First-Person Shooter is a videogame subgenre of shooters and a really popular form of them. Its basic style of play is exactly what the name says: the players see things in first person, from the eyes of the character, and the action revolves around shooting within a three-dimensional environment. Its basic input commands control movement, aiming, shooting and environment/NPC interaction. Depending on the subgenre (see below), other controls may be required such as inventory display and item usage.
These games have origins in flight Simulation Games, dating as far back as Sega's Jet Rocket
(1970), the Ur-Example of the genre, as well as Adventure Game and Role-Playing Game titles which were played in the first-person perspective, but weren't quite 3D because they were rendered in discrete steps, view of the surroundings, typically a dungeon, and which had sensible and consistent worlds, NPC interaction, relatively few artificial restrictions, plotlines, and puzzles. Several games of this type were full 3D with freedom of movement, notably Action RPG titles Star Cruiser
(1988) and Ultima Underworld (1992).
As for the genre per se, it was first popularized by id Software, via the Trope Maker Wolfenstein 3-D (1992) and especially the Trope Codifier Doom (1993); indeed, before the genre's name finally crystallized, many following games were referred to as "Doom Clones"; these games boast full freedom of movement in pseudo-3D environments (unlike fellow first-person genres Light Gun Game and Rail Shooter), and Doom even had a hand in the introduction to game modding and multiplayer play to the then-nascent genre. Bungie would then release Marathon (1994) for Apple Macintosh adding the reload feature to the genre with a more dynamic world and a more intricate story that tried to avert both the Excuse Plot and A Space Marine Is You tropes.
At the beginning of 1996, 3D Realms's would then release Duke Nukem 3D, which was notable for its high level of interactivity and over-the-top Action Hero protagonist in a much more realistic world than seen in prior games. Players could interact with the world and engage in misc activities as the Duke, doing things such as playing pool, tipping strippers, or taking sips from water-fountains and even urinating in toilets to heal. Then that summer of the same year, the highly anticipated release of Id Software‘s next hit, Quake I, would provide a major technical breakthrough in gaming. While a return to the more basic style of Doom's kill everything by that moves type of gameplay, Quake was the first FPS to introduce a fully immersive, much darker and grittier truly 3D world with polygonal models for characters and entities rather than the pseudo 3D environments seen in previous titles within the genre. Mouse look also became a standard control scheme with the release, which fully integrated mouse control for looking around and aiming, setting the standard for FPS controls in subsequent games. It also introduced real-time lighting and shadows, which enhanced the visual experience and contributed to a much more captivating environment then games prior.
1998 was a key year for the genre: Epic Games's Unreal I introduced the world to the now-ubiquitous Unreal Engine, with it’s enhanced capabilities pulling off the genre from its cramped corridors and tight spaces and into an open world. Unreal's lush environments paved the way for more games to follow its footsteps. Other games from the era such as SiN and Starsiege: Tribes, while not as groundbreaking as the previously mentioned games, also had contributions of their own such as vehicle driving sections, which eventually became commonplace. Yet, 1998 would have been just another year, if not for the release of the biggest game of that year, and a regular contender for Best FPS/videogame of all time: Valve Software's Half-Life 1, which further expanded the narrative possibilities well above and beyond what was thought possible of first person shooters, with Video Game Set Pieces replacing cutscenes, physics-based puzzles and friendly allied NPCs, and an intricate and complex story while also providing a more grounding feel in realism. The success of the game heavily influenced the way for other companies to follow suit.
At the same time, while the genre was dominating the PC world, Rare was paving the way for shooters on the console market: with two titles for the Nintendo 64: Turok and GoldenEye (the latter being one of those games that defied The Problem with Licensed Games), both of which showed how well an FPS could work on console. Some members from Rare would then leave the company to form Free Radical Design and create the TimeSplitters trilogy of console shooters in the 2000s, where friends would gather around the TV and play with hundreds of colorful characters in unique cooperative, competitive and party game modes for hours together.
