Best Shooter Games on PC

Fifth place – Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3 is not just a shooter on PC. It is a looter-shooter. This means that you will not only shoot enemies, but also receive various rewards: new weapons, pieces of gear, special gadgets, and so on.

In fact, the elements of looter-shooters have been successfully adopted by developers of multiplayer projects. With the help of a reward system, they manipulate gamers to keep them in the game. The longer they play, the higher the chance of making in-game purchases.

This is most evident in the battle pass system. For each match, you earn points and unlock new items from the battle pass. These can be character skins, weapon camouflages, bonuses that temporarily increase experience, and so on. The reward doesn't necessarily have to be useful. The key is to give players the feeling that every match they play is rewarded. After all, we all just love prizes.

The developers of Borderlands 3 also use a reward system, but not for microtransactions since they are not in the game, but for increasing player engagement in the game process.

It's one thing to simply shoot at enemies, but quite another to receive a reward for it. Then the desire to defeat the opponent takes on a material meaning and gives more emotions.

Borderlands 3 is a constant chase for new rewards, accompanied by an interesting storyline, dynamic shootouts, and unforgettable adventures.

Gameplay of Borderlands 3

Borderlands 3 is a classic first-person shooter. You complete missions, advance through the story, level up your character, and upgrade your gear.

There is no open world in the game, but the variety of locations and large areas for exploration provide a sense of freedom.

What sets Borderlands 3 apart from other story-driven shooter games is:

• elements of parkour;
• the ability for cooperative gameplay;
• characters with unique perks and abilities.

A special mention goes to the shootouts, or rather, their pace. At the beginning of battles, there are few enemies, but as time passes, more and more appear. The gameplay pace increases, shootouts become more challenging, and by the end, the player is attacked by hordes of enemies. This is when the action begins, which we love in computer shooters with good graphics.

An adventurous storyline, charismatic characters, a lot of humor, and, of course, numerous shootouts – all this awaits you in Borderlands 3.

Fourth place – Quantum Break

John Carmack – the brilliant developer who brought us DOOM in 1993 – was convinced that shooters on PC didn't need a storyline at all.

Five years later, Valve released Half-Life – a first-person shooter focused on the plot. Players loved the project, and game designers quickly realized that a good story in shooters makes them even cooler and more interesting.

It seems that the Finnish developers at Remedy Entertainment learned this lesson better than anyone. All their "shooters" heavily focus on story and narrative. Max Payne, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, Control – all these shooters tell great stories, with plots and scripts that rival the best Hollywood blockbusters.

Among all the Remedy projects, Quantum Break stands out the most – a game where the story is revealed not only through cutscenes and notes, but also through a real TV series that starts after completing each level.

Gameplay of Quantum Break

Quantum Break is a corridor-style third-person shooter with cover mechanics. In combat, you will not only shoot and hide behind objects but also actively use the main character's supernatural abilities: create a chronoshield, move quickly, store energy at a point, stop time, and so on.

Thanks to Jack's ability to manipulate time, the shootouts in Quantum Break are dynamic. The player constantly needs to move, get close to enemies, decide who to eliminate first, and plan their actions ahead.

With developed AI and a variety of enemies, each shootout becomes a kind of puzzle that needs to be solved correctly. Who to freeze with time, when to activate the chronoshield, which enemy to approach for melee combat, and so on.

To get the most out of the combat system, it is recommended to play Quantum Break on higher difficulty. Then every fight will be a test of your reaction and ingenuity, and every victory will be a small achievement.

In between shootouts, players will solve spatial puzzles, explore locations, and read notes to better understand what is happening. Of course, reading documents is optional, and you can focus solely on combat with enemies.

After each level, a TV show is triggered, filmed with real cameras and actors. Each episode will bring you closer to the final resolution and immerse you further into the game's plot.

Quantum Break is an excellent science fiction story with a unique combat system and stunning graphics, even by 2023 standards. The game definitely deserves the attention of gamers and confidently takes 4th place in our top list of the best shooters for PC.

Third place – Far Cry 5

In 2012, Ubisoft released the legendary project – Far Cry 3. Many believed that the success of the game was due to the antagonist Vaas Montenegro, who played his role excellently. In fact, gamers loved not only the charismatic antagonist but also the immense freedom of action that no other single-player shooter had offered before.

