When people think of first-person shooters (FPS), they often think about their multiplayer aspects. Campaign-heavy and single-player FPS games don’t struggle in getting the recognition that they deserve. Sometimes, however, a player needs to be reminded of them and the worlds they bring because multiplayer FPS games a lot of what's being consumed.
This list will cover a plethora of games. Some of these games will have multiplayer aspects, but what makes these games special is their single-player experience. What makes a single-player FPS the best in this list is a combination of all of its artistic merits.
10 10/10 Fallout 3
Fallout 3 offers a post-apocalyptic sandbox full of enticement that's ready to blossom the moment a player starts it up. The game mixes RPG elements with unique FPS gunplay that’s not similar to anything else on this list. Players can target enemy limbs and blow them off. They can also upgrade 13 different skills offering a variety of playstyles.
The great thing about the story is that players don’t have to conventionally follow it. Fallout 3 does world-building in a first-class manner. It lets players live out an adventure that is completely different from any other players and that’s part of what makes it so enthralling. No playthroughs are the same as players can explore the maps and its 59 side quests. The only thing holding this game back is that to some the bleak wasteland environments have not aged well.
9 9/10 Dishonored
What feels like a spiritual successor to BioShock takes a lot of what the combat and makes it better. Dishonored's use of gunplay with superhuman abilities mixed with the ability to sneak and kill or incapacitate enemies is wondrous. Though extremely challenging, no one in the entirety of the game has to die as players don't have to kill anyone.
The settings are grimy but marvelous to explore as they offer something that looks unique in itself artistically. Though areas are bleak they are bright and moving through them feels alive. The freedom of choice in how players traverse the large landscapes is marvelous, but sometimes it feels as though the game could've been better in an open-world format. The story also felt uninteresting throughout.
8 8/10 Black Mesa
Black Mesa is a remake of the original Half-Life game. Valve, Half-Life’s original creators, weren’t the ones to make it but because of its authenticity to the source material, they still allowed for its sale on the Steam platform. The game gives fans what they wanted in a remake and makes room for new players. It's not that this game is in itself revolutionary, but that it allows people to experience the revolutionary classic in a much more enjoyable manner.
The game’s plot taking place in an enthralling lab full of murderous soldiers and aliens is incredible. The game's one core set is a lab, but it manages to do a good job at creating a lot of variety in the levels it offers. The gunplay is still fun but doesn’t hold up to a lot of the other titles on this list, but the puzzles and story are as memorable as ever.
7 7/10 Titanfall 2
Titanfall 2 added a campaign to the Titanfall series that is nothing less than stunning. The story is traveled through and given to a player at a pace that's never out of place from the gameplay. The relationship and jokes between the main characters Jack Cooper and his robot, BT, make traversing the already tempting world more pleasant. Titanfall 2 has some of the most beautiful encapsulating landscapes in gaming.
The combat and fast-paced mechanics outside and inside the mech suit make a player feel like a boat cutting through waves. The maps are also huge so the enchanting movement never goes to waste.
6 6/10 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Players feel like they’re cyber genetically engineered super spies while playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The game offers over 28 upgradeable augmentations. Some include super strength that can help find hidden passages and others allow players to breathe in gas-filled rooms.
All of the customizability changes a player’s gaming experience making there countless options in how players handle each of the challenges they face. The environment gives players an abundance of options in how they complete their tasks. The freedom of choice in this game is unmatched, though the story is forgettable in comparison to other FPS titles.
5 5/10 Doom Eternal
Doom Eternal is a game that offers a straightforward story. The plot is doing what Doomguy does best: killing demons in horrifically gory ways. So, it never really matters that the story isn’t as layered as some of the other titles on this list because the combat is some of the best.
Doom Eternal feels like an FPS puzzle shooter as killing enemies in different ways grants players shield, health, and ammo. This creates levels full of taking down monsters that are separate from one another in more than just aesthetic. The game’s difficult but none of the levels feel impossible. Players know right away that the fun arsenal of weapons they’re provided with can rain chaos if used correctly. This game is everything that the word fun is.
4 4/10 BioShock
If there was an award for the most interesting game conceptually BioShock would take that award for it. Sadly, there is no award for that but there are 22 awards that it did win, according to IMDB, the year it was released. Those awards are full of recognition for the soundtrack, design, story, and so much more. Every single one of them is well deserved. Right from the beginning players are driven into a world of mystery wanting players to find everything the world of Rapture has to offer.
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The gameplay is still some of the best that FPS games have to offer. It has abilities called plasmids that are fueled by a drug that’s turned the game’s setting's inhabitants into addicted mutants. The shooting, the puzzles, the fitting 1950s music all of this game is awesome.
3 3/10 Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 does the same thing that Borderlands 1 and 2 did. However, this is not a bad thing. It manages to bottle it all up with new characters and minor mechanical changes that create another masterpiece. Every character is entertaining to play. Characters have unique abilities, three different skill trees to explore, and diversity in their use. The billion gun combinations mechanic makes every high-level gun player's pick-up feel like something worth exploring.
The game has some flaws like the hub world. The game's hub is a nightmare of a maze in comparison to those of the other titles. The story is also lackluster to that of Borderlands 2. With that said, the addition of exploring worlds in this game made it so that no two levels were ever identical. Overall, gamers can find themselves playing this game for the rest of eternity and being happy.
2 2/10 Resident Evil: Village
Resident Evil: Village followed in Resident Evil: Biohazard’s footsteps. It took in first-person combat instead of its traditional third-person combat. This made it so that the game felt a lot tighter than before. The encounters with enemies give players a true perspective on what the main character, Ethan, is experiencing.
The plot’s main conflict is one of the best that Resident Evil has to offer. The premise is so unbelievable that it’ll leave players in shock with their hands over their mouths. Village is promisingly equal parts grotesque, intriguing, and uproariously gratifying. For the eighth game in the Resident Evil series, it feels strongly individual.
1 1/10 Portal
Portal was a first-person shooter that broke the stereotype of what a first-person shooter should be. Instead of the game being about players mauling through enemies with an assortment of weapons it relied on one weapon. That one weapon didn’t shoot bullets, it shot portals. Portal's gameplay is comprised of puzzles inside large rooms. This simple premise is infinitely more enjoyable than it sounds.
Portal’s gameplay, thematically, serves its story’s plot. Like the gameplay, the story is complex. What initially seems like a story about a funny robot saying funny but sometimes unsettling things turns into a complex mechanical allegory for ai and humanity. It’s Portals' differences that among all FPS games make it stand out the most.