The Best PC Shooters for 2021

Whether they prefer first- or third-person shooters, PC gamers have plenty of options. These are the best games for using hand cannons to shred enemy squads.

PC games come in a variety of entertaining forms. For example, strategy games—both turn-based and real-time—challenge your tactical prowess. Puzzle games scratch a similar itch, but typically with twitchy, block-dropping, or item-shifting challenges. The shooter, on the other hand, is an incredibly popular genre that tests your ability to keep blasting until you see your enemies reduced to pulp.

Shooters typically come in two forms: first-person or third-person. First-person shooters are often more immersive gaming experiences, as the game you play unfolds from your perspective. The demon-slaying Doom (2016) and its sequel, Doom Eternal, are recent standouts in that sub-genre. Third-person shooters simply look cooler, because you can see your on-screen avatar's full body as it navigates the battlefield. PlatinumGames' Vanquish is a perfect example of this, as you can witness Sam Gideon jetting across the warzone in ability-enhancing power armor.

Both shooter styles are thoroughly represented on PC. Here are some of our favorite first- and third-person shooters.

Battlefield V (for PC)

Good (3.5)

Battlefield V doesn't drastically alter the first-person-shooter field, but what's in this package is quite good. The EA DICE-developed game features a gorgeous World War II scenario and lightning-fast gameplay that'll keep you running and shooting for hours on end.

Battlefield V encompasses all the hallmarks of a modern first-person shooter by including respectable singleplayer content (War Stories) and fresh takes on multiplayer gameplay (Grand Operations). Firestorm, the game's squad-based battle royale mode, supports up to 64 players, putting the series' signature environmental destruction on display in glorious fashion.

Borderlands 2

Excellent (4.0)

With Borderlands 2, developer Gearbox Entertainment and publisher 2K Games return to the comedy-filled warzone. If you played the original Borderlands, you understand how this first-person shooter operates.

You play as a Vault Hunter, a treasure hunter looking for an alien vault on a barely colonized planet. Throughout the guffaw-filled adventure, you collect hundreds of different guns, each with its own unique stats and attributes. The heavy metal lets you mow down a seemingly unlimited number of robots, mutants, and Mad Max-style raiders.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (for PC)

Excellent (4.5)

The Call of Duty franchise has been all over the place in recent years, with a focus shift from WWII campaigns to space adventures to battle royale action. Although Call of Duty has strayed from its roots, the Infinity Ward-developed reboot of the seminal 2007 title grounds the first-person shooter series.

Modern Warfare has the tactical single-player and robust multiplayer modes one expects from a Call of Duty title, but successfully strips away all superfluous elements. That's not to say that Modern Warfare lacks cool features. New to the game is a rewards-based morality system that ranks your ability to properly discern innocent people from legitimate threats in the singleplayer campaign.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Excellent (4.0)

Valve's free-to-play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (AKA CS: GO) is one of the most iconic titles of its generation. Buoyed by a strong FPS heritage that includes the original Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source, CS:GO is a fast-paced first-person shooter from 2012 that still holds its own against contemporary titles.

Sure, CS: GO is starting to show its age in certain areas, particularly in regards to the somewhat dated visual design, but the incredibly active community offers a highly competitive esports scene.

Doom (2016)

Excellent (4.5)

No, this isn't the classic, genre-defining 1993 original. This is Doom, the numberless 2016 series entry that exceeded many gamers' expectations. You once again play as the armed-to-the-teeth Doom Slayer who battles Hell's minions on Mars. As a result, goat-legged skeleton men, flying, flaming skulls, and other monstrous hordes assault you from every side.

Featuring gory, frantic, demon-blasting gameplay and a blood-pumping heavy metal soundtrack, the id Software-crafted Doom blends old-school design with modern know-how to form a satisfying, unholy concoction.

Doom Eternal

Excellent (4.5)

Doom 2016 reimagined the landmark shooter by adding more weapons, more demons, incredible stage design, and an awesome heavy metal score. Doom Eternal, that game's sequel, turns things up to eleven.

