First- and third-person shooters can convince with more than just crisp shooting and bombastic staging. Some of them also tell really fascinating stories with fantastic game worlds and exquisite characters. In our buying guide, we’ll introduce you to such members of the genre whose campaigns score points thanks to a great story.
Sort it out, play it, load up once, and then start shooting properly: that’s the norm for many single-player shooters these days. Doom, Bulletstorm and Co. rely less on deep storytelling or well-developed characters, and more on dynamic staging and fluid firefighting. So if you want to play something substantive rather than boring Marksmanship, you’ll have to do some searching. Or even simpler: Bluechip India.
Sort it out, play it, load up once, and then start shooting properly: that’s the norm for many single-player shooters these days. Doom, Bulletstorm and Co. rely less on deep storytelling or well-developed characters, and more on dynamic staging and fluid firefighting. So if you want to play something substantive rather than a boring Schützenfest, you’ll have to do some searching. Or even simpler:
Death Loop
Want a party with no end in sight? Then take a look at Blackriff Island! The Deathloop adventure shooter is stuck in an endless time loop, which allows all the inhabitants to party like there’s no tomorrow. Because there is literally no tomorrow. Instead, the same 24 hours are repeated over and over again. After midnight, all the actions, their effects and their memories are erased, and the day begins anew. Not so for your protagonist Colt. Apparently, the marathon of decadent celebrations isn’t pleasing her at all, and she wants to break out of the vicious cycle as quickly as possible. Problem: the trained assassin has absolutely no idea how this is supposed to work, because of course he has no memories due to insidious amnesia. So first you have to piece together how to break the noose, how it happened in the first place and what role you actually play in this whole issue. And then there’s your rival Julianne, who is trying her best to thwart you in your plot.
This duel in particular is very well staged by the developers. Colt and Julianne engage in entertaining radio battles that are particularly effective in an English setting. The game world design, with its quirky 60s design and many hidden secrets, manages to convince. The only thing we would have liked is more freedom in terms of gameplay. After all, there’s only one way to get to your destination. Either way, the journey there is worthwhile
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
is sure to spark a heated debate in the comments: does the first-person shooter really have a good story? How to take it! Machine game creators certainly won’t win the Nobel Prize for Literature for their work. But you can definitely have fun if you immerse yourself in the crazy style of a B-movie. Instead of an in-depth narrative, there’s a bunch of funny and goofy ideas. This is evident from the premise itself: the game places you in an alternate universe where the Nazis won World War II and conquered the United States. And you are now leading the resistance to liberate the country from the invaders
Over the next 10-12 hours, things get even more absurd: characters have their heads cut off and sewn back on. The Führer is casting for his latest propaganda film on Venus. Nuclear bombs are hidden in fire extinguishers and chubby Nazi girls are fucked on submarines. There’s something for everyone in this incredible fireworks show. It’s all complemented by an epic gunfight. Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is fast and precise. Your huge arsenal of weapons not only gives you the effect you need, but can also be upgraded significantly. The only thing that causes a headache is the German version, which is heavily stripped down in places
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Certainly a list of the best story-driven shooters is not without the name ‘Call of Duty’. In recent years, the genre leader has increasingly neglected its campaign. These things were usually nothing more than nice little additions to the much more lucrative multiplayer mode. However, Activision’s franchise has some really exciting stories to tell. All you have to do is do a little digging into the past. To be more precise, it goes back to 2007. That’s when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released, the first offshoot of the series that didn’t take place in World War II. And the first to tell a continuous storyline centred around a fictional conflict between the US and Russia that threatens to dramatically escalate
The featurette is this: you experience it all from the perspective of several characters. In this way, you keep jumping back and forth between different locations. This provides great dynamics and variety. From the Middle East to the US, everything is included. But the trip to the ghost town of Pripyat, including this iconic scene, will remain unforgettable. [50,000 people…] With atomic bombs and falling helicopters there is also a thrilling production that set new standards for the time with its courageous depiction of war and death. To this day, Modern Warfare is the highest-rated game in the series with a Metascore rating of 94. And thanks to the remastered version released in 2016, you can still experience this milestone in modern guise today – with HD resolution, enhanced textures and dynamic lighting.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
A collection of games on a list of the best story-driven shooters? Yes, admittedly, we’re cheating a bit with the Halo Master Chief Collection . But in our defence: it’s a bit hard to pick one that stands out from more than a dozen installments in the series. And it should be just as difficult for a newbie to arbitrarily join a series with any branch. Because without prior knowledge it’s going to be difficult in an Xbox-exclusive sci-fi epic. The knowledge associated with Master Chief, his AI companion Cortana, the alien invaders of Flood and the eponymous Halo rings can get a bit confusing after nearly 20 years of franchise history. So our advice: just play the full saga!