Yet the most impactful of all console shooters was most likely the Xbox exclusive title by Bungie called Halo: Combat Evolved. It was a game which finally found a way to make Competitive Multiplayer work in these platforms and leave the door open for even more online innovation within the genre, also gaining even more attention from the casual crowd who were not willing to dish out such money for a gaming computer. The sequel, Halo 2, released in 2004, finally launched these titles into the atmosphere of true online multiplayer gaming and perhaps truly popularized the desire to face other players across the internet from the comfort of one’s bed or sofa.
And all of this progress doesn't even count the countless innovations already made on the multiplayer side of PC gaming. “Doom” and “Quake” were extremely significant contributions to it, the former introducing the world to the term “Deathmatch”, with up to four players via LAN play, and the latter being one of the first games to fully embrace true online multiplayer gaming, supporting TCP/IP networking, which allowed players to connect and play over the internet. This was a significant increase compared to the 4-player limit in "Doom" and showcased the advancements in network technology and game design that id Software had implemented with "Quake."
However, it wasn't until the end of The '90s, with the release of three online centric gamesnote , that the multiplayer FPS scene finally entered the nascent e-Sports scene: first, it was one of the fiercest videogame rivalries ever, with Epic Games's Unreal Tournament and Id Software's Quake III Arena, both released in 1999 and with only two days of difference, two games that took their respective franchise's multiplayer side and distilled them to their most basic elements, giving birth to what was known as the "Arena Shooter" subgenre, as well as popularizing many tropes still present in today's multiplayer games.
The third multiplayer shooter is titled Counter-Strike, and it actually started out as just a mere Game Mod for Half-Life that put two opposing squads in realistic environments with diverse objectives in round-based matches. The mod featured localized damage; unprotected shots to the head usually put an end to any player's avatar. It also had a buyout section where players could buy weapons, ammo and items, completely ditching the old "weapons and items scattered across the arena" system. It was incredibly successful and paved the way for more realistic shooters, among them the critically acclaimed Call of Duty series. Starting as a WWII shooter on PC, it would later become one of the most known franchises in history, eventually entering the realm of console gaming as well. With the release of Infinity Ward’s 2007 critical hit Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, console gamers who previously never got the chance to experience the realism of Counter Strike could finally get a taste of war on their couch, and it’s release would also give birth to the popular Modern Warfare Trilogy. The following year, developer’s at Treyarch would return to series to it’s WWII roots, except now bleaker and more graphic then ever, with Call of Duty: World at War, which would begin its own infamous ‘Black Ops’ universe. The franchise remains another staple within the first-person shooter genre and the gaming industry in general.
Since then, companies have been trying to expand the genre to different degrees of success, even giving birth to subgenres as wildly different and mixing it with every other genre out there, but that maintains the genre's core elements; see the subgenres for more info on them.
Contrary to popular belief, it's not always about shooting the first person you see.
See also: Standard FPS Guns and Fackler Scale of FPS Realism. If a game never breaks from the first-person perspective of the player character, that's Unbroken First-Person Perspective. Some Third Person Shooters have similar gameplay.
Contrast Fixed Camera (in terms of perspective).
Subgenres spawned by the First-Person Shooter genre include
Examples of this genre:
- 007: Agent Under Fire
- 007 Legends
- 007: Quantum of Solace
- 7 Days to Die
- 8Bit Killer
- 77p: Eggwife, one of the weirdest (and fun) Psychedelic-themed FPS ever made
- 7554: Glorious Memories Revived
- Abiotic Factor
- The Abyss: Incident at Europa
- Ace of Spades (2012)
- Acre Crisis
- ADACA
- The Adventures of Square
- Aftertime
- Airship Assault
- Alien Breed 3-D
- Alien Breed 3-D II: The Killing Grounds
- Aliens: Colonial Marines
- Aliens Online
- Alien Trilogy
- Alien Rage
- Alien: Resurrection
- Alien: Rogue Incursion
- Alien vs. Predator:
- Alien vs. Predator (1994; Jaguar)
- Aliens versus Predator (1999)
- Aliens vs. Predator (2010)
- Aliens vs. Predator 2
- Predator: Hunting Grounds – depending on the mode
- Alien X
- Alliance of Valiant Arms
- Alpha Prime
- AMC Squad
- America's Army
- AmsterDoom
- AMID EVIL
- The Anacrusis
- Anaksha: Female Assassin
- Anger Foot
- Anomalous
- Apex Legends
- Apocryph
- Area 51 (FPS)
- Blacksite: Area 51
- Arizona Sunshine
- Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M.
