Halo: The Master Chief Collection
The Halo series is one of the best when it comes to first person shooter games and created a science fiction story that was much more compelling than people initially thought, setting a solid foundation for the franchise. Halo 2 single-handedly changed the world of competitive online multiplayer in the way it handled player matchmaking. Halo: The Master Chief Collection brings together remastered versions of Halo 1-4 and contains 45 campaign missions and over 100 multiplayer and Spartan Ops maps.
Doom (2016)
This has always been a classic in the realm of first-person shooter games and it pretty much invented the genre in the first place. The reboot which was released in 2016 was a huge power fantasy that many had been waiting for. The movement of the Doom Slayer is quick, the combat tight, the weapons large, loud and powerful and the glory kills give pure senseless violence. Doom Eternal will soon be on the horizon, but for now this makes a great first-person shooter.
Overwatch
Teamwork is key in Blizzard’s popular competitive shooter game. It focuses on clever use of your abilities over twitchy aiming and it super accessible to first person shooter newbies as well as being packed with tactical depth for genre pros. Its lovable characters boast a unique set of powers, from gorilla scientist Winston’s berserker rage and jet-powered leap, to roller-skating DJ Lucio’s wall-running and knockback blast. Overwatch gives an impressive level of variety and consists of different modes involving two teams of six.
Titanfall 2
Following the multiplayer-only original, Respawn gave us a sequel which was one of the most original campaigns in years. It features expertly designed levels and dabbles in everything from parkour platforming puzzles to time travel mechanics and thrilling effects. Online matches have a unique rhythm where you start off as a hyper-agile pilot, able to wall-run, slide, double-jump and more but the better you play on foot, the sooner you can call down your mech suit and start stomping around the battlefield dispensing justice.
Far Cry 5
If you haven’t already, we recommend you check this out before you get stuck into the post-apocalyptic latest entry into the series, Far Cry, New Dawn which follows on from Far Cry 5. It swaps previous settings of an African civil war, a Himalayan dictatorship and an island full of hippies for Hope County, Montana. The Big Baddie this time is Joseph Seed, a doomsday cult leader who has most of the county under his control. Its rural USA open world is packed with detail and fun things to do, of the shooting and bashing things to death variety and it is thoroughly immersive.
Battlefield V
Battlefield has always been the first person shooter game for those in the know and in particular, those who love to feel part of authentically released, large-scale battles. The emphasis in Battlefield is more on teamwork, and as a result, and with 64 platers, it is clearly best experienced with squads working together. Last year’s return to WW2 featured more destructibility than ever before, plenty of different modes, some huge maps and the Grand Operations multi-day campaign.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
BJ Blazkowicz returns for this latest entry in the shooter series, continuing on from The New Order where BJ wakes up from a coma to find Nazis have taken over the world. The first 15 hours are a little tricky, but once you survive that, The New Colossus settles into a fascinating shooter set in a USA lined with Nazi flags, where white supremacists are on every corner, just waiting to be cut in half with powerful guns.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
This tactical first player shooter game is still hugely popular more than three years since its release. It is quite simply a superior game that involves taking out terrorists as part of a SWAT team, infiltrating buildings and rescuing hostages. Tactical and tense each and every time, with realistically destructible environments, the game comes into its own in multiplayer, with plenty of great co-op and competitive modes, while its many maps are designed for close-quarters combat. Last year the game had over 40million users and Angela Bassett stars as the director of Team Rainbow.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops IIII
The Call Of Duty series has taken us through WW2, modern warfare and into space. But one of the best is Treyarch’s smart Black Ops, the story arc of which actually runs from World At War, through the Vietnam era in the first Black Ops via the 1980’s, and several decades on into the future. The game features solo missions which focus on the multiplayer specialists.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 has it all, a compelling science fiction space opera story, exhilarating competitive multiplayer and cooperative challenges in the form of length puzzle-filled Raids and shorter Strikes. Every weapon feels awesome to shoot and there are endless amounts of precious loot to find and collect. If you haven’t already, it is definitely recommended you check out Destiny first.