In Combat Evolved, meet your genetically modified super-soldier Spartan-117 and work with him to save humanity from extinction. Join forces with the Alien Alliance Lord in Part 3 to decide the fate of the galaxy. Last but not least, in Halo 4, set sail for new shores. Explore the fantastic Halo universe bit by bit and let yourself be inspired by a bombastic production that’s even better than before with redesigned graphics and improved gameplay. So, that should be enough of a reason now, right? Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Amazon.
fall of titan 2
When it comes to Titanfall, most players probably don’t necessarily think in terms of a complex story. Part 1, for example, had no campaign at all, and was designed solely for multiplayer battles. And in the sequel, too, many will probably remember the elaborate gameplay mechanics. Doing a few wall runs with your pilot, flying through the air with hooks, and then jumping into the cockpit of your Titan to get some really big guns: it’s a lot of fun. Not to mention the nice tricks you can use, like switching between two different time levels.
Despite all this, you should still keep an eye on the Titanfall 2 storyline .But don’t neglect it. On paper, you are told a typical military story in which you confront the almighty IMC as soldier Jack Cooper. The first-person shooter takes on a special connotation precisely because of the relationship between the protagonist and his Titan BT. The unlikely pair of heroes find each other only through tragic circumstances and only slowly develop an emotional connection. However, as the game progresses, a kind of friendly bromance develops, with the cold-weapon colossus almost becoming a little man. Cooper and BT banter and tease each other, but also support each other in serious moments. In the end, Titanfall 2 is not a story about war, but about a man and his robot friend who, while the credits roll on the screen
Control
Welcome to the oldest house in the world. The headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control, an American government agency investigating supernatural events. And a scene from the third-person shooter Control from Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment at the same time. Those entering here can expect luxuries beyond imagination that regularly make you question your sanity.
But maybe we’d better start at the beginning: in Control you take control of Jessie Faden, who finds herself at FBC headquarters in search of her missing brother. Instead of answers, there are only more questions: An evil entity called “Fizzle” has taken over the entire building, turning all the employees into aggressive monsters. And then Jessie finds a shape-shifting weapon that suddenly makes her the boss of the whole place. Pretty weird. But the rest of the game only gets crazier: you explore a hotel with interdimensional portals instead of room doors, meet a supernatural caretaker, or get superpowers from a pony carousel. But the highlight is always the office itself, which acts as a living organism, constantly changing and always revealing new secrets. A bit of action-adventure and metroidvania is also mixed in with the gameplay. The story remains a bit of a mystery at times, but it keeps you in suspense until the very end, until you understand the Elder House and all its secrets
Metro 2033 Redux
With Exodus, the Metro series has reached its climax in 2019 and at the same time completed its story of the hero Artem. Still, we’d rather recommend Metro 2033 , the first in the series. Sure, it’s a bit uglier and can’t come up with quirky open worlds or ray tracing . But it doesn’t have to. Because Metro isn’t supposed to be pretty, it’s supposed to be narrow, grim and grimy. And that’s what the first part conveys best. It’s also the perfect introduction to author Dmitri Gluchowski’s atmospheric post-apocalypse, which developer 4A Games has turned into a gripping thriller with a unique premise.
