AndyGoes writes, "If you've never played America's Army, it is touted as the most realistic tactical first person shooter. The ballistics system is as true to life as possible and the military uses the game for training simulation. In its efforts to strive for realism in the game, AA is pretty much a one-shot one-kill kind of game. If you get shot, you'll either die instantly, or bleed out while your movement slows. The graphics in the current version are a bit dated, and even the when the new version comes out, it will be built on Unreal Engine 3 (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War and Gears of War 2), which is a couple years old. However, having a game built on a dated engine isn't all bad - that also allows more users to potentially give the game a shot..."
Sometimes you just don't have enough money to buy a new game. Luckily the industry has changed a lot over the last few years making free games easier to come by. This list is perfect for gamer who love shooters but just don't have money to go get the latest titles.
Im still amazed at how popular Team Fortress 2 is on Steam ranking up there with DOA 2. I'm not sure why, but I have logged over 1,000 hrs on this game and still finding myself playing when I have time to burn.
Granted consoles have PCs beat in terms of FPS online community, but these games are still fun non-the-less.
I've spent way too much time on Team Fortress 2. My friends and I use to play the original in middle school, so we just kind of stuck with it! Steam games are always top shelf.
GameInformer: Military shooters have a long and venerable history in video games. Before Call of Duty and Battlefield began their war for complete market domination, smaller series like Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and SOCOM provided different takes on digital warfare. These series differentiated themselves – and the military shooter genre – from other FPS franchises like Quake and Halo by emphasizing strategy and realism. Forgoing roller-coaster spectacle and nonstop action, they presented gamers with a pseudo-authentic military experience where every shot counted and tactics played a larger role in the outcome of a mission than itchy trigger fingers.
If you want more realism in your shooter than these are the 4 to get and play.
These titles are for the HARDCORE shooter fan who understands that one bullet can send you to the graveyard so all you Rambos need not apply!
Arma II is imply the best and most realistic shooter ever. the vehicles, weapons, physics, ballistics, the tactics, the tools for strategy, scale of the game is second to none.
Nothing is better than Arma II except for the upcoming Arma III which takes it all to new levels.
Red Orchestra 2 is hands down the greatest WWII shooter ever! It's gritty, realistic, and painfully fun. So realistic that my butt starts to hurt and i can smell diesel fuel when i'm in the tank. I love shooting a wooden fence to splinters and then seeing a Russian soldier fall to his death. No other game provides that much realism.
Counter Strike is like the granddaddy of them all and is played by gamers with over 10 years experience in the game but luckily it has a skill ladder so noobs never play with hardcore Vets.
America's Army 3 is pretty dam realistic for a free game. along the lines of Arma II but just way way smaller scale and matches are shorter.
The Army Game Studio has released a large new update for their free realistic military FPS America’s Army 3, available now for automatic download on Steam. The patch brings the new “Every Solider a Sensor” gameplay component that encourages soldiers to be the best possible sensors they can be through astute observation. New maps, and a bunch of other items as well.
This is PC only? I just checked MetaCritic and it looks like 2007's America's Armies: True Soldiers tanked with a 43 for the Xbox 360.
Meh. Yawn. Bleh. :) This kind of game bores me to tears!
It doesn't get anymore realistic than AA. I remember in the first one, I shot the Sergeant and went to jail :(
This game is all about skill and teamwork. If you're not a team player, don't get this game. You won't even make it past server list cause people will boot you if you're too low a level or you're uncooperative.
AA's probably one of the fewest games I respect because when you play AA, you know everyone else is committed.
Almost all FPS today seem like the generic "EA-style" shooter where there is minimal learning and difficulty. You want proof? Go find a copy of some of the earlier Ghost Recon games and then try GRAW.
At least we can still find games like this that doesn't have a learning curve of less than a week. Sorts-out the idiots and kids from the true gamers if you ask me.
I wouldn't say it's the most realistic tactical shooter out there. For one thing, there's no blood in it, that kind of docks a lot. Compared to something like Operation Flashpoint or ArmA where you actually see the bloody un pretty aftermath of a firefight.