Summary
If there are two things that a lot of gamers seem to love, they areFPS games and open-world games. First-person shooters likeCall of Dutytop bestseller lists every year, and some of the biggest franchises in gaming are open-world ones.
So, it’s no surprise, then, that mixing the two genres together is often a recipe for success. Some of thebest open-world games of all time are FPS games, after all. In fact, there are so many awesome open-world FPS games that it can be hard to choose one, especially since they can take so long to complete. To avoid personal bias, they’re ranked by their review aggregates, but it’ll also be pointed out if these scores were a bit controversial.
Updated on June 24, 2025, By Robbie Mitchell:Originally, this article was only limited to “true” open-world games and ignored those with “zoned” open-worlds, like Borderlands. The article has been updated to include some games thatfeel open-worldeven if they make use of zones (loading screens aren’t that bad). We’ve also added some games that didn’t get the warmest critical reception but plenty of people seem to have enjoyed them. A couple of games that can be played in first-person have also been added in, although it’s not the default option. All entries maintain an emphasis on the shooter part of a first-person shooter.
Anyone who playedGeneration Zeroat launch will likely be surprised it made this list. A buggy mess when it was launched back in 2018, the game was widely panned by critics and gamers alike. However, the developers never gave up on this one and things improved over the years with frequent updates, even if the game is still far from perfect.
A co-op, alternate-history survival shooter,Generation Zeromostly makes this list for what it tried to do. If one can overlook all the bugs, the game had some really cool ideas. The game’s alternate 1980s alternate setting feels like a mash-up of games likeHorizon Zero Dawnand the weirder aspects of theFar Cryfranchise. Playing with friends the combat can be fun but challenging and the game makes the player work for any progress earned.Generation Zerowas full of potential, but it just scrapes in at the bottom of this list.
Homefront: The Revolutionwas a victim of its own success before it was even released. There was so much hype about the game’s supposedly super dynamic open-world and inventive mission design that it was never going to live up to expectations.
But, this article is all about open-world FPS games andHomefront’sopen-world was great, in places. The game’s world was split into a handful of different zones which ranged from “meh” to “really cool”. The so-called yellow zones, the heavily occupied areas, were full of creative environmental storytelling and nailed the oppressive atmosphere the game’s devs were going for. Unfortunately, the mission design never managed to be quite as impressive.Homefront: The Revolutionhas plenty of faults, but with the hype train firmly in the rearview mirror-it wasn’t a bad game and in places its world-building was excellent.
There was a lot of hype surroundingRage 2before its 2019 release. The originalRagehad become somewhat of a cult classic, loved for its impressive world-building and tight gunplay. Fans went crazy for the idea of a bigger, better, open-world version.
Unfortunately,Rage 2was a bit of a disappointment. It was by no means a bad game, it just lacked the depth and longevity fans had come to expect. Beware of the hype train. However, in hindsight,Rage 2is a pretty slick open-world FPS. While lots of open-world games take themselves a bit too seriously these days,Rage 2isan excellent switch-your-brain-off FPSwith exhilarating FPS gunplay and very pretty graphics. It’s 73 on Metacritic feels both a little mean and, conversely, completely fair.
Looking back, it’s kind of amazingDying Light’sMetacritic score is only a modest 74. As an open-world FPS survival horror game with a focus on parkour,Dying Lightwas pretty revolutionary. Except perhaps forMirror’s Edge,there had never really been a game like it before.
Killing zombies was a lot of fun inDying Light,and it’s still one ofthe best co-op zombie games. By the end of the game’s lifecycle, it had a truly insane number of weapons to squish zombies with, including a few guns.Dying Light’sgunplay was always pretty simple, and the guns themselves were limited in choice, but head-shotting a zombie always felt great. Gamers looking for a pure FPS experience might want to look elsewhere, but for everyone else,Dying Lightis an awesome choice.
The olderSTALKER: Shadow of Chernobylbecomes, the more impressive it gets. One ofthe best alternative history FPS games, the game is set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, except inSTALKER’sversion, which has mutated monstrosities. The game blends survival horror with open-world FPS gameplay and features a world designed to feel dynamically alive.
