Looking for more essentials?

The best shooters endure. While other genres warp beyond recognition, there is something solid about the first-person shooter that makes it as dependable as a nice big AK-47. Maybe it’s the gung-ho simplicity – look down a barrel and pull the trigger. It’s as fun to fire a double-barrelled shotgun from an early 90s FPS as the slick shotties of today. For that reason, this list runs the gamut from genre classics to those released in the last year. There’s bound to be something for you in this, our list of the best 50 FPS games on PC. Let’s lock and/or load.

You can navigate this feature with the links at the bottom. If you’re the impatient type, the full list is on the final page.

Of course, a good shooter is not just about shooting. What lies beyond are primarily games of skill and reflex, but they are often as much about movement as they are about violence. And hey, sometimes you get a decent gimmick or story thrown into the mix.

Your favourite is at number 51. If you feel you must let us know about why we’re wrong to exclude something, make sure to make your comment an effervescent explanation of why the game you love is great. Make us converts with glowing praise.

Or possibly your favourite game isn’t on this list because it’s not a first-person shooter, in which case you should check out our regularly updated list of the best PC games to play right now.

Note: We first ran this list in mid-2015, and this is our third revision. You can see what’s been evicted from last year’s list on the ‘Honourable Mentions’ on page 12.

OK, let’s do this. Aim for the head.

Words by Alec Meer and Brendan Caldwell.