Tactical shooter is a sub-genre of first- and third-person shooters, associated with using strategy, planning, and tactics in gameplay, as well as the realistic simulations of ballistics, firearm mechanics, physics, stamina, and low time to kill. Dating back to strategy games from the late 1980s, the genre first rose to prominence in the late 1990s with the releases of several well-received tactical shooters. The popularity of the genre saw a decline in the late 2000s as fast-paced "arcade"-like action shooters rose to prominence, it has seen a revitalization since the mid-2010s with the successful releases of several modern tactical shooters.
Call of Duty is a 2003 first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the first installment in the Call of Duty franchise, released on October 29, 2003, for Microsoft Windows. The game simulates infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II using a modified version of the id Tech 3 engine. Much of its theme and gameplay is similar to the Medal of Honor series; however, Call of Duty showcases multiple viewpoints staged in the American, British, and Soviet campaigns of World War II in Europe.
Assault Heroes is an arcade-style, top-down shooter video game developed by Wanako Games. The game has the player driving 4x4 vehicles, piloting speedboats, or proceeding on foot against enemy hordes. Players can play alone or co-operatively, including both online and offline 2-player co-operative modes.
Outtrigger is a first/third-person shooter video game developed by Sega AM2 for the Sega NAOMI arcade cabinet and the Dreamcast. The game was originally released in 1999 for the arcades and was later ported over to the Dreamcast in 2001. The player character of Outtrigger is a member of an anti-terrorist group, and can be chosen between default characters with different specialties or a custom character, and can utilize a number of power-ups. Reception to Outtrigger was generally positive, praising the gameplay and mechanics, though criticizing the removal of online play in the European version of the game.
Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies was a first-person shooter video game developed by Ideaworks Game Studio, and published by Activision for iOS. It was a spin-off of the Call of Duty series, and based on the Zombies mode of Call of Duty: World at War. The game was released worldwide for iPhone on November 16, 2009, and for iPad on April 1, 2010. The game allowed for multiplayer cooperative gameplay locally via an ad hoc Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network, or globally via the internet. It also came with the three other maps, Verrückt, Shi No Numa, and Der Riese. A sequel to the game, Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies, has been published by Activision.
Archetype is a First-person shooter that was developed by American studio Munkyfun LLC and published by Villain, LLC. It was released for the iPod Touch and the iPhone on July 1, 2010, and later an HD version for the iPad on August 19, 2010. It is set in a futuristic world where aliens have invaded Earth, and revolves around the resulting war.
Marvel Contest of Champions is a 2014 fighting video game developed and published by Kabam. It was released on December 10, 2014, for iOS and Android. The fighting game is primarily set in the Marvel Universe. The game is strongly based on the events of the limited comic book series Contest of Champions. An arcade version was released in 2019, developed by Raw Thrills and exclusive to Dave & Buster's locations.
Brothers in Arms 3: Sons of War is a 2014 World War II-era third-person shooter video game developed by Gameloft with partnership with Gearbox Software and published by Gameloft. It was released on December 17, 2014, for the iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The game serves as a sequel to Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes and Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front and it is still set during World War II. It is part of the Brothers in Arms series.
Gears of War is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter video games, which has been supplemented by spin-off video game titles, a DC comic book series, seven novels, a board game adaptation and various merchandise.
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a fighting game with action role-playing elements developed by Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4 and Windows.
SteamWorld Heist is a 2D turn-based tactics shooter developed by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The third installment of the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist has the player control Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a ragtag team of robots and sets out on a space adventure. The objective of the game is for players to board, loot, and shoot their way through enemy spaceships.
Hitman: Sniper is a 2015 mobile shooting gallery video game in the Hitman series by Square Enix Montréal. As the series' mainstay protagonist Agent 47, the player looks through a first-person sniper scope vision on their touchscreen device to assassinate several powerful figures who have assembled at a lakeside compound without alerting their associates. The player uses the environment to find creative ways to kill these targets, sometimes prompted by secondary objectives. Through mission progression, the player unlocks more powerful weapons and new weapon abilities.
Z1 Battle Royale is a battle royale game developed and published by Daybreak Game Company. The game's development began after the original H1Z1 was spun off into two separate projects in early 2016: H1Z1: Just Survive and H1Z1: King of the Kill. The games were further split as separate projects in October 2017, with Just Survive dropping the H1Z1 name, and King of the Kill becoming simply H1Z1.
Space Marshals is a science fiction top-down third-person shooter stealth video game. In the game, the player is tasked with taking out various criminals and their henchmen. Space Marshals focuses heavily on stealth elements, forcing the player to sneak around enemies to avoid being attacked.
Gunslugs is an action and 2D shooter video game. It was released by Dutch developer OrangePixel in 2013 for iOS, Android and Ouya, in 2014 for PlayStation Vita, in 2015 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux, in 2016 for Nintendo 3DS, and in 2020 for Nintendo Switch. In 2022 it was released for Atari VCS.
Shadow Fight is a series of fighting video games developed by Banzai.Games and published by Nekki. Each game is set in the Far East, involving martial arts action between combatants that are typically silhouettes. The first installment was initially released as a Facebook game, before two sequels made available as free-to-play mobile games.
Bright Memory is a first-person shooter game developed by FYQD Personal Studio.
Battlezone is an arcade game released by Rebellion in 2016. It is an update of the original 1980 arcade game. The game was one of the launch titles for PlayStation VR in October 2016.
Mighty Doom is a 2023 top-down shooter game developed by Alpha Dog Games and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is part of the Doom franchise and focuses on playing the Slayer character to progress through various levels in a roguelite play style. The player comes across varying challenges, such as monsters and environmental dangers. The game follows a different visual approach compared to the mainline Doom games, as it features a more colorful and cartoonish design.
Into the Dead 2 is a 2017 first person shooter video game developed by PikPok. It was initially released on iOS and Android, and it was ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
