What are the best PC arena shooters?

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GamingPCPC Games

What are the best PC arena shooters?

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Dec 29, 2023

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31 Games Considered

Best PC arena shooters	Price	Genre	Platforms
88 Xonotic	Free	First Person shooter, Arena	Windows, Mac, UNIX-like
82 Quake Live	$9.99	-	-
-- Open Arena	Free	First person shooter, Arena	Windows, macOS, UNIX-like, Android
-- Doom	$4.99	-	-
70 Unreal Tournament	-	-	-

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score 78 · Answer 1

Xonotic

Top Pro

Fast-paced action

Top Con

Only populated DM-only server bans good players

If you dare get more than 1 KD and win too many games of deathmatch or kill the admin too many times, he will permaban you. If this happens you can bypass it with an IP change but it's super annoying. Don't believe me? look up the xonotic forums, it has many complaints about this. See More

Raghu Ranganathan's Experience

Very fast, excellent arena shooter which improves severely upon quake, with a lot of improvements that can be visibly seen. It's slick and easy to learn, with customizability of controls being a key aspect of the game. Very fast, with lots of tutorials to learn mechanics very quickly. The sad thing is that it is yet to gain a competitive scene, due to the lack of dedicated players for the game. See More

Specs

Genre:First Person shooter, Arena

Co-Op:Yes

See All Specs

Top Pro

Easy to learn

Mega health, 50a and 100a all spawn at 30 seconds, so timing isn't really that difficult. This way you can be more focused on the pickup order which can result in having an easier environment to practice decision making in. Something that is an important concept in most arena FPS's. Movement is also not very difficult. There's the "noob strafing" mechanic that lets you gain a little bit of speed by simply going forward. Otherwise the movement is similar to CPMA (can still go faster if you're good at movement). The notable difference is that there's no double jump, and you can glide through stairs due to the auto-hopping mechanic, which is a good trick to move fast and silently. See More

Top Con

Toxic players

I have an entire folder full of screenshots of people insulting me in xonotic chat, i wish i was lying but that is the sad truth. See More

HarmoniousVagitanus's Experience

Great quake-like game shadowed by its community that is more toxic than chernobyl back in the 80s. See More

Top Pro

Gameplay has lots of verticality

The game permits players to move across multiple floor levels, which permits more dynamic game play. See More

Top Con

Boring AI bots

Bots are not the most performant opponents in Xonotic. They often run around the same paths, and sometimes even stand still on spots for apparently no reason. See More

ReasonableHunCame's Experience

super See More

Top Pro

Potato computer friendly

Runs perfectly even on old computers. See More

Top Con

Few players

Very few players on the servers. See More

TactfulPhobetor's Experience

A little faster and more party-like than quake, but still requires insane skill to be good. Awesome game. See More

Top Pro

Cross platform

Mac/Linux/Windows support. See More

Top Con

Slow progress / inconsistent team

The game has been in beta since 2010. There are still several kinks with weapon balance and some weapons. The Arc (LG with a spaghetti like shaft) has been struggling to get any proper testing/balancing going on for a while now as it's not even included in the core weapon arsenal yet. Due to Xonotic's open source nature where everyone does things voluntarily, some non important aspects may also be getting more attention than they should, and things that are important are a little slow due to inconsistency of the team members and testers. See More

Lari Laitinen's Experience

Great game but too similar and nothing special to all other afps games and almost dead community. I played this when it was first released and am playing it occasionally now. See More

Top Pro

Not demanding on the system

My MacBook Pro has a ~100 FPS on official maps. See More

homme's secret slant account's Experience

it's really spacy and fast and i love it. See More

Top Pro

Interesting weapon design (for an arena shooter)

All arena shooter basically use Quake or UT weapon system. However, Xonotic has an interesting variety of weapons (larger selection than most) with elements from both UT and Quake but added some of their innovative ideas. Some of the weapons have a bit of overlap and felt a bit forced, but other weapons really made the game stand out. See More

Top Pro

Many game modes

Includes all the expected options like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, as well as more novel modes like Key Hunt. See More

Top Pro

Impressive graphics, especially for an open source game

Open Source games are not always known for their high-quality graphics. This can often be caused by the games being designed by committee in that many different people may work on the graphics, even in the same areas, which can cause plenty of inconsistencies. Luckily, Xonotic does not suffer from this problem as the whole of the game has consistent looks that are actually quite impressive. See More

