The best FPS games 2026: genre-defining shooters

For more than two decades, FPS games have been the driving force of the PC games industry. From the classic physics chaos of Half-Life 2 to the intense action of Stalker 2, these are the best FPS games you can play right now.

No matter what sort of virtual gunplay you're after, the following titles will satisfy your itchy trigger finger, taking you on a trip through the depths of Hell in Doom: The Dark Ages to the outer reaches of space in Titanfall 2. It's time to crack those knuckles, dust off that mouse mat, and get into the zone as we prepare to make every shot count.

The best FPS games on PC are:

1. Half-Life 2

So much more than an evolution of its superb predecessor, Half-Life 2 is frequently hailed as one of the best PC games of all time. The sequel to Half-Life is hugely ambitious, benefiting from being developed by a much more confident Valve. Everything is bigger than the 1998 original: the environments, the enemies, the story - it's a blockbuster and a smart one at that. There are decent AI companions, real characters who exist to do more than die comically, and physics that transform the world into a seemingly real, tangible place.

Valve again works magic with its environments. Despite often being larger and more open than Half-Life's, they are still crafted with the same care and attention to detail. And, importantly, they remain memorable, from the haunted streets of Ravenholm to the ominous Citadel, standing over City 17 like a steel and glass tyrant. Age may have worn away some sheen, but it remains a striking, compelling FPS game.

While we're obviously looking forward to Half-Life 3, you may want to read our Half-Life Alyx ending explained guide if you haven't already played Valve's VR masterpiece. The events of Half-Life: Alyx set the scene perfectly for a potential sequel, and after six long years, it's set to arrive any day now… right?

2. Titanfall 2

EA and Respawn built on everything the first game did right and balanced the sequel's multiplayer so well. There's nothing quite like Titanfall 2's juxtaposition of crunchy, industrial mech brawling and nimble pilot combat. The solo portion of this FPS also serves as both an excellent intro to the game's mechanics and a charming, self-contained narrative.

The campaign never tries to outdo the gameplay with epic set pieces or blockbuster bombast. Instead, the raw mechanics serve up all the thrills: wall-running at a group of enemies and blowing them away with a few, satisfying blasts of your shotgun feels exhilarating every time. As Matt Purslow highlights in his Titanfall 2 campaign review, "as far as campaigns go, Titanfall 2 is as good as it gets. It's a campaign that deserves to be remembered among the FPS greats."

And almost unbelievably, the multiplayer mode is equally as strong as the single-player campaign and continues to thrive almost a decade later. While some of the developers behind Titanfall 2 ended up working on the hugely popular battle royale game, Apex Legends, there are Titanfall fans who refuse to let this masterpiece die.

3. Valorant

Valorant has pushed its way right to the front of the competitive FPS pack, and it's not difficult to see why. There's a bright-eyed cast of heroes to choose from, each with a handful of useful, well-balanced abilities. Matches are intense and require skill, precision, and team coordination. Just like Counter Strike, if your aim is shoddy or your reactions aren't on point, you're in for a rough one - but at least you don't have to play against a veteran who has been playing Dust 2 for the past 20 years.

Riot's hero shooter will be incredibly familiar to fans of Counter-Strike and Overwatch, however, as Imogen Mellor explains in her Valorant review, that's not a bad thing at all. Valorant couldn't be any more geared towards esports, so if you've got your eye on a new competitive scene, it comes highly recommended - and if you don't fancy the commitment of a full match, the Spike Rush game mode is faster, more casual, and offers just as much FPS fun.

Check out our Valorant Night Market guide so you can pick up some fancy cosmetics. Of course, none of the limited-time skins will make you play any better, but they will make you look cool to the rest of your teammates.

4. Counter-Strike 2

The reason Counter-Strike remains one of the most played games on the planet after two decades is due to the unbelievable highs (and lows) you can feel over the course of a 30-minute competitive match. From the demoralizing sting of losing several rounds in a row to the unbridled joy of mounting an epic comeback where you're responsible for your team's victory, CS2 is truly the ultimate FPS game.

Though the game was released in a premature state compared to its predecessor, it has come a long way since its 2023 launch to establish itself as the go-to 5v5 shooter. As Christian Vaz writes in his Counter-Strike 2 review, "Though the transition to Source 2 hasn't been as smooth as it could've been, CS2 is the same 5v5 shooter players have been used to for over a decade. From a gameplay perspective, CSGO wasn't broken, so Valve hasn't attempted to fix it."

CS2 retains the classic 5v5 gameplay the series is known for, but it revamps the ranks and ratings system to let players know where they stand on a global scale. There are also casual game modes if you aren't interested in becoming an esports-level player, such as Arms Race, Free-For-All, and Retakes for a more lighthearted experience.