- Atomic Heart
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
- A.W.O.L.
- Back 4 Blood
- Back Track
- Bad Toys
- Ballistic Weapons (mod for Unreal Tournament 2004)
- Battleborn
- Battle Corps
- Battlefield
- The Battlestrike series, an indie series of 8 games set in World War II
- Battlezone (1980) - a very early example
- Battlezone (1998) - incorporates Real-Time Strategy elements
- Battlezone (2006) - a PSP remake emphasizing multiplayer Vehicular Combat
- Battlezone (2016) - an early PSVR game emphasizing virtual reality immersion
- Beach Invasion 1944
- Bet on Soldier (2005)
- Betrayer
- Beyond Sunset
- BioShock:
- Black
- Black ICE
- Blacklight Retribution
- Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold
- Blake Stone: Planet Strike
- Blood
- BLOODCRUSHER II
- Bloodhound
- Bloodline (2005)
- Blood West
- Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge
- Bloody Good Time
- Bodycam
- Bodycount (2011)
- Boiling Point: Road to Hell
- Boneworks
- Borderlands:
- BPM: Bullets Per Minute
- BRAHMA Force: The Assault on Beltlogger 9
- Breakdown
- Breathless
- Breed
- Brink!
- Bright Memory
- Brothers in Arms
- BRUTAL JOHN 2
- Bulletstorm
- Cabela's Dangerous Hunts
- Caesar's Revenge
- Call of Duty:
- Call of Juarez (slightly Action-Adventure)
- Carnivores
- Catacomb Fantasy Trilogy
- Chaser
- Chasm: The Rift
- Chex Quest
- Chernobylite
- Chop Goblins
- Chrome (2003)
- Chuxie
- The Citadel
- Classified: The Sentinel Crisis
- Clive Barker's Jericho
- Clive Barker's Undying
- Coded Arms
- Codename Eagle
- Codename: Tenka
- Cold Winter
- The Colony
- Combat Arms
- Commandos: Strike Force
- Command & Conquer: Renegade
- Concord
- Condemned: Criminal Origins (also Survival Horror)
- The Conduit
- Contagion (Monochrome)
- Consortium
- Contract Wars
- Corridor 7: Alien Invasion
- Counter-Strike
- Creature Shock
- Coven
- Crime Boss: Rockay City
- Crossfire
- Cruel
- Cruelty Squad
- Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason
- Crysis
- CTHON
- Cube
- CULTIC
- CyberMage: Darklight Awakening
- Cyberpunk 2077
- CyClones
- Daemon Summoner
- Daikatana
- Damage Incorporated
- Dark Arena
- Darkest of Days
- Darkwatch
- Dark Forces Saga
- The Darkness
- Davy X Jones
- Day of Defeat
- Day of Infamy
- Day of the Zombie
- Day One: Garry's Incident
- DayZ
- Dead Effect
- Dead Trash
- Deadlink
- Deadhunt
- Dead Island
- Dead Island: Riptide
- Dead Man's Hand (2004)
- Deadfall Adventures
- Dead Trigger
- Death in the Water
- Death Mask
- Deathless Hyperion
- Deathloop
- Deceit
- Deep Rock Galactic
- Decaying Winter
- Delta Force
- Dementium: The Ward
- Depth Dwellers
- Descent
- Desolate
- Depth
- Destiny
- Deus Ex
- Devil Daggers
- Devastation
- Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza
- Die Hard: Vendetta
- Diluvian Ultra
- Dino D-Day
- Dino Trauma
- Dirty Bomb
- Dishonored
- Disintegration (2020)
- Disruptor
- Doom series:
- Doom (1993)
- Doom II
- Final Doom
- Doom 64
- Doom³
- Doom (2016)
- Doom Eternal
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl
- Aetherius
- Ashes 2063
- Batman Doom
- Brutal Doom
- Brutal Wolfenstein 3D
- Call of Dooty
- Demonsteele
- Ghouls vs. Humans
- Grezzo 2
- Guncaster
- Hell Revealed
- Hideous Destructor
- High Noon Drifter
- Highway Acceleroid Booster
- Massmouth
- Mega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch
- My House
- Quake Champions: Doom Edition
- Reelism
- Russian Overkill
- Shadow of the Wool Ball
- Strange Aeons
- Trailblazer
- Trench Foot
- TurboCharged ARCADE!
