The Best Single-Player FPS Games

By the time Halo launched in 2001, the first-person shooter genre had undergone quite a transformation from the early days of hits like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Titles like Half-Life, Thief, and System Shock 2 had proven that FPS games could deliver single-player experiences on par with the best action-adventure games and RPGs, going well beyond what was thought possible. Concurrently, titles like Halo, and, later, Battlefield and Call of Duty, signaled a transition for the genre toward online multiplayer, with the focus placed on competitive play over immersive, primarily solo experiences. But over the last decade or so, the FPS genre has slowly but surely started to transition back toward delivering phenomenal single-player campaigns, with the following 10 games being some of the best the genre has to offer.

• Release Date — September 20, 2023
• Developer — The Astronauts
• Publisher — The Astronauts
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A (Early Access)
• Steam User Score — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

When people hear "extraction shooter", the first thing that comes to mind is likely tense, hyper-competitive PvP experiences like Escape From Tarkov or Marathon. But as it turns out, one of the best extraction shooters out there also happens to be a completely single-player PvE experience — Witchfire. Developed by The Astronauts, a studio made up of former People Can Fly developers who worked on the excellent Bulletstorm, Witchfire is about as close to a first-person shooter Dark Souls as you could get, and it's an absolute blast. Of course, that Dark Souls comparison is more than just art style and aesthetic, as Witchfire can be brutally difficult, but it provides a challenge that's well worth sticking it through just to experience more of its phenomenal gunplay.

• Release Date — November 20, 2024
• Developer — GSC Game World
• Publisher — GSC Game World
• Review Aggregate Score — 73% (Mixed or Average)
• Steam User Score — 76% (Mostly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

When it comes to fully immersive, apocalypse simulators, I'd recommend either of GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. titles over the modern Fallout games 9 times out of 10. Especially S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. What helps set S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 apart from most other FPS (single-player or otherwise) is its firm lean into survival and survival horror territory, where avoiding encounters and choosing stealth over combat is often a much more viable strategy for making it through a particularly challenging section of the Zone unscathed. It doesn't hurt that GSC Game World's engine for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is absolutely gorgeous and renders a world that's worth getting lost in, even if it means being chased down by bloodthirsty raiders and hideous mutants.

• Release Date — October 27, 2017
• Developer — MachineGames
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 78% (Mostly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One

MachineGames did an amazing job reviving the Wolfenstein franchise for a modern audience with its first attempt, The New Order, but its sequel is something else entirely. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has some of the best first-person combat out there, and as a purely single-player experience that focuses on its rollercoaster of a campaign, it's cemented its place as a must-play experience for anyone looking for a shooter that feels like an aged classic while looking like something from the modern era. Wolfenstein II mixes all-out, guns-blazing action, stealth, and even some exploration to deliver something more than just shooting bad guys in hallways, and its epic campaign will stick with you long after the credits roll.

• Release Date — April 16, 2026
• Developer — Fumi Games
• Publisher — PlaySide
• Review Aggregate Score — 81%
• Steam User Score — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S

It may have only been just over a week since the release of Mouse: P.I. for Hire, but it was clear from the get-go that this was a single-player FPS for the ages. Putting aside its incredibly cool and unique visual style, Mouse is just a straight-up great first-person shooter that fully embodies the classic "monster closets" of the original Doom while simultaneously introducing newer mechanics at a steady pace throughout the experience, such as a handy grappling hook and even the ability to wall-run. The result? Mouse is equal parts modern and old-school, not quite a "boomer shooter" but not your typical modern-day live-service multiplayer FPS. Gunplay and traversal feel great, and few shooters will look this cool in action.

• Release Date — August 21, 2007
• Developer — 2K Boston, 2K Australia
• Publisher — 2K
• Review Aggregate Score — 96% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Nearly 20 years later, BioShock still stands tall as not just one of the greatest FPS games ever made, but one of the best games of all-time, period. And while some players may prefer BioShock Infinite over the original, it's hard to overstate the impact that BioShock had on the industry when it released back in 2007. If ever there were a game responsible for reigniting interest in FPS games with fantastic single-player campaigns, BioShock is it, mixing elements of Metroidvania game design, RPGs, immersive sims, and more into its compelling tale of scientific and philosophical hubris under the sea. Crazy to think BioShock is two decades old next year, as it still feels modern to boot it up and play it today.

