The best abandonware shooter games
Shooter video games are all about shooting targets and avoiding being shot down. The kind of game is often defined by the player perspective (FPS stands for First Person Shooter, TPS stands for Third Person Shooter), or by gameplay: shoot'em up, run and gun, shooting gallery.
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The Chaos Engine
DOS1994protected run and gun
River Raid remake
DOS1995freewareremake shoot 'em up
Jackal
DOS1989 run and gun
Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon
DOS1991 first-person shooter, tank simulation
Operation Wolf
DOS1989 rail shooter, shooting gallery
Super Stardust
DOS1996 shoot 'em up
Doom 2: Hell on Earth
DOSWindows XP/98/951994protected first-person shooter
Doom 2 is the sequel to the much acclaimed FPS Doom. Doom 2: Hell on Earth is a horror sci-fi first-person shooter created by id Software, (John Carmack, Sandy Petersen, John Romero) set on a hellish Earth invaded by demons. The p...
Virtua Cop 2
Windows XP/98/951997 rail shooter
Virtua Cop 2 is an abandoned light gun first-person rail shooter game designed by Yu Suzuki, developed and released by Sega in 1997 for Windows, and also published for Saturn, Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. Virtua Cop 2 is the secon...
Quake
DOSWindows XP/98/951996protecteddemo first-person shooter
Quake is a first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by id Software and released in 1996. It is the successor to id Software's immensely popular "Doom" series and is known for its groundbreaking 3D graphics, fast-paced gamep...
Alien Breed: Tower Assault
DOS1994protected run and gun
Alien Breed: Tower Assault (1994) takes everything you loved about the original - creepy corridors, limited ammo, sudden death - and adds something revolutionary for the time: non-linear level design. That's right, you can now die...
Battlezone
DOS1983 first-person shooter
In 1983, Battlezone asked: what if vector graphics could give you war-induced vertigo? You’re in a tank, in a wireframe world, fighting other tanks. That’s it. But it’s oddly immersive—thanks to a pseudo-3D...
Heretic
DOS1994protecteddemo first-person shooter
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
DOS1994 shoot 'em up
Doom
DOS1993protecteddemo first-person shooter
Doom was released by id Software in 1993. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential and groundbreaking video games of all time, particularly within the first-person shooter (FPS) genre.Set in the future on the moons of ...
Alien Syndrome
DOS1989 run and gun
Alien Syndrome (1989) is a top-down shooter where you save hostages, shoot aliens, and scream internally because you’re always out of time. It’s frantic arcade action at its finest—like Contra had a baby with Gau...
Defender
DOS1983 shoot 'em up
Airborne Ranger
DOS1988 shoot 'em up
Strap in and crawl through the mud - Airborne Ranger (1988) is here to chew bubblegum and infiltrate enemy lines. And it's all out of bubblegum. This tactical action game lets you drop behind enemy territory, blow things up, and l...
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II
Windows XP/98/951997protected first-person shooter
Star Wars: Dark Forces
DOS1995protected first-person shooter
Blood
DOS1997protected first-person shooter
Ah yes, Blood (1997)—the cheerful little game where you rise from the grave, wield a pitchfork, and quote evil-sounding movie lines while setting cultists on fire. It’s a first-person shooter soaked in gore and dark hu...
Mega Man X3
Windows XP/98/951998 run and gun, platform
Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded
Windows 10/112011canceled first-person shooter
Jungle Strike
DOS1995 shoot 'em up
Seek and Destroy
DOS1996 shoot 'em up
Seek and Destroy was a shoot'em up published by the well known Epic Megagames in 1996 that tried to change the usual shoot'em up gameplay for the better. Instead of wave after wave of enemies to shoot down, you are given short mis...
Taito's Super Space Invaders
DOS1991 shoot 'em up
Super Space Invaders is a video game developed and published by Taito Corporation, released in 1991. It's a sequel to the classic arcade game Space Invaders, which was originally released in 1978 and is one of the most iconic vide...
Witchaven
DOSWindows XP/98/951995protected first-person shooter
Witchaven is an abandoned fantasy first-person shooter (or "slasher", since you'll wield melee weapons) developed by Capstone and released by IntraCorp in 1995 for DOS and Windows. Witchaven includes RPG elements such as experienc...
Star Wars
DOS1988 space simulation, rail shooter, space combat
Duke Nukem 3D
DOS1996protecteddemo first-person shooter
Duke Nukem 3D is a classic first-person shooter that was developed by 3D Realms (formerly known as Apogee Software) and published by GT Interactive. It was released in 1996 for MS-DOS and later for various other platforms, includi...
Descent
DOS1995protecteddemo first-person shooter
Descent is a first person shooter with a unique six degree of freedom gameplay developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Productions in 1995.. You control a spaceship and must pilot it in a mine, through a series of...
Spear of Destiny
DOS1992 first-person shooter
Before he was shooting Mecha-Hitler in Wolfenstein 3D, B.J. Blazkowicz was chasing the actual biblical spear that pierced Jesus. Spear of Destiny is the lesser-known prequel, but no less filled with Nazi-blasting action. It’...