Best FPS Games With No Zoom For Weapons

Key Takeaways

• Old-school shooters prioritize expressive hip-fire and speed over aiming down sights for immersive, nostalgic gameplay.
• Post Void, Chop Goblins, and HROT embody the essence of old-school shooters with intense combat and retro aesthetics.
• Despite lacking aim-down-sights, classic games like Quake and Left 4 Dead 2 offer fast, fluid gameplay and unique weapons.

The genre of first-person shooters is heavily saturated, packed with various experiences covering everything from the twitchy, competitive experiences of games such as Counter-Strike to the dramatic campaigns and chaotic multiplayer of the Halo series. These shooters typically feature a wide array of guns, and while the pioneers of the genre (DOOM, Quake, etc.) focused on shooting from the hip, games such as Call Of Duty and Battlefield made aiming down sights a core mechanic that quickly became popular.

With the somewhat recent resurgence of old-school shooters, however, players are becoming more interested in the expressive combat arenas that were once so popular. An emphasis on hip-fire makes for a focus on speed, facilitating expressive movement and intuitive arenas to do battle in. This is what these games do best.

1 Post Void

A Close-Quarters FPS That Plays At A Breakneck Pace

This action roguelike FPS features a psychedelic art style that won’t be for everyone but perfectly matches its chaotic, breakneck gameplay. The fast pace of Post Void‘s gameplay is facilitated by constantly draining health, expressive moment controls, and low time-to-kill.

Post Void gives players access to just one weapon at a time, most of which are guns. These weapons don’t feature the ability to aim down sights, but this is rarely an issue, as much of Post Void takes place in tight corridors and cramped environments that facilitate close-quarters combat.

2 Chop Goblins

A Short But Sweet Shooter With Heaps Of Charm

• Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch
• Released: 2022
• Developer(s): David Szymanski
• Genre: FPS

This non-stop, charming FPS takes players on a brisk but utterly entertaining journey through time, battling the deviously demented Chop Goblins. These creatures frequently spit out unhinged, high-pitched dialogue throughout the game, reminiscent of monster movies such as Gremlins, elevating the overall experience.

While the old-school charm and refreshingly short run-time may be among Chop Goblins‘ greatest strengths, it features a variety of guns that are a great deal of fun to use thanks to excellent sound design and explosive gore effects. Furthermore, the inability to aim down sights is rarely missed during the undemanding, snappy gameplay.

3 DUSK

A Fast-Paced Shooter With An Immersive Atmosphere

Helping to kickstart the revival of old-school first-person shooters, DUSK takes plenty of inspiration from the games of the 90s and early 2000s, though it’s very much its own beast, sporting clear influences from immersive sims and games such as STALKER. The dense atmosphere and imaginative level designs, as well as the variety of monster-horror enemies, are among DUSK‘s greatest strengths, but its well-tuned gunplay carries the game forward.

In true old-school fashion, DUSK features no reloading, and no aim-down-sights, resulting in fast-paced combat encounters that never stop to let the player rest. This relatively conventional retro shooter gameplay is elevated by a unique tone and memorable world, and the game’s immersive-sim elements make exploration a much more playful experience than it otherwise would be.

4 HROT

A Typical Old-School Shooter Elevated By Its Atmosphere

Sporting a dense and downtrodden atmosphere facilitated by an oppressive brown color palette and buckets of pixelated rain, HROT is an old-school FPS that succeeds with its charming retro graphics and expert sense of place. While its gunplay may not be the best around, it’s decidedly old-school and features no aim-down-sights.

The low-poly visuals and repetitive colors may be too much for some, but they lend themselves to HROT‘s unique mood and atmosphere. Furthermore, despite the gunplay being somewhat lacking in weight, each of the weapons plays a unique role in combat encounters, allowing for dynamic gameplay akin to the games HROT takes clear inspiration from.

5 Left 4 Dead 2

A Fast And Frenetic Co-Op Shooter

Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative horde shooter that tasks players with working as a team to blast their way through swarms of flesh-eating zombies. The game features a variety of unique campaigns that take players across all manner of environments, battling against the AI Director in dynamic encounters and struggling against the ensemble of special enemies.

The variety of ranged and melee weapons in Left 4 Dead 2 keeps the gameplay dynamic, and although the guns themselves aren’t the most important aspect of the game, the inability to aim down sights rarely becomes an issue. Left 4 Dead 2 is a chaotic shooter that asks very little of the player, instead focusing on teamwork and cooperative action that’s perfect for playing in groups.

6 Quake

A Fast And Fluid Classic Shooter

Featuring fast-paced combat encounters and expressive movement controls, Quake is a classic shooter that’s perfect for fans of old-school FPS titles and retro visuals. The game features a variety of unique weapons that each offer their strengths and weaknesses, and all are fun to use despite the lack of aim-down-sights.

Although Quake is an older title, players can still expect a fast and fluid experience with intuitive controls. Furthermore, the game succeeds with its variety of easy-to-navigate but often unpredictable level designs, which help to keep the gameplay from becoming stale.

7 CULTIC

An Expertly Crafted Retro Shooter That Packs A Punch

Fans of old-school shooters such as Blood and the atmosphere of survival-horror games such as Resident Evil 4 should take a good look at CULTIC. This retro shooter features weighty gunplay that packs a tremendous punch despite the inability to aim down sights, bolstered by expressive movement controls and a unique art style.

The retro graphics and crunchy sound design help to sell the experience, but CULTIC‘s variety of weapons is also tremendously unique. Based on less conventional weapons, each gun offers its unique look, feel, and sound, and all are useful in their own ways.