Best RPG Shooter Games

Shooters and RPGs are two very popular genres that sometimes crossover, but never to an extreme extent. Giving players agency to alter the story in meaningful ways as they work towards an end goal, normally involving vanquishing a major enemy, seems to lend itself better to the fantasy RPG, two genres which are practically synonymous at this point.

But that is not to say there isn’t a good amount of fun shooter RPGs, closely resembling their fantasy counterparts but with more modernized worlds and gun-shooting gameplay. For those looking for the best this genre has to offer, they should play the following titles.

The Outer Worlds

Explore The Stars & Shoot Down Enemies

From the same studio responsible for Fallout: New Vegas came The Outer Worlds. Set in the year 2355, the player is aboard a ship known as Hope, which is discovered on the outskirts of the Halcyon system. Only one passenger is revived, which is the player character, dubbed the Stranger, who fills them in on the hardships affecting all of Halcyon’s colonies due to the greed of all major corporations.

Like New Vegas, the player can find and recruit NPCs to travel with them, and will of course have to engage in combat along the way. Thanks to futuristic technology, there are many unique weapons available to the player, some of which deal different elemental damage to enemies, such as fire or electricity. This helps the gameplay segment of The Outer Worlds maintain a fun and fresh feeling, encouraging exploration to see what trouble they can get into.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The Future Is Near

Set in 2027, twenty-five years before the original Deus Ex game, Human Revolution opens with an attack on Sarif Industries by a group calling themselves the Tyrants, terrorists who have undergone extensive augmentations. Jensen survives the attack, albeit heavily wounded, but is nursed back to health and outfitted with augmentations of his own, making him better equipped to handle terrorist attacks.

Combining first-person shooter gameplay, stealth mechanics, and RPG elements, Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a lot to offer to the player, including fun shooting gameplay. Augmentations also play a huge part in the game, as players can bolster their offense or defense with the right ones, making them more effective in combat situations.

Borderlands 2

Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked

Four Vault Hunters, Axton, Maya, Salvador, and Zer0, are the newest characters on the scene, and the game opens with them on a train bound for Pandora when their employer, Handsome Jack, sabotages their ride and leaves them to die. To end Handsome Jack before he can find and unlock the vault, they team up with a faction known as the Crimson Raiders, led by the previous game’s siren, Lilith.

Those familiar with the Borderlands series know it for its fun, fast-paced gameplay enhanced by its co-operative gameplay element, and Borderlands 2 might just be the best of the bunch. Thanks to improved gameplay mechanics and a far better villain in the form of Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2 leaves other entries in the dust, standing out as a shining example of a fun action-RPG shooter.

Remnant 2

Takes Inspiration From Soulslike Games For Fun, Challenging Gameplay

The Traveler and friend Cass are barely getting by, especially as the latter is suffering an infection inflicted by what is known as the Root, a race of sentient plant-like people capable of spreading their deadly sickness. After a devastating attack by these aforementioned roots nearly kills them both, they are taken to a place called Ward 13, where a man known as Andrew Ford seeks to put an end to the Root, an endeavor that takes them to other worlds filled with enemies for them to destroy, and quests for them to chase.

Taking some inspiration from Soulslike games, Remnant 2 provides fun gun-shooting action against tough enemies and hardy bosses, but luckily, players can bring along a friend to share in the fun. Being able to choose a class at the start means that the player is guaranteed to have a unique experience, adding replayability just to see how those other classes handle. The game also makes use of procedural generation, not only for maps, but enemies and quests can also be randomly generated, so no two people’s experience with Remnant 2 will be the same.

BioShock

Exploring Rapture Is Dangerous Business

After his plane crashes in the ocean, player character Jack finds himself descending into Rapture, an underwater city promising wealth and opportunities beyond those of the surface world. But this promised utopia has descended into a nightmare, as the surviving citizens have become dangerous splicers due to their addiction to Adam, but with Big Daddies roaming around, they might just be the least of the players’ worries.

With some of the most shocking twists in gaming history, and some of the most exciting combat thanks to the inclusion of plasmids which give the players superhuman powers, BioShock is one of the most fun horror shooters of all time, cleverly incorporating RPG elements by giving players the choice to save or harvest the Little Sisters. This choice will be felt by the game’s ending, so players who do brave Rapture better tread carefully.

Fallout: New Vegas

A Revenge Quest Set In A Brave New World

The Fallout games are one of the most popular post-apocalyptic game series of all time, as the games are set after a nuclear apocalypse has nearly wiped out all of humanity, destroyed the world, and has even mutated some animals and people. New Vegas is often seen as the best game in the series, introducing players to the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas, now named New Vegas.

Players control the customizable Courier, who ends up caught in a turf war and earns a bullet to their head for the trouble. They are nursed back to health by a doctor and set out in the world to get their revenge. But beyond that, players can explore the deserts and various settlements, join certain factions, explore vaults, and tons more. There is never a dull moment in New Vegas, and when playing it, it becomes quite obvious why this one is the fan favorite.

Cyberpunk 2077

A Futuristic Masterpiece

Based on a sci-fi tabletop RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 brings the player into Night City through the fully customizable V, who winds up with the digital ghost of famed musician and activist Johnny Silverhand in their head, slowly overwriting their consciousness, but removal would be certain death for V. As if that isn’t enough to worry about, Night City has become a dangerous place with rival factions, cyberpsychos and corrupt corporations.

There is never a dull moment in Cyberpunk, with plenty of places to explore, quests to be done, NPCs to meet, and perhaps even romance, all the while struggling to stay in control with the chip in their head. The gameplay here is plenty of fun as well, combining guns with futuristic mechanics such as hacking and cybernetic implants to give them an edge in battle.

Mass Effect Trilogy

Experience Commander Shepard’s Fight Against The Reapers

Known for their work previously on titles such as Baldur’s Gate and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, BioWare once more flexed their talent for creating fantastic, in-depth RPGs with an original IP this time: Mass Effect. Suiting up as the fully customizable Commander Shepard, players find themselves tasked with the impossible mission of uniting the galaxy to face the Reapers, a race of sentient alien machines that cyclically wipe out all advanced races every 50,000 years.

Exciting stakes, an amazing story, a lovable cast of characters, and one of the most heroic RPG protagonists of all time, Mass Effect is a stellar example of role-playing shooter games. The gameplay only gets better with each successive game, making the player feel like a true human soldier capable of saving the entire galaxy.