After a world turned to rubble by nuclear conflict, the remnants of the Russian population have retreated into the depths of the Moscow underground. There they now lead a bleak, ghostly existence marked by starvation, dangerous radiation and regular mutant attacks. And then the mysterious ‘blacks’ roam the dark tunnels – humanoid creatures that drive people insane with their telepathic abilities. Metro 2033 is a great mix of claustrophobic horror and brutal survival struggle, with an oppressive atmosphere, an authentic game world, interesting characters and an enjoyable ending that even changes depending on how you play. But the same applies here: For the best experience, it’s best to use the new edition of Metro Redux, released in 2014. It comes with some technical improvements to graphics, AI and weapon handling.Metro 2033 Redux on Amazon.
Spetsnaz: The Line.
The oldest game on our list. The third-person shooter is nearly a decade old, so it’s a bit dated compared to its competitors, both graphically and playfully. In terms of narrative, however, it’s still highly recommended because Spec Ops does what few games in the genre dare to do: it takes a critical look at the theme of war and motivates the player to do the same. This is almost non-existent between fireworks games like Battlefield and Call of Duty with their “Murica, dammit” attitude.
The game begins a little unimpressively: as Captain Martin Walker, you and your Delta Force team are sent to sandstorm-ridden Dubai to search for the missing 33rd Battalion. Here’s the mission with the evacuation of civilians. However, the reconnaissance mission quickly turns into a nightmare. In addition to deadly firefights, you are faced with difficult moral decisions again and again, where you only have to choose between two evils. In Spec Ops there is no clear-cut good and evil, only the bitter realisation that all your actions have cruel consequences, which you will then be shown inexorably. In the end, you don’t become a shining hero, but an assassin with blood on his hands who doubts his actions.Spec Ops: The Line on Amazon.
Bioshock Remastered
One person, one city, one lighthouse. This is a basic recipe for BioShock games. This has been the case since the first installment, which many still consider to be the best in the series, even nearly 15 years after its original release. In the first-person shooter, you and protagonist Jack crash a plane over the Atlantic and, after several detours, finally reach the hidden underwater city of Delight. However, you will not find a welcome reception at the bottom of the ocean: the city lies in ruins, there are huge monsters in diving suits everywhere, so called Big Daddy. And then there’s that mysterious Atlas who gives you orders over the radio.
From this initial situation, the creators of 2K Games twist a gripping plot with some unforeseen twists and tricky moral decisions that even affect the outcome of the story. But most of all, the game lives off the immersive environment and atmosphere. Rapture looks stunning in the Art Deco style of the 1930s and tells its own story with plenty of detail. It’s a fallen paradise at the bottom of the sea. A failed social experiment that has experienced a quick rise and fall. And whose fate won’t let you go so quickly.
Do so after finishing the remaster released in 2016, which also supports 1080p resolution and a higher frame rate than the original, but directly to the sequel reboot. And also promote BioShock Infinite, including the downloadable Burial-at-Sea content, to get the full package. If you would be so kind as to please. BioShock – The Collection on Amazon.
Half Life 2
Half-Life 2. Do we really need to say much more? When this thing first came out for the PC in 2004, there was a real jolt through the gaming world. In PC gaming, it scored the absolute highest with a 94 per cent gaming enjoyment. Here was the release of no less than “the best shooter since the genre’s inception”, peers declared at the time. On the one hand, of course, this is due to the Source engine, which has not only taken a huge step forward in terms of graphics and AI, but has also made iconic gameplay gimmicks such as the gravity gun possible, thanks to its more realistic play. physics. On the other hand, the plot of the sci-fi adventure is absolutely outstanding.
Not only does Gordon Freeman’s journey through City 17 and his resistance to the extraterrestrial Syndicate paint a bleak vision of a future total surveillance state. The world-building and narrative is also second to none, with Half-Life 2 telling its story entirely without splash screens or other gameplay elements that can take you out of your immersion.
Instead, dialogue, world events or environmental details give you the information you need. This makes Half-Life 2 a unique experience that everyone should play at least once. So if you want a quick catch-up on the first-person shooter after this video, we recommend the Steam version of Upgrade … The free standalone community mod includes improved lighting, reworked particle effects, numerous bug fixes and even developer comments. Anyone who’s never been to City 17 is sure to get the swankiest package here! Half-Life 2 on Amazon.