In Doom Eternal, demons have invaded and conquered Earth, so your player-character, the simply named Doom Slayer, must drive back the monstrosities. Although Doom Eternal introduces more story elements than Doom 2016, particularly the Doom Slayer's origins, that isn't the main draw here. Doom Eternal has one true focus: killing demons in increasingly gory and brutal ways.

Featuring satisfying stage-navigation options, numerous secrets to unearth, and a new 2-vs.-1 multiplayer Battlemode, Doom Eternal is a worthy follow-up to one of the best contemporary shooters around.

Gears 5 (for PC)

Excellent (4.0)

Xbox Game Studios' Gears 5 is the first main game in the beloved third-person shooter series to ditch the "of War" suffix, but don't get it twisted: This is a Gears of War through and through.

A direct sequel to Gears of War 4, Gears 5 continues the Coalition of Ordered Government's (COG) battle against the alien Swarm. Gears 5's captivating storytelling, solid shoot-and-cover mechanics, and excellent graphics far outweigh its merely average multiplayer modes. Still, Gears 5 is an easy recommendation for both series vets and newcomers.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (for PC)

Excellent (4.0)

Halo: Combat Evolved is the game that sparked a beloved Microsoft franchise and put the original Xbox on the map. It reimagined the first-person shooter (FPS) genre for consoles and popularized many of the controls and functions that such games would use for decades afterward. Halo received an enhanced remake in 2011 for the Xbox 360 (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary) that featured updated graphics and a toggle function that lets you swap between Classic and Remastered visual styles.

As part of the new Master Chief Collection, the updated Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary boasts 4K graphics, ultrawide monitor support, and other features you'd expect from a contemporary PC game. It's an outstanding remastering, one that only suffers from niggling audio and visual issues.

Halo: Reach (for PC)

Good (3.5)

Halo is one of the most iconic shooter series to appear in the past few console generations, one that delivers fast-paced action, excellent sci-fi drama, and addicting multiplayer gameplay. Sure, Call of Duty and Battlefield have their doggedly committed fans, and Doom may very well have reclaimed its first-person-shooter crown with 2016's release, but Halo and its sequels (particularly Halo: Reach) have a special place in many hearts.

The newly remastered Halo: Reach—a part of the Halo: Master Chief Collection compilation that bundles and updates every mainline Halo release, sans Halo 5—represents the first time the shooter has appeared on PC. The game now offers 4K graphics, ultrawide monitor support, and other expected PC-related extras that weren't in the Xbox 360 original. The cumbersome UI and annoying audio issues do detract, however.

Overwatch (for PC)

Excellent (4.0)

Despite how the market frequently plays out, shooters don't always need to be dark, gritty, or ultra-realistic affairs. Wacky, cartoonish fun has its place, too, and Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch is a prime example of that.

Featuring colorful levels, multiple game modes that focus on teams attacking and defending, lore-drenched characters with vastly different play styles, and a few MOBA-like gameplay twists, Overwatch is a thoroughly enjoyable first-person shooter that's filled with cheers and mechanical variety.

Superhot (for PC)

Excellent (4.5)

Many shooter developers are happy to release games that maintain the status quo. Superhot Team, the creative squad behind Superhot, is not. No hyperbole: Superhot is the most innovative shooter to come along in some time.

The first-person shooter injects puzzle elements and a bizarre meta-narrative into quick, bite-sized servings of computerized violence. On the surface, Superhot may come off as a short, simple title that features mediocre graphics, but the game's addictive, time-pausing mechanic will keep you coming back to get more stylish kills.

Vanquish (for PC)

Excellent (4.5)

Merriam-Webster defines motion as an "act, process, or instance of changing place." That meaning also perfectly summarizes Platinum Games wildly creative Vanquish, a third-person shooter in which static play means a quick death.

Exquisitely designed with movement in mind, Vanquish's kinetic, jet-powered action adds visual flair (now remastered at 4K) and a wonderful sense of movement as you wreck mechs, vehicles, enemy troops, and super-powered bosses in a near-future setting. If Battlefield and Call of Duty have turned you off from shooters, Vanquish's unique power-armor take on the genre may be the title to make you strap on your in-game guns.

About Jeffrey L. Wilson