First person action game that is true 10/10, no notes

The world of action has always had its fair share of exceptional games, with some 10s gracing our screens over the past few decades. These FPS game represents the pinnacle of design and immersion, transporting you to an adrenaline-filled world where every bullet and every step counts.

Achieving that level of perfection is no easy feat, as everything from the gameplay to the setting to the story that ties it all together has to be top notch. Yet, as impossible as it seems, we have still been gifted with quite a few masterpieces that have literally zero flaws.

While we'll mostly only include shooters, the focus is on how good they are as action games rather than just FPS games.

DOOM Eternal

The pinnacle of modern FPS combat

Details:

• All mechanics connect to each other

• Aggression is rewarded above all

DOOM Eternal takes everything that made the 2016 reboot successful and perfects it. Each weapon, enemy and movement option is designed to complement the others, forcing you to constantly think several steps ahead and to stay aggressive and chain those brutal kills together.

The level of mechanical harmony is incredible to experience firsthand, and I'm hard-pressed to find similar shooters that can live up to it even after all these years. It's an experience that constantly rewards mastery and pushes you to unlock new limits within yourself, with very few obstacles stopping you from becoming the ultimate demon slayer.

Neon white

Speedrunning to the end

Details:

• Combines shooting mechanics with movement puzzles

• Crazy replay value in every level

Neon white looked at other games that revolved around speed and turned the dial up to eleven. Momentum and pace are the most important concepts to understand, as each stage presents you with a series of jumps and enemies to take down at the end, all while keeping an eye on the ticking clock,

I think the most interesting part comes from the almost puzzle-like nature of the game, where weapons can be used for mobility, and even a single wrong move can completely ruin an otherwise record-breaking run. There isn't a moment of downtime throughout the game, and once you cross the finish line for the first time, there really is no turning back.

ULTRA KILL

Pushing classic design to the limit

Details:

• Creativity is the main form of skill expression

• Arena battle mixed with neat combos

ULTRA KILL embracing the spirit of 90s shooters while introducing systems that feel remarkably modern. Movement is amazingly fast, and there's a variety of weapon interactions you can take advantage of, turning even simple encounters into opportunities to get creative.

The depth of the game is astounding, and just when you think you've mastered it all, another advanced technology appears and completely undermines those expectations. The huge skill ceiling is one of the reasons that many others, and I keep coming back to it, and I think it will go down in the books as one of the best FPS games ever made.

Titanfall 2

Movement is king

Details:

• Seamless blend of parkour and titan combat

• Masterful single player campaign

One of the hardest problems in shooters is making complex mechanics work together without any awkward friction. In the case of titanfall 2, the complexity comes from the gameplay with dual pilots and titans driving each match, but despite how different the gameplay is on the two sides, you never feel the pace slowing down.

Pilots move at breakneck speed using wall driving, sliding and double jumping to traverse the map, while Titans turn combat into a slower, tactical battle that fundamentally changes how you engage with your enemies. On top of that, there's a fantastic single player campaign that stands out for its ability to consistently introduce new and interesting mechanics without feeling forced, it's just a shame we may never see a sequel to finish off the trilogy.

Metroid Prime

Groundbreaking FPS exploration

Details:

• Translates the franchise perfectly into first person

• Exploration is as rewarding as combat

Movable Metroid to first person seemed like a risky decision, but Metroid Prime proved that it could preserve everything that made the series special and also push into new ground. Exploration remains the core focus, with interconnected environments gradually opening up as you unlock new abilities and revisit familiar locations equipped with a more robust toolset.

Combat complements that structure rather than overshadowing it, throwing you into mechanically intensive boss fights and pushing you with well-placed encounters that can be quite taxing if you position and play poorly. More than two decades later, I still consider it one of the clearest examples of how first-person games can support much more than traditional shooting, and I'm so glad to see newer games adopt the same philosophy, but never quite to the same level.

Perfectly dark

Espionage on a larger scale

Details:

• Introduced ambitious goals and player freedom

• Combined stealth and gadgets for a more well-rounded experience

Perfectly dark came at a time when most console shooters focused almost entirely on shooting enemies, but instead of following the trend, the game built its missions around multiple objectives and mechanics that make each level feel much more like a secret agent operation. The gadgets take center stage, as rather than just blasting through corridors over and over again, you're given a bit more choice when the bullets inevitably start flying.

Its ambitious design helped propel the genre forward, introducing more intelligent enemy AI and a varied approach to mission design that has helped retain a core audience decades into the future. It's all in the name, but I really feel like fixed Perfectly dark is near the pinnacle of first-person design, and is definitely one of the most influential console FPS titles ever made.

Halo: Combat Evolved

Define console shooter

Details:

• Revolutionized first-person shooters on consoles

• Established concepts that would shape the genre for decades

First-person shooters practically wouldn't exist the way they do today without it Halo: Combat Evolved. Entering the scene with an array of sci-fi weapons, stages and enemies, you have so many options to complete each mission with, from the dual weapon system to the vehicles that make even large maps feel much more contained.

What really lifts Halo is how dedicated it is to the sandbox style of play. Your encounters with both AI and other players could be approached in a variety of ways that ensured, even after hundreds of matches and campaign replays, you still never ran out of fun.

Half-Life 2

How to design an FPS campaign

Details:

• Constantly introducing new mechanics without wasting them

• Naturally, story unites with gameplay

Half-Life 2 is Valve's way of showing the world that they really know how to make a great first-person game. Starting with the story, you're thrown into a mysterious world that draws from all sides of the fictional landscape, combining dystopian control with alien life in a very cohesive way that never feels too outlandish.

Then there's the actual action, where you face soldiers and mutant lifeforms of all shapes and sizes, with an arsenal of weapons and a gravity gun that turns otherwise grounded fights into tests of physics. I adore the feel and flow of the experience and urge everyone to revisit this classic, if only to pay homage to a time-defining FPS game.