Top Pro

Great approach to weapon comboing

The game also has a lot emphasis on weapon comboing, which means having more weapons is usually better than having just one. Weapon switching is also different compared to other arena shooters, you don't get locked to one weapon after you're fired, there's a cool down delay - but you can switch your weapon during that time. This makes weapon combos balanced across different pairs. See More

Top Pro

Play easily online

At any time, you can find people playing on the net. No special configuration needed. See More

Top Pro

Verticality gameplay

The game permits players to move across multiple floor levels, which permits more dynamic game play. See More

Top Pro

Caters to almost every niche

Setting aside obvious modes like FFA, Duel, TDM and CTF - there are over 13 official game modes. Including Clan arena, Assault, Freeze Tag, Key hunt, Keepaway, Domination and many more. There's also almost every imaginable custom mode available in the public server list. Instagib, Vehicle CTF, Defrag/Race, Overkill, Camping rifles and even silly modes like Nexball and Flappy Bird. Due to the freedom of the game, there are also servers with space maps only, quake maps only and rumors of there having been even a World of Padman maps- only server. See More

See All

score 36 · Answer 2

Quake Live

Top Pro

Extremely dynamic and very fast-paced

Quake is known as an old school arena shooter, where fast paced action and dynamic play is the norm. Being dynamic gives advantage to no one, keeping the game completely skill based. Adding on top, the fast movement of the players characters creates an environment that requires practice in order to get skillful enough to compete. This creates a game where getting to the top is a tough battle that many strive to achieve. See More

Top Con

Abandoned Linux and macOS support

The developers explained that Linux and macOS made up about 2% of the playerbase and due to the low playerbase on those platforms they have no interest in supporting them. See More

homme's secret slant account's Experience

since most players are tied to steam the community is halfded, so there are hardly people left to play with. having said that it's too expensive for what it is, open arena does a much better job while the game is FOSS See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

15 game modes

Top Con

Dumping ground of failed business models and platforms

First we had a browser-only F2P model which was monetized by ads, then we got a F2P model with a premium/pro subscription modes with limited/circulating content for free players, then we got a steam only release, then we got a Steam only release with a $10 paywall. The game now ironically feels more free than it's even been. If they had chosen this model right from the start, potentially they could have put more focus into advertising/distributing the game which could of contributed into the game being more popular today. See More

Top Pro

Active, well-supported eSports scene

Quake Live has a very active eSports community, with current numbers (as of Oct. 2016) showing that the top players are earning over 6 figures yearly. Seeing such large a sum means many people will be interested in competing, making for an active community surrounding the tournaments held. See More

Top Con

Stats, clans and achievements got reset

Top Pro

Multiple game modes

Such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, etc. See More

Top Pro

Very smooth and fluid game

Top Pro

you can pracitce your russian skills here

Top Pro

Easy access through steam platform

Top Pro

Low system requirements

See All

score 38 · Answer 3

Open Arena

Top Pro

Free and open source

AdaptableIuchar's Experience

OA provides that "good old Arena Shooters" experience, for free! Also, it is possible to somehow contribute to its development.... See More

Specs

Genre:First person shooter, Arena

Co-Op:Yes (teams)

See All Specs

Top Pro

Cross-platform

Mac, Linux, and Win. And even Android. Can run in webbrowser as shown on openarena.live See More

JovialRheda's Experience

Open Arena has a small but working community. There are weekly Draft Cups, a Clan League and a lot of casual CTF and ClanArena Action or even Defrag. Besides the vanilla game, you can choose between 4 actively developed OA mods (Aftershock, /rat/, :Failmod, fq3) and some Q3 ported Ones. Due to fans around the world, you can play the game nearly all day long, so make sure to have some free time during the weekend ! See More

Top Pro

Community works

PersistentDazbog's Experience

Still rocks ! See More

Top Pro

Runs nice on very old computers

HarmoniousPtah's Experience

10 years old and still being played by a loyal fanbase. See More

Top Pro

Active clan scene

homme's secret slant account's Experience

it's one of the few games that are allowed to launch defrag,. if that doesn't tell you the quality of this game you should just shut up and launch it. :p. hit multiplayer and step into the arena. a (quake3)world awaits See More

