5 Best FPS Games That Aren't Call Of Duty

As one of the powerhouses of the first-person shooter genre, "Call of Duty" went from a "Medal of Honor" clone to a yearly success for Activision. Of course, first-person shooters existed for years before "Call of Duty" came on the scene, with plenty of other FPS properties regularly released on the market. From bombastic online multiplayer experiences to single-player driven adventures, there is a lot that the FPS genre has to offer. The best "Call of Duty" games capture a lot of those qualities, but there are countless genre games that fans should check out next.

We've gathered the greatest first-person titles to ever do it, from the games that predate "Call of Duty" to those that have followed up since with their own distinct approach. These are the games that capture the appeal of the genre perfectly, especially the cathartic action and big set pieces that only it can provide. And when it comes to multiplayer experiences, many of the games we're mentioning here are some of the best of their respective generations. Here are the five best FPS games that aren't "Call of Duty," each providing their own quickdraw frenetic fun to the genre.

Let's just get one of the more obvious picks out of the way first with "GoldenEye 007," the 1997 Nintendo 64 tie-in to the 1995 James Bond movie. The game recreates the classic action set pieces from the film, while also adding new missions to the proceedings. Each mission in the story mode has its own set of objectives, which only grow when replaying them at harder difficulties. The game's real standout feature is its competitive multiplayer modes, allowing for up to four players going head-to-head locally.

While some folks may think that "GoldenEye 007" has aged poorly, the title's recent re-release on modern platforms digitally has highlighted its timeless elements too. The level design and weapon variety offers an engaging level of depth and the game is still a blast to play with friends. The game received a remake for then-modern platforms in 2010, but there was still something missing, some intangible issue holding this newer title back from achieving the original's success. A groundbreaking showcase for what was possible for first-person shooters on consoles, "GoldenEye 007" still delivers nearly 30 years later.

Another one of the best Nintendo 64 games of all time was "Perfect Dark," also developed and published by Rare, the makers of "GoldenEye 007." A sci-fi shooter set in the near future, the 2000 game has players control secret agent Joanna Dark. While investigating a malevolent megacorporation, Joanna uncovers a deadly conspiracy spreading to the highest levels of the federal government and involving an extraterrestrial presence on Earth. Like "GoldenEye 007," the game also boasts four-person multiplayer, but also contains two-person co-op and counter-op modes for its campaign.

One of the last gems before Nintendo lost Rare to Microsoft, "Perfect Dark" is an all-around improvement over "GoldenEye 007." The game pushed the N64 hardware as far as it could go (provided players had the Expansion Pak peripheral), and included a wealth of in-game features. The game was re-released for Xbox and Nintendo platforms, adding online functionality to several of its modes. This only underscores that "Perfect Dark" holds up as one of the best first-person shooters around. That's something that its prequel, "Perfect Dark Zero," has been unable to replicate. What could have been a classic franchise is instead one shining jewel.

Released in 2007, "Halo 3" is arguably the best Xbox 360 game of all time and certainly one of the pinnacles of its own series. The game opens with Master Chief returning to Earth just in time to help repel the Covenant's invasion of the planet. In addition to the campaign, the game's usual multiplayer modes return, with a greater emphasis on its online capabilities. This includes the ability for players to design and share their own customized multiplayer levels and modes to enjoy.

If "Halo" was the first console-based first-person shooter series to really make waves in the 21st century, "Halo 3" takes it to the next level. The game's campaign is a rewardingly epic culmination of the prior entries' interstellar story and the multiplayer remains as frenetically fun as ever. When the game was released as part of "Halo: The Master Chief Collection" for subsequent consoles, it remained a highlight in the compilation. Bringing the series to new highs while refining what made it so notable to begin with, "Halo 3" is still a modern masterpiece and not a game to be missed.

Alongside titles like "Wolfenstein 3D," the original "Doom" and its 1994 sequel helped catapult first-person shooters into the gaming mainstream. The iconic series got a delightfully gory revival in 2016 before receiving a direct sequel with 2020's "Doom Eternal." The game has the Doom Slayer step up to drive back Hell's devastating invasion of Earth and defend humanity from total annihilation. The game also offers a variety of multiplayer modes, both cooperatively and competitively, including a horde mode as players take on waves of demonic monsters.

"Doom Eternal" boasts a whole arsenal of weapons while significantly improving upon the gameplay from the 2016 revival. The action is as violent as ever and the humor remains as self-consciously dark, while its sheer scope is heightened by ambitious DLC. Narratively, the game also has an interesting placement in the wider "Doom" timeline, packed with Easter eggs to make its connections more clear. Proving that there's plenty of life in the venerable "Doom" franchise, "Doom Eternal" still stands as the best of the series so far.

The original "Counter-Strike" helped cement PCs as the place for competitive first-person shooters in the then-fledgling esports scene. After a line of updates and spin-offs, the series received a full-on sequel with "Counter-Strike 2" in 2023. The game wisely recognizes the appeal of content from the previous title, 2012's "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive," and updates them completely through use of its improved game engine. The game retains the series' broader premise and the return of several fan-favorite maps, while adding new gameplay modes to the mix.

With its blend of familiar elements and vast amount of new content, "Counter-Strike 2" feels like the definitive experience in the long-running series. The game's use of modern tech optimizes the presentation and gameplay without feeling prohibitively system-intensive for players who don't have the most powerful rigs. To date, the game is only available for PC, which for "Counter-Strike" purists feels oddly appropriate, even in this age of multiplatform releases. An extensive reinvention of what the series can be, "Counter-Strike 2" strikes the perfect balance between playing the hits and presenting players with something new.