Highlights
- PS3 may have overpromised initially, but still delivered some great games like Killzone 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
- Lesser-known PS3 FPS games like The Punisher: No Mercy and Blacksite: Area 51 may have been forgotten, but still worth exploring.
- Syndicate's shift from stealth to FPS didn't resonate with fans, showcasing the challenges of rebooting beloved franchises on PS3.
The PlayStation 3 might have over-promised with its initial showing, demonstrating incredibly unrealistic demos that did not represent how the final products would look. All the same, it still managed to become a beloved console and had a ton of great games. Even if Killzone 2 did not end up looking like it did in its debut trailer, it was still a magnificent game.
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Arcade FPS games can provide some of the best entertainment in gaming as players shoot their way through levels with light guns.
In addition to that FPS, the console also had a lot of contributions from the genre that are not remembered all that well. The games below were either bogged down by issues leading to lackluster reviews or they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Updated on March 17, 2024, by Jason Wojnar: As time goes by, more and more PS3 first-person shooters will be forgotten. Sony's third mainline console is in an especially tricky spot, because future consoles lack backward compatibility for it, and the internet function of the PS3 means many games are in compromised states without patches or fixes.
Many of these games are already unplayable. In the updated version of this list there are even more obscure PS3 games discussed. They are not all great, but that does not mean they all deserve to be outright lost to time.
Though some of the games below have less than flattering Metacritic Scores, they still have something of value to offer that one does not find in every FPS.
15 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Metacritic Score: 83
Some people might be yearning for the ability to play Counter-Strike on a console. Players might be at a disadvantage without the precision offered by a mouse, but it would still be nice to play against other console owners. Little do they realize that this has been a reality since 2012.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is playable on PS3. There is an infinitely better version of Counter-Strike available with the Source 2-poweredCounter-Strike 2, but it would still be fun to jump back into the past and play this game on PS3, especially since this version is inaccesible on PC these days.
14 The Punisher: No Mercy
Metacritic Score: 47
The Punisher: No Mercy
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 3
- Released
- July 2, 2009
- Developer(s)
- Zen Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Zen Studios , Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- FPS
The Punisher never feels like he gets a fair shake in movies, video games, or television. The PS2 game was great, but it was a one and done. The 2008 film Punisher: Warzone was a splatterfest of an action movie that captured the grit and unrelenting carnage of the character and his stories, but it flopped in theaters.
Around the same time, The Punisher: No Mercy released to little fanfare. This downloadable title was an arena shooter with a barebones story mode. The multiplayer did not offer a lot more worthwhile content either. The game was delisted in 2011, just two years after release, making it impossible to purchase or play today.
13 Blacksite: Area 51
Metacritic Score: 62
- Release: November 7, 2007
- Developer: Midway Austin
- Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
This early PS3 FPS was kind of a sequel to the Area 51 Xbox and PS2 shooter, but also just its own separate game at the same time. Blacksite: Area 51 was met with ire upon release and was quickly lost in the shuffle of failed early PS3 games.
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This game became notable early on when one of the developers publicly called out publisher Midway for rushing its development, which caused the game's broken state and poor reviews. It is difficult to know the truth, but Midway closed down not long after the game's release, so maybe there was some truth to the accusations of poor management.
12 Clive Barker's Jericho
Metacritic Score: 63
Clive Barker's Jericho
- Released
- October 23, 2007
- Developer(s)
- MercurySteam
- Publisher(s)
- Codemasters
- Genre(s)
- FPS , Survival Horror
Clive Barker was no stranger to video games before Jericho, having worked on Clive Barker's Undying before this title. The idea of a horror filmmaker working on a video game seems like a great thing, but it rarely works out well in practice.
John Carpenter did not add much to F.E.A.R. 3 despite being a fan of video games himself. Similarly, Jericho is unremarkable, and the squad mechanics do not add a lot to the FPS gameplay. There is a real opportunity to use Barker's unlimited imagination in the medium, but Jericho does not hit the mark. Fans would love to see him try again, though.
This generation saw a bevy of horror-tinged first-person shooters. Other examples include F.E.A.R., Condemned, Left 4 Dead, and BioShock .
11 Medal Of Honor: Airborne
Metacritic Score: 73
Gamers' fondest memories of Medal of Honor remain on the original PlayStation and PC. They remember the reboot from 2011, but it did little to bring the series back and was decried as a Call of Duty rip-off. Most people downright ignore Medal of Honor: Airborne, despite its unique paratrooper mechanic.
Players start each level dropping into the map from above, giving them the freedom to land wherever they please. This mechanic also carries over into multiplayer. Reviews were mixed, but few games use this parachuting gameplay other than the Battle Royale genre, and it's rarely seen in single player.
10 Bodycount
Metacritic Score: 53
- Release: August 30, 2011
- Developer: Codemasters Guildford
- Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360
Even though it was developed by Codemasters and not Criterion, Bodycount is the spiritual successor to Black and was similarly designed by Stuart Black. The dedication to environmental destruction and standout audio is there, but the game does not quite reach the same highs as Black.
Most notably, it does not feel great to play, and has an oddly placed aim reticle on the screen. If someone was looking for a shooter around the same time that featured destructible environments, they were better off going for John Woo's Stranglehold.
