Best Shooter of 2024—Best FPS & TPS Games This Year

As a seasoned gamer and tech enthusiast who’s spent countless hours immersed in digital worlds, I must say, 2024 was quite the year for shooter games! The variety and quality were simply astounding.

This year has seen a chaotic landscape for shooter enthusiasts, with bullets bouncing unpredictably in various directions. Here’s a peek at the anticipated TopMob’s Shooter of the Year 2024, encompassing both First-Person Shooter (FPS) and Third-Person Shooter (TPS) games.

2024’s top shooter will be determined by several crucial factors: Gameplay mechanics, plotline, audio quality, and the level of frustration experienced during gameplay—though perhaps not the last one. It might seem simple to create a few stages or battlefields, fill them with adversaries, and label it a shooter, but at its heart, this genre encompasses far more than that.

To excel as a top-tier shooter, it’s essential that the game appeals visually and tactilely while also providing an immersive auditory experience with convincing sound effects. Each title I will discuss for TopMob’s 2024 Best Shooter Award delivers on these aspects in abundance, yet only one can claim the throne as the ultimate shooter experience.

Best Shooter of 2024 Winner — Call of Duty Black Ops 6

Black Ops 6 brings innovation that’s been rare among recent Call of Duty games. Once you’ve experienced the freedom of omnidirectional movement, it becomes hard to go back to anything else. Your character moves with a silky smoothness I’ve longed for and leaves you wondering why it wasn’t introduced sooner.

The campaign is juicy and jaunty and features one of the most intense and exciting story missions in years. Zombies is back and better than ever, with a bundle of Wonder Weapons, Easter Eggs, and everything you could want from the undead merry-go-round of round-based Zombies. Finally, the multiplayer brings back the classic Prestige System we love so much, makes the Mastery Camo grind the simplest and most accessible it’s ever been, and outside of the usual bugs, it looks to be a great year ahead.

Many gamers might find themselves cringing at even the suggestion of a fresh Call of Duty game. But fear not, Black Ops 6 is an exception – it’s a terrific addition to the series, and I believe it brings new life to the long-established first-person shooter franchise for the first time in quite some time. For years now, CoD has been experiencing something of a slump, with Modern Warfare 3 feeling uninspired due to its lackluster execution and rehashed elements, Modern Warfare 2 being a solid but unremarkable entry, and Vanguard offering a reliable yet forgettable experience.

Black Ops 6 is the finest version since Black Ops Cold War (both developed by Treyarch and Raven Software), and I firmly believe this to be true. While it’s not a flawless Call of Duty, and perfection in this series is rare, Black Ops 6 offers everything we want from a shooter game. It’s worthy of being recognized as the best shooter of 2024.

Best Shooters of 2024 Nominations

As a die-hard gaming enthusiast, I can confidently say that Black Ops 6 earned the number one spot this year. Yet, for those intrigued by our choices in the top shooter of 2024 category, let me share a little sneak peek at some other remarkable contenders. Remember, taste is subjective, so it’s possible your favorite could be part of our honorable mentions. Stay tuned to find out!

XDefiant

2024 saw high anticipation for Ubisoft’s XDefiant, nicknamed the “Call of Duty competitor.” The game delivered many features desired by FPS enthusiasts: it abandoned skill-based matchmaking, actively responded to player suggestions, accurately logged experience points, and strived to minimize glitches. However, as the year drew to a close, all that development work seemed wasted when Ubisoft announced XDefiant would be shut down.

XDefiant certainly didn’t disappoint me; I thoroughly enjoyed my gaming experience with it. The shooting mechanics are swift and immersive, some of the best we’ve seen from a newcomer in a while. Yet, it still seems somewhat similar to Call of Duty, lacking the significant departure that many gamers were hoping for. Unfortunately, the inclusion of hero abilities and microtransactions may have been too much for some members of the community, potentially playing a role in XDefiant’s relatively swift decline as an FPS title.

Stalker 2 Heart of Chornobyl

In the category of single-player games, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is one of only two nominations. You venture into the Zone to solve the enigma surrounding anomalies, artifacts, and strive to stay alive. Sadly, the radiation-stricken world of Ukraine is a stunning, mysterious, yet distressing place, but it’s also been tarnished by concerns about its overall quality.

In most reviews for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, a common theme emerges – technical issues and bugs. Despite showing improvement since its rocky launch, it’s essential we don’t let the promise of future fixes overshadow the need for quality at release. On the contrary, Stalker 2 serves as an illustration of how shooters can be unique, the importance of standalone games, and not every game requires online multiplayer or live-service components.

Helldivers 2

The standout sensation of 2024 undeniably belongs to Arrowhead Game Studios and their game Helldivers 2. Unlike many other live-service shooters from the same period, it wasn’t quickly consigned to oblivion – more like Suicide Squad, if you catch my drift. You’re given the mission of safeguarding and defending Super Earth using a variety of weapons and intriguing Strategems. These Strategems can either summon a turret to your position or deploy a destructive bomb that wipes out everyone in the vicinity.

In just 12 weeks, Helldivers 2 achieved a massive milestone by selling 12 million copies, but its reputation took a hit due to the PlayStation Account scandal. However, this didn’t stop us from acknowledging its strengths – exceptional world-building and marketing efforts. But the gameplay could become monotonous, even with friends, and the excitement of destroying Automatons seemed to diminish over time. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of potential for improvement in Helldivers 3, and it’s fantastic to see a fresh multiplayer game making waves.

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2

My goodness, I miss single-player-driven shooters. Like Stalker 2, the main emphasis for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is its story, dramatic events, riveting visuals, and epic battles. As an almighty Space Marine with unreal strength and combat abilities, you tussle with Tyranids throughout a several-hour-long campaign. This is one sticking point for Space Marine 2—its campaign length—but it has plenty of replayability, and I understand the comparison to Black Ops 6’s story length.

Space Marine 2 holds its ground against popular third-person shooter games such as Gears of War, displaying a similar style from the shoulder perspective. Despite being somewhat rare in today’s gaming landscape, I’m excited to explore more of this unique genre. However, while it offers an interesting take, some lack of originality and a less impressive multiplayer mode prevent Space Marine 2 from claiming the top spot among shooter games.

2024-12-24 11:18