Third-person shooters, known as TPSs or 3PSs, emphasize shooting and combat from a camera perspective in which the player character is seen at a distance. This perspective gives the player a wider view of their surroundings as opposed to the limited viewpoint of first-person shooters.
Third-person shooters allow for more elaborate movement such as rolling or diving, as opposed to simple jumping and crouching common in FPS games, allowing for more interaction with the game environment.
Here are the top 5 Third Person Shooters:
Star Wars Battlefront
Set in various planets and space from the Star Wars Universe, you’re thrown into famous epic battles across the galaxy fighting both on foot and in space ships, Star Wars Battlefront truly captures the feel of the Star Wars Universe, even giving you special cameos from epic characters like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
Gameplay is conquest based, giving you a finite number of troops while fighting to control command posts across the battlefield. This is most certainly one of the most entertaining games of its type.
Star Wars Battlefront III was introduced in E3 2013 without a release date, however, in EA’s stock holder’s meeting they indicated a release date in 2015 which coincides with the expected release of the new Star Wars Episode VII movie.
All The Star Wars Battlefront Games
- Star Wars Battlefront – Pandemic Studios (2004)
- Star Wars Battlefront II – Pandemic Studios (2005)
- Star Wars Battlefront III – EA Digital Illusions CE [DICE] (2015)
Gears of War
Gears of War is a military science fiction third-person shooter focusing on the troops of Delta Squad as they wield a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save the remaining human inhabitants of the fictional planet Sera from a relentless and seemingly unstoppable subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde.
While mostly action oriented with an emphasis on cover, it does lead you into a five act campaign story putting you in the role of Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner and war-hardened soldier.
Out of the four games in this franchise, only the first one had a PC version, so I feel like I might be cheating a little by including Gears of War in this article. However, the mere fact that it sold over 3 million copies in ten weeks makes it the fastest selling video game of 2006, which is a testament to the popularity and epic awesome of this game.
If you disagree, feel free to let me know in comments.
All The Gears of War Games
- Gears of War – Epic Games (2006, 2007 for PC)
- Gears of War 2 – Epic Games (2008, No PC Version)
- Gears of War 3 – Epic Games (2011, No PC Version)
- Gears of War: Judgement – Epic Games (2013, No PC Version)
Mass Effect
The Mass Effect series combines action role-playing game elements. The series has been a major critical and financial success with all three games receiving critical acclaim for their storyline, characters, romances, voice acting, choices and the depth of the galaxy. There are also lesbian sex scenes, which is always nice.
Because of the rich, deep backstory and narrative, the game has spawned a myriad of novels, fan films, comics, action figures, board games, and there’s even a feature film in the works.
If you enjoy a rich story, free-form gameplay, and lesbian sex, you’re gonna wanna play Mass Effect.
All The Mass Effect Games
- Mass Effect – Bioware (2007)
- Bring Down the Sky (2008)
- Pinnacle Station (2009)
- Mass Effect 2 – Bioware (2011)
- Normandy Crash Site (2010)
- Zaeed – The Price of Revenge (2010)
- Firewalker (2010)
- Kasumi – Stolen Memory (2010)
- Overlord (2010)
- Lair of the Shadow Broker (2010)
- Arrival (2010)
- Mass Effect 3 – Bioware (2012)
- From Ashes (2012)
- Extended Cut (2012)
- Leviathan (2012)
- Omega (2012)
- Citadel (2013)
Assassin’s Creed
Arguably the spiritual successor to the Prince of Persia series, Assassin’s Creed puts you in the role of stealthy thief-like assassins set throughout recorded (and un-recorded) history. The historic assassin is actually a virtual reality simulation whose content is derived from the genetic memory of the main, modern-day protagonist, Desmond Miles.
Since the main character enters a computer to play the role of his historic ancestors, and we fire up the game on our computers to play Desmond mainly playing his ancestor… we’ve got some kind of trippy Matrix grade scenario where we don’t know what’s real after every 5+ hour stint of Assassin’s Creed.
So far, Ubisoft Montrieal has recreated historic Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus, Venice, Florence, Forlì, San Gimignano, the Tuscan countryside, Rome, Constantinople, Boston, New York and the American Colonial North East.
The upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, will take place in the pirate-era Caribbean and its period era harbors and coastal towns.
This is truly an epic franchise with so many redeeming qualities, not least of which is teaching real history by immersive osmosis.
All the Assassin’s Creed Games
- Assassin’s Creed – Ubisoft Montreal (2007, 2008 PC Version)
- Assassin’s Creed II – Ubisoft Montreal (2009, 2010 PC Version)
- The Battle of Forlì (2010)
- Bonfire of the Vanities (2010)
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft Montreal (2010, 2011 PC Version)
- Copernicus Conspiracy (2011)
- Animus Project Update 1.0 (2011)
- Animus Project Update 2.0 (2011)
- The Da Vinci Disappearance (2011)
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – Ubisoft Montreal (2011)
- Ancestors Character Pack (2011)
- Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack (2012)
- The Lost Archive (2012)
- Assassin’s Creed III – Ubisoft Montreal (2012)
- The Hidden Secrets Pack (2012)
- The Battle Hardened Pack (2013)
- The Tyranny of King Washington (2013)
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag- Ubisoft Montreal (2013)
Max Payne
Max Payne is a gritty neo-noir style game, using graphic novel panels with voice-overs to create a deeply surreal and psychologically rich plot. While drawing inspiration from hard-boiled detective novels, the action scenes are heavily influenced by the Hong Kong action cinema genre, like John Woo, It was also the first game to feature the bullet time effect popularized by The Matrix.
Max Payne is a deep and tortured soul, stemming from a drug related home invasion that ends up with his wife and new-born daughter brutally slaughtered while he arrives too late to save them. This truly dark backstory is what drives Max, and is the source of his deep pain, psychological breaks and severe nightmares and hallucinations.
You are drawn into his character so deeply, that after a time you begin to feel his pain, you are his pain… and it hurts.
All The Max Payne Games
- Max Payne – Remedy Entertainment (2001)
- Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne – Remedy Entertainment (2003)
- Max Payne 3 – Rockstar Studios (2012)
- Gorilla Warfare (2012)
- Local Justice (2012)
- Hostage Negotiation (2012)
- Painful Memories (2012)
- Deathmatch Made in Heaven (2013)
Vote NOW on Your Favorite Third Person Shooter!
The winning third person shooter will be included in our epic article that includes one game from each genre.
Be part of this article be placing your vote and sharing with your friends to get your favorite game in the article.
