The 25 best FPS games to play in 2026

If you're ready to get stuck into best FPS games to play in 2026, then you've come to the right place.

Here, we've brought together a ranking of the best FPS games around right now. Considering its such an expansive genre, we've put our heads together to bring you a range of fantastic first-person shooters. From some of the latest new games like Bungie's exhilarating extraction shooter, to some older favorites that are still well worth your time to this day, you're sure to find something to try out here.

Taking into mainstay series with some the best Call of Duty games and the best borderlands game included, there's also standout indies, and much more. With picks across all platforms, you can also head on over to our our best shooter games roundup if you're after some third-person recommendations. But for all of the best FPS games you can play right now in 2026, read on.

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The top 25 best FPS games to play in 2026 are...

25. Valorant

Valorant is Riot Games' attempt to take CS:GO's competitive FPS crown. It's like a mix of Valve's tactical shooter and Overwatch's over-the-top heroes. It is, at its heart, still a tactical FPS in which positioning is king and every character is dangerously squishy, but each Agent has flashy skills and abilities that can turn the course of a round. If you've not taken some time away, you may be surprised by just how powerful some of these skills have become in the years since launch.

Valorant is more colorful than CS:GO, but the clean visuals prove that the emphasis is on substance over style. The fact it's made the leap to platforms such as PS5 and Xbox are testaments to how much polish Riot put into its design and how balanced its maps and heroes are - and if you're looking for a shooter that demands as much brain as brawn, you'll find few as engaging as Valorant.

24. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is polished FPS with a retro style that's well worth checking out. Taking on the role of Space Marine Malum Caedo, you set out on a dangerous mission to find a shard that comes from a mysterious power source on a Forge World known as Graia.

With a host of weapons from the Warhammer universe to get your hands, the guns feel impactful as you take on Chaos Space Marines and Daemons galore across various environments. Blending its fast, frenetic gameplay with its '90s inspired style undoubtedly makes it stand out among the Warhammer FPS entries out there. And with a second game on the way, there's never been a better time to check it out.

23. Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1 is a WW1 shooter that showcases a terrifying amount of carnage. It's got all the familiar BF modes that we've grown to love, including Conquest, Rush, and Domination. But this game adds the formidable Operations mode that takes the push and pull of war to new heights. In fact, the game works so well as a multiplayer shooter because of how finely it's balanced - there's no class, weapon, or tactic that gives an unfair advantage over others. Trust us, there's a reason why we gave it such a high score in our Battlefield 1 review!

Though the Battlefield series has marched on since this entry, post-launch updates turned Battlefield 1 into something of a late bloomer after launch, to the point where it's arguably now better than it's ever been. If you want to mix things up from Battlefield 2042 or simply didn't gel with EA's modern shooter, this is the perfect recommendation for anyone who wants a historical shooter with a little more texture than your usual Call of Duty match.

22. Dusk

Plenty of modern FPS games capture the feeling of playing Quake or Doom for the first time, but Dusk is the smoothest, the fastest, the goriest. It's like the best of the '90s but with a few modern-day twists that make it stand out, like detailed reload animations and inventive level design. Maps are varied and keep you guessing: one minute, you're in a spooky old farm, clearing out barns with a shotgun, the next you're in a science lab that twists back on itself, the walls becoming the floor when you turn your head.

Like the best old-school shooters, it's simply bloody good fun. Beefy weapons turn enemies into a fine red mist, and you zoom through levels as if on roller skates, only pausing to line up the perfect shot. It's topped off by a metal soundtrack that refuses to let you quit.

21. Half-Life 2

It may be old enough to drive and gamble a young Gordon's student loan fees under a bus, yet despite its age, Half-Life 2 still has a touch of G.O.A.T. status. This is an all-time shooter masterpiece. Whether you played it on a cutting-edge rig on a debuting Steam in 2004 or first sampled its City 17 delights courtesy of Valve's brilliant Orange Box bundle, the core of Half-Life 2's greatness remains unblemished.

