Top 10 Shooter Games of the Decade 2010's

January 4, 2020 at 2:52am
By Jason Stettner

The decade is wrapped up, the 2010’s are already behind us. One genre has consistently seen released titles throughout that period of time, so here are the best Shooter Games of the decade. This is a ranked ordering for the list, based on how time has treated them as many are still quality titles to today.

This is largely designed to showcase titles of the genre that have left a lasting impression, or had some sort of special element that helped grow the particular niche that it belonged to. This might vary based on opinion, but these are all mighty titles that helped define how this genre has changed over the decade.

#10: DOOM

Another classic series brought back in a fresh way. It gave us blazing fast monster slaying action that focused on literal carnage. There was more to the game than just that having some really fun multiplayer, customization for maps and some challenge modes. It was refreshing, and it was impressive considering what game it was following up.

#9: Titanfall

It might seem odd to include this as opposed to the second one, but this laid the foundation for what was to come. It kicked off fast paced, mech based futuristic action and just nailed it. It wasn’t as expansive as it’s follow-up, but was a ton of fun and felt like Call of Duty yet with massive mechs. I loved it, it’s still great and the sequel was a worthy improvement.

#8: Gears of War 3

There were high expectations for this and I think it represents the third person shooter very well. It’s covered based combat was smoothed out, backed by an expansive multiplayer and lots of other content. It streamlined the common horde mode that it helped make so popular and took the competitive action in a slightly different direction. It brought hopper seasonal modes which have become more common, and the campaign was impactful for narrative driven moments that made this more than just an intense shooter.

#7: Spec Ops: The Line

This is not a title that everyone might include, but I think it’s truly important. Never has a game made me feel so confused and awful, especially a shooter title. In a time where whatever character you played as in a shooter was a hero, this game changed that. I don’t want to spoil things, so I’ll be vague. The moral choices, the way things shift and how it’s all revealed is too much. The multiplayer didn’t last too long, I thought it was alright. The campaign itself though, unforgettable.

#6: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

You can’t forget Counter-Strike, despite releasing early on this title is still popular right to the end of the decade and then past it. It’s impressive, especially that it continues to grow in new ways. I’d say it’s rather wild that a game this old has been able to keep an audience throughout most of a decade.

#5: Battlefield 4

It was hard to choose a Battlefield title, but then the choice was obvious. This was a big change up for the series in regards to scale and the modern setting. It presented a grittier, realistic and large scale world. What was even more impressive, was that this brought large scale battles to console for the first time ever. It showed off just what the generation could do for larger multiplayer action, and it holds. The campaign was also decent.

#4: Overwatch

This is a fun game that really got the hero style of shooter going and it’s been a massive hit. It features a focus on team based shooting featuring a variety of wacky characters and objectives to work on. It’s spawned a massive fan base, and it continues to be something that piles of people love jumping into.

#3: Fortnite

While some might question the inclusion of this title, you cannot deny the impact it’s had on the industry. It’s a key title in cross-play, and cross-device development. It truly blew up the battle royale genre, and has continued to be fresh with tons of wild tweaks to its formula since release. There’s also an alright coop mode, but that’s largely been forgotten. It’s an important game for the industry, and it’ll leave a lasting mark on games to come in the next decade.

#2: Halo Reach

Bungie nailed it with Halo Reach, a campaign with meaning and a massive experience. It brought large scale multiplayer with tons of variations and ways to tweak the experience. It was a refinement on the multiplayer they have been working on for years.

Not only was it fresh, covering all of their past work it also pushed customization and creation for consoles. The Forge World was an insane feat at the time, offering forge maps that helped grow the game for years. The Firefight was fresh, offering a new way to battle waves of enemies and again the campaign was deep in its somber tones.

#1: Call of Duty: Black Ops

This was a hard, yet perfect choice for the first spot. I didn’t pick it as the best Call of Duty game of the decade, but shooter I did in regards for what it did to the genre. It brought fun smaller modes, a gritty campaign and set forth a model for cooperative options after it. The zombies brought to life something that titles have emulated and that the rest of the series has tried to copy still.

The campaign was of course dark, and thought provoking in many ways. The multiplayer was entirely different, fresh and offered distinct expansions upon the core mechanics that players had come to expect within the franchise. It also improved customization, and just fun game modes for online action. This sort of defined the Call of Duty juggernauts over the entirety of the decade.

Those are the top 10 Shooter Games of the 2010’s featuring a wide range of titles, perhaps some surprises as well. Hopefully a good variety, with some unexpected placements throughout this listing. Check out another selection of ten games below, or our awards hub to see what took home the top prizes from the site for this past year.

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