Top Pro

Active in development

Top Pro

Very enthusiastic developers and players

See All

score 14 · Answer 4

Doom

Top Pro

Responsible for popularity of the FPS genre

Doom was the game responsible for the explosion in popularity of the FPS genre. Doom was so revolutionary and influential that, for a generation, games in the First Person Shooter genre were known merely as "Doom clones". See More

Top Con

Difficult to play online

While there may be some workarounds, the original release did no support any online multiplayer due to so few having internet back in 1993. See More

FearlessAristaeus's Experience

Best game of all time. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Top Pro

Fantastic soundtrack

The DOOM soundtrack is classic and it'll have you headbanging through the levels. See More

Top Pro

Impressive graphics

Doom had impressive graphics at the time. See More

Top Pro

Unprecedented support for customizing the game

Doom had unprecedented support for customized levels, graphics, and sound. See More

Top Pro

Pioneered Networked Multiplayer

Doom was pioneering its immensely popular Networked Multiplayer mode. See More

Top Pro

Awesome mod scene!

Final frontier of creativity happening right now! Using zandronum client unlocks easiest interface ever for mods and the community is crazy active! See More

See All

score 33 · Answer 5

Unreal Tournament

Top Pro

Great chance to get involved in the development

This game is in such early development and has so many tutorials for helping people get involved in development that if you're able to create a good map (or mod), there are still few enough mappers/developers around to where if you can get that map noticed, it might end up sticking around for the rest of the game's life as a main staple. Your map has the potential to live forever. See More

Top Con

This game is abandoned and will never be finished.

It's been over 2 years since Epic Games did any work on Unreal Tournament, and the last communications they have had with the community is a few throaway comments on a stream or a Discord chat server. The game is dead and older Unreal Tournament games are more polished & populated, go play those instead. See More

Samuel Lemeschko's Experience

UT has always been my first choice pixelpewpew... its prolly my first and oldest memory about real gaming... like, not only a squad of boys messing with brothers nintendo gamestationbox^^ .... -Me: "dad" let me install UT on ur machine!" -Dad: "nope, build ur own one" -Me: pc-master-race-engaged ... sure there was storydriven stuff like Doom, and also quake was around for quite a while... but none of them, or any other game since, has caught me like UT did =) no reloads, no classes, no perks or any such bullshit... any player has exactly the same options, no matter how long they play, in the arena are all the same and only reaction-movement-timing-skills make your gameplay better =) ... i really miss it.... no update since nearly a year now... lots of community content of course... but its a pitty, besides Doom(2016)Multiplayer there is no other oldschool arena online shooter wich does not look like shit or has completely dead serverlandscapes... UT u also wait long long times till u can start a nice match.... only in clans u can play a few rounds without waiting an hour for each matchmaking... well, without beeing trained and years have passed it sucks being just mediocre between "pros" See More

Top Pro

Great movement

You can run, sprint, jump, dodge, slide, wall run, wall dodge, lift jump, and lift dodge. That's a lot of movements for you to utilize. And once you master them, it feels like you're surfing around the map, just flowing. See More

Top Con

Difficult to know how big the game will ever get

The Unreal Tournament franchise has been around for over 15 years and used to reign supreme above all the other FPS's. Today however, it's much harder to predict how well it'll do compared to other top FPS games. That combined with the fact that it's a very difficult game to learn, you might end up honing your UT skills for nothing at the end of the day. See More

TrustingGefjun's Experience

phisics are not the same as on previous versions it feels extremly different See More

Top Pro

Lots of pro players to learn from at this early phase of the game's development

Because it's still early in this game's development (UT4), a lot of the players you'll run into are top players from previous UT's (UT99, UT2K3, UT3) and have been at the game for over 15 years. This means that yes, while you'll likely get dominated when you run into these veterans, it's also a great opportunity to better your own play. There aren't a lot of gaming communities out there where you can just jump in and immediately start playing with and learning from the best players in the world. See More

Top Con

Constantly changing game mechanics and balancing

Because the game is still in "Pre-Alpha," the game has the potential to change in both major and minor ways from build to build. The majority of your gained experience will transfer from build to build, however it can be a bit of an annoyance having to relearn balances over and over again. See More

WonderfulHel's Experience

There's been little to NO work done on the game since 2017 (Screw Fortnite, seriously ...), and the added progression system, while "seemingly a necessity" these days, feels tacked on with no real connection to the game as a whole. It's still modifiable (though I think you need to go through their crumby -store- to add custom character skins to it) so at least you can do THAT much. If the community were bigger and able to help support the development further at a more -core- level, it might be more fun, but as of this moment, there's not much support from either side, it feels like. See More

