I’m a sucker for a good first-person shooter, and we have gotten so many of them over the last 25 years. Even as the genre stumbled in the dark during its toddler years, masterpieces like Doom, Blood, GoldenEye 007, and Perfect Dark still managed to bring FPS greatness onto our PCs and consoles. Even though the genre burned itself out towards the end of the 2000s, what preceded was a golden age that produced countless classics, cult gems, and diamonds in the rough.
However, if we strip away the nostalgia, personal preferences, and appreciation for Eurojank, we might be able to admit that truly perfect FPS games barely exist. BioShock, Half-Life, and Halo: Combat Evolved are among the greatest games ever, but they all have flaws that hold them back from flawlessness. Still, rare as they might be, a few shooters exist that are fundamentally spotless.
Titanfall 2 Is The Ultimate Perfect Single-Player Game
6 Hours Of Straight-Up Brilliance
- What might be Titanfall 2’s one flaw? Well, it ends too quickly.
At least for me, Titanfall 2 comes to mind first when I envision a “perfect game” of any genre, specifically for the single-player portion. While only lasting about 6 hours, the campaign makes the most of every single second, using each new level to flesh out your toolkit and change up the pacing. No two sections are alike, but they all combine to create an immaculate ride that can be enjoyed time and again.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Perfecting one style of gameplay is extremely hard, but Titanfall 2 somehow manages to master two. You split your time between on-foot gunfights and mech battles; the former emphasizes speed and maneuverability while the latter demands a slower-paced tactical approach. Both sides of the coin play brilliantly, but their real quality comes from how they not only enhance each other, but also serve to echo the story’s main relationship.
DOOM (2016) Makes The Simple Act Of Demon Slaying Eternally Pleasurable
An FPS Game All About Pushing Forward And Never Hiding
- What might be DOOM’s one flaw? The multiplayer wasn’t great, but that’s irrelevant for this topic.
Full disclosure, I prefer DOOM Eternal over its predecessor… but DOOM (2016) is the more fundamentally spotless shooter. From the second that Doomguy breaks out of captivity, he never stops moving forward, violently killing everything that dares to stand in his way. To ensure you remain as aggressive as possible, Id Software eliminated staple mechanics like regenerating health and reloading that might force you to slow down for a second.
The Super Shotgun needs to be reloaded, but most of DOOM‘s weapons just keep blasting until they run out of bullets.
Although technically an arena shooter, DOOM replaces confined spaces with multi-tiered locations that simultaneously blend relentless action and surprisingly fun exploration, creating a loop that never loses any momentum. Even as the late game starts to threaten to become repetitive, the gunplay continues to be as strong as ever, as it just feels so good to execute glory kill after glory kill.
Shadow Warrior Gives You A Blade And Guns, For Extra Style Points
An Underappreciated 2010s Revival
- What might be Shadow Warrior’s one flaw? The humor doesn’t always land.
Anybody else feel like Shadow Warrior should be a bigger deal nowadays? The revival predated the DOOM or Wolfenstein relaunches, and it delivered a melee + firearms combination that very few other games come close to matching. I guess Shadow Warrior 3 was kind of lackluster, although I still had fun for the couple of hours it lasted.
The 2013 original nails its first-person katana combat by utilizing directional inputs that aren’t too finicky or precious. You always know what your blade will do, and slashing demons down to size is eternally satisfying. The firearms play second fiddle to the katana to an extent, but they are still crucial for crowd control and taking out ranged enemies.
I admit, the campaign probably overstays its welcome, but the gameplay is fundamentally perfect.
Singularity Is The Perfect AA FPS Game
Time In Your Hands
- What might be Singularity‘s one flaw? Although solid, the story can feel a bit derivative of older games like Half-Life 2.
Let’s go with a lesser-known release for this one, although it’s a shame that Singularity just came and went without establishing itself as a genre stalwart. For its final game before becoming a COD studio, Raven Software blended their super-strong classic gunplay with a brilliant gimmick: Time Manipulation.
Giving players the freedom to use the mechanic however they like (within reason), Singularity transforms its linear levels into gameplay sandboxes that want you to think outside the box and use time as a tool to mess with both enemies and the environment. The campaign only lasts about 7 hours, but that just means it never has any real dull moments.
DUSK Is The Peak of An Era With Many, Many Highs
The Perfect Modern FPS Game Anchored In The Past
- What might be DUSK’s one flaw? If you can’t stand low-poly visuals, you won’t enjoy this game.
Over the last decade, AAA publishers grew weary of non-franchise FPS games, leaving the market open for indie developers to step in and pick up the slack. And, by god, they did it, launching a new golden era in the process. I could certainly make an argument for Trepang2, Ultrakill, Severed Steel, and Turbo Overkill being fundamentally perfect, but DUSK fits this topic just a little bit better.
David Szymanski basically stripped the FPS genre down to its core, removing any bloat that might be found in modern (or even classic) shooters. You don’t waste time crafting weapons or engaging with half-baked RPG elements, nor do you have to sit through cutscene after cutscene of nonsense. No, DUSK very much feels like a throwback to genre-defining releases like Blood, where all you had and needed was gratifying weapons, precise aiming, reactive movement, atmospheric environments, and bunny-hopping.
What really puts DUSK over the edge is its episodic structure, as each section features a wildly different situation, all of which come with secrets.
Halo 3: ODST Is Not The Best Halo, But It Is The Most Perfect One
A Spin-Off That Aims Smaller And Shines In Neon Lights
- What might be Halo 3: ODST’s one flaw? New Mombasa isn’t the most lively hub world.
Halo is kind of a weird franchise. Despite having so many all-time FPS masterpieces, its classics all have infamous moments that disqualify them from this list. Combat Evolved’s rushed development is evident in the campaign’s copy-and-paste second half; Halo 2 ends on an annoying cliffhanger; finally, the Cortana mission automatically disqualifies Halo 3. Reach comes close, but its vehicle sections are hit-and-miss.
That leaves us with Halo 3: ODST, a spin-off that takes Master Chief away from players, instead casting them as a rookie trying to survive on New Mombasa. For lack of a better word, ODST is the most “real” Halo game, as you aren’t playing a super soldier. Incorporating a hub world, you explore the city’s streets while finding clues that trigger flashbacks featuring other squad members.
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Was And Still Is Perfection
Here’s The Reason COD Became An Annual Event
- What might be COD 4’s one flaw? Honestly, I cannot think of one.
Say what you will about Activision’s Call of Duty machine, but it spent more than a decade generating top-notch single-player campaigns packed with set pieces that could make Hollywood blockbusters jealous. While I personally think Infinity Warfare’s campaign is perfect, COD 4 is the unquestionable standard setter for not only the franchise, but also the military shooter subgenre.
Modern Warfare is the full package. The game tells a pretty darn good story by FPS standards, all the while featuring the tightest twitch shooting of the mid-2000s. Weapons feel and sound incredible; in fact, the sound design in general ranks among the best in the genre. Infinity Ward crafted a campaign stripped of any filler, employing new levels to shift the tempo that consistently revitalizes the action. Really, just immaculate.
