Among the most popular genres in modern gaming is the first person shooter, and if you are interested, there are plenty of games available on the PS4 that will keep you submerged in satisfying combat for weeks, months, or even years at a time. The most difficult part is deciding what to play first.
First-person shooters
Titanfall 2
Best PFS Game Overall
Respawn Entertainment’s original Titanfall was a terrific multiplayer game with an exciting mix of first-person shooting and mech-based combat, but it was light on content and didn’t offer a campaign mode. The studio addressed that fully in Titanfall 2, which delivered a time-traveling story with a surprising amount of heart and plenty of robot-destroying action.
Its competitive mode didn’t disappoint either, with a wide number of modes and a progression system that made your character feel important in every match. Sadly, its underwhelming sales may mean we never get a full sequel, but the Titanfall brand lives on.
Battlefield 1
Best WW1 Shooter Game
Sure, Battlefield V didn’t turn out the way players were hoping for, but Battlefield 1 is a fantastic large-scale multiplayer shooter. With classic Battlefield destruction on enormous maps and multi-stage events putting a new twist on the series’ formula, Battlefield 1 feels like the next evolution of online multiplayer. It also offered a stronger campaign than its predecessors, telling lesser-known World War I tales in a “War Stories” mode that covers the war from several different nations’ perspectives.
Doom
Best Classic FPS Game
Wolfenstein returned to PlayStation 4 as a story-driven, character-focused first-person shooter. Doom did not. For the reboot of its classic first-person shooter series, Id Software focused only on what truly matters in a Doom game – killing demons – and it paid off in a big way. Shotguns, rocket launchers, assault rifles, a chainsaw, and the classic “BFG” are all available to slaughter the hellspawn, and slaughter them you will. With gorgeous world design and grotesque monsters to fight, Doom is Id Software at its absolute best, and we can’t wait for Doom Eternal to take the action to Earth.
Metro Exodus
Best Survival FPS Game
After setting Metro 2033 and its sequel Metro: Last Light primarily in the titular subway system, 4A Games changed things up considerably. Metro Exodus is largely set outdoors, with protagonist Artyom and his companions attempting to find a safe haven after a nuclear apocalypse destroyed much of civilization.
Exodus doesn’t drop the series’ claustrophobic or horror-based elements, but the varied environments, expanded crafting and customization systems, and brilliant climax help to make it the best game in the series by a considerable margin.
SUPERHOT
Best Puzzle FPS Game
First-person shooters – especially those with single-player modes – tend to follow a similar “hide, shoot, and hide again” formula. No one told that to the creators of SUPERHOT, which turns shooting into a puzzle game by only making time move when you move.
Battles that seem impossible can be won by planning your every action ahead of time, after which the game lets you relive the glory with a full video replay. The hacker-centric story layered on top of the gameplay is equally brilliant, and you can spend much of your time just reading IRC messages instead of shooting bad guys.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Best Action FPS Game
No one was expecting Wolfenstein: The New Order to be as thought-provoking and emotional as it was, but all eyes were on MachineGames to deliver in the sequel Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. The studio somehow managed to top the previous game, moving the action to an alternate history version of the United States overtaken by the Nazis in the 1960s. It delivers multiple twists we weren’t expecting alongside all the fascist-killing action we were expecting, and it even incorporated clever side objectives for those looking to make the most of their time with it.
Rainbow Six Siege
Best Multiplayer FPS Game
Ubisoft canceled its ambitious Rainbow 6: Patriots, which would have focused on economic strife and the ugly side of capitalism, but the company didn’t leave the series in limbo. Instead, it created Rainbow Six Siege, a multiplayer-focused shooter with destructible environments that forces players to look in all directions as they pick off the enemy team one by one. Every shot matters, and with squads working together in unison, the joy of executing a winning strategy is immense. Of course, so is the pain of getting killed two seconds into a round.
Killzone: Shadow Fall
Best Game Design
A launch title for the PlayStation 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall had the very difficult task of convincing interested players that it was worth taking the leap into the next generation of consoles. It managed to do its job and then some, with a campaign that featured gorgeous, colorful environments and snappy shooting that took full advantage of the new DualShock 4 controller. Where Shadow: Fall excelled even more was in its competitive multiplayer, which focused more on coordination and team play than some of its competitors.
Destiny 2
Best Sci-Fi FPS Game
Destiny felt like a half-baked game that could have used significantly more time in the oven, but Bungie didn’t make the same mistake twice with Destiny 2. A thrilling campaign with an imposing villain took players from Earth to Io, Titan, and Nessus, with tons of exciting set-piece moments and a thrilling final battle. Competitive play in the “Crucible” is among the best of any multiplayer shooter, and the game has only increased the amount of cooperative content you can enjoy since its launch.
Firewall: Zero Hour
Best VR FPS Game
PlayStation VR enthusiasts have limited options for competitive multiplayer games, but Firewall: Zero Hour has managed to impress tactical-minded shooter fans with its methodical and team-focused approach. Similar to Rainbow Six Siege but with you actually becoming an operator in the game.
Firewall is compatible with the PSVR’s Aim controller and features 3D audio. This makes the action feel more realistic than ever before, and you can choose between single-player, cooperative, or competitive game modes.
Overwatch
Best Hero Shooter Game
One of the most influential games of the decade, Blizzard’s Overwatch certainly didn’t invent the “hero shooter,” but it took the concept and polished it to a stunning sheen. With a growing cast of unique heroes that all play differently from one another, the amount of variety you can get in a standard multiplayer match is unparalleled, and seasonal events such as “Lucioball” offer fun twists on the traditional game mechanics. Overwatch has all the Blizzard charm we expected, but the way its classes all balance each other out to create a competitive team game blew us away.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Best Call of Duty PS4 Game
Treyarch made the extremely bold decision to not include a campaign mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, being the first mainline entry in the series to do so since its inception in 2003. This could have spelled doom for most games, but the studio took the extra resources to deliver an engaging and extremely balanced competitive multiplayer mode that was among the best we’ve seen this generation. On top of that and its Zombies mode, the battle royale component “Blackout” showed what PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds would play like if its shooting were on par with the competition.
These are the best first person shooter games you can play on the PS4 right now.