In the nineties and noughties, all "shooters" were linear. Levels were long corridors filled with enemies, and the gameplay remained monotonous. In those days, the ability to sit behind a stationary machine gun or shoot from the AC-130 combat plane, as in Call of Duty 4, felt like something incredible.

In this environment, Far Cry 3 was released – a game with a large open world that gave gamers the freedom to complete missions the way they wanted.

Do you love action and dynamic shootouts? Then grab armor, a heavy machine gun, and charge ahead. Prefer to keep things quiet and go for a stealthy approach? Attach a suppressor to your pistol, equip throwing knives, and clear locations stealthily. Want to be like a true special forces soldier, sit on a high hill, and snipe enemies? No problem. Far Cry 3 gives you that option. What about taking a car, covering it with explosives, and driving it into a crowd of enemies? Go ahead. Experiment as you like.

The huge freedom of action – that's the trademark of Far Cry. In the fifth installment, Ubisoft only improved this formula, expanding the gameplay and giving gamers one of the best single-player shooters, which takes the third spot in our list of story-driven shooters for PC.

Gameplay of Far Cry 5

At first glance, the gameplay of the fifth installment is almost identical to the previous projects in the series. Gamers still need to clear outposts, rescue locals, and complete story missions. The most noticeable change might be the absence of towers. Now, gamers don't need to climb bell towers to unlock points of interest on the map.

In fact, almost all gameplay changes in Far Cry 5 are subtle, but there are so many of them that the gameplay feels new, or at least heavily updated.

The number of random events has greatly increased. Every minute, something happens around the player. A cultist vehicle with prisoners passes by, and they need to be rescued. A wild animal attacks a group of resistance fighters, and they need help. A cultist truck with ammunition is driving down a country road, and it can be hijacked, and so on. All these random events significantly increase the game's dynamics, keeping gamers from getting bored.

The map is divided into several regions, each headed by a close ally of Joseph Seed. To defeat them, you need to deal as much damage as possible to the cultists. This is where random events come in. Capture outposts, rescue locals, hijack cultist trucks – all of this weakens Joseph Seed's allies and gives you a chance to defeat them in open combat.

The amount of vehicles in Far Cry 5 has significantly increased compared to previous games in the series. Supercars, tractors, multi-seat vehicles, trucks, and more have appeared. Some types of vehicles are unique and can only be obtained by completing certain tasks. Among them are trucks with battering rams and machine gun turrets, tractors with wood chippers to shred enemies, supercars painted in the colors of the American flag, and much more. Additionally, combat planes and helicopters have been introduced in the fifth installment.

If at any point you get tired of shootouts and want to relax, the game allows you to go into the forest, find a water body, and go fishing. Yes, Far Cry 5 has a full-fledged fishing system. It lets you take a break from the action and make some extra money by selling your catch.

The same goes for the hunting system. Now, players don't need to hunt animals to increase carry weight or add weapon slots. Hunting in Far Cry 5 is optional. It's only needed to sell the pelts.

Far Cry 5 is a great example of how a big game series can evolve, improving both gameplay and story. The fifth installment of "Far Cry" confidently takes the 3rd place in our top list of single-player shooters for PC.

Second place – Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Few know, but the Wolfenstein series has had a huge impact on the gaming industry. Just think of Wolfenstein 3D – the first 3D first-person shooter in history. Its technical developments laid the foundation for the legendary DOOM.

It's 2023 now, and the Wolfenstein series continues to live on. The series is developed by Machine Games under the publishing of Bethesda Softworks.

In 2014, they released Wolfenstein: The New Order, rebooting the entire series. The game received high praise from critics and players, which gave the developers the green light to release a new installment, and in 2017 the world saw Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

Gamers and journalists enthusiastically praised the sequel, but the game itself sold very poorly. According to leaked Steam data, by July 2018, sales were around 549,000 copies. That's three times fewer than the previous game, and terrible numbers for a big-budget AAA title. We are unaware of the sales of Wolfenstein II on PS4 and Xbox One, but it’s clear that the sales on consoles were also lower than expected.

To compensate for the low sales, in 2019 the developers released Wolfenstein: Youngblood – a cooperative spin-off about the main character's daughters. Unfortunately, the game turned out much worse than the second installment. Gamers criticized the new release, and the developers halted work on the Wolfenstein series.