9 Turning Point: Fall Of Liberty
Metacritic Score: 43
- Release: February 26, 2008
- Developer: Spark Unlimited
- Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Wolfenstein: The New Order did not invent the tragic alternate history World War 2. The Man in the High Castle came decades beforehand and, even in the video game medium, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty beat it to the punch by six years.
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The game's poor reviews mostly criticized its gameplay, but the title at least had an interesting story. It pales in comparison to what Wolfenstein would do years later with its take on the alternate timeline trope. However, while Turning Point: Fall of Liberty will not blow players away, but it is still interesting to play as a curiosity.
8 Haze
Metacritic Score: 55
Haze
- Platform(s)
- PS3
- Released
- May 20, 2008
- Developer(s)
- Free Radical Design
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft
- Genre(s)
- FPS
Fans would have loved nothing more than to see Free Radical jump into the PS3 generation with another TimeSplitters. However, they went with a new IP called Haze. The campaign could be played in 4-player co-op and the gameplay gimmick involved being able to inject oneself with a combat-enhancing drug.
The story was quite interesting and dealt with exploiting third-world countries for their natural resources and the protagonist's eventual realization of his part in it before switching sides. However, this was not explored well enough within the plot, and technical issues prevented the best parts from really shining.
This was Free Radical's last game before closing down. They had planned to make a fourth TimeSplitters and even were working on a canceled Star Wars Battlefront game.
7 TimeShift
Metacritic Score: 70
TimeShift
- Released
- October 30, 2007
- Developer(s)
- Saber Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Sierra Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- FPS
Saber Interactive has since gotten back on its feet with the well-received World War Z, but it could have become a big name much sooner if TimeShift had been the success it deserved to be. For some reason, the time manipulation mechanics did not grab audiences, despite the gameplay possibilities it opened up.
Being able to stop and rewind time created an interesting playground. In 2007, though, FPS games had to compete with juggernauts like Halo 3 and the Call of Duty franchise so it left little room for new IPs to even have a chance.
6 Syndicate
Metacritic Score: 74
Syndicate
- Released
- February 21, 2012
- Developer(s)
- Starbreeze Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Genre(s)
- FPS
It does not matter how good a reboot is, if it makes a radical shift in genre it will turn hardcore fans away. Syndicate was an isometric stealth game. When it was rebooted in 2012, it became a first-person shooter. It was a solid entry in the genre, but it was not what fans wanted for a return to the franchise and those unfamiliar with the series were not interested.
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As such, it failed to make any waves and did not kickstart a reboot. The same year, XCOM: Enemy Unknown came out and retained the same unforgiving and difficult gameplay of its predecessors, proving that reboots true to their roots can find an audience.
5 MAG
Metacritic Score: 76
Starting with the launch title Resistance: Fall of Man, Sony was pushing for large-scale multiplayer matches on the PS3. They went all out with the multiplayer-only MAG or Massive Action Game. In its largest mode, 256 players were on the same map battling it out over different objectives.
It is difficult to maintain an active community when a single match requires this many players, though, and the servers were shut down just four years after its 2010 release. Those who played it commend its ambition and unique style. Those who didn't will never know, since it is impossible to play.
4 Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood
Metacritic Score: 77
The first game in the Call of Juarez series was not on the PS3, but the sequel made its way to Sony's console. It was a prequel that let players choose between the two McCall siblings as they ventured on with their third brother, a pacifistic man of the cloth. The story explains how Ray McCall becomes the man he is in the first Call of Juarez.
The gameplay feels heavy and brutal, with the period-appropriate weapons lacking automatic rifles. The third game in the franchise brought the action to the modern day, but a spin-off, The Gunslinger, returned to the past with a more arcade-like and cartoony presentation.
3 Turok
Metacritic Score: 69
After Turok: Evolution's poor reception in 2002, the series was considered all but dead. Developer Propaganda Games tried to get its heart started again with a reboot in 2008. It had a character named Turok, but it was a different plot altogether and the setting was not on earth in the past but on an alien planet.
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It received okay reviews but sold enough to start development of a sequel that would never come to be. Fortunately, Turok was brought back to life by Night Dive Studios who remastered the first two games, reminding everyone what was so special about the series in the first place.
2 Dust 514
Metacritic Score: 59
EVE Online is an almost comically grounded space simulator where players' hard work can go up in a flash during a battle. People don't play EVE Online, they live it. For a time, PS3 owners could get in on this dynamic world where the games are set by playing Dust 514.
The battles in Dust 514 were influenced by events in EVE Online and the PC MMO would similarly be influenced by the multiplayer FPS. Battles would even take place at the same time in both games in space and on the planet below. While an interesting idea, it only lasted about three years, closing down in 2016 after being released in 2013.
1 Aliens Vs Predator
Metacritic Score: 64
Everyone remembers Aliens: Colonial Marines for all the wrong reasons. It was hyped up for ages and released in a buggy, broken mess of a state. It was not the only game in the series released on the PS3, though. This is not referring to the later release, Alien: Isolation, but to 2010's Aliens Vs. Predator.
Like the older games under the same name, there are three separate campaigns following the two titular creatures and then the space marines. Though its reviews were not the highest, it came out during a dry spell in the series both in games and cinema, so it was enough to hold fans over until newer stories came along.
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