PC Gamer: Best FPS Games of all Time

Here is the list of “Best FPS Games of all Time” according to PC gamer, not a bad list though they missed out some great titles like Duke Nukem 3D and Crysis …… , and .. since when Dishonored counts as a FPS

The List is not Organized :

1-Metro 2033

2- Wolfenstein: The New Order

3- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

4- No One Lives Forever

5- Wolfenstein

6- SWAT 4

5- Unreal Tournament

6- BioShock

7- MechWarrior Online

8- F.E.A.R.

9- Arma 2: Combined Operations

10- Natural Selection 2

11- Far Cry 4

12- Counter-Strike

13- Battlefield 3

14- Rising Storm

15- Left 4 Dead 2

16- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

17- Battlefield 1942

18- Tribes: Ascend

19- Doom – 1999

20- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

21- Borderlands 2

22- Quake III

23- PlanetSide 2

24- Half-Life 2

25- Team Fortress 2

26- Dishonored >> 0_o ???

27- Bulletstorm

28- Lovely Planet

29-Doom 2

30- Battlefield: Bad Company 2

31-Arma III

The list wasn't organized. So, they didn't say Metro 2033 is best FPS ever, if someone didn't know.

On Topic: It was good list but could use Crysis, Blood, Return to the Castle Wolfenstein, Shadow Warrior, Unreal and Soldier of Fortune 2 as well. Not to mention Dishonored was included, which isn't even FPS. And if Dishonored is counted then there is no reason for Deus ex and System Shock 2 to be not on the list.

This list is baffling...

How the hell do you add Battlefield 3 AND Bad Company 2 over Battlefield 2? How do you include Tribes Ascend, which was pay2win crap, and ignore the vastly superiour Tribes 2? Far Cry 4 over the original game?

How the hell do you even bother mentioning Borderlands 2 or Planetside 2? Tribes Ascend? So many of these games just aren't very good.

And then how do you leave out masterpieces like Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Half-Life 1, and so many others?

It's like whoever wrote this list started gaming in 2010 and just included a bunch of classics they heard were good so they seemed like they knew what they were talking about.

Given their criteria (very important to read that), Battlefield 4 should be on there instead of Battlefield 3, ArmA 2 shouldn't even be on there since it wasn't even all that great (just unique) for its time and ArmA 3 is better in every way, Unreal Tournament 2k4 should be on there along with Unreal Tournament, Bulletstorm should not be on there (in absolutly no way is a 4 hour long campaign with some gimmicks worthy of being up there with some of these other games, and the PC port is awful), Crysis should be on there and Half-Life should be on there.

@Big_Red_Button: If you read their criteria the games they pick have to hold up today or be pretty significant for their time. Deus Ex, and System Shock 2 were masterful games but didn't have the impact that something like Half-Life did and neither of those two games hold up today at all. So under their criteria, it makes sense that those two wouldn't make it. That's also why Far Cry wouldn't make it over Far Cry 4. Far Cry has a lot of gameplay issues with it's absolutely broken AI that make it very frustrating to play today.

That said, Half-Life should be on that list because of its impact. It holds up today better than Deus Ex and System Shock 2 do and it's impact was legendary. Omitting it is just objectively wrong. (yes i'm pulling out that word)

Also I have to disagree with your thoughts on Planetside 2. It really is one of the better FPSs out there. I am biased towards that game though since I've probably put 26 days of gametime in over the past 3 years. PC Gamer has always been a fan of Planetside 2 as well.

This is a bad list that I think is wrong from an objective standpoint. When you start listing games by not only how good they were back in the day, but how big their impact was and how they hold up today, you move into more of an objective discussion territory and these guys got issues.

Not a bad list apart from Lovely Planet and Bad Company 2. I noticed Halo isnt there which is good.

Your comment summed up modern PC Gamer website.

Odd list

From my own experiences, in chronological order:

• Wolfenstein 3D
• Doom/Doom2 - MP
• Duke Nukem 3D - MP
• GLQuake - MP, SP with reaper bots and Cujo mutt mod
• Quake 2 - MP
• Battlefield 1942/Desert Combat mod - LAN MP
• Battlefield 2/Project Reality mod - my last online/offline LAN MP game before I hanged up the MP gloves for good in 2009. It's no coincidence I have more time to spend here from 2009 forward. If I still did MP, my post count here would still be low and I'd probably forget my account info. ;-)
• Far Cry 3 + Far Cry 4 - SP Reset Outpost mode because of the total freedom in the game world after the SP campaign was finished.

