Metro 2033
Release date: 2010
Developer: 4A Games
In the Metro series, mankind survives in the tunnels beneath Moscow, having abandoned the nuclear-irradiated overworld, now infested with mutated creatures. The idea is that ammo is finite, that each stash is precious, and Metro walks an interesting line between survival horror and first-person shooter. The guns feel great, but it’s the fiction around them, the commitment to such a bleak tone, and the gorgeous environments with just a few signs of human life that you’ll remember Metro for. Now in a Redux version, it’s never looked better.
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Release date: 2014
Developer: MachineGames
This big, silly revival of Wolfenstein has inventive level design, a daft but entertaining story based on an alternate WWII history, and guns that feel amazing to fire. It also made dual-wielding an exciting idea for the first time in about a decade. You battle boilerplate robo-dogs, you fight Nazis on the Moon. The feel of the machine guns and shotguns is spot-on. The former Starbreeze leads who formed MachineGames reinterpreted Wolfenstein in a way that made it exciting and new both for the series’ existing audience and for those gamers coming in fresh. This big, chunky shooter is so much more than just a retro pastiche, offering variety and production values you rarely get to enjoy in single player games these days.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Release date: 2007
Developer: Infinity Ward
Marking the start of the age of scripted shooters, CoD4’s campaign is still a blast even if it isn’t that interactive. It jumps between different playable characters in an escalating global conflict, from raiding an enemy ship in the prologue, to the unforgettable ‘All Ghillied Up’ flashback sequence. Modern Warfare still has a small active multiplayer base, too.
F.E.A.R.
Release Date: 2005
Developer: Monolith
F.E.A.R.’s supernatural encounters are somewhat segregated from its shootouts. One moment you’re a time-slowing, slide-kicking SWAT superman, the next corridor you’re peeing your pants because an eight-year-old ghost is lurking in your hallway. That pacing empowers and scares you, a feat for games that combine action and horror. The creepiness that permeates everything works with F.E.A.R.’s outstanding weapon design, clever enemy pathfinding, and dimly-lit offices that are simultaneously unsettling and cathartic to blow apart in slow motion.
Far Cry 4
Release Date: 2014
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
The other games in the Far Cry series have plenty to recommend them, but Far Cry 4 is the latest and best. It properly buys into the big and silly, letting you raid bases on elephant back, hang glide, and dangle from gyrocopters. It’s the best use of the open-world formula that Ubisoft pretty much applies to all its big games. As a shooter, it’s fantastic fun, but it’s these extra tools, and how easy it is to find yourself thrown into an absurdly fun and chaotic set-piece, that make this one of the best FPS games around
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