It's a true test of time game that earned a near-perfect score in our Half-Life 2 review. Few other shooters before or since show such a level of masterly pacing. If you haven't played before, we'd recommend checking Half-Life 2 out to see why it was all the rage in its heyday. Plus, the level set in zombie-infested Ravenholme remains one of the best levels to ever take place in an FPS - if you haven't bisected an enemy with flying sawblades, have you ever really lived?

20. Far Cry 6

It may not be one of highest picks in our best Far Cry games ranking, but Far Cry 6 is still a superior shooter. Does it still lean heavily on a lot of well-worn Ubisoft tropes? Of course. Yet look past the dinky dachshund sidekicks named after a Spanish sausage and the typically assured, if samey, stealth, and you'll find an FPS that feels like a much-needed turning point for Far Cry.

New additions like the Supremo Backpacks open up creative new avenues for both sneaky and explosive chaos, further enlivening Far Cry's already intoxicating power fantasy. Better yet? With the introduction of freedom fighter Dani – who you can actually see, listen to, and emote alongside in third-person cutscenes – Far Cry has finally given us a protagonist who's actually worth rooting for. And all it took was half a dozen entries. When it comes to sandbox shooters, few do madcap spectacle better than this FPS. Check out our Far Cry 6 review for more information!

19. Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition 

Never has a game so intelligent tried so hard to look like an idiot, or been so screamingly funny with it. On Bulletstorm's surface, you'll find a brash, knowing, don't-give-a-fuck attitude, sitting on a layer of the most gloriously creative cursing you've ever heard in a video game. Beneath, you'll find one of the densest, most detailed, widest-branching FPS systems ever devised.

The genius of Bulletstorm lies in its Skillshots. Imagine if a new Tony Hawk's game served up tricks but replaced every Ollie and kickflip with increasingly gruesome ways of mangling mutants, and you're pretty much there. Boot a dude in the balls, then kick his head off. Launch some men into orbit with an alt-fire rocket, then pick them out of the sky like they were clay pigeons. Sadly, we'll probably never see such a brash, bright, or commendably crude FPS like this again. Read our five-star Bulletstorm review if you're after more details!

18. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

When it comes to the best Call of Duty games, this is both the latest and (one of the) greatest. As stated in our Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 review, 2024's entry to the series boasted a return to form on all fronts. Whether you're craving a surprisingly creative campaign, multiplayer bolstered by the addition of Omnimovement, or the best Zombies mode since 2010's Black Ops, Black Ops 6 is the game to go with.

That's the funny thing about Black Ops 6: regardless on what you're in the mood for, it has something for every FPS fan. '90s babies will appreciate the sprinkling of capital-C Culture here - there are needle drops for Faith No More and Nine Inch Nails sprinkled throughout the multiplayer and campaign - but really, it's the movement system and Treyarch's extra-punchy guns that make this one a winner. If you've taken a longer-than-usual break from Call of Duty, Black Ops 6 is the best possible time to pick things back up where you left 'em: two kills off a chopper gunner.

17. Borderlands 4

Following on from Borderlands 3, Gearbox's latest adventure brings with it a frankly wild number of guns to play around with. Yes, Borderlands 4 may not quite deliver in the story department, but its core looter shooter ingredients are stronger than ever, and it's a refined and polished FPS with added mobility thanks to the addition of the grappling hook.

In our Borderlands 4 review, we highlight just how much it stands out in the shooting department, with its vast arsenal offering so much weapon variety that's not only fun to use, but also offer up different approaches to take out enemy camps. And with co-op support and different Borderlands 4 characters and classes to choose from, this is a solid option if you're looking for an FPS to play with pals.

16. PUBG: Battlegrounds

PUBG is the game that spawned the battle royale craze. Technically, it wasn't the first battle royale game, but it popularized the staples of the genre we all recognize: randomized gear spread out on a big map; a starting plane from which players parachute; and an ever-shrinking play zone. A lot has changed since it first came out, and now it's more polished, with a variety of maps that cater to all play styles, and it's free-to-play at a baseline.