Top Pro

Completely free, open, and mod-able

Top Con

Playerbase is a little small these days

Top Pro

The cleanest graphic representation of projectile/area of effect/hitbox

You will know just from a glance how big of an area each weapon will EXACTLY affect, how long it takes for a timed grenade to explode, how big each projectile is and so on. Graphics are made for competitive accuracy but it didn't sacrifice the amazing visuals and cool (but subtle) particle effects. See More

Top Con

Unbalanced weapons

As of writing this (8/19/2016) the flak canon is over powered, but it's not a big deal because they change the weapon balance with each new build (about once a month). See More

Top Pro

Strong community

Members of the community are beyond supportive, and they generate some amazing content. Gametypes, Maps, Custom Weapon Sets, etc. there are also semi-frequent ESL cups that anyone can join. See More

Top Con

There's a huge skill gap

Many of the players currently involved in the community at the moment have been playing Unreal Tournament for over 15 years. If you're new to the UT franchise or arena shooters in general, there's a chance every time you boot up the game that you'll run into and get trucked by those vets. See More

Top Pro

You get to have your say in the game's development and future

The game is not yet in Beta. It's not yet even in Alpha - it's currently in the "Pre-Alpha" phase. You have the chance to interact with both Epic and community developers to make a difference. See More

See All

score 11 · Answer 6

Quake III Arena

Top Pro

Offline LAN support

The game is not tied to the cloud. See More

Top Con

Superseded by Quake Live

Quake Live is a remastered version of Q3A that keeps the gameplay the same and updates the aesthetic. See More

homme's secret slant account's Experience

there is nothing like strafing all day and firing rockets at your opponents like it will forever stay 1999 See More

Specs

Genre:FPS / Action / Arena Shooter

Co-Op:No

Controller Support:Yes

Top Pro

Worthwhile time investment for competitive play

Not many available FPS games have such a high skill ceiling as Quake III Arena, making this a great game to invest time into, for those that want to get to a competitive level. See More

Top Pro

Low system requirements

Due to the age of the title (released 1999) and the requirements of said title in the modern day, the game can easily be played on just about any PC from the last 10 years. See More

Top Pro

only cool people seem to still play this game

Top Pro

Plenty of variation with multiple game modes keeps the gameplay fresh

Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are the various modes that players can select within the game. This allows for enough change in gameplay for the user so that the game never gets old too fast. See More

See All

score 21 · Answer 7

Reflex

Top Pro

Great engine with amazing movement mechanics

The incredibly smooth and fast movement system combined strafe jumping, air control, bunnyhop, wall-tap double-jump and all manner of high-skill-cap movement mechanics from different arena shooters. This game engine which was created from scratch by the developers blows all of its competitors out of the water in terms of movement. It is heavily based off of the CPMA/Promod modification for Quake 3 Arena but is so much smoother in this engine. See More

Top Con

Proprietary

Not free software. See More

Giub Bass's Experience

Best FPS ever, but with a really small community :/ See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Best map editor. Intuitive, responsive and easy to use.

Multiple people can create maps together all in-game easily yet effectively. With the press of a single button in-game you will enter the intuitive map editing mode. Anyone can create actual functional map with a few minutes of learning it online. See More

Top Con

No GNU/Linux support

Top Pro

Fully customizable UI + great selection for HUD widgets

This is a game built for "super-users" but is still very easy to learn. Within minutes you can change everything on your in-game HUD and customize it to your visual liking or for maximum combat info. See More

Top Con

Visibility and performance issues

They got rid of the textures because they figured everyone would just picmip anyway. But now they have texturing as a form of 3D structures/meshes, which kinda defeats that point. There is also no way for you to turn them off. The game is hard to look at with low settings, some maps are too dark without dynamic lights (you can get around this with r_lm_clear, but then you can't tell the difference between brushes and meshes with similar colors) and all those detailed meshes look exponentially worse the lower the resolution you're playing at. Basically visibility suffers the more you use performance friendly settings. In general the game is a lot heavier than it should be. People say it's because it's in alpha, but it has only gotten worse on maps with the flood of new assets and art passes. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic netcode+good hitboxes

The game is so well-tuned for a medium ping. Anything under 80ms feels amazing. Rubberbanding or projectile bs almost never happens. See More

