Making A Note Here, “Huge Success”

Simply put, Portal is one of the greatest FPS environmental puzzle games ever made. The concept is simple enough: use your portal gun to make portals to get from each test room’s entry to its exit. All while being shamed by the sadistic GLaDOS, who has promised you cake, but I wouldn’t believe her if I were you.

Portal is a perfect blend of innovative, yet simple, gameplay mechanics with some of the most humorous dialogue ever put in a game. It’s both smart and stupid at the same time and has a ton of replay value for the people who are still alive.

2 Borderlands 2

Hello, Traveler!

I have played every iteration of Borderlands heavily, and I have to say that Borderlands 2 still feels like the best in the series to me. This is the looter-shooter franchise in its most glorious form. It added so much personality with its cast of out-of-pocket characters like Tiny Tina and maybe the greatest villain ever in Handsome Jack. Then there are all the randomized guns and character classes to choose from. I personally went with the killer assassin Zer0 for my first playthrough.

While Borderlands 2 is a game best played with a 4-person squad, you can have just as much fun exploring Pandora by yourself. Okay, maybe not as much, but it’s how I personally do all my story missions, just so I can do things at my own pace.

1 Battlefield 6

A Declaration of War

In many ways, Battlefield 6 brought the game back to its roots. It brought back its iconic class system, which, as someone who likes to play Engineer, I really appreciated. It also has a strong focus on teamwork, and the large-scale maps and massive battles give a sense of chaos all around you.

Battlefield 6 gave new breath to an aging series and gave it a facelift at the same time. While there is a single-player campaign mode, I think we all know where the real fun is to be found. If you really want to see everything the game has to offer, you’re probably going straight for multiplayer.