It’s time to celebrate the best shooters of 2024. For a genre which once had such an outsized presence on the wider video game landscape, this year is yet another example of developers picking their battles – driving forward with the sort of concepts that can truly stand out against the longstanding live service mainstays that dominate the space in the modern era. Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Warzone remain ubiquitous, but there are five shooters which managed to cut through the noise in 2024.
As was evidenced by the disappointing collapse of Concord and struggle for visibility endured by XDefiant, this market hasn’t been kind to new contenders. But in our pick of the best shooters of 2024, you’ll find viable contenders for our best FPS games ranking and titles which truly dominated our wider best games of 2024 verdict. It’s worth noting that we only considered truly new releases, so you’ll need to check our verdict on the best expansions of 2024 to see what we made of Destiny 2: The Final Shape. With all of that out of the way, here are the must-play shooters for 2024.
5. I Am Your Beast
Developer: Strange Scaffold
Platform(s): PC
I Am Your Beast taps into something primal. If murder were an Olympic sport, you’d expect contestants to be judged under similar circumstances – how quickly, stylishly, and outrageously can you dispatch small sandboxes populated by special forces agents. The exceptionally-tight mechanical design echoes that of Superhot, the fluidity of Mirror’s Edge, and relentless-forward momentum of Neon White, but I Am Your Beast never fails to feel like its own unique proposition. It’s rare for a first-person shooter to feel so defiant and distinct these days, although developer Strange Scaffold – the team behind the delightfully obtuse Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator and Max Payne-inspired El Paso, Elsewhere – has delivered yet another compact masterwork. Don’t be put off by the threat of a small runtime, because I Am Your Beast will always have you coming back for one more try.
4. Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Developer: GSC Game World
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl isn’t without its issues, but there’s something about developer GSC Game World’s raw ambition that makes this first-person shooter difficult to walk away from – even as it seems to be doing its best to push you away at every turn. It’s the low whir of the Geiger counter and pulsing heartbeat of the Anomalous Activity Scanner that draws me in, welcoming signals in an otherwise desolate wasteland. Weapons kickback with such force you worry it may break your wrists, something else to fear in a world wrought with mutant creatures and mutinous factions. Stalker 2 is the sort of experience where you’re better off forgoing waypoints in service of seeking adventure, the resulting isolation as liberating as it is haunting. There’s nothing quite like Stalker 2. The Zone calls once more.
Learn more in our Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review, where despite a rocky launch we still called it “truly incomparable”
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
The decision to deliver back-to-back Modern Warfare experiences, and so utterly undermine the core promise of the sub-series’ slower play, was disastrous for Activision – Call of Duty needed a shot in the arm. Enter Black Ops 6, the most fantastical and resoundingly distinct installment in years. Raven Software delivered an awesomely entertaining campaign, well-measured in its approach to extending beyond traditional Call of Duty level frameworks. Treyarch handled the transition to a new engine with keen expertise, engineering a faster and more frenetic multiplayer experience that somehow bridges the gap between Max Payne’s absurdly cinematic movement and Call of Duty’s trademark propensity towards weighty, considered flashpoints. Black Ops 6 is undoubtedly one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass to arrive this year, and a great temperature check for the long-running franchise.
Learn more in our Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 review, where we noted it was “both a return to form and a great entry point for new or lapsed players”
2. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Developer: Saber Interactive
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
The sense of scale propagated by Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is exceptionally impressive. Huge, towering environments populated by tens of thousands of enemies – each and every one of them apparently baying for your blood. Were Space Marine 2 powered by lesser hardware, perhaps these scenes would fade into the background – thankfully, developer Saber Interactive is able to pull it all into the foreground, ensuring every encounter is a desperate battle for survival under a shower of gore and viscera. With its heavy melee and thunderous gunplay, Space Marine 2 breathes new life into the horde-shooter model which seemed to fade from view after the PS3 and Xbox 360 era of play. Bold and boisterous, Space Marine 2 is a hell of a good time.
Learn more in our Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 review, where we said it “will leave you often breathless but always grinning”
1. Helldivers 2
Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios
Platform(s): PC, PS5
When I think about the moments which best defined the shooter genre in 2024, it’s typically some variant of: ‘⇨⇩⇧⇧⇦⇩⇩’ followed by a muffled “uh oh” muttered through a microphone – glance to your left, a glowing Stratagem beacon highlighting where a friend once stood; to the right, the first shells of an incoming Orbital 380mm HE Barrage. Team wiped, let the blame game begin in earnest. Helldivers 2 succeeds in scenes of abject chaos, where the physicality of its core mechanical design intersects with the unpredictability of other players and a decision from developer Arrowhead Game Studios to ensure that bullets don’t discern friend from foe. Helldivers 2 distills the essence of fun with friends to its purest form; it’s undoubtedly the best shooter of the year, and one of the best PS5 games and best PC games to launch this generation.
Learn more in our Helldivers 2 review, where even at launched we called it “astonishing to behold”
In a year where shooters took some big swings, Black Ops 6 has the weirdest, scariest level in Call of Duty history.