The 13 Best Movement Shooters Ever

With so many shooters coming out within the last 15 years, it is simple to feel shooter fatigue setting in. This sense is made even worse by the returning give attention to real military conflicts that triple-A shooters have driven into the bottom. Luckily, there’s one sub-genre from the past that’s ever-exciting: the movement shooter.

Unlike their brown and beige military shooter counterparts, movement shooters proceed to innovate, desirous to throw in any off-the-wall idea and see if it sticks. Gone are realistic military skirmishes. Of their place sit giant robots, ancient gods, and probably the most chaotic gameplay in modern gaming.

Updated December 19, 2024 By Ben Jessey: There are plenty of fantastic movement shooters on this planet. As such, we couldn’t fit all of them on this list. So, we have now updated the piece so as to add several more.

13

Neon White

Neon White isn’t nearly moving; it’s about moving at speed, as that is an FPS designed around speed running. If you ought to go really fast, though, you may’t just sprint. It’s essential to use some parkour skills to stand up and around obstacles quickly.

You’ll be able to get some handy parkour abilities by picking up and discarding the soul cards which are laid around each level. Nonetheless, it’s possible you’ll not need to eliminate them immediately to unlock the special ability, as additionally they function your weapons before being discarded. So, you will want them to take out the enemies in your way. Subsequently, the important thing to this game is selecting the best time to discard your cards. It’s a novel gameplay mechanic that works rather well on this smooth and satisfying game.


Metal: Hellsinger screenshot of a Wraith coming towards the player, while the player holds a blade.

At first glance, Metal: Hellsinger looks loads like Doom with its hellish setting and litany of demons. Where it differs from that classic shooter is within the proven fact that it’s an FPS mixed with a rhythm game. You progress around while a heavy metal track is blasting away, and also you do more damage in case your attacks synchronize to the music beat.

Together with timing your shots, you’re encouraged to be in perpetual motion on this game as you progress across the battlefield. This may help you get in good attack positions, but it may possibly also help you dodge incoming fire. Your ability to double jump and dash in mid-air helps, too.

11

Halo 5: Guardians


Halo 5 screenshot of Spartan doing a ground pound.

Halo, as a series, is not known for its movement. In truth, within the early games, you may’t even run. Yet, the series has modified quite loads through the years. A lot in order that Halo 5 will be considered a movement shooter.

Not only are you able to sprint, but you furthermore may can dash in numerous directions, slide, charge into things, and hover within the air. Together with that, the sport offers the standard solid FPS experience that made the series famous in each the campaign and PvP multiplayer.

10

Sunset Overdrive


Sunset Overdrive screenshot of the main character grinding through a barrage of missiles.

Sunset Overdrive just isn’t the usual movement shooter, as it is also an open-world title. The said world is a metropolis whose populace has been mutated because of a toxic energy drink. Not less than, most of them have, as there are still survivors, including the essential character, who attempts to unravel the mess.

They achieve this by utilizing their incredible movement skills. As them, you may run on partitions, zipline, and skate across the place. This is not just from getting from one place to a different, either. You are encouraged to do all these things during fights, too.

9

DUSK


The player character brandishes their shotgun in a tree-filled room in Dusk.

One have a look at DUSK, and it’s possible you’ll think this game is from the ’90s. That is by design, because the title is a love letter to games from that period, resembling Doom and Quake.

Like those games, DUSK is a shooter where you are encouraged to be in perpetual motion. So, this is not an FPS where you hide in cover and peek out occasionally to fireplace some shots. You are taking on all kinds of enemies concurrently while running around and shooting them.

8

Super Cloudbuilt


Screenshot of Super Cloudbuilt soldier wall-running with rockets.

Super Cloudbuilt is a parkour-platformer first and a shooter second. That is not a nasty thing, though, as its extreme give attention to fluid movement makes running and jumping just as satisfying as gunplay.

Tearing through Super Cloudbuilt’s lonely world makes for a solemn experience whenever you’re not shooting every thing, and the wedding of those two very different vibes is what makes it so special. Super Cloudbuilt is a uniquely existential movement shooter and ought to be advisable for anyone who likes to feel things while they blow every thing up.

