Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is certainly more action-focused than the early games in the Rainbow Six franchise. *This list has since been updated to include entries 26-30. However, special consideration was given to games that did both well. – Single-player only and multiplayer-only FPS games were not necessarily faulted for lacking either mode. – How enjoyable (for whatever reason) an FPS game is ultimately determined by whether it was selected for this list and where it was ranked, but innovation, historical significance, and longevity were all used as prominent “X-factors” to determine rankings The more a game emphasized shooting/combat as a core part of the experience, the more likely it was to be considered part of the genre. An FPS must obviously have a first-person perspective and shooting, but when in doubt, we looked closely at the “shooter” part of the equation.

– Defining a first-person shooter can be tricky. Many offer something different, but the one thing that most share is the feeling you get just from hearing their names.īefore we dive into the list, here are a few notes about the criteria used to make these selections. The best first-person shooters ever may have inspired each other, but each ultimately brings something special to the table that helps it stand out among some considerable competition. Those are the games we’re here to celebrate today. The history of the genre is written by developers who used a certain point of view and a gun or two as the basis for a variety of experiences that continue to surprise us even after we told ourselves that we’ve seen it all.

There’s no one element that makes FPS games so brilliant, and that is, ironically enough, exactly what makes them brilliant. Game genres go in and out of fashion all the time, but for over 30 years, first-person shooters have been one of the industry’s most reliable sources for blockbuster experiences that often help dictate the future of the medium.

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