FPS games have had a bumper year in 2025, mostly thanks to the huge popularity of standout titles like Battlefield 6. We also saw the release of Escape From Tarkov 1.0, the consistently brilliant Doom: The Dark Ages, and yet another iteration of Call of Duty, with Black Ops 7.
I don’t think anything has outclassed Battlefield 6 in terms of pure FPS chaos this year, and it’s been great to see the series return to its previous popularity. Arc Raiders may have won the battle in terms of popularity on Twitch and Steam, but unfortunately, it’s a third-person shooter, so I suppose I can only give it an honorable mention here.
Updated on May 24, 2026, by Jerel Levy: Looking back on 2025, there were some great shooter titles that launched throughout the year. Though of course, not every shooter was first-person, there were still a few that stood above the rest of the FPS titles launched in the year. We’ve updated this list to fit our current standards and added even more of the best FPS games of 2025.
11
Splitage: Arena Reloaded
While it may have had quite the rough start, Splitgate 2 relaunched as Spligate: Arena Reloaded and was well worth at least giving a try in 2025. This time, the game brought back classics from the original Splitgate and revamped them to great appeal, and tried to prove that it was unlike the other shooters in its genre.
Whether it was the most successful is up for debate, but it was a good enough attempt after becoming Arena Reloaded to land a spot here.
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10
Rainbow Six Siege X
While Rainbow Six Siege wasn’t launched in 2025, the massive update to revamp the game, known as Rainbow Six Siege X, was launched in 2025. Set as a ten-year anniversary update, this update brought new modes, updated graphics and audio, and several more improvements you’ll notice upon playing.
The sound design should be celebrated for just how much it has improved the gameplay. Dual Front Mode is a bit hit or miss, but overall, this update made Siege well worth playing in 2025, even after more than ten years.
9
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Launching at the tail end of 2025 doesn’t mean Metroid Prime 4: Beyond should be ignored. This refreshed step into the shoes of Samus gave us a first-person title for the Switch for the year that’s well worth giving a try.
The Metroid Prime series is known for its first-person gameplay, and Beyond continued the trend with Samus exploring new regions and interesting locales, and solving puzzles. Not your typical FPS, thanks to some unique gameplay mechanics, it still sits as a great FPS of 2025.
8
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster
The System Shock 2 remaster is the definitive version of a game that is widely considered to be one of the founding games of the genre, blending both FPS and RPG elements together. Whether you played the original or not (it did release last century, after all), System Shock 2 runs perfectly on modern hardware without having to fiddle around with mods.
The game is still as clunky as it was back then, but then I suppose there’s a certain charm to it. You can’t beat the atmosphere, music, and feeling that you’re playing one of the classic FPS games.
7
Wizordum
Wizordum is a fantastic little indie game from Emberheart Games that fuses classic 90s boomer shooters with modern trappings. Its art style and music are real standouts here, but it also just feels great to blast your way through maps with an arsenal of different spells.
This is a game that is both nostalgic and innovative. I’ve had a great time hunting for secrets as I slowly uncovered the world of Terrabruma.
Metal Eden is a stylish sci-fi FPS from studio Reikon Games, and it’s been a little undersung this year. If you think you recognize the name Reikon Games, it’s because they developed the excellent Ruiner, the 2017 twin-stick shooter that was widely praised at launch.
Metal Eden is fast-paced, looks visually gorgeous, and has satisfying moment-to-moment gunplay, which reminds me of Doom. It’s also a pretty succinct experience: you finish the campaign, and that’s that. I found that to be a bit of a blessing, because 2025 has been packed with games, and it was nice to have something that was just posited as an in-and-out experience. My colleague George Foster called it a mix of Doom and Ghostrunner, which fits perfectly.
5
Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4 was the hotly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Borderlands 3, but it hasn’t been received particularly well. This has mostly been to do with the game’s poor performance on PC and multiple problems with crashes, multiplayer desync, and the game sometimes wiping multi-hour saves.
For those who’ve been able to run the game, the consensus is that it’s a pretty good shooter, with upgraded UI, movement and gunplay mechanics that make it feel like a proper modern entry in the long-running series.
4
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7
Black Ops 7, often referred to with the disgusting-sounding portmanteau Blops 7, is widely considered to be the best multiplayer entry the series has had in a while. Treyarch infamously removed skill-based matchmaking and everyone seems to like it, and the camo grind is still as compulsive as ever.
However, its campaign has been the butt of many jokes in 2025, mostly because it’s just a bot-shooting gallery with some truly off-the-wall moments, including fighting a giant head, causing massive machetes to fall from the sky, and failing to tell any sort of coherent story whatsoever. Our reviewer, Charles Burgar, called the game “too big too innovate.” Oh, how the mighty have fallen – I still remember the original Black Ops campaign, and sometimes it pops into my head on a random Tuesday. The numbers, Mason.
3
Doom: The Dark Ages
Doom: The Dark Ages is a prequel to the successful 2016 reboot of the series, DOOM, and the latter, and equally well-received, Doom Eternal. The Dark Ages takes the genre in a slightly different direction, allowing you more freedom with your weapon choices and a parrying mechanic that adds more depth to your demon slaying.
It’s been overall very well received, but the consensus is that it doesn’t quite match up to Doom Eternal, mostly because of Mick Gordon’s outstanding soundtrack for Eternal, which our reviewer Jade King pointed out here. This one is available on Game Pass, though, so it is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series or want to spend some time splitting demon skulls.
2
Escape From Tarkov
The 1.0 release of Escape From Tarkov may have arrived with more of a whimper than a bang thanks to the stunning success of Arc Raiders, but the long-term early access extraction shooter (which many consider to be the grandfather of the genre) finally received its full release in 2025 after nine years of development.
As part of the 1.0 release, Escape From Tarkov has received new overarching story content that tells the story of the world of Tarkov, and, for the first time since it began early access in 2016, actually allows players to escape from Tarkov. There were also a lot of new attachments added, alongside new guns, and a new map.