5. Doom: The Dark Ages

Id Software's latest rip-tearing soirée, Doom: The Dark Ages, once again switches up the Slayer experience drastically, toning down Eternal's furious freneticism and quick-swapping. The result is something much closer to Doom 2016 in terms of pacing, but with a whole new gameplay quirk in the form of the shield saw. But that's not to say you'll be stuck jousting demons throughout the campaign. No, there are still plenty of modern conveniences in the intergalactic Dark Ages, like guns, bigger guns, and big, redacted guns.

If that's not convincing enough to give id's latest a go, Aaron Down's Doom The Dark Ages review will tell you everything you need to decide. Aaron writes that "Doom: The Dark Ages is a heavyweight shooter that, at its core, is lighter on its feet than its predecessor," and that "the slaying is as cerebral as ever, the shield saw is an inspired addition, and id has done a tremendous job of separating the wheat from the chaff."

In classic Doom fashion, you will stumble across collectibles spread throughout the campaign, but most of them require you to tread away from the golden path. To help you on your journey to collect them all, check out our Doom The Dark Ages wolf statue locations guide to unlock powerful upgrades.

6. Escape From Tarkov

Escape from Tarkov stands out from other FPS games on this list by seamlessly blending PvP and PvE elements. Every raid plays out on a massive map with players spawning around the edges and AI enemies spawning in at key points of interest, usually where powerful loot can be found. From the start of the match, you have up to 40 minutes to kill, plunder, and make it to one of the designated extraction points. If you die, you'll only get the gear you insured beforehand back, and only if it's not been looted from your body first.

Countless FPS games tout their realism, but none come close to the obsessive attention to detail paid by Escape from Tarkov's dev team when it comes to guns, attachments, and ballistics modeling. Not only are there over 100 guns in Escape from Tarkov, but each one can be modded up or stripped down to the point where they're unrecognizable from their off-the-shelf counterparts. You can swap barrels, mounts, scopes, flashlights, foregrips, pistol grips, handguards, muzzle attachments, stocks, charging handles, magazines, receivers, and gas blocks, and choose from several types of rounds for each ammo type.

After launching Escape From Tarkov 1.0, the developers show no signs of slowing down as they continue to work on the long-awaited Scav Life DLC. As the game's first major expansion, players will get a closer insight into the scavs that feature prominently on most of the maps.

7. Quake 1

Quake is undoubtedly one of the foundational cornerstones of the FPS genre. In recent years, plenty of so-called "boomer shooters" have popped up, designed to evoke the same retro charm, labyrinthine levels, and high-speed shooting found in iD Software's classic 3D games, but nothing quite compares to the original. Explore medieval castles and gothic cathedrals filled with monsters as you hunt down four magical runes,

If you missed out on Quake when it first came out back in 1996, Bethesda released a remastered version of the game during QuakeCon 2021, complete with beautifully updated graphics and even new episodes to play through. Quake's gothic, medieval dark fantasy setting has never looked so good - but rest assured, the gameplay remains unchanged; time to practice your strafe-jumping.

While Quake 1 runs on practically any device with a screen these days, there was a time when you needed the latest graphics hardware to run this classic shooter. Check out our news article about a souped-up 3dfx Voodoo card from 1996, which has been upgraded to run Quake 1 at a blistering 57 fps.

8. STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Stalker 2 is the perfect example of an FPS game that helps to redefine what many people expect from the genre. Set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, the game takes place in a world where the radioactive area is host to invaluable artifacts, violent mutants, and deadly anomalies. You play as a lone stalker, someone who has dedicated their life to learning the secrets of the Zone. It's almost impossible to live in the Zone due to the number of warring factions surrounding the area, introducing you to a cast of interesting characters as you discover the motives behind each group.

There's so much more to Heart of Chernobyl than simply shooting at human and mutant enemies. In addition to the game's intriguing plot, there's so much to uncover as you learn about the mysteries surrounding the Zone. Paul Kelly's Stalker 2 review delves into what makes this 2024 GOTY contender so impressive: "Stalker 2 is an experience that rewards those who persevere. It might not be for everyone, but if it clicks with you, you'll get to explore a world that feels deliberate, brutal, and often satisfying."

One of the biggest pains of surviving in the Zone has nothing to do with the deadly poltergeists or the radiation poisoning, but how often you need to repair your Stalker 2 weapons. Give our guide a read to find out what the best weapons are and how you can fix them ahead of time.

9. Neon White

In this speedrunning-focused FPS, you're encouraged to find the most optimal route, repeating each level until you discover the best way to get the job done. Plucked out of Hell, you play as the titular Neon White, an assassin who has been given a chance to live in Heaven. Using your unique talents, you must compete against other demon slayers by taking out the competition, proving that you are truly worthy of salvation.