• Release Date — August 11, 2023
• Developer — Trigger Happy Interactive
• Publisher — Apogee Entertainment
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

There's no shortage of great "boomer shooters" out there that take inspiration from the classics in the genre pre-21st Century, but even among the boomer shooter horde, Turbo Overkill is clearly something special. Players take on the role of a cybernetically-enhanced assassin with a chainsaw for a leg (yes, you read that right), zipping around the map and carving up hundreds of enemies on your way to stop a rogue AI. The setup is just the tip of the iceberg, as Turbo Overkill makes the most of its chainsaw-wielding protagonist to feature some of the best and bloodiest combat of any boomer shooter, where even running, jumping, and sliding through levels can pack just as much of a punch as a standard shotgun or assault rifle.

• Release Date — December 10, 2020
• Developer — CD Projekt RED
• Publisher — CD Projekt RED
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 88% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

After an initial rough launch (especially on consoles), Cyberpunk 2077 has grown to become the game that CD Projekt RED always envisioned it as, which is to say it's a groundbreaking RPG that just so happens to be an incredibly competent first-person shooter. Out of all the games on this list, Cyberpunk 2077 is the only one that gives players practically endless options for both combat and progress, letting you decide how to tackle objectives and in what order. Will you be a stealthy, hacking assassin who wields silenced pistols? A blade expert who's deadly with a katana? Or a cybernetically-enhanced freak of nature who can wield heavy machine guns and rip enemies' limbs right out of their sockets? Cyberpunk 2077 lets you do one or all three (thanks to a respec option) and also happens to feature an incredible story, to boot.

• Release Date — October 28, 2016
• Developer — Respawn Entertainment
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Anytime someone talks about first-person shooters with the best single-player campaigns, there's bound to be at least one person (or, often, several people) who immediately points to Titanfall 2, and for good reason. What Respawn Entertainment hinted at with the first Titanfall is brought to full fruition in the sequel, where the single-player campaign features some of the all-time greatest movement and shooting mechanics ever put into an FPS and happens to pack a hard-hitting, emotionally poignant story in there, too. After all, if it weren't for Titanfall 2, we wouldn't have the foundations of one of the most successful multiplayer shooters of all time: Apex Legends. And while Titanfall 2 did have multiplayer at one point, its servers are forever shut down, leaving only the excellent campaign for players to return to.

• Release Date — November 19, 1998
• Developer — Valve
• Publisher — Valve
• Review Aggregate Score — 96% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The fact that it's almost been 30 years since Half-Life launched is not lost on me (especially when my knees pop every time I get out of a chair), and neither is the fact that it somehow still feels like a brand-new, relevant game. To say that Half-Life changed the gaming landscape when it originally released is an understatement, and every single other first-person shooter that places emphasis on having an interesting, immersive single-player campaign owes it a debt of gratitude. Putting aside the fact that Half-Life would give us the single most successful multiplayer shooter of all time with its Counter-Strike mod, the game is, at its core, a single-player experience like no other, merging first-person shooting, puzzle solving, stealth, and even some survival horror into one of gaming's greatest titles.

• Release Date — March 20, 2020
• Developer — id Software
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

While Half-Life might be the better game, it's hard to argue against DOOM Eternal being the absolute best first-person shooter that focuses entirely on its single-player campaign, especially when its single-player campaign is as over-the-top as this one. DOOM Eternal may have the single greatest combat sandbox of any FPS, giving players a litany of options that organically cycle from one to the next and encourage the "push-forward", momentum-based combat that the 2016 DOOM reboot first introduced. Essentially, DOOM Eternal is the classic DOOM formula on steroids, and the fact that id Software made the choice to slow things down a bit in its follow-up makes it hard to come back from.