On the biggest maps, you might go long stretches without seeing another player, and it's that pacing and the lethality of the realistic bullet physics that set PUBG apart from the crowd. You can play with a squad of friends and experience why this is one of the best multiplayer games around, but it's always those nail-biting, stealthy solo moments that stick with me. And yes, you can technically play PUBG in third-person - but good luck getting that chicken dinner if you're not shooting in first-person.

15. Counter-Strike 2

As the follow-up to CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 means Valve's king of shooters remains in top form on Steam. This tactical FPS is as crunchy as ever, with the added benefit of a modern-day visual overhaul, meaning it's a wonderful entry (or re-entry) for taking your shooting skills into a more competitive environment. Although custom servers allow for more casual experiences, the real draw of CS2 is its Terrorists vs. Counter-Terrorists game modes without respawns.

Here, Counter-Strike's emphasis on paying attention to sounds and communicating with your allies shines. There's nothing like the tension that sits at the beginning of each round, as both teams secretly select their tactics and wait for them to collide with their opponents' own gambit. Each map is meticulously crafted to allow for myriad tactics, and the lovingly modeled guns in your expansive arsenal all have minutiae in their firing rates and recoil. This game sticks with you, and it's hard to see this shooter going anywhere for a long time.

14. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus

This Nazi murder sim is smarter than it sounds. The guns are big, loud, and turn members of the Third Reich into bloody pulps, and the more bullets you pump out, the better. The ability to dual-wield any two weapons also makes New Colossus feel different from other old-school shooters. Most impressive of all is the narrative.

You get to know more about the series' broken hero, BJ Blazkowicz, than ever before through an origin story that's not afraid to get dark, and a talented cast somehow manages to pull off a tale that pirouettes between the serious and the absurd. This title is a must-play when it comes to our list of the best FPS games, and we stand by giving it a close-to-perfect score in our Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus review.

13. I Am Your Beast

Let's be honest: whether your FPS is meant to be a slow tactical crawl or daft arcade-y, fun, killing every enemy in seconds is a massive flex. I Am Your Beast, an indie shooter from Strange Scaffold, gets this.

A revenge thriller with the tightly-choreographed action sequences of a feature film, I Am Your Beast is all about making you feel like the strongest, slickest star in any single fight. You'll often be outnumbered, frequently outgunned, but never outmatched: after all, any character capable of clubbing a guard and catching their gun in the same second - yes, you can really do that - deserves their main character status. This may have flown under your radar at launch, but don't let it sneak any further away.

12. Metro Exodus

We called it the best shooters of 2019 for a reason in our Metro Exodus review. The Metro series is known for blending stealth and shooting in oppressive environments filled with ravenous mutants that want to rip your throat out. Exodus is built from the same DNA, but finds a new level of polish and ambition. From Moscow, you take a train through the Russian wilderness, stopping off in desert towns, snowy tundras, and military bases, each filled with secrets to find and enemies to blow to bits.

You conduct missions alone, and venturing from the safety of your party is nerve-wracking. Thankfully, you have an armory of inventive, upgradable weapons to keep you safe, from crossbows to revolvers. Back on the train, you'll get to know the endearing cast, who will make you genuinely care about protagonist Artyom's fate. If you're looking for pure action, Exodus's careful pace might turn you off, but the cross-country travel gives you a constant sense of progress.

11. Superhot

Time only moves when you move. That's the elevator pitch for Superhot, a cerebral FPS from an independent studio out of Poland, and it's a perfect distillation of what makes Superhot so intoxicating. And all that slow-mo obviously helps, too. Cooler than Keanu in the original Matrix taking the ice bucket challenge, this effortlessly slick FPS is as much a puzzler as it is a shooter.

While the act of pointing and pulling the trigger is simple enough – it's hard to miss when you're moving slower than a tortoise in treacle – the order you take enemies out is an entirely trickier issue. Many levels must be completed with Swiss watch-levels of precision, and killing a dude at the wrong time can make the whole slow-motion house of bullet-strewn cards tumble. That's the central appeal of Superhot: it's an FPS that's as clever as it is cool. Check out our Superhot review for more information on this gem.

