The best first-person shooters aren’t always the ones that you’ve heard of. There are loads of lists out there with games filled to the brim with games like Call of Duty and Battlefield, but you already know all of those. So, what if we took a look at the more indie side of things and listed the best first-person shooters that you might not have heard of?
That’s a rhetorical question, because we’re going to do it anyway because it seems like a good idea. After all, surely the aim of a good list is to bring to your attention games you might not know. So, here are seven of the best first-person shooters that you might not have heard of, and there are plenty of guns to find and bullets to shoot in each of them. Pew pew?
Bright Memory: Infinite
Bright Memory: Infinite is a game all about style. It combines the gameplay of a first-person shooter with the feel of something more akin to Devil May Cry. Sure, you’ll be shooting at things, but your aim is often about doing so stylishly, and you get to guide the heroine as she blitzes her way through countless enemies in a lot of different scenarios.
Aside from being staggeringly pretty, the gameplay feels absolutely incredible, and the whole experience feels a bit like a tech demo fever dream, and we mean that in the most complimentary way possible. It’s also under £20 without DLC, and only just over if you decide you want to dress the main character in different clothes. This is a first-person game though, so we’d advise against it.
BattleBit Remastered
If you’d rather play something that’s all about the multiplayer side of things, then good news, because BattleBit Remastered is here, and it’s a staggering monument to the joys of shooting at other digital people. This game has a little more Battlefield in it than Call of Duty, but the variety of weapons and vehicles on display will make you happy either way.
This game pits groups of up to 254 players against each other in teams and asks them to try and attack and defend objectives, or just shoot each other a lot. There are different classes to learn, loads of weapons which you can customise, and a fair few vehicles to hop in as well. There’s even proximity voice chat, which is great if you want to hear everyone being dejected as you beat them again and again.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute
BPM: Bullet Per Minute is a rhythm-action FPS roguelike. Which is a lot of SEO words in one game description, but to be fair to it, all of them are true. Shooting and moving to the beat while fighting off demons is an incredibly strange thing to get used to, but once you get the feel of it, you’re basically just playing a really rhythmic Doom.
The roguelike nature of BPM means that you’ll see different things every time you play, get different weapons, and get different abilities too. There are loads of horrifying demons to try and take out as you dance around, and there are even multiple characters to unlock who play a little bit differently too.
Severed Steel
Destructible environments are painfully absent these days, and we’re sick of it. Red Faction promised us all the ability to tunnel through walls using rocket launchers, and the fact that it’s not always the case is very upsetting. Severed Steel has fully destructible levels though, and it’s also about moving well and being incredibly cool as you do so.
If you’re the kind of person who loves perfecting every single motion in a game, then Severed Steel is an absolute treat for both you and your soul. It’s still fun even if you’re a klutz who just about muddles through, but it’s definitely at its best when you’re trying to save precious seconds off of every level.
Gunfire Reborn
Gunfire Reborn might just be the best first-person shooter roguelike out there. You play as one of multiple anthropomorphised animals who all have different abilities, including, but not limited to, dual-wielding explosive guns, flying kicks, controlling a mech suit, and the ability to stop time for enemies.
Each character has several upgrade paths that can be unlocked as you progress which can make the same character play in several different ways, the weapons are all incredible and have genuinely inspired reload animations, and there are multiple difficulty settings and multiple modes too. Plus it’s co-op, which just makes the game even better in our opinion.
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
SUPERHOT is a game where time only moves when you do. If you want to play it at its best, then get the VR version, because it’s just life-changing. This version is still incredible though, and while it’s not quite an FPS game in the traditional sense, it does have guns and is played in the first-person perspective, so it’s close enough.
Each level is a puzzle that you get to solve with violence. You’ll need to punch enemies if they get too close, steal weapons from their hands, dodge bullets, and occasionally try to take out a helicopter gunner with an ashtray or something. Just go and play it already, it’s worth your time, money, and a little bit of your soul too.
Dusk
Finally we have Dusk, which is one of the games that really helped revive boomer shooters as a genre. Dusk is a retro-inspired FPS game, but one filled with plenty of modern touches. You get to take your character through groups of cultists, militants, and demons, and take them out with everything from sickles to rocket launchers, and it’s basically nonstop action throughout.
It’s got an incredible metal soundtrack that’ll have your feet tapping and your head banging while you play, and an endless survival mode if you just feel like blowing off steam, and there’s even an online battle mode as well. It’s just a sublime FPS game, and if you’ve yet to try it out, now seems like a very good time to do so.
