GI Joe is always rushing in to save the day, armed with just a gun and a knife. While he’s incredibly strong and confident, there’s one big problem: he’s simply not a very interesting character.
For many years, first-person shooter games have often featured weak stories, typically casting players as flawless heroes who always manage to save the day on their own. But real life isn’t like that – it’s rarely about one person being a superhero.
This list features the best first-person shooter games where you create your own character and rely on skill, not a pre-defined hero or special abilities. These games are for players who want a realistic challenge where success depends on their own abilities, not plot-based advantages.
To be included on this list, a game needs to let you play as a character you don’t get to name, and it must have either a story mode or a way to continuously improve your character or gameplay.
8. The Outer Worlds
Space Capitalism Simulator
In The Outer Worlds, you play as a character unexpectedly awakened by a scientist while lost in space. You’ll explore a uniquely crafted world, a darkly humorous take on a corporate-controlled future, as you try to uncover what’s happening. It’s a setting many players will find surprisingly familiar.
Okay, so in The Outer Worlds, you start as basically a total mystery – you have no memory of who you are. It’s awesome because you get to decide what kind of person your character becomes through your choices and how you act. The game really lets you shape who you are, which is super cool.
The shooting isn’t the game’s strongest point, as is common with role-playing games, but the compelling characters and immersive world more than compensate for it.
7. Escape From Tarkov
Extraction 101
Look, in Tarkov, everyone just sees you as a mercenary – someone trying to survive. When you start Escape From Tarkov, you choose between two groups, BEAR and USEC, but honestly, it doesn’t really change much. They’ve basically left you to fend for yourself in that city, so the starting gear and cosmetic differences aren’t a big deal when you’re just trying to get out alive.
Escape From Tarkov offers both player-versus-player and player-versus-environment experiences, but it doesn’t offer much guidance as you try to survive. If you persevere, you’ll be rewarded with incredibly realistic and satisfying shooting mechanics, along with extensive gun customization.
In this game, your character reflects your own values, particularly when interacting with other players. You’re dropped into a challenging and chaotic environment where you have to navigate difficult situations. Some players choose to remain honorable, even under pressure, while others might take advantage of newcomers. Essentially, the game operates on a ‘survival of the fittest’ principle – anything goes.
6. Fallout 76
Appalachian Blues
Letting Obsidian Entertainment develop a Fallout game meant Bethesda wouldn’t be able to compete with it using their own single-player teams. Choosing to focus on multiplayer was a smart decision, ultimately leading to Fallout 76 – a game with flaws, but also a lot of great qualities.
Your character doesn’t have much of a backstory at the start – they simply emerge from a vault 25 years after a war. This is intentional, as you’ll be developing their personality and skills as you play.
While past Fallout games let you create a character, Fallout 76 really lets you define who you want to be. Recent updates have even added the option to become a ghoul, with all the unique benefits and drawbacks that come with it. Ultimately, the freedom to shape your own experience is what makes Fallout 76 so enjoyable.
5. Six Days in Fallujah
Join the Marines, See the World
In 2004, approximately 13,000 soldiers from the Coalition forces—mainly from the 1st and 7th Marine Regiments—fought to take control of the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The game Six Days in Fallujah aims to realistically recreate the experience of being a soldier during that battle.
Whether you’re playing the story campaign or battling online, you control a single Marine fighting in one of the most brutal city battles in American military history since the Vietnam War. The game delivers incredibly intense action, but remains believable and realistic.
Teamwork is central to playing Six Days in Fallujah. Successfully coordinating with your four-person team is key to surviving the intense battles.
4. Gray Zone Warfare
Soldier of Fortune
The island of Lamang in Southeast Asia is finished, and a recent explosion seems to be the final blow. The government has collapsed, leaving behind a lawless territory controlled by gangs and hired guns – the United Nations has withdrawn, and only mercenaries like you remain.
Lamang is a war-torn region attracting mercenary groups, and you play as one of the many soldiers hoping to profit from the ongoing conflict.
Gray Zone Warfare boasts a massive and incredibly detailed game world, offering ample space for character progression as you navigate a dangerous life completing covert operations for powerful and secretive clients.
3. DayZ
Land, Die, Repeat
Imagine waking up alone on a beach, wearing only your clothes, right in the middle of a zombie outbreak. How long would you last? DayZ puts you in that situation, realistically showing you just how unprepared you are for survival.
In this game, when your character dies, you begin again as a brand new survivor in a ruined version of Chernarus. You’ll need to scavenge for supplies and survive as best you can, because you’ll inevitably die and start the cycle over.
DayZ’s intense and challenging survival gameplay continues to attract a large and dedicated player base, and its popularity isn’t likely to fade anytime soon.
2. STALKER Anomaly
A Radioactive Routine
This mod completely overhauls the original STALKER games, turning it into a separate experience where you truly live the life of a stalker exploring the dangerous Zone – something the original games didn’t fully allow.
Choose from the iconic factions of the original game, each with its own unique story, and explore the Zone however you want. Your choices matter – they’ll impact your reputation and change the world around you as events unfold.
While the main story in STALKER Anomaly isn’t as strong as in Shadow of Chernobyl, the game truly shines through its immersive and rewarding everyday survival in the Zone.
1. Atomfall
Northener Mysteries
Atomfall might seem like a peaceful game about everyday life in Cumbria, but it’s set within a quarantine zone created by a nuclear disaster. The serious aftermath of the Windscale incident is a constant presence and impossible to overlook.
Developer Rebellion created a remarkably free and enjoyable experience in their game. Atomfall features a stunning and accurate world, and players are given complete freedom to explore it as they choose.
Throughout the game, you learn nothing about your character – not their appearance, name, gender, or age. This is intentional, as your identity isn’t important when you’re simply trying to survive the harsh and bleak environment of northern England.
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2026-02-16 02:40