Instead of just running and gunning through the clouds, you use the Soul Cards system to either attack or perform elaborate special moves such as stomping on enemies, leaping to a platform, or dashing through the air. These Soul Cards can be collected throughout level exploration or by defeating demons and will help you to become victorious. Not all is as it seems, though, as Neon White has total amnesia, and though other demon slayers are vaguely familiar to him, it's your job to piece together his past and rid Heaven of the demon infestation.

Neon White's gameplay loop is so addictive, even people who don't find themselves to be the speedrunning type will end up stuck in the "just one more try" cycle. The dialogue during the cutscenes might not be for everyone, but if you grew up in the '90s and have nostalgia for classic anime, you're going to have a great time.

10. Destiny 2

Pour one out for prime Destiny 2! Bungie has stopped supporting the game once and for all, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the best first-person shooter games out there. No new content will be coming to the game, nor will changes be made to the game's balance, but you can still play it.

Funnily enough, a whole host of players have come back to the game since the end of Destiny 2 was announced. More people play it daily than play Marathon, the game that replaced D2 at Bungie. Therefore, you won't be alone if you jump back into the planet-hopping action.

The single-player campaign is a fraction of the action the game has nowadays, but it's still exceptional if you're looking for a true showcase of Destiny 2's gameplay. Jump in with a few friends, visit a few planets and take out Cabal, and you'll be in for a great time. Just don't expect it to be your next big live service shooter.

11. Trepang2

2023 was a superb year for gaming, so much so that there were incredible gems that managed to get lost in the excitement. Among them are multiple shooters that have remained tragically under the radar, such as Trepang 2, which we went as far as to name one of our favorite games of 2023. Stepping into the boots of a supersoldier with the power to slow down time, you're ordered to destroy a rival military company, serving the same corporation that transformed you into a monster.

One of the best things about Trepang2 is the audio design. A shooter needs to pack a punch when it comes to sound, the reverberation of the shots, the reload, and the environment, and Trepang2 does that in unequivocal quality. In fact, our former FPS expert, Ed Smith, describes the effect of each battle in Trepang2 as leaving you "breathless, shaken, and feeling like you've just survived the end of the world." If that's not enough to make you want to try it, we don't know what will.

And if that wasn't enough, Trepang2 received the Bladekisser DLC half a year after its initial release, adding a sword into the mix, in addition to two new missions to slice your way through.

12. Battlefield 6

While Battlefield 2042 was gradually brought up to scratch, years after its underwhelming debut, Battlefield 6 has been a huge hit from the jump. Developed with direct input from the community, the results speak for themselves, as Battlefield 6 incorporates everything that made the series so iconic in the first place and has dialed it up in the best possible ways.

As Paul Kelly summarizes in his gleaming 9/10 Battlefield 6 review, "a host of minor and major improvements add up to make Battlefield 6 the smoothest, most bombastically entertaining entry in the series to date. A lackluster campaign aside, this is a triumphant return and a must-play for both BF veterans and newcomers alike".

The series is known for delivering moments that you can't experience anywhere else, and Battlefield 6 successfully continues that tradition with its destructible sandbox levels, wide array of vehicles, and the role-based squads that greatly reward teamwork. However, you won't be able to experience any iconic Battlefield moments unless your skills are up to par, so we highly recommend reading our best Battlefield 6 weapons and guns to stay one step ahead of the meta.

13. Luna Abyss

Every now and then, great new FPS games come out of nowhere, they review well, and no one plays them. Luna Abyss is one of those sad examples, with the game performing so poorly that the developers, Kwalee, laid off the entire team shortly after launch. 

Luna Abyss is still well working picking up, though. It's a dark and moody FPS, melting the arena shooter elements of Doom with bullet hell movement. You need to be quick, constantly move, and keep an eye on your enemies at all times. The pace of the game is phenomenal, complementing shooter mechanics that feel great.

The most impressive thing about Hwalee's game is the scale of its world. To get between combat encounters, you'll be leaping up giant structures, falling huge distances down pipes, and ziplining across mystical cities. The world feels huge, and getting around it is a lot of fun. Luna Abyss is a short, single-player shooter, and the perfect option if you're looking for something a bit different.

New FPS games

The next big FPS game on our upcoming PC games list is Modern Warfare 4. The next Call of Duty is the biggest new shooter every year, but this year it'll be looking to regain momentum after the disappointing Black Ops 7. In early 2027, we'll also see the release of Metro 2039, the latest in the post-apocalyptic FPS series.

And while this may seem relatively optimistic considering the game hasn't been given a release date, we're hoping Valve decides to launch Half-Life 3 after all this time.

So there you have it, the best FPS games on PC. If you're looking for shooters of different kinds or great games that are a little different, be sure to also check out our best PC games list, too. Think something is missing on our list? Come join the PCGamesN community Discord and let us know if we should add anything.