Top Pro

Great community features

In-game intergretion of steam workshop: it let's you search and download community-created maps, widget, HUD elements and so on inside the game without repeated tabbing in and out of the game. You can also see on the front page what games are going on in the public servers so you can go take a quick peek, join or spectate. Many features like this just makes the experience comfortable. See More

Top Pro

Great developers

The Reflex team is amazing, frequently updating the game despite the small amount of people working on it. The developers interact with the community often and seem to be very kind. See More

Top Pro

Nice, simplistic art style

Graphically, the game is beautiful yet simplistic. It somehow accomplished optimization for maximum competitiveness without sacrificing great visuals. All maps are nicely lit with beautiful dynamic lighting too. See More

Top Pro

Good arsenal of weaponry

The weaponry is fairly well balanced. It is the classic Quake line-up of weapons but they all feel responsive, look clean and sound great. See More

See All

score 20 · Answer 8

Toxikk

Top Pro

Excellent throwback to old-school arena FPS

The developers of Toxikk are extremely passionate about the game, and it shows in the gameplay. The weapons are varied and satisfying to use, the movement is extremely fluid, and the game looks excellent. The gameplay is similar to the oldschool greats, such as UT99 and UT2004, but Toxikk has enough of its own to set itself apart, instead of being a carbon copy that feeds on nostalgia. See More

Top Con

Low playerbase (for now)

This is a frequent complaint from newcomers. As of now, Toxikk has a very low playerbase. However, this is due to the developers intentionally doing zero advertising since it was released on Steam in Early Access. Once the game is closer to its release day (9/9/2016), the developers will shift their focus to marketing to build the playerbase. See More

IncredibleAnteroVipunen's Experience

Its like UT2004 with some Halo and Quake mixed. Plays nice, looks sweet. Fun. Bots are at least ok. Toxikk and DooM 2016 are my favorite newer games. My favorites all time are UT2004, Open Arena / Quake great bots and very fun out of box, also both have tons of mod content, very fun. & SWBF2 original, amazing See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Polished and optimized

Despite being in early access (written on the 23rd of August, 2016), Toxikk is extremely polished and well optimized. The core gameplay feels like a finished product, and even on an average-spec laptop, Toxikk runs with a smooth framerate. See More

Top Con

Small amount of available mod content;

The base game is very sharp and it is moddable, but there's not a lot of mod content. See More

Top Pro

Free demo alongside full release

When Toxikk is released (9/9/2016), a free demo will be released alongside it. This way, you can see if Toxikk is the right game for you without committing to a purchase right away. This demo will allow you to play on official servers on a limited amount of maps. The full version will have leaderboards, all maps, achievements, character customization and custom content (maps, weapons etc) See More

Top Con

Future is uncertain

Due to early access, and a current lack of players, the future success of Toxikk is uncertain. It may do well, and gain a sizable playerbase, it may gain a small group of dedicated players, or it may flop. If you are unsure whether or not it will be a success, wait for the full release to play the free demo. See More

Top Pro

Developers that care

Toxikk has a development team that genuinely cares about the product. You can feel the developer's passion throughout the gameplay. Not only has this delivered an excellent product so far, but it means there is a far more optimistic outlook for the future of the game. See More

Top Con

Currently in early access

Early Access is not a popular concept for everybody. It has happened all too frequently where an Early Access game has had development dropped midway through the process, leaving unhappy customers with an unfinished game. However, Toxikk has received solid, consistent support, and its release date has been announced. See More

See All

score 22 · Answer 9

Cube 2: Sauerbraten

Top Pro

Simple gameplay

There are no skills beyond those common to all AFPS games: very basic movement, aim, weapon switching, item timing, map knowledge. There is less to learn so newbies can become proficient more quickly, but there is still the ability to hone those basic skills to a very high level, as evidenced by regular community tournaments. See More

Top Con

Simple graphics

For the most part it looks like a game from the early 2000s. There are advanced options that use a lot more GPU power, but inefficiently compared to modern games, and many competitive players turn these off in favour of visual clarity and a really high framerate. See More

DecisiveManyu's Experience

awesome game. best on the list See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Fast movement

Movement is very simple but acceleration is very fast, so hitting an opponent good at dodging is more difficult than perhaps any other AFPS. See More

