Introduction – Fired Up and Ready to Go!
I wanted to take a break from playing strategy games for a while, as 2026 has been quite an intense year so far, and being on the review threadmill can be quite tiresome after a while. So, indulge me, if you will, and come take a look at some of my favorite first-person shooter games of all time. I’m sure there’s quite an overlap between people who love strategy games and those who love shooters. What are FPS games if not faster-paced strategy games played in real time with high stakes? I’m just joking, don’t go getting all mad saying that your 3000-hour-long game of War in the Pacific is not comparable to Hell Let Loose or Far Cry, we all know that! So, let’s jump right in!
10 – Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 reached my hands when I was a teenager, in the Christmas of 2008, and earned a place on my list due to the fond memories it always brings me. I spent the whole night from the 24th to the 25th of December, wide awake, with a family member who’s no longer with us, just talking random shenanigans and playing the first couple of hours of Far Cry 2. Looking back, it broke away from the linear mold of FPS games that had arisen since the days of Medal of Honor (more on that later on), and gave me an open world to explore and conquer, and the way to do so, either by using stealth or going guns blazing, depended only on what I wished to do.
It also set the stage for what Far Cry 3 would become, another amazing entry. Far Cry 2 also had a very special, fire-spreading mechanic that gave way to some crazy moments when you could just set fire to the grass around an enemy base, and sit and watch the fire spread and take the whole thing out. I have not committed myself to go back to it, but from the first couple of missions I played some years back, it holds up pretty damn well, to be fair, and the graphics aren’t too shabby either. The only downside the game had was its stupid and annoying malaria mechanic that had you pill-popping once every half an hour or passing out.
9 – Counter-Strike
I could come in here and pretend that I don’t enjoy Counter-Strike. That would be a safe bet, and the only sane one, but the fact that it’s my most-played FPS game on Steam would say otherwise. Do I think it’s the best thing ever? Nop. Is it an annoying and unbalanced mess that gets worse with every patch? Yes. But it’s also the kind of comfort food shooter I always fall back on, to play with my friends. Truth be told, that’s essentially it. I don’t even like the shooting mechanics, and I think they’re stupid and completely unintuitive, but there’s no denying that pulling off an ace is a thrilling, heart-pounding moment that games like Hell Let Loose and Battlefield cannot match. Overall, it’s a basic, but fun competitive shooter that’s only playable with friends, and no matter how many times I tell myself I’ll never go back to it, it’s just a matter of time before me, and boys be rushing Long on Dust 2.
8 – Wolfenstein: The New Order
The Wolfenstein series also has a very special place in my heart, with Return to Castle Wolfenstein being a childhood favorite of mine, despite the fact that I hated those supernatural sections of the game, which terrified me as a kid! Now, 20 years later, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is quite outdated, but Wolfenstein: The New Order was a perfect reinvigoration of the franchise. B.J. Blazkowicz came back as an absolute badass, with a new origin story, and constant over-the-top action with forever rising stakes to boot. It makes the nazi war machine feel like a real threat, with their super soldier experiments, mechs, panzerhunds, and of course a moon base, because you’re not a real super villain without having a moon base. The Old Blood prequel will have you face off against undead soldiers and a final face-off against the mystical Golem. Such a blast.
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