- Venturous
- Viet Doom
- ZDoom Wars
- Dragon Rage
- Dread Templar
- Dreamkiller
- Drunken Robot Pornography — Yes, it's an FPS, you didn't read it wrong.
- Duke Nukem 3D
- DUSK
- DUSK-12
- DUST 514
- Duty Calls
- Dying Light
- E.T. Armies
- Earthfall
- The EBOLA trilogy
- Echo Point Nova
- Eldritch (2013)
- Eliminate Pro
- The End Times: Vermintide
- The Endless Nightmare series
- Enemy Front
- The Entropy Center
- Eradicator
- Escape from Tarkov
- Eternal Evil
- Ethnic Cleansing
- Evil Resistance: Morning of the Dead
- Evolve
- Executive Assault
- Expedition Zero
- Exodus from the Earth
- Exophobia
- Expert
- E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
- Face Raiders
- Fallen Aces
- Fallout (Also Western RPGs)
- Far Cry
- Farpoint
- Fashion Police Squad
- FBC: Firebreak
- Fears
- Fear the Wolves
- Fern Game Series
- Final Combat
- The Finals
- Firefall
- First Encounter Assault Recon
- Fishgun
- Fobia: St. Dinfna Hotel (combined with Survival Horror)
- Forgive Me Father
- Forsaken (1998)
- Fortunes Run
- Fossilfuel
- Fossilfuel 2
- Friends vs Friends
- Frogmonster
- Frontlines: Fuel of War
- Frontline: Karelia 40 - 44
- G-Police
- Gastro Force
- GAME OF THE YEAR 420BLAZEIT
- Geist
- Gemini: Heroes Reborn
- Generation Zero
- Gene Troopers
- Genetic Species
- Get Even (2017)
- Get To The Orange Door
- Ghost in the Shell: First Assault Online
- Ghost Recon
- GhostShip
- Global Operations
- Gloom (Amiga) - and Gloom 3, no there isn't a Gloom 2. Not to be confused with a 2017 game with a similar name
- Gloomwood
- Going into the Unknown
- GoldenEye (1997)
- GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
- Golden Light
- Goosebumps: Night of Scares - the second game's final stage is a hilarious spoof of FPS games, where you can collect a laser to blow up armies of anthropomorphic Gummi bears trying to eat you.
