Updated September 2026
This is the ranking of the best Shooter Games, sorted by NextGameLike Score: a 0-100 metric blending Steam reviews, IGDB ratings (community and critic), Metacritic, OpenCritic and the NextGameLike community votes into a single number. Unlike opinion-based editorial lists, this order is computed from real data and applies a Bayesian shrinkage adjustment so games with few reviews can't inflate the top of the chart. Portal 2, Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: VR Mod lead the chart — the highest-rated titles in the genre according to our data. The top-25 average NextGameLike Score is 91/100, out of 403 games catalogued. The ranking updates continuously as new reviews and votes come in.
Top 3
Top of “The 20 Best Shooter Games of All Time (2026)”: Portal 2 (95.1/100). Close behind: Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: VR Mod.
Ranked by NextGameLike Score · 403 games catalogued
Players and critics agree on Portal 2, which is rarer than it sounds in Shooter Games. No other entry of the 20 has a higher share of positive reviews: 99%. Hence the first place.
No argument here: Half-Life 2 wins over players and critics alike. It holds the best critic score on the whole list, 96/100. That puts it at number 2.
Players and critics agree on Half-Life 2: VR Mod, which is rarer than it sounds in Shooter Games. That puts it at number 3.
No argument here: BioShock wins over players and critics alike. That gets it into the top 10, at number 4.
No argument here: Half-Life wins over players and critics alike. That gets it into the top 10, at number 5.
Super Metroid earns its place on presence rather than on a score. It is the oldest game in the ranking (1994) and still here. That gets it into the top 10, at number 6.
The Last of Us has little in the way of ratings and a great deal of standing. Number 7, inside the top 10.
Critics rated Uncharted 4: A Thief's End higher than the public did. That gets it into the top 10, at number 8.
Players and critics agree on The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, which is rarer than it sounds in Shooter Games. That gets it into the top 10, at number 9.
Half-Life 2: Episode One is one of the few Shooter Games where players and critics say the same thing. That gets it into the top 10, at number 10.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has little in the way of ratings and a great deal of standing. It lands at 11 of 20.
No argument here: Left 4 Dead 2 wins over players and critics alike. It is the most reviewed of the 20: 1,032,759 Steam reviews. It sits at 12 of 20.
With The Last of Us Part II, the press was ahead of the public. It is the newest on the list (2020), and has already earned its place. It sits at 13 of 20.
Players and critics agree on Cuphead, which is rarer than it sounds in Shooter Games. It sits at 14 of 20.
Critics were lukewarm on BioShock Infinite; players were not. It lands at 15 of 20.
Quake is one of the few Shooter Games where players and critics say the same thing. It lands at 16 of 20.
No argument here: Hotline Miami wins over players and critics alike. It lands at 17 of 20.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two is one of the few Shooter Games where players and critics say the same thing. It sits at 18 of 20.
Players and critics agree on Call of Duty (2003), which is rarer than it sounds in Shooter Games. It lands at 19 of 20.
Players and critics agree on Call of Duty Warchest, which is rarer than it sounds in Shooter Games. It lands at 20 of 20.