Top Con

Simple gameplay

The gameplay is more basic than almost all other AFPS games. Movement doesn't get any more advanced than recoil/rocket jumping, without even crouching or bunnyhopping. This is great for newbies and for becoming competent quickly but for experienced AFPS players getting around the map is less interesting and there are less skills to work on - just the basics of aiming, weapon selection, item timing, and map knowledge. See More

DaringPraxidike's Experience

highly recommened simple good arena fps See More

Top Pro

Cross platform

Available for Windows, MacOS and Linux. See More

DashingPeklenc's Experience

Very good community, with plenty of mix games, tournaments and chill pubs See More

Top Pro

Free, open-source

Top Pro

Low hardware requirements

If you can run the original Quake 3 you can probably run this (with the advanced graphics features disabled). See More

Top Pro

Easy map editing

Getting into map editing is very easy, which has resulted in a large number of user-created maps with a wide variety, from massive sky castles where you have to hunt down your opponent from far away, to large CTF maps, to competitive, claustrophobic 1v1 arenas with teleports. See More

Top Pro

Many gametypes and gametype combinations

Free-For-All (everyone for themselves, all weapons allowed), Capture (where teams fight for control of points on the map), Capture the Flag (two teams fight to capture the other's flag and return it to their base), Teamplay (defeat the other team's players to score points for your team), Tactics (FFA, no weapon pickups, players spawn with random equipment), Efficiency (FFA, no weapon pickups, players spawn with all equipment) InstaHold, where two teams have to possess a single flag for a minimum of 20 seconds to score points; Collect (kill enemy players and collect their skulls, which then have to be returned to the home base), and Protect (teams try to touch each other's flag). Instagib, regenerative weapons ("regen") and Teamplay versions of most of the game modes are available, as well as online cooperative map editing—one of Cube 2's most interesting and popular features. See More

Top Pro

Has a Doom-like singleplayer campaign

See All

score 13 · Answer 10

Quakeworld

Top Pro

Roughly 25 years and going

It's a good investment of time even if you're only starting out today. See More

Top Con

Toxic community

Swe tossers anger issues. See More

Lari Laitinen's Experience

Most active community of all afps by far. See More

Top Pro

Still with actively developed client and server software

Top Pro

All infrastructure run by the community

Means the game won't disappear over night. See More

Top Pro

Mature and friendly community

Top Pro

Still has annual 1on1, 2on2 and 4on4 deathmatch tournaments

Top Pro

Can run on any computer and perhaps even some phones now as well

Top Pro

Unparalleled historical value

The start of it all. Still with a small but existent scene decades after release. See More

See All

score 6 · Answer 11

Unreal Tournament 2004

score 8 · Answer 12

Warsow

Top Pro

Free

It's free. See More

Top Con

Development has ceased

The game is no longer being updated, the developer team disbanded and branched off to their own respective projects. This also means that the game will never be on Steam. Regardless of some parts of the game being open source, the community is simply not big enough to self-sustain the game. There should still be a flow of new maps and tournaments though. See More

Specs

Genre:First person shooter

See All Specs

Top Pro

Great gameplay

The movement is smooth with an interesting walljump mechanic added in the mix. All weapons are well made and balanced; each weapon having a purpose, not to mention shooting them feels great. See More

Top Pro

Skilled playerbase

Top Pro

One of the best gateway arena shooters for your friends

Well optimized, small file size, good bots, cute graphics, free, standard arena weapon set, good tutorial... If you are trying to get your friends to try playing hardcore arena shooters with you, like your Quake, UT, Reflex or what have you, this is a quick and free download that won't take too much convincing that will also give you a great experience. See More

Top Pro

Good old Quake-like game mechanics

Top Pro

Ultra-fast gameplay

Here some numbers: Warsow is based on Quake game engine, just like Counter-Strike so numbers are comparable. In CS you are moving usually at speed 320 ups. In Warsow average duel match goes with speeds 600-900. In CA mode most of players moving at speeds around 1000ups. And in insta CA mode on some maps you can expect opponent flying at 1500-2000ups. See More

Top Pro

Great looking

The cell-shaded graphics are great and, because it runs on the Quake 2 engine, it runs well on a lot of systems. See More

See All

score 16 · Answer 13

Diabotical

Top Con

Epic exclusive

Most gamers are fine with devs publishing their games off of Steam but it tends to become a problem whenever the developer gets bribed by Epic. See More