- Gore: Ultimate Soldier
- Gotham City Impostors
- Grand Theft Auto V (Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions have this as an available gameplay mode)
- Grave/Digger (Roblox)
- Gravelord
- Graven
- Gravity Bone
- GTFO
- GunBuster
- GunFu Fighter
- Gun Godz
- Gungriffon
- Gunfire Reborn
- Gunman Chronicles
- Hacx
- Half-Life series
- Half-Life 1
- Half-Life 2
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Afraid of Monsters
- The Burton Equation
- Cry of Fear
- Counter-Strike
- Cthulhu: An Unspeakable Mod
- Dystopia (Half-Life 2)
- Entropy : Zero
- Grey (Half-Life 2)
- Heart of Evil
- The Hidden: Source
- MINERVA: Metastasis
- Missing Information
- Nuclear Winter
- Sven Co-op
- They Hunger
- Garry's Mod
- NeoTokyo (2014)
- 1187
- Scientist Slaughterhouse
- Sweet Half-Life
- Halo
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- SPV3 (A mod of Halo: Custom Edition)
- Halo: Campaign Evolved (a Video Game Remake of Halo: Combat Evolved)
- Halo 2
- Halo 3
- Halo 3: ODST
- Halo: Reach
- Halo 4
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Halo Infinite
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Hands of Necromancy
- Hard Reset
- Havoc
- Haze
- Heat Project
- Hedon
- Hellbound
- Hellforces
- Hell In Vietnam
- Hell Let Loose
- Hell Revealed
- Heretic
- Heroes & Generals (The Action Game part)
- Hexen
- Hidden & Dangerous
- High Hell
- High on Life
- History Channel Civil War Games — yes, the same TV network just made a collection of Edutainment Games that teaches about the Battle for the Pacific and American Civil War while allowing you to shoot Confederate soldiers in the face.
- Hole
- Homefront
- Homefront: The Revolution
- Hour of Victory
- Hovertank 3D
- HROT
- The Hunt
- Hunt: Showdown
- The Hunter Primal
- Hypercharge Unboxed
- Hyperviolent
- I Am Your Beast
- I. M. Meen
- Immercenary
- Immortal Legacy: The Jade Cipher
- Immortal Redneck
- Immortals of Aveum
- Impaler
- Incision
- INDUSTRIA
- Inner Chains
- In Pursuit of Greed
- Instinct
- Insurgency
- Ion Fury
- illWill - do not confuse this with Ill Will
- Iron Grip (on the La Résistance side; The Empire side is either a player-controlled RTS or AI-driven)
- Iron Storm
- Isle of the Dead
- Jet Rocket
- JFK: Reloaded
- Jonathan Kane: The Protector - sometimes marketed as The Mark 2 as a Dolled-Up Installment
- Judas
- Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death
- Jumping Flash!
- Jurassic Park: Trespasser
- Jurassic: The Hunted
- Ken's Labyrinth
- The Kileak duology
- Kileak: The DNA Imperative
- Kileak 2: Epidemic
- Killer7
- Killing Floor
- Killing Room
- Killing Time
- Killzone
- Kingdom of the Dead
- Kingpin: Life of Crime
- KISS: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child
- Krazy Ivan
- Kreed
- Krunker.io
- Kvark
- Landfall Archives
- Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green
- Land of War - The Beginning
- Last Rites
- LawBreakers
- Left 4 Dead
- Legendary (2008)
- Legend of the Seven Paladins 3D
- Lethal Omen
- Lichdom: Battlemage
- Liquidator and Liquidator 2: Welcome to Hell (both uses the same page)
- Lost in Vivo
- Luna Abyss
- Lycanthorn
- Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter
- Madness Beverage
- Madspace To Hell And Beyond
- Maid of Sker - Sker Ritual
- Magic Carpet (1994)
- Marathon
- The Mark
- MAG (ties in with MMOFPS)
- Maximum Action
- Maze War
- Meatgrinder
- Medal of Honor
- 'Member the Alamo?
