admin Last year I wondered if I had gone too far in claiming that the golden age of shooters was coming to an end. In 2025 I can confirm that I did indeed misunderstand that. This year saw a plethora of fantastic shooters, ranging from AAA online experiences to small-scale indie games created almost entirely by one person. So I’m not going to make any predictions about next year, and instead I’ll just say that, as someone who enjoys a good first-person or third-person shooter, I’m glad Zack was wrong.
As before, this list is split into two sections. First we look at seven fantastic new shooters released this year. Next, we’ll look at a few older shooters that received updates and continued support in 2025. Let’s get started!
Bow Raiders
I had tried several extraction shooters before Bow Raiders, and I didn’t like any of them. And yet I find myself jumping into it all the time Bow Raiders for a match or two, because it’s the first of these extraction shooters that feels great to play, has some style, and offers enough support to make dying and losing everything a little more manageable. It’s not the best shooter on this list, but it’s a damn fine online experience that other studios will aspire to.
Border countries 4
“lol you picked the meme game that malfunctions?” I can hear you saying it as I type this. But here’s the thing: Border countries 4 is good. Yes, performance issues have plagued it since launch. Yes, some of the lyrics are bad. But when I play this game with some friends and we mow down hundreds of aliens and collect endless piles of loot, the bad jokes don’t irritate as much. And if the gunfight is that spicy and fun, I’d allow it Border countries 4 hitting me in the face every few minutes just to keep grinding.
Battlefield 6
View the Battlefield 6 subreddit or the game’s most popular content creators, and you’d assume this is a completely unplayable, horrible mess. I’m here to say that this is not right at all. Yes, BF6 launched with a number of issues, some of which have been patched and others still persist. However, none of these have stopped me from playing almost 100 hours since then BF6 arrived in October. This is by far the best FPS battle ever in one Battlefield game, and even if the maps are a little too small, I just can’t get enough of the action and chaos that’s routinely delivered every time I boot up BF6.
BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3
I didn’t expect it *takes deep breath* Brazilian Drug Dealer 3: I opened a portal to hell in the Favela in an attempt to revive Mit AIA. I have to close it be a game I would really enjoy. The clips I saw made it seem like a fun shitpost of a game. Something I would play for a few minutes, chuckle, and then never think about again. That’s not what happened. Instead, I played a lot BDD3 and enjoyed every moment. The Brazilian Earthquake-engine FPS is a wild fever dream of a game that features well-designed levels buried in some of the strangest visuals you’ll see in 2025. It also only costs $5. And worth every cent.
Voidbreaker
Part roguelike, part Titanfallpart Portalthis year Voidbreaker is a fast and fun indie FPS developed almost entirely by one person. Yet it doesn’t feel that way. Instead, the lightning-fast speed, upgrades, powers, destructive environments, and gritty gunplay combine to create one of the best shooters of 2025. I had more fun with it Voidbreaker this year than many of the bigger games I played that were made with bigger budgets and teams. And this FPS is in early access, so it’s only likely to get bigger and better in the future.
Doom: the Dark Ages
I’ve seen some people debate whether that is true The Dark Ages, the latest entry in id Software’s long-running program Fate franchise, is a shooter or not. I don’t understand the discussion at all. You have a gun that crushes skulls and shoots demons. Seems like a great shooter to me! And it is. Dark Ages adds some more open levels and melee combat mechanics, such as a shield, to the modern one Fate formula, but at its core this is still a fast-paced shooter where you’ll spend a lot of your time shooting fools with big guns. Doomguy also gets to ride a dragon. Come on. What more could you want?
Mohtra
Oh, look, another cool indie game that uses an old FPS engine to create something new and awesome! This time Mohtraan action shooter built in a heavily modified version of the Fate engine. It actually is Morrowind And Dark souls thrown into a blender and filtered through Fate. Don’t assume that just because it was built with old technology it can’t do cool things. Mohtra features a large hub world, RPG elements, weapon upgrades and melee combat. It’s wild and one of the coolest games I’ve played all year.
Fortnite
I’ve been playing a lot again Fortnite this year. It’s hard not to when Epic’s free-to-play shooter is making great updates like adding Springfield and Simpsons characters in the game. Part of me is frustrated because I keep playing so much Fortnite when I could play other things. But then Epic will add improved parkour and mobility controls or new features like self-revive, and I find myself rushing back to play a few more matches. Ultimately I assume, Fortnites Hold me will fade away, and I’ll stop playing it every week. Until then, I’ll be getting off the battle bus for the foreseeable future.
Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 had a lot to prove in 2025. Marvel Rivals had just launched and looked to be some real competition for Blizzard’s place on the hero shooter throne. Luckily, by the time the year started, the team had already loaded a bunch of smart changes into the room. The addition of mechanics like Perks that allow players to define their playstyle and Stadium Mode where you create an exaggerated, powerful build of each hero have broken down the restrictive barriers that Blizzard has put in place in recent years. Overwatch 2 has long been suppressed by the feeling that Blizzard had defined a ‘correct’ way in which the game wanted to be played. In 2025, Blizzard loosened the belt and the game is the best in a long time. –Kenneth Shepard
Gears of War: Reloaded
I guess this is technically a new game, but it feels strange to call it a remastered remaster of an Xbox 360 shooter, even a good one like Gears“new.” That’s why I’m posting it here. I decide the rules around these parts! Anyway, back to War machines after so many years away it was a treat. I love the remaster, even if it feels incredibly sad and desperate that Xbox’s current plan for two of their biggest franchises is: “Go back to the first game again!” Still the original War machines has the best atmosphere of any game in the series, and I expect I’ll be back to shoot Locust drones and chainsaw monsters in the future.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)
Andor was one of the best shows of 2025. And after watching it, a lot of people suddenly felt like getting back into EA’s Battlefront 2 and blow some people up. So old somehow Star Wars shooter, which has not received any new content for years, was one of the most popular games for a few weeks in 2025. I jumped back in, and even though I got destroyed by some vets who had clearly never stopped playing, I mostly had a great time playing Battlefront 2 again. I really hope EA and Lucasfilm see this and decide to at least update BF2 on consoles to enable 120FPS. Or better yet, let’s do one Battle Front 3!
Rainbow Six Siege
I had quit Ubisoft’s long-running live-service tactical shooter a while ago. But when Siege When I got a big update earlier this year, I decided to jump in and play with a bunch of friends who had also returned. At first I got a slap on the ass. A lot of. Rainbow Six Siege is a game that requires a lot of skill. Once I got my sea legs back, I was able to hold my own in most matches, and I remembered how tense and exciting Siege can be. Hiding in a room and listening to the enemy players break open doors and shoot through walls, unsure when they will finally find you and your team, is nerve-wracking. Meanwhile, tracking down defenders is just as exciting, as every room you enter could hide a threat. Siege is now free to play on all platforms, so if slower tactical combat sounds like something you’d like to try out, you can join in on the fun. Be prepared to be headshotted often by teenagers with more free time than you.