However, rumors about a new installment appear every year. We hope that the developers will pull themselves together and deliver the third part of this legendary shooter series.

Gameplay of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Wolfenstein II is a classic corridor-style first-person shooter. You need to clear locations of enemies or sneak past them, eliminating foes stealthily.

Enemies are divided into several groups:

• Panzerhunds – robot dogs with flamethrowers;
• Soldiers – regular infantry armed with firearms;
• Uber-soldiers – humanoid robots with grenades and laser guns;
• Super soldiers – heavily armored infantry in power suits, and more.

The variety of enemies forces the player to think tactically. Which target to eliminate first? What path is easier to take? Which cover to hide behind to avoid taking damage? Should you take a stealth approach and eliminate the strongest enemies quietly? You will constantly ask yourself these questions and think about the answers.

The series' trademark of dual-wielding weapons has not gone anywhere. You can combine weapons as you see fit. For example, take a shotgun in your left hand to eliminate enemies at close range, and a rifle in your right hand for long-range shots.

In between missions, you can relax aboard "Eva's Hammer". You will have the opportunity to talk with your comrades and get a better understanding of the game's world by reading newspapers and notes. You will also take on assignments aboard the submarine to progress to the next missions.

Wolfenstein II is not just one of the best story-driven shooters of modern times, but one of the best "shooters" of all time. "The New Colossus" confidently takes second place in our ranking, second only to DOOM Eternal.

First place – DOOM Eternal

Today, remakes and remasters of old video games are very popular among gamers. Many publishers are actively taking advantage of this trend, and instead of creating new franchises, they are "modernizing" the old ones. But it wasn't always like this.

Ten years ago, publishers and developers were very hesitant to release old games with updated graphics and game design. Fans could get angry and reject changes to their beloved video games.

One of the first to take the risk was Bethesda Softworks. In the early 2010s, the publisher decided to reboot several game series. This led to the release of the legendary DOOM remake in 2016.

The experiment turned out to be successful, and gamers were thrilled. Sales were also strong. In the first month after the release, 957,000 copies were sold. For the publisher and developers, this was a success, and so the release of a new installment came quickly after.

In 2020, Bethesda Softworks released DOOM Eternal – the continuation of the rebooted shooter, which, in our opinion, is the coolest and best representative of the genre.

Story of DOOM Eternal

The game takes place in the future. The forces of Hell invade Earth, and only the main character can save humanity from complete destruction.

Gameplay of DOOM Eternal

DOOM Eternal is an arena-style first-person shooter. You will need to move quickly through confined locations and eliminate hordes of enemies using a rich arsenal of weapons.

Each enemy in the game has unique traits and behavior patterns. The "Imp" moves quickly and throws fireballs. The "Hell Knight" charges and knocks down everything in its path. The "Cacodemon" floats in the air and shoots plasma blasts. The "Revenant" fires laser beams, and so on.

To defeat enemies, you need to understand their behavior patterns, approximate health levels, and which weapons are most effective against them.

Ammo, health, and armor are scattered throughout the locations. When they run out, you can perform a "Glory Kill" – finishing off a wounded enemy in hand-to-hand combat. This will drop ammo and health and armor pickups from the monster.

The locations in DOOM Eternal are very vertical. You'll have to jump a lot, climb ledges, and fight enemies in the air. This significantly distinguishes the game from other single-player shooters where the locations are strictly horizontal.

DOOM Eternal features a rich upgrade system, rivaling those in modern RPGs. You can upgrade weapons, the protagonist's Praetorian armor, and his stats: health, armor, and maximum ammo capacity.

The game also has runes that grant new abilities to the protagonist. For example, they can speed up finishers or slow down time after taking significant damage.

Thanks to the runes and the upgrade system, you can tailor the gameplay to suit your own style of play.

DOOM Eternal is a great example of how to reboot a series while preserving the foundation that made the game beloved in the past. We value that and believe that DOOM Eternal deserves the title of the best single-player shooter on PC.

Let's briefly summarize the top best shooter games for PC:

• 5th place – Borderlands 3;
• 4th place – Quantum Break;
• 3rd place – Far Cry 5;
• 2nd place – Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus;
• 1st place – DOOM Eternal.