FPS Games With The Best Upgrade Systems

Key Takeaways

• RPG-style upgrade systems have become popular in FPS games like
  Fallout 4
  and
  Metro Exodus.
• Unique upgrade systems in games like
  Atomic Heart
  and
  Deathloop
  offer character and weapon enhancements.
• Far Cry 3
  and
  Wolfenstein 2
  showcase upgrade systems that are effective yet simple in their implementation.

The rise in popularity of RPGs means that it has become increasingly popular for other genres to include RPG-style upgrade systems. Nowhere is this more true than in first-person shooters. These days, some of the best upgrade systems around can be found in big-name FPS franchises.

Whereas old-school FPS games might offer limited weapon customization at best, modern FPS games often let players upgrade both their arsenals and characters. This list has pulled together some of the best examples of this trend. It’s focused on games that allow players to upgrade their weapons and characters, RPG-style, rather than simply modifying them with attachments as in games like Escape from Tarkov or Call of Duty. This list will also only include entries that are “true” FPS games, rather than examples that merely use the FPS viewpoint.

8 Fallout 4

Character Perks And Extensive Weapon And Armor Upgrade Options

Whereas most games on this list hail from FPS franchises that have adopted more and more RPG elements over time via their upgrade systems, Fallout 4 is the opposite. The Fallout games started as straight-up RPGs, but ever since Fallout 3, they have leaned more towards the FPS crowd. If players want to take on Fallout 4’s most powerful enemies, they’ll need to upgrade every aspect of their character, not just their guns.

Upgrades in Fallout 4 come in two flavors. Firstly, by leveling up, players earn perk points. These are used to either directly upgrade one of the player’s SPECIAL stats, like Strength or Charisma, or to purchase/upgrade Perks. Secondly, players can upgrade their character using the game’s extensive crafting and mod systems. Weapons and armor can be upgraded with powerful mods that can either offer stat boosts or change the way some weapons behave entirely. Furthermore, the player can build and upgrade settlements across the map. Robotic companions can also be heavily upgraded using the robot workbench from the Automatron add-on. Very few FPS games offer quite as many upgrade options as Fallout 4.

7 Metro Exodus

Weapon, Armor, And Gear Upgrades Are Hidden Across The Game’s World

The Metro games have always had upgrade systems to some extent or another, but Metro Exodus has the most extensive. As befitting one of the best post-apocalyptic horror games, Metro Exodus’s upgrade system revolves around searching its various regions for gear. Artyom’s weapons, gear, and suit can be upgraded to improve his chances against the game’s various human and mutant enemies.

Most weapon upgrades are pretty standard and include the usual increased magazine sizes, stocks, and sights that are standard for FPS games, but some are a bit more exotic. These weapon upgrades might sound simple but can completely overhaul how weapons behave when combined. Armor upgrades, on the other hand, mostly focus on increasing Artyom’s carrying capacity. The most exciting upgrades tend to be the gear upgrades, which give Artyom new abilities like night vision, metal detection, and motion tracking, or new armor pieces like an armored helmet and gas mask. Most importantly, this system’s emphasis on scavenging for new upgrades fits the game’s setting like a glove.

6 Atomic Heart

Use Nora The Psychotic Fridge To Apply Upgrades

One of the coolest things about Atomic Heart is how it took a fairly standard upgrade system and packed it full of character. The game’s upgrades roughly fall into two different groups: Upgrades for protagonist P-3 and his Polymer Glove, and upgrades for his impressive arsenal of weapons. Some of the coolest upgrades are for the Polymer Glove. A material called Neuropolymer can be used to upgrade P-3 himself, giving him improvements like more health, resistance to certain attacks, better healing, and “second wind” abilities. More excitingly, Neuropolymer can be used to upgrade the Glove itself, making its Shok, Frostbite, Telekinesis, Shield, and Polymer Jet abilities much more useful.

The weapon upgrade system isn’t half-bad either. Using materials found in the world and dropped from enemies, all of P-3’s weapons can be heavily upgraded. Initially, these upgrades offer the standard damage/accuracy buffs, but late-game upgrades give weapons powerful secondary attacks. The best part of the upgrade system, however, is how they’re applied. As one of the best atom punk games,Atomic Heart has a quirky sense of humor. To upgrade their weapons and Glove, players have to use Nora, a psychotic, AI-powered fridge that is in love with P-3. It’s a schtick that never gets old.

5 Deathloop

The Perfect System For Deathloop’s Rogue-Lite Structure

Deathloop has one of the most unique upgrade systems seen, not just in FPS games, but games in general. As its name might suggest, Deathloop’s gameplay is structured around a time-loop mechanic that resets every time the player dies. When the loop resets, so do the player’s upgrades. Kind of. In Deathloop, upgrades come in a couple of different forms.

By killing special enemies called Visionaries, the player unlocks Slabs which give them powerful supernatural abilities like teleportation and invisibility. Each Slab has its own upgrade path, which is followed by repeatedly killing these special enemies. Weapons are upgraded via Weapon Trinkets that act as mods, boosting attributes like recoil control and damage. There are also Character Trinkets which give the player passive abilities. It’s easy to get attached to these upgrades, which makes dying a real bummer. Except when, on each run/loop, the player can use a resource called Residuum to permanently unlock the game’s best weapons and upgrades. The better the upgrade, the more Residuum it costs to keep. This unique upgrade system encourages the player to constantly tinker with different character builds and makes sure that they don’t become overpowered too quickly.