10. Apex Legends

The battle royale for those who want to go faster. Your movement is as important as your aim in Apex Legends: you can parkour across roofs, shimmy up ledges, and slide down hills, scrabbling for positional advantage. The character classes and their abilities make Respawn's shooter feel unique in the genre. One hero can see trails of enemy footsteps, another creates portals, and another can clone themselves to bamboozle their opponents.

In a squad of three, which is how it was designed to be played, you can combine these abilities inventively to outfox enemy teams. The two maps are bright and varied, with plenty of ways to help you take the high ground, and Respawn is constantly tweaking the formula with new weapons and heroes. If you haven't played it since the early wave of enthusiasm, it's time to return. In our Apex Legends review, we gave the game a massive five-star rating, so yeah, it's top-tier.

9. Black Mesa

Black Mesa is what you get when you take one of the most beloved shooters of all time, Half-Life, revamp the entire disastrous ending and add prettier visuals. Yes, Black Mesa is fan-made (and Valve-approved), but you be forgiven for not realizing that: every room is crafted with the kind of care you don't see from many AAA teams. This is more than just a remake of a classic – it's a complete overhaul that brings one of the greatest shooters ever and one of the greatest protagonists, Gordon Freeman, into the modern era.

Everything you love about Half-Life remains. You'll shoot headcrab zombies, alien monsters, and human soldiers with an array of weapons, from a beefy shotgun to the prototype energy Gluon Gun, which melts enemies in seconds. But it's the new additions that stand out. In the original Half-Life, the Xen locale was lifeless. Here, it's bursting with color, and every craggy rock and bizarre clump of plants is rebuilt from scratch. It's far bigger and feels like a completely different game. Half-Life is finally whole.

8. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Siege has quietly become one of the best Tom Clancy games around, combining the intensity and replayability of Counter-Strike with the unique abilities and personality of Overwatch. But the real star of Siege is the impressive destructibility of your environment: walls and ceilings can all be destroyed, so you need to smartly choose which flanks to cover and which walls to reinforce, lest someone blast through them with sizzling thermite.

You and your squadmates choose from a variety of highly skilled Operators, each with their own specialties that can complement each other for a rock-solid team comp, though your propensity for sneaking and aiming a gun are what matter most. As mentioned in our Rainbow Six: Siege review, every round becomes a tactical, incredibly tense game of cat-and-mouse, as one team protects an objective while their opponents try to scout out danger and survive a breach.

7. Marathon

From the creators of Halo and Destiny, Marathon is a satisfyingly fast-paced extraction FPS with a distinct cyberpunk edge. Packing plenty of different playstyles in its dark sci-fi world, your mercenary's consciousness can essentially assume control of what are known as Shells, different artificial bodies that serve as Marathon's character classes by offering their own unique abilities. Be it opting for stealth, being a supportive healer, or going all in on offense, there's all kinds of builds to play with.

As you set out into the colony Tau Ceti IV, you'll have to try and scavenge for loot, and take gear off your defeated opponents as you try to fight your way to extraction. While you can go it alone, the option to team up is always there, and if you're after a multiplayer FPS, Bungie's latest offers up some great PvE and PvP battles to get stuck into. As we said in our Marathon review, you'll find a smart, intertwined narrative woven into the FPS action that's set against the backdrop of a stylish, dystopian world.

6. Halo: The Master Chief Collection

This is the ultimate serialized tale of John 117 and the go-to choice for players looking to find all the best Halo games in one place. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is all but unrecognizable from the Spartan car crash that launched in 2014. After years of server fixes, technical tweaks, and graphical upgrades, this is now the definite way to experience golden era Halo.

Whether experiencing the best second level in all of the shooters in the original Combat Evolved or blasting buddies in PvP on Halo 3's all-time classic Guardian map at a blistering 120 frames per second on an Xbox Series X, Halo has rarely felt more essential. We're tickled (Needler) pink Chief got the redemption act he deserves. Is cramming a bunch of games into one entry cheating? Sure, but if you read our Halo: The Master Chief Collection review, you'll understand why we had to bend the rules in this case.