7

Bulletstorm


Character in Bulletstorm shooting a gun with their foot close up in the foreground.

Within the build-up to Bulletstorm’s release in 2011, the phrase “kill with skill” was used loads. It’s because the sport is all about eliminating people in wild and weird ways. You even gain extra points for unique kills. Subsequently, you are discouraged from simply hiding behind cover and picking people off.

You have got to be out in battle, running and sliding around while using your varied set of weapons to rack up some kills. All of the while, you get to experience some cheesy but humorous dialogue.

6

Ultrakill


V1 Fires Two Guns In Ultrakill.

Ultrakill is a game that revels in its own absurdity. Every design decision was made to make the sport as cool as possible, and you may feel this over-the-top energy throughout the whole campaign. Gore flies out of each PS1-esque character model, and high-speed movement cannonballs you toward unsuspecting enemies at hilarious speeds. Hell, even the name is awesome.

It seems like Ultrakill is continuously pushing you to shoot faster, move faster, and learn faster. It’s an exhilarating, if exhausting, game to experience. Play Ultrakill, but provided that you’ve gotten a comfortable place to lie down and chill out when you’re done.

5

Apex Legends


Apex Legends characters about to shoot at each other.

Apex Legends is an almost-sequel to the wonderful Titanfall 2. Fairly than creating one other tight single-player experience, Respawn Entertainment decided to try its hand on the battle royale genre. And thru some bizarre miracle, they really ended up with an ideal game.

By melding hero shooter gameplay with battle royale mechanics, Apex Legends picks and chooses one of the best parts from each of the fashionable shooter crazes of the 2010s, leaving their rough spots on the door. Add in some expertly tuned movement and the most endearing robot friend ever, and you’ve gotten the recipe for one of the best battle royale available on the market.

4

Vanquish


Vanquish promo image of character sliding.

Vanquish may be probably the most movement-obsessed shooter ever. It begs you to dash, jump, flip, and slide in the way in which only an area soldier with a robot suit could. Add in bullet time mechanics, and you’ve gotten a uniquely extreme experience. In addition to Matrix-style slow-motion acrobatics, Vanquish also offers a sense of all-out war, with dozens of soldiers and robots fighting on the identical battlefield as you. It’s nothing wanting a miracle that Vanquish got here out on PS3.

Vanquish’s story is a weak one, but that is easily forgotten once a cutscene ends, and also you’re back to taking down an evil robot army as sci-fi John Wick. Vanquish is a six-hour stint of intergalactic mayhem, and it’s against the law that it never got a sequel.

3

Quake 3: Arena


Quake 3 Arena screenshot of player holding weapon.

Quake 3: Arena might be one of the talked about video games of all time, and for good reason. Its legacy is limitless, its content groundbreaking, and its impact immeasurable. Even now, 23 years after its release, there are still people in online lobbies for Quake 3.

Certainly one of the primary online shooters, fans of the fashionable shooter juggernauts have loads to thank Quake 3 Arena for. Even probably the most groundbreaking multiplayer experiences of today stand on the shoulders of this premillennial giant.

2

Doom Everlasting


Doom Eternal screenshot of Doomguy with slayersword on a pile of dead demons.

Doom Everlasting needs no introduction. It’s one of the well-known and beloved movement shooters in recent memory. The series itself is considered one of the true pioneers of the movement shooter genre.

Everlasting is Doom at its most pure. The Doomslayer propels through the air at inhuman speeds as you rip and tear through hordes of enemies until, finally, it is finished. Doom Everlasting’s campaign is movement shooting perfection, with every mission upping the ante right up until its spectacular ending.

1

Titanfall 2


Titan and Pilot standing together in the game poster for Titanfall 2.

Titanfall 2 is one of the underrated video games of the fashionable era. Releasing concurrently Battlefield, no amount of wonderful gunplay, expansive movement mechanics, and lovable robot friends could save Titanfall 2.

Despite its failure to fulfill triple-A sales figures, Titanfall 2 has continuously gained popularity in recent times, as shooter fans slowly uncover what they missed out on while they were playing Battlefield One. What they missed out on was the tightest, most creative, most kinetically satisfying movement shooter to this point.