4 Far Cry 3

An Oldie But A Goldie

Far Cry 3 is a special game. It revolutionized the open-world FPS genre and, to many fans, remains the best Fary Cry game. Much of that high praise is thanks to its various upgrade systems, which work so perfectly together that Ubisoft still hasn’t managed to improve upon them, even a decade later. If anything, Far Cry’s upgrade systems seem to get worse with each new iteration. In Far Cry 3, upgrades were split across skill trees, crafting, and weapons. The protagonist, Jason Brody, was upgraded by following a skill tree with skill points that were awarded for leveling up.

This skill tree was split into three branches: The Heron (long-range takedowns and mobility), The Shark (assault takedowns and healing), and The Spider (stealth and survival), and had the potential to turn Jason into a killing machine. In a very cool touch, each tree took the form of tattoos that spread across Jason’s arms as the upgrades were applied. The crafting system, on the other hand, required the player to hunt down exotic animals to harvest their skins. These skins were then used to craft things like ammo pouches, weapon slings, and even a bigger wallet. That bigger wallet was necessary because weapon upgrades were bought using hard-earned cash. Working together in tandem, these upgrade systems meant Jason went from a weakling in the game’s opening hours to a force to be reckoned with by the end.

3 Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

Weapon Upgrades Are Found, Player Perks Are Earned

Lots of modern games have unwieldy upgrade systems that are overly complicated, but the beauty of Wolfenstein 2’s system is its simplicity. Both the player character, B.J., and his weapons can be upgraded, and upgrading the game’s weapons couldn’t be simpler. Each of Wolfenstein 2’s levels has Weapon Upgrade Kits hidden within them. After picking one up, the player can apply an upgrade to one of their weapons, with each weapon having three available upgrades. Two of these upgrades are normally stat upgrades like increased damage or fire rate, while the third will change how the weapon behaves. For example, the pistol can have a silencer attached, while the assault rifle can be equipped with armor-piercing rounds.

B.J.’s upgrades work differently. These are locked behind a perk system split into three different trees: Stealth, Mayhem, and Tactical. Rather than being unlocked via leveling up as in most games, these perks are unlocked by playing in a certain way. So, by performing stealth takedowns on enemy soldiers, for example, the player upgrades their stealth movement speed. On the other hand, killing enough enemies with grenades upgrades B.J.’s carrying capacity. It’s a system that encourages the player to experiment with their play style while also rewarding them for playing well. The game’s final set of upgrades comes in the form of Contraptions, special suits that give B.J. new abilities. There are three in total. The first is free, while the other two are unlocked by completing Ubercommander missions.

2 Doom Eternal

A System Based Around Collectible Hunting

For a boomer shooter, Doom Eternal has a surprisingly complicated upgrade system. Pretty much every aspect of Doom Guy can be upgraded, but doing so takes a lot of patience and requires rummaging around each level for hidden collectibles. The simplest upgrades are for Doom Guy’s Praetor Suit. After finding a Praetor Token, the player can either upgrade one of Doom Guy’s resistances or his item magnetism. Neither is terribly exciting.

Sentinel Crystals are similar, and once found, can be used to increase health, armor, and ammo capacity. Runes, on the other hand, are unlocked by completing challenges and rewarding the player with passive abilities that can change gameplay significantly. The most complicated are the weapon upgrades. The first step is to find a weapon mod bot, which can be used to unlock one of each weapon’s two alternate firing modes (like a sticky bomb launcher for the Shotgun or heat blast for the Plasma Rifle). Each of these mods then has two potential stat upgrades, which are purchased with Weapon points the player earns in combat. Once both of these have been purchased, the player can complete a Mastery Task that gives the mod a powerful Mastery Skill. It’s a system that complements playing well and a completionist play style, and it’s this rewarding upgrade system that makes Doom Eternal one of the best Doom games.

1 Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberware, Skill Trees, And Weapon Mods Build The Ultimate V

Cyberpunk 2077 is as much an RPG as it is an FPS, and that’s reflected in its excellent upgrade system. The game has several systems that work in tandem to offer the player an unprecedented level of choice in how they customize and upgrade their version of V. The player can visit Ripperdocs to install cyberware implants that do everything from enhancing certain abilities and physical attributes to giving V new skills. Each piece of cyberware can then be individually upgraded through the game’s crafting system. Similarly, each weapon in the game can be upgraded through the use of mods and attachments. Iconic weapons, usually hidden in the world or carried by boss enemies, can also be upgraded through crafting.

Then there’s V’s skill trees. As V levels up, the player earns Attribute and Perk points. Attributes improve core stats and unlock higher levels of the game’s skill trees, while Perk points unlock Perks from each of the game’s five skill trees. Not all the skill trees can be maxed out in one playthrough, encouraging the player to build a V that suits their play style. Finally, there are five skills that level up passively by playing in certain ways. Leveling these up can earn the player new Perk points and stat increases. It all sounds a bit intimidating, but after playing for a few hours, most players will settle into a build that suits them, which is part of the game’s brilliance. With this upgrade system, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the best single-player games for build variety, and it isn’t even close.