The Best Shooter Games Of 2025 According To Metacritic - GameSpot

The Best Shooter Games of 2025, Ranked by Metacritic

Shooter games stayed red-hot in 2025, blending genres, reviving classics, and pushing new ideas—from bullet-heaven roguelites and tactical sims to remasters and retro shmups. Here are the year’s standout shooters and remasters, ranked by Metascore, plus what makes each worth your time.

2025 shooter trends at a glance:

• Genre mashups flourished: roguelites, extraction, tactical, and metroidvania shooters stood out.
• Remasters ruled: Nightdive led a strong year for respectful, feature-rich revivals.
• Competitive and co-op continued to thrive, with smart AI and inventive modifiers shaking up matches.

Every ranked shooter of 2025 (by Metascore)

• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor — 86: A precise, procedural bullet-heaven spin-off that makes DRG’s auto-firing chaos sing.
• Heretic + Hexen — 86: Nightdive’s polished remaster preserves ‘90s magic with smart tweaks, retro-faithful visuals, and new content.
• Arc Raiders — 86: Smart AI, satisfying third-person gunplay, and expansive, surprise-filled maps made a late-year splash.
• Earthion — 85: Retro horizontal shmup with a clever upgrade system, sweaty boss fights, and varied stages.
• System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster — 84: A light-touch upgrade that highlights how ahead-of-its-time the 1999 classic was.
• Gradius Origins — 84: A loving tribute to classic Gradius with customization options and unearthed prototypes.
• Battlefield 6 — 84: A return to form—huge maps, compelling classes, and an F2P battle royale bringing in new players.
• Doom: The Dark Ages — 83: Bold prequel pivots to parries and grounded combat while keeping gloriously brutal executions.
• The Outer Worlds 2 — 83: Bigger, sharper sequel with improved combat and refined RPG systems in a satirical sci-fi galaxy.
• PowerWash Simulator 2 — 82: More zen blasting—with meaningful improvements and fluid, relaxing gameplay.
• Borderlands 4 — 81: Loot-chasing FPS with buildcrafting, four new Vault Hunters, and a Timekeeper-toppling campaign.
• Ready or Not — 80: Ultra-tense, realistic SWAT sim where careful room-clearing and civilian safety are everything.
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — 80: Long-awaited return delivers exciting gunplay, stellar level design, and a pulsing score.
• Shotgun Cop Man — 80: Short, goofy power fantasy with inventive, projectile-powered movement and smart levels.
• Neon Inferno — 80: SNES-styled cyberpunk blend of 2D shooting and platforming that oozes retro style.
• Rainbow Six Siege X — 79: A decade on, the tactical gold standard—now F2P—with better onboarding and Dual Front mode.
• Gears of War: Reloaded — 79: Marginally improved over Ultimate Edition but still a slick, timeless cover shooter.
• Dune: Awakening — 78: Survival-MMO faithful to Herbert’s vision where gunplay complements deep systems and sandworm-scale stakes.
• Days Gone Remastered — 78: Tweaked re-release with standout Horde Assault mode; still a divisive ride.
• Escape From Duckov — 77: A clever, comedic extraction-shooter parody with a solid raid-and-extract loop.
• R-Type Delta: HD Boosted — 77: The PS1 classic returns with tight action, killer soundtrack, and varied ships.
• Bladechimera — 77: Comfort-food metroidvania shooter with cyberpunk vibes, polished action, and nostalgic pixel art.
• Deadpool VR — 76: A colorful, quippy superhero romp that nails the nearly unkillable feel in VR.
• Revenge of the Savage Planet — 76: Creative, colorful sequel focused on exploration, puzzles, and cheeky satire.
• Sniper Elite: Resistance — 75: New protagonist, same gratifying x-ray carnage—timeless Nazi-eradication.
• FragPunk — 74: Tight bomb-plant/defuse PvP with card-based modifiers that remix every round.
• Galactic Glitch — 74: Twin-stick roguelike hybrid with escalating power and inventive tools.
• Bounty Star — 74: Mechs meet homestead management in a meditative story of redemption.
• Atomfall — 74: Beyond the “British Fallout” tag—open-ended play, gripping story, and deliciously weird mysteries.
• Mafia: The Old Country — 73: Period mob drama with dated gameplay but outstanding characters and storytelling.
• Metal Eden — 73: Boomer-shooter rush with exceptional gunfeel that overpowers narrative shortcomings.
• Wildgate — 72: Spacefaring PvP extraction with ship battles inspired by Sea of Thieves—distinct from Arc Raiders.
• Escape From Tarkov — 72: Brutally unforgiving survival that makes every extraction a white-knuckle victory.
• RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business — 71: Focused expansion fixes pacing with a stacked skyscraper and new toys.
• Abyssus — 71: Fast, underwater roguelite FPS where smart skill combos fuel cathartic runs.

Source: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-best-shooter-games-of-2025-according-to-metacritic/2900-7350/