Top Pro

Made by people from the e-sports scene

James Harding, aka '2GD' is the main man behind The GD Studio and Diabotical. Jonas Gustafson, aka 'OoZe' is also an animator for the game. Both are former e-sports players and the team gets direct input from other people from the e-sports scene in developing this game. See More

DelightfulManaf's Experience

still long way before release See More

Top Pro

Great modding support

The GD Studio is developing a map editor for Diabotical, but the game will have a very high degree of modability. According to the developers, who created a new engine from scratch for this game, players will even be able to create an entire stand alone game if they wanted to. They plan to make use of the Steam Workshop to support modding. See More

Top Pro

Great movement mechanics

This is all subject to change as Diabotical is still in development, but as it stands the game will feature strafe jumping and double jumps. A quick double tapping of the jump button will also make you go higher than a normal double jump. Weapons can also be used for movement, such as jumping up walls with rocket launchers (rocket-jumps) and there's a certain degree of air control. See More

Top Pro

Built-in community building features

Diabotical will feature community hubs for anyone, but everyone can make their own community hubs for their clan or build one with the map editor. The admin can decorate the hub with decals, there will be Twitch integration, so you can play entire streams on a screen inside the hub and there is a separate screen for Twitch chat. Also, there will be a wall where there will be a model for each member of the clan. It would take the default uniform of the clan and when offline, the model of the member's character will be on display there. When hovering over a model, the player's name and possibly statistics will be displayed. See More

Top Pro

Good marketing

The studio shows right off the bat their skills in marketing, they somehow managed to pull in an audience without even showing anything inherently new and innovative weapons/movement wise as far as arena shooters go. Even if it turns out to be bad/unoriginal game, chances are it will still be popular. The studio (2GD especially) is not afraid to put their reputation in use. See More

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score 2 · Answer 14

Serious Sam HD

Top Pro

Beautiful game design with open landscapes

This is the remastered version of the original title. The result is beautiful, vibrant colors and stunning vistas. See More

Top Con

Can get Repetitive/Frustrating

Serious Sam's whole design has to do with taking on wave after wave of enemies as you progress through the world, with no real story. The slaughterfest can get boring and repetitive, especially in single-player. It's fairly important to bring along friends who will not only stick with you, but make light of the fact you're going to die over and over again. People who can't stand dying (aka rage-quitters) should avoid this game. See More

Top Pro

Fast-paced classical "shoot everything that moves" FPS

This is not a thinking man’s game. Much of the gameplay takes place in large arenas where you face waves of enemies. The objectives are simple: If it moves, you shoot it. Oh, and don’t die. See More

Top Pro

Diverse enemies

The enemies in Serious Sam can be diverse in looks, attacks, and defense strategies, which gives the game a new tactical approach each time. See More

Top Pro

Drop-in co-op at any point in the game

You can join games at any point in their progress, which cuts down on waiting time. See More

See All

score 5 · Answer 15

Quetoo

Top Pro

May soon be available on Steam, giving easy downloads and installations to Steam users

Currently a Steam Greenlight game, which means the game could soon be available on the Steam Store, making for an easy to download and install game for those that use Steam. See More

Top Con

Small development team and slow progress

Specs

Genre:First Person Shooter, Arena

See All Specs

Top Pro

A remake of Quake 2

Quetoo is a free, standalone first person shooter video game based on id Tech2. Its aim is to make Quake 2 multiplayer more accessible, while improving the look and user friendliness of the game. See More

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score 5 · Answer 16

Alien Arena

Top Pro

Open source oriented game with a welcoming community

DevotedBaalatGebal's Experience

Fun and and fast paced.. Helpful and welcoming community.. It is my go to fps game.. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:FPS/Arena Shooter/Action

See All Specs

Top Pro

Fast-paced gameplay

Jar-El's Experience

I'm playing this game since 2010, it has a friendly community and is really fun to play. We have regular tournaments again, which are about fun. The retro sci-fi theme is awesome. The game is very fast paced and performs well. See More

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score 16 · Answer 17

Quake Champions

Top Pro

All game physic styles from Q1\QW, Q2, Q3, Q3:CPM and Q4 are in this game

All Quake players will be satisfied. See More

Top Con

No offline/Lan mode

BrightLieaibolmmai's Experience

Almost positive. Players of all Quakes will be satisfied. Only sadly that is the development process is not too fast, but on the other hand, it constantly progresses. There are many balance problems but they may be accounted for the early access and early development stage too (the game just over half-year in early access). So I'm still looking forward to the bright future of this game. See More

