Best FPS Games With The Most Realistic Bullet Physics, Ranked

Summary

• FPS games offer varying experiences, from competitive environments like Rainbow Six Siege to milsim titles like Escape From Tarkov.
• Realistic bullet physics are crucial in games like Squad, Arma 3, and Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 for immersive gameplay.
• Hunter: Call of the Wild adds physics-based shots, requiring players to consider factors like range and wind for a realistic hunting experience.

FPS games are some of the biggest and most concurrently played games in the modern gaming landscape. Titles such as Counter Strike 2 or Overwatch 2 boast consistently high player counts but offer vastly different experiences, demonstrating the breadth of the genre.

One niche within the FPS games genre is military simulation. These are titles that strive to portray a realistic military depiction, often through their gunplay. Some FPS games offer incredibly immersive experiences through the use of realistically simulated bullet and projectile physics, be they milsim titles or games that simply strive to simulate bullet physics realistically.

6 Rainbow Six Siege

Realistic Bullet Penetration

Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most popular competitive FPS shooters. Loosely set in the Tom Clancy Rainbow Six series, it boasts solid gunplay and strategic gadget use in order to create a complex and compelling competitive environment. This gameplay has resulted in the large Rainbow Six Siege professional scene.

While Rainbow Six Siege is by no means a realistic experience, many of its predecessors did tend to lean towards more realistic gameplay. One realistic bullet mechanic did make it into the game, however, resulting in one of the most crucial gameplay elements. Each bullet does physics-based damage to walls, breaking them uniquely, offering the ability to shape rooms and create unique sight lines using bullet holes and impacts. Bullets also realistically penetrate eligible surfaces, creating a realistic risk to using certain objects and walls as cover.

5 Escape From Tarkov

A Realistic Ballistics System

Escape From Tarkov is generally considered as the pioneering title of the extraction shooter genre. It blends survival, RPG, and traditional FPS elements to create a hardcore PvPvE experience. Escape From Tarkov is wholly unique, with few other games providing the same tension and heart-pounding action.

One of the more hardcore and subsequently nerve-wracking elements of Escape From Tarkov is the ballistics mechanics. Not only do bullets have realistic physics applied, resulting in the need to lead shots and estimate bullet-drop, but the game also has realistic ballistics. Each bullet in the game has unique speed and penetration values, affecting how they travel, how much they break through armor, and how much damage they deal.

4 Squad

Realistic Ballistics & Armor Penetration

Squad is a realistic military simulation title that pits two teams against each other in an objective-oriented PvP experience. Games last for extensive periods of time, and teams must travel across great distances with very real consequences for death. As such, Squad includes realistic milsim mechanics, including bullet physics.

Engagement distances in Squad can be quite far, resulting in the need to lead targets and account for bullet drop. There are also suppression mechanics and an incredibly realistic damage model that can mean one or two shots is fatal. Another element regarding projectile physics is that RPG and Tank shots deal unique damage to vehicle armor based on where they are hit, with realistic deflection and penetration systems in place.

3 Arma 3

Immersive & Realistic Gunplay

Arma 3 is generally considered the gold-standard of military simulation in an FPS title. It includes a plethora of weapons, vehicles, and maps that allow for endless opportunities to simulate military engagements, be they PvP, PvE, or a mix of the two.

Arma 3 operations may last for a long while and often take place over incredibly large maps. This, much like Squad, means that engagement distances are often long and require plenty of forward planning. All bullets and projectiles have realistic physics applied to them, an aspect that is especially heightened over long distances. This means that, whether players are using guns, tanks, aircraft, or mortars, bullet and projectile physics play a key role in the gameplay of Arma 3.

2 Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2

Realistic Sniper Rifle Bullet Mechanics

• Release Date: June 4, 2021
• Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Developer: CI Games

Sniping titles, such as Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, are especially known for their bullet physics. Not to be confused with the other leading sniping series, Sniper Elite, the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series is a long-running FPS sniping series, known for realistic and immersive sniping simulation.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is the latest release in the Sniper: Ghost Warrior series, and similarly to its predecessors, prides itself upon its sniping mechanics and bullet physics. The game sees the player sneaking through large compounds and other expansive environments in order to seek and eliminate targets. It features incredibly realistic bullet physics, with the need to pay attention to the wind, range, and other elements in order to land the perfect shot.

1 TheHunter: Call Of The Wild

Physics-Based Shots & Penetration

TheHunter: Call of the Wild is the leading and premier hunting simulation title. It features massive reserves that house all sorts of realistic wildlife that can be hunted, each with differing behaviors and patterns. Players must track down their target using environmental signs, before lining up the perfect shot.

While theHunter: Call of the Wild is most known for its animal behavior and tracking systems, its ballistic system is certainly an impressive element of the game. Players can use a variety of weapons, most commonly long-range hunting rifles, each with different statistics. Players must pay attention to range and wind direction in order to take their shot, requiring patience and a solid knowledge of the bullet drop in order to hit their target. The game then realistically calculates penetration and entry point in order to determine the lethality of the shot.