7 of the Best Single-Player First-Person Shooter Games for Windows PCs

First-person shooter games have long been a top genre on Windows PCs and consoles. Windows PCs helped popularize the FPS genre with classics like Wolfenstein and Doom. While multiplayer FPS games often top the charts, the best solo campaigns combine gripping storylines with thrilling action. Here are some of the best single-player FPS games for Windows PCs.

Prey

Prey is one of the most engrossing first-person shooters due to its unique environmental storytelling, exceptional player freedom, and the immersive Talos 1 station. Talos 1 is a meticulously designed game world, showcasing environmental storytelling at its finest. Prey’s spooky atmosphere is fueled by the Typhon alien species overrunning Talos 1. While it doesn’t focus on nonstop action, Prey’s survival-focused gameplay and deep character customization make it compelling.

Metro Exodus

Many players rate Metro Exodus as the best in its series. Metro Exodus is a post-apocalyptic FPS game that blends a strong narrative with open-world survival elements. Players prefer Exodus to its predecessors because of its more open-world level design that allows for more map exploration and less linear gameplay. It mixes stealth with direct combat action by enabling players to choose what approach they prefer against human and monster enemies. Metro Exodus is also a graphical treat with its ray-traced visuals.

Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 might be a retro game now, but it’s a timeless classic and one of the most highly-rated PC games in history. Its realistic physics, terrific level design, and great environmental storytelling have kept Half-Life 2 among the best first-person shooter games for decades. Few, if any, single-layer first-person shooter games have ever matched the revolutionary physics-based gameplay and immersive storytelling of Half-Life 2.

Titanfall 2

The Titanfall 2 FPS game is renowned for its innovative movement mechanics and dynamic mechanized gameplay. Although some criticize the Titanfall 2 solo game for being too short, that campaign still has a masterfully innovative design. Many players love how Titanfall 2 transitions between fast-paced pilot and heavy-hitting Titan combat action. Few other first-person shooter games can match Titanfall 2’s fluid movement and satisfying gunplay.

Unlike the likes of Metro Exodus, Prey, and BioShock, Titanfall 2 also comes with a decent multiplayer mode. The Titanfall 2 multiplayer has some of the same great fluid movement from the single-player mode, along with deep titan and pilot customization options. That multiplayer mode considerably expands Titanfall 2’s replay value beyond its short campaign.

Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal is one of the best additions to the renowned Doom franchise. This FPS game features some seriously high-octane gameplay with its intense mobility and mechanics. ID Software described Doom Eternal as combat chess, with more tactical combat against demonic hordes with specific vulnerabilities for players to exploit. The blistering speed, intense soundtrack, enemy design diversity, and technical quality of Doom Eternal have made it one of the most enthralling single-player first-person shooter games for Windows PCs.

BioShock

With a Metacritic score of 96, BioShock is among the most highly-rated first-person shooters in gaming history. BioShock’s immersive underwater city of Rapture is one of the most atmospheric worlds in any first-person shooter, with some great environmental storytelling. The innovative combat mechanics in BioShock offer great tactical flexibility, allowing players to mix a wide variety of guns and Plasmids to set up more unique combat approaches. BioShock was also among the first first-person shooter games to incorporate creative player choices that affect the overall narrative and game ending.

The original BioShock is a retro game. However, you can play a graphically enhanced version of the game with BioShock Remastered, which has higher resolution textures and 4K support. Alternatively, check out the BioShock: The Collection package that includes remastered versions of BioShock 1 and 2, along with the third Infinite game.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is an alternative history FPS game set in a Nazi-occupied America. This is among the best first-person shooter games because of its terrific, responsive combat gunplay that enables players to duel-wield weapons for a variety of combat strategies. It incorporates a compelling narrative, memorable characters, and a striking alternative-history world for players to battle it out against Nazi foes in the USA. The top-notch AAA graphical quality and sound design of Wofenstein II: The New Colossus make it an even more stunning game.

Those are seven great first-person shooter games that offer distinct single-player gaming experiences. Such games include some of the most exciting and engrossing single-player campaigns you’ll ever play in first-person shooters. If you prefer blasting action mixed with compelling stories, those are the best FPS games to check out.