Best Shooter Games on the Xbox 360

Shooter Games are one of the things the Xbox 360 is genuinely for. The ones worth playing start with Gears of War, Mass Effect 2, Halo 3.

The Xbox 360 and Shooter Games

The generation's default machine for most of its life, and the one where online multiplayer, achievements and digital indie distribution all became normal.

This is one of its strengths. Shooters and Western RPGs at the top of their form — Gears of War, Mass Effect 2, Skyrim, BioShock — plus the first real indie catalogue on a console.

Filtering to shooter means you want the guns to be the answer. It is the right filter when what you liked was the feedback — the sound, the recoil, the way enemies react.

The Shooter Games Worth Playing

  1. 1. Gears of War

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Mass Effect 2

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Halo 3

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Red Dead Redemption

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  5. 5. BioShock

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  6. 6. Fallout 3

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  7. 7. Left 4 Dead 2

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  8. 8. Alan Wake

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  9. 9. Crackdown

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  10. 10. Halo 4

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good Shooter Game

Moment-to-moment feel, and the shortest distance between picking a game up and enjoying it.

Variety. Shooters commit hard to one loop, and the ones that try to be something else usually do the something else badly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best shooter game on the Xbox 360?

Gears of War is the usual first answer, and there are 10 in the library we cover.

Was the Xbox 360 good at shooter games?

Yes — it is one of the things the machine is known for, and there are 10 in the library we cover.

What makes a shooter feel good?

How the guns sound and how enemies react to being hit. A shooter with mediocre levels and superb weapon feedback is more fun than the reverse, every time.

Do these need to be played online?

Each pick says. Several of the best shooters ever made are single-player campaigns, and a few of the co-op ones are genuinely worse with bots.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the Xbox 360, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

Shooter Games on Other Consoles

More From the Xbox 360

Or browse the whole Xbox 360 library.