- Memoirs of Magic
- Men in Black: The Crashdown
- Men of Valor
- Metal Garden
- Metal Head
- Metal: Hellsinger
- Metathrone
- Metro
- Metroid Prime Trilogy (Also falls under Action-Adventure)
- Midnight Ultra
- Mission Against Terror
- M.I.A. Mission in Asia
- Mob Enforcer
- Modern Combat
- Moon Chronicles
- Mortyr
- Mouse: P.I. for Hire
- Mother Hub
- Mullet MadJack
- MythForce
- Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
- Nerves of Steel
- Neuro
- Nightmare Reaper
- Nitemare 3D
- Natural Selection 2 (Hybrid with Real Time Strategy)
- Necromunda: Hired Gun
- NecroVisioN
- Neon White
- NeonXSZ
- Nerf N-Strike
- Nexuiz
- Nightmare of Decay (Survival Horror from a first-person perspective)
- No One Lives Forever
- No Players Online
- Nocturne In Yellow
- Northern Journey
- Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi
- Nuclear Dawn
- Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
- Office Jerk and its other versions
- Office Point Rescue
- Only Lead Can Stop Them
- Onslaught
- OpenArena
- Operation Body Count
- Operation Flashpoint
- Operation: Matriarchy
- ORION: Prelude
- The Outer Worlds
- Outlaws
- Overkill's The Walking Dead
- Overload
- Overwatch
- Painkiller
- Paladins
- Paper Dolls — a Chinese horror-themed FPS, don't let the title fool you
- Paperhead
- Paranautical Activity
- Paranoiascape — sort of, you control a pair of bone pedals in first-person and consistently use it to deflect an energy orb back and forth at enemies
- Pariah
- Pathways into Darkness
- PAYDAY: The Heist
- Pencil Whipped
- Perfect Dark
- Perilous Warp
- Perish
- Peter Jackson's King Kong
- Phantom Forces
- Phlegethon
- Pirate Hunter
- Pirates Vikings and Knights
- Pistol Whip
- Pixel Gun 3D
- Pixel Gun Plus
- PlanetSide
- PO'ed — it's like Doom, but you're a Chef of Iron instead of a Space Marine
- The Pony Factory
- Police 911
- Polygod
- Post Void
- Postal
- PowerSlave note
- The Precursors
- Prey (2006)
- Prey (2017) (also Immersive Sim)
- Primal Carnage
- Prime Target
- Prodeus
- Project Blackout
- Project Downfall
- Project I.G.I.
- Project Remedium
- Project Silverfish
- Project: Snowblind
- Project Warlock
- Project Warlock II
- Propagation series
- Psychotoxic
- Pursuit
- Putrefaction
- Q-Clash!
- Quake
- Quake I
- Arcane Dimensions
- Beyond Beliefnote
- Contract Revokednote
- Deathmatch Dimensionnote
- Honeynote
- The Punishment Duenote
- QDOOMnote
- Rubicon 2note
- Shrak For Quake
- Slave Zero X: Episode Enyonote
- Spiritworldnote
- Terranote
- Underdark Overbrightnote
- X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse
- Quake II
- Quake III Arena
- Quake IV
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
- Quake Champions
- Quake I
- Quantum Conundrum
- Quiver
- Quartermain and the Cult of Cthulhu
- Radix: Beyond The Void
- RAID: World War II
- Rage (2011)
- Rainbow Six (Also squad-based Simulation Games)
- Rambo: The Video Game (2014)
- Rat Hunter
- Ravenfield
- Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger
- Ready or Not
- REAVER
- Receiver
- Receiver 2
- Red Alliance
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (has this as an available gameplay mode just like GTA V)
- Red Faction (the first two)
- Redfall
- Redline: Gang Warfare 2066
- Redneck Rampage
- Red Ocean
- Red Orchestra
- The Regiment
- Red Steel
- Remorse: The List
- Requiem: Avenging Angel
- Resident Evil series (primarily Survival Horror, but some games are in this genre):
- Resistance
- Retro Virus
- ReVOLUTION (2002)
- The Riddick spin-offs:
- Ripout
- Rise of the Triad
- RoboCop (FPS)
- RoboCop: Rogue City
- Robo Recall
- Robotica
- Rogue Warrior
- Rust
- SAS: Anti-Terror Force and SAS: Secure Tomorrow
- SCP: 5k (previously SCP: Pandemic)
- SCP: Secret Laboratory
- Scorpion: Disfigured
- Sanctum
- Satan
- Scathe
- Scorn
- Second Extinction, a Spiritual Successor to Dino D-Day where you shoot dinosaurs throughout