5. Battlefield 6

As the latest entry in the long-running FPS series, Battlefield 6 brings a destructive edge to the combat, with the chance to demolish your surroundings to your advantage. Whether you're tearing down a wall to land on the opposing side, or smashing through the environment, it's as satisfying as it is reactive.

As we explained in our Battlefield 6 review, the core campaign is outshined by multiplayer, with its many modes likely being the reason you'll keep coming back, but with refined and overhauled gunplay and some extra additions such as class systems, Battlefield is worth your time.

4. Half-Life: Alyx

If VR headsets were issued at birth, there's a chance Half-Life: Alyx would be our favorite FPS of all time. Sadly, the barrier for entry to enjoy this virtual reality wonder at its very best is loftier than the off switch on a Strider. Even if you merely 'settle' for experiencing this perfectly paced, incredibly atmospheric shooter on a Meta Quest rather than Valve's painfully expensive Index, you're still looking at dropping a huge chunk of change for a ten-hour game.

And yet, the absolute highest praise we can heap on Alyx? We'd seriously consider paying the price of a PS5 or Xbox Series X to play this one sensational shooter. Not only is it one of the best VR games on the market, but the shooting controls make you feel like you are the star of your own action movie. Check out our Half-Life Alyx review for more detailed information on this modern staple.

3. Metal: Hellsinger

If you're looking for a slick as hell (literally) rhythm FPS, then you'll undoubtedly love slaying to the beat of the music in Metal: Hellsinger. Playing as The Unknown, a being who's part human, part demon, and seeking vengeance, you shoot your way through the fiery domains of hell to eventually face the fearsome ruler, Red Judge (who's basically the devil).

With an incredible soundtrack propelling you through the FPS action, the more in sync you are with the rhythm, the power you'll serve to you foes as the music's intensity increases. Along with a blade, you can also have lots of ranged weapons in your arsenal to play around with, alongside an ultimate move that you can unleash to really amp things up. If you love heavy-metal, don't skip this FPS.

2. Doom Eternal

Though we didn't exactly shower Doom Eternal with praise fresh out the gate (read our Doom Eternal review for more on that), in retrospect, this really is at the pinnacle of the FPS genre. This is everything that the genre is about, distilled into one glorious roar. It's also a remarkably elegant experience in motion, especially for a game that makes you garrote a demon every 17 seconds. Like Mario 64 or Mirror's Edge, Eternal feels flawless when you tap into its joyous rhythm.

Every gun feels perfectly tuned, each level impeccably paced, while every monster dragged screaming from the depths of Hell has clearly been designed to coax just the right measure of aggression out of the Doom Slayer. Amazingly, it's brilliant on pretty much every modern platform, too. Whether you're playing on an OG Xbox One, ripping Cacodemon eyes out at 120 frames per second on a cutting-edge PC, or yanking spines on the impressively assured Switch port, Doom Eternal kicks ass whatever your choice of format.

1. Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 is an undisputed high-ranker when it comes to the best FPS games. The weightlessness that comes with perfectly mastered wall-running makes you feel like you're doing some sort of deadly ballet, letting you sail past your foes at impossible speeds, catching them unawares. The unforgettable BT-7274 and unbridled creativity dominate Titanfall 2's campaign, whether it involves you switching between decades in the blink of an eye, walking through a moment frozen in time, or simply ripping other Titans apart when you step into titanic bot boots of BT-7274.

Rewarding you for using the environment to your advantage, you can feel the moment when you start thinking differently, realizing the possibilities a map offers. The physics-twisting Quake-like mechanics of its multiplayer mode strengthen an already sensational shooter package. But it's that remarkable campaign that makes Titanfall 2 such an enduring shooter. Let's cross BT's colossal droid digits so that we eventually see a Titanfall 3. In the meantime, you can read our Titanfall 2 review for a deeper look at this classic.

After more hits? Check out our lists of the best RTS games, the best survival games, and all the new games heading our way.