InSTALKER,resources are scarce, and the player must plan for every eventuality. The story is non-linear and rewards players who explore and dare to make tough decisions. While the actual FPS shooting feels simplistic by today’s standards, everything else about the game remains incredibly impressive (except perhaps its graphics). The only real downside to the game is that trying to get it to run on modern hardware is no easy task. Thankfully, we now haveSTALKER 2for gamers looking to explore this amazing world on modern hardware (even if the game is remarkably demanding to play).STALKER 2may not have kept everyone happy, but it does service to the franchise’s legacy.
Next toCyberpunk 2077,No Man’s Skyis probably the biggest redemption story in the history of gaming. Hyped to ridiculous levels before its 2016 release, its developers over-promised a procedurally generated, dynamic universe that players could explore and interact with at will. Instead, what they got was more like a walking simulator crossed with a knockoff ofMinecraft. While the original release was more than a little disappointing, years of updates have turnedNo Man’s Skyinto something exceedingly special.
The game has so many systems at this point it’s hard to keep track of, but FPS gunplay is certainly one of them. FPS combat has never been a focus of the game, but it is there, and the originally basic gunplay has been expanded. Players can build their own weapons, and hunt, and kill an endless variety of enemies. They can even hop into a mech loaded with firearms. That being said,No Man’s Sky’sfocus is definitely on the exploration and open-world side of things.
Some readers might take issue withStarfieldbeing ranked quite so highly here. It’s easy to see why. There was a lot of hype surrounding the game before release, and Bethesda fans could barely hide their excitement, but sadly, many found the game more than a little disappointing. While gamers could overlook the usual Bethesda bugs, the sad truth was the game’s world failed to live up to the likes ofSkyrimandFallout.
Starfieldpromises a whole galaxy to explore, but that galaxy is heavily zoned. Even for a Bethesda game, it has a lot of loading screens. It also features a lot of obvious procedural generation (imagine a Fallout where every other structure was an identical Red Rocket). These complaints aside, the game has moments where it achieves what the developers were aiming for. The first-person shooting is the best the studio has achieved, and, in its more structured sections, the world-building is just as good as its siblings. Bethesda seems to have realized this and the recentShattered Spaceexpansion offered a more traditional Bethesda open-world experience.
BeforeExodus, theMetrofranchise had always had open-air areas, but the emphasis was always on claustrophobic subterranean areas. The clue was in the name.Exodusblew that out of the water. It still had plenty of underground areas full of mutated nasties, but this time the emphasis was on three outdoor, open-world areas.
Rather than being truly open-world, most ofMetro Exodusis split between the flooded Volga region, the desert Caspian Sea, and the forested Taiga. Each area is relatively large andfeelsopen-world, even if some of the areas aren’t actually that big by modern standards. More importantly, each area was distinct and a hoot to explore, with important upgrades and side objectives hidden all over the place. Impressively, these large, open areas didn’t dull any of the horror fans expected from aMetrogame and everything else about the entry felt polished.
LikeStarfield,The Outer Worldsis a heavily zoned space-faring game that tries to feel open-world. The difference is thatThe Outer Worldswas less ambitious and therefore much more successful in achieving this goal. Inspired by old-schoolFallout,the game is made up of several zones, each with an open-world structure where the player is free to explore and take on side quests at their own speed.
Obsidian has a serious pedigree when it comes to world-building, and that’s on show here. Likewise, the decision-based quests do an excellent job of making it feel like the player’s choices actually matter. On the downside, the actual first-person gunplay is just ok. TheOuter Worldsis an RPG first, shooter second and that shows in the gameplay.
Cyberpunk 2077was released in a shockingly broken state, especially on consoles, and it’s only after years of updates that its immense potential has finally been realized. Today, it is one ofthe best-looking open-world games ever madeand arguably one of the most fun. That 2.0 update did a lot of heavy lifting.
Not just pretty to look at,Cyberpunk 2077has a brilliant, choice-laden story that offers a fair bit of replayability. Its open world is fairly massive and packed to the gills with hidden content, side quests, and activities for the player to hunt down and complete. While many games of a similar size eventually outstay their welcome,Cyberpunkremains fun in its entirety. That’s largely down to the epic moment-to-moment gameplay.Cyberpunkoffers a ton of different ways to play, but whatever the player chooses, guns are likely to still play a role.Cyberpunk’sFPS gunplay is gory, over-the-top, and lots of fun.