- Secret Service
- Section 8
- Selaco
- Sentry
- Sensory Overload (1994)
- Serious Sam
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam Advance
- Serious Sam: Next Encounter
- Serious Sam II
- Serious Sam 3: BFE
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 4
- Severed Steel
- Shadowgun Legends
- Shadow Master
- Shadow Ops: Red Mercury
- Shadow: Treachery Cannot Be Tolerated
- Shadow Warrior
- Shadowrun (2007)
- Sharpshooter 3D
- Shattered Horizon
- Shatterline
- Shaw's Nightmare
- Shellshock 2
- The Ship: Murder Party
- Shrine
- Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
- Sift Heads
- Signal Ops
- Silica
- Silent Debuggers
- Silent Hill: The Escape
- SiN
- SiN (1998)
- SiN Episodes: Emergence
- Singularity
- Skibidi Toilets: Invasion
- Skin Deep
- Slayer Shock
- Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer
- Sniper: Ghost Warrior
- Sniper: Path of Vengeance (unrelated to the Sniper series above)
- Solarix
- Soldier of Fortune
- Son and Bone
- Sonar Shock
- Soulslinger: Envoy of Death
- South Park
- Space Beast Terror Fright
- Space Hulk: Deathwing
- Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
- Spasim
- Specimen Zero
- Spectre (1991)
- Splitgate
- SPRAWL
- The Spy Who Shot Me
- Squad
- The Stalin Subway
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Strafe
- Starship 1
- Starship Troopers
- Starship Troopers: Extermination
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Star Wars: Republic Commando
- Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire
- Star Trek: Elite Force
- Star Trek: The Next Generation - Klingon Honor Guard
- Stormland
- Strife
- Sub Rosa (FPS Game)
- Super 3D Noah's Ark
- SUPERHOT
- The Super Spy
- Supplice
- S.W.A.T. — though only the third and fourth game in the series and the spin-off SWAT: Global Strike Team:
- Syndicate (2012)
- Syndrome
- System Shock
- Takedown: Red Sabre
- Team Fortress (mod for Quake I)
- Team Fortress Classic
- Team Fortress 2
- Teardown
- Terminator Future Shock
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
- Terminator Rampage
- Terminator: Resistance
- Terrawars: New York Invasion
- They're Alive!
- Thief — First Person Sneaker.
- Time Crisis 4 — It has a Japan-exclusive special edition which is in first-person starring William Rush as a playable hero
- TimeShift
- TimeSplitters
- Time Warpers
- Titanfall (combines this with Mecha Game)
- Touch The Dead
- Tower of Guns
- Trepang2
- Tribes
- TRON 2.0
- Turbo Overkill
- Tunnel B1
- Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
- Turok
- Ubersoldier
- ULTRAKILL
- UNLOVED
- Umbrella Corps (half hybrid with Third Person shooter)
- Unkilled (mobile game)
- Unreal series:
- Unturned
- The Uprising series, including Uprising: Join or Die and Uprising: X
- Urban Chaos: Riot Response
- Urban Terror
- Utopia City
- VALORANT
- Verdun
- Vietcong
- Viscerafest
- Vivisector: Beast Within
- Vladik Brutal
- Voidborn
- Void Bastards
- Vomitoreum
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
- The Walking Zombie
- The Walking Zombie 2
- War Brokers
- War of Rights
- Warface
- Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
- Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior
- Warstride Challenges
- Warsow
- Wasted
- Water Warfare
- Weird Gun Game
- The Wheel of Time
- White Hell
- Wild Bastards
- William Shatner's TekWar
- Will Rock
- Witchaven
- Witchfire
- Wizordum
- Wolfenstein
- Wolf Team
- The World Is Not Enough
- World War II Online
- World War Polygon: WW2 Shooter
- World War 3
- Wrack
- WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
- Writhe
- XIII
- XDefiant
- Xonotic
- XS
- You Are Empty
- ZAR
- ZPC
- Zeno Clash
- Zeno Clash 2
- Zero Protocol
- Ziggurat
- Zombie Massacre
- ZombiU (with elements of old school Survival Horror)
- Z.O.N.A: Shadow of Lemansk
- Zortch