Top Pro

Incredibly intense and various gameplay

Top Con

No players balance by skill in DM and TDM modes (only in Duels)

DelightfulManaf's Experience

since december patch it is improving See More

Top Pro

Lots of playstyles and champions

Top Con

Lack of game maps

homme's secret slant account's Experience

this is no good, it depends on the "champion" which perk the player receives, and also there is no more strafejumping so the title is reduced to Yet Another Standard Shooter. See More

Top Pro

Perfect netcode

Even in early beta, you can conveniently play even with ping 120 on North American servers from Europe and all of your hits and movements will be correctly accounted for by a server. See More

Top Con

Frequent balance changes

AffableAshaVahishta's Experience

very nice game with a lot of cheaters, no anti cheat built in. A lot of way for cheat , google that and you will see... See More

Top Pro

Variety in playstyles

There's three main movement physics which you can base your playstyle on: VQ3ish, Q4ish, and CPMish. Unfortunately, Q1 and Q2 movements aren't available yet but might be in the future. See More

Top Con

Far away from the legend

Top Con

community is shit

See All

score 5 · Answer 18

DUSK

RickZeeland's Experience

Now on offer on Steam for only 6,79€ See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Horror FPS

score 9 · Answer 19

Master Arena

CourteousCupid's Experience

Game with a lot of potential See More

score 4 · Answer 20

Daikatana

Top Pro

Has a great single player campaign

It is both challenging and versatile. The lore is simple, you're a time traveler and as such you will come across different sets of weapons from different eras. The story might be a little cringey at times (has a few tediously long cut scenes), but if you enjoyed Quake 2 then you will enjoy this for what it is as well. See More

Top Con

Companion AI is bugged

Sometimes they get stuck or lost, which will prevent you from leaving the level/area. This has been patched in the 1.3 update where you can disable companions altogether, although this needs to be manually updated. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

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31 Games Considered

My Recommendation for Xonotic

My Recommendation for Xonotic

Fast-paced action

Only populated DM-only server bans good players

Easy to learn

Toxic players

Gameplay has lots of verticality

Boring AI bots

Potato computer friendly

Few players

Cross platform

Slow progress / inconsistent team

Not demanding on the system

Interesting weapon design (for an arena shooter)

Many game modes

Impressive graphics, especially for an open source game

Great approach to weapon comboing

Play easily online

Verticality gameplay

Caters to almost every niche

My Recommendation for Quake Live

My Recommendation for Quake Live

Extremely dynamic and very fast-paced

Abandoned Linux and macOS support

15 game modes

Dumping ground of failed business models and platforms

Active, well-supported eSports scene

Stats, clans and achievements got reset

Multiple game modes

Very smooth and fluid game

you can pracitce your russian skills here

Easy access through steam platform

Low system requirements

My Recommendation for Open Arena

My Recommendation for Open Arena

Free and open source

Cross-platform

Community works

Runs nice on very old computers

Active clan scene

Active in development

Very enthusiastic developers and players

My Recommendation for Doom

My Recommendation for Doom

Responsible for popularity of the FPS genre

Difficult to play online

Fantastic soundtrack

Impressive graphics

Unprecedented support for customizing the game

Pioneered Networked Multiplayer

Awesome mod scene!

My Recommendation for Unreal Tournament

My Recommendation for Unreal Tournament

Great chance to get involved in the development

This game is abandoned and will never be finished.

Great movement

Difficult to know how big the game will ever get

Lots of pro players to learn from at this early phase of the game's development

Constantly changing game mechanics and balancing

Completely free, open, and mod-able

Playerbase is a little small these days

The cleanest graphic representation of projectile/area of effect/hitbox

Unbalanced weapons

Strong community

There's a huge skill gap

You get to have your say in the game's development and future

My Recommendation for Quake III Arena

My Recommendation for Quake III Arena

Offline LAN support

Superseded by Quake Live

Worthwhile time investment for competitive play

Low system requirements

only cool people seem to still play this game

Plenty of variation with multiple game modes keeps the gameplay fresh

My Recommendation for Reflex

My Recommendation for Reflex

Great engine with amazing movement mechanics

Proprietary

Best map editor. Intuitive, responsive and easy to use.