Each of the games above had an impact at the time of their release which may not be noticed today when compared to newer games.

It's interesting to know I didn't transition fully from a CRT monitor to LCD until 2009.

Ha Ha! I also remember buying CoD 4. But, before I can even take off the shrink wrap, my visiting nephew badgered my wife to let him have it. She agreed. By the time I got home from work and planned to install CoD 4, my nephew had gone home and taken the game with him. Since then, I never bought another CoD game. I went right back to BF2.

My general setup during my BF2 days (2005-2009):

Halo's PC port wasn't anything stellar, and compared to other PC games, Halo has never really stood out. Halo has been and always shall be a console game.

eh

@jun_aka_pekto:

Agree with much of this list. Duke Nukems interactivity and tone was somewhat groundbreaking for the time, much like Doom and Quake, it is a timeless game enjoyable two decades on.

Unreal is also a much unmentioned title. While the shooting is limp in comparison to Quake, with an astounding opening that never manages to reach the same peak, it's AI was exemplary with the ability to actively straff, jump ledges, roll, advance and retreat as well as swim, much of which is still non existent in modern FPS. It''s use of dynamic music was something that had largely never been implemented in a FPS, typically on an endless loop.

Don't see why Bulletstorm or Wolfenstein: The New Order the new order is there. Both are terrible console ports, one is alright, not amazing and the other is a shitty movie game.

Aside from a terrible stealth section, Return To Castle Wolfenstein was an excellent game that marked a transition point in game design for id, it's arguably their last great game.

Would put Rogue Spear alongside Swat 4.

I agree. This is what I meant about the article authors not realizing the impact of games at the time of release.

When Thresh of GLQuake fame won Carmack's Ferrari, it had an enormous impact in PC multiplayer. It trailblazed the way for big MP tournaments with big prizes.

When the Desert Combat mod appeared for BF 1942, it set off calls for a modern warfare version of BF. I honestly think it had a direct effect on the creation of BF2.

When Doom first appeared, the MP craze took off. There were even news articles about company productivity dropping off because employees were using company LANs for Doom MP.

Stuff like the above, these PC Gamer staff failed to take into account.

I agree completely.

I cringed when I saw this. I loved Grayson Hunt's dialogue. But, the game itself is merely average.

What are CoD Modern Warfare, Farcry 4 and Battlefield 3 doing in here?
Dishonored is a stealth game. Where's Crysis? ..Half Life 2 is also so low in the list. List overall sucks imo.

Sh*t list. The criteria seems to be all over the place.

The lack of half-life is disturbing

Dishonored? what the flying f*ck? ... where is Return to Castle Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory?

No inclusion of Unreal Tournament 2004 is baffling let alone other games.

Unreal Tournament 2004 > Unreal Tournament

Crysis > Far Cry 4

Return to Castle Wolfenstein > Wolfenstein/Wolfenstein The New Order

Painkiller > Bulletstorm

Alien versus Predator, Half-Life, Quake 1/2, Quake Wars, SiN. - Any one of these deserve a place over Lovely Planet.

We consider Fallout: New Vegas, System Shock 2, and Deus Ex to be must-play experiences, but do we celebrate them because they’re great shooters, or because they’re excellent story-driven games that happen to feature guns?

PCGamer

The inclusion of Dishonored just goes to show they didn't even follow their own criteria.

No.1 should be Half-Life 2... That is all.

They listed Doom as having a release date of 1999...could be a typo but I think you are on to something there. Nobody would make that mistake with a classic like Doom.

I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt there and say that maybe in 1999 there was some sort of re-release or remastered edition or something?

I mean, nobody can **** up their research THAT BADLY, can they?

Anyone who makes a top FPS list without Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a joke and doesn't belong in gaming media.

Half Life 2 not in the top 10 makes me happy. One of the most overrated games ever and boring like hell.

The best MP FPS ever are clearly Q3A and UT. Good times...

The best SP FPS are Stalker, Bulletstorm and Unreal.

Lol Bioshock has no reason to be up there. As a shooter, it's God awful

It's nice to see Wolfenstein: TNO getting some recognition. Easily the best single-player FPS this gen. Expecting Shadow Warrior 2 to top it though. Seeing FEAR also makes me happy.

No One Lives Forever over No One Lives Forever 2 invalidates any "Best FPS" list.

@padaporra: Emiley Blunt FTW!

Where the hell is Unreal Tournament 2004?