FPS (first-person shooters)

An FPS — first-person shooter — is a game seen through the character''s own eyes, built around aiming and shooting. The camera position is the defining feature: you see what the character sees, which makes aiming direct and immersion strong, at the cost of situational awareness around you.

The main styles

Military and tactical — realistic weapons, higher lethality, an emphasis on positioning. Call of Duty at the accessible end, Rainbow Six at the demanding one.

Arena and hero shooters — faster movement, distinct characters with abilities, less realism. Overwatch, Valorant.

Battle royale — see battle royale.

Single-player campaigns — story-driven shooters such as Doom, Half-Life and Metro.

Extraction shooters — enter with gear, survive, and get out with what you find.

What are examples of first-person shooters?

Call of Duty, Battlefield, Counter-Strike, Valorant, Apex Legends, Doom, Halo, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch.

What actually helps you play better

A high frame rate matters more here than in any other genre — see FPS (frames per second), which confusingly shares the abbreviation. 60 frames is the floor; 120 helps in competitive play.

Low input lag. Game Mode on your television is free and makes a larger difference than most equipment.

Good audio. Hearing footsteps and reloads is genuinely competitive information — a decent headset often improves results more than a better controller.

Low ping. A wired connection beats Wi-Fi for anything competitive.

A note on controllers versus mouse

Aiming with a mouse is inherently more precise, which is why many competitive shooters separate console and PC players, or let you disable cross-play against them. If you play seriously on console, check how a game handles this before committing to it.