Shooter titles have been around almost since the very dawn of video games, and with good reason - the catharsis of a good mix of feedback and recoil is unlike any other genre of game, when done right. However, with huge popularity comes oversaturation it can be hard to move for the number of shooters that you could choose from, and it can be difficult to tell them apart in some cases.

We've gathered the ten very best shooters on the platform for you right here, so that you can be sure you're picking a winner. These games all work flawlessly whether you're on an original Xbox One, Xbox One X or Xbox One S.

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Halo Infinite
1. Best overall

Brilliant freedom

An amazing return to form for Halo, and a must-play on Xbox.

Pros
  • Huge areas to play in
  • Great campaign missions
  • Grappleshot is a revelation
Cons
  • Occasional difficulty spikes

The latest Halo release breathes fresh air into a franchise that was starting to look like it had lost its way. A whole new direction for the series returns you to the power suit of Master Chief and opens up huge areas for you to freely explore, with moreish collectables and upgrades to unlock.

It's great fun, with that trademark freeform randomness that makes Halo so successful, and we can't recommend it highly enough. Plus, there's a superb free-to-play multiplayer offering that is just as impressive as anything the Halo brand has ever produced.

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Doom (1993)
2. Best for high-speed shooting

Slick shooting

A brilliant, rip-roaring shooter that will have you moving at enormous pace.

Pros
  • Amazing pace
  • Great arenas
  • Excellent weapons
Cons
  • Fairly short campaign

Doom has been around for so long that it's part of the gaming furniture, but this update brought it kicking and screaming into the modern world with slick visuals and a pace that almost no other shooter can match. You'll zip around tight arenas managing your ammo and blasting horrific aliens.

The tone is macabre and knowing, the music is absolutely amazing and the whole package comes together so well and so purely that you'll probably find yourself moving straight onto its sequel, Doom Eternal, once you're done.

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Red Dead Redemption 2
3. Best for western adventures

Wild western

This epic story will have you holding up banks, saloons and more besides.

Pros
  • Unbelievably detailed world
  • Memorable characters and story
  • Tight shooting
Cons
  • Fiddly controls
  • Has a slow pace at times

A towering achievement of detail and visual flair, Red Dead Redemption 2 takes everything you loved about the first game and expands upon it, with more to do, a bigger world that's more luscious than ever, and a huge cast of memorable characters to interact with.

Riding around its gameworld can offer up some of the most impressive and high-fidelity sights anywhere in gaming, but the shooting that accompanies it all is impressively refined and enjoyable, especially when you've got a full Deadeye meter for some rapid executions.

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Resident Evil Village
4. Best for horror enthusiasts

Thrill-a-minute

A superb thrill-ride that basically never lets up, right until its crazy ending.

Pros
  • Sheer fun
  • Great tension
  • Solid shooting
Cons
  • Not for the faint of heart

Resident Evil is no stranger to schlock but Village dials it up to 11 with an amazing roller-coaster of a horror shooter. While there are long sections where you'll have little ammo or even be without a weapon at all, Village also delivers some hugely action-packed sequences.

Linking it all together is a bananas storyline that twists and turns as you try to vanquish a succession of gnarly bosses and adversaries before coming to a truly crazy ending. It's all simply huge fun, albeit with some parts that dip into really scary territory.

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Battlefield V
5. Best for WWII players

Multiplayer stalwart

A shooter that's best enjoyed with a squad of friends as you try to turn the tide of battle.

Pros
  • Large multiplayer offering
  • Great locations
  • A wide array of weapons
Cons
  • Can be frustrating to play solo

A truly great Battlefield game, Battlefield V was actually a bit of a mess when it was released (a familiar problem for the series) but straightened things out over the following years to end up as a really rounded and satisfying entry.

You'll be able to drop into huge maps from a variety of Second World War locations to vie for supremacy in different modes, with loads of authentic and experimental weapons to try out and master over time. It's a pure multiplayer delight, although some single-player missions also offer nice diversions.

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Metro Exodus
6. Best for varied landscapes

Brutal action

A tough but fair shooter that takes you through hugely varied locales.

Pros
  • Beautiful locations
  • Touching story
  • Great shooting
Cons
  • A little stressful

The third main Metro game took a bold step by making the levels huge hubs that let you roam around freely, and offering you more of a chance to approach objectives in your own way. It pays off nicely, with varied locations and twists on gameplay making for a really rewarding journey.

Surprisingly, it's the story and characters that really stitch it all together, too, with a good amount of heart and some impressively written group scenes that will get you motivated to find a new future for your band of survivors.

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Hunt: Showdown
7. Best for pressure

Tense shootouts

A multiplayer shooter like no other, Hunt is a brilliant high-wire act.

Pros
  • Amazingly tense
  • Superlative sound design
  • Looks excellent
Cons
  • Extremely unforgiving

We're not sure anyone has experienced true tension until they play a round of Hunt: Showdown where the game has randomly set things at night - even in daytime modes this game is extremely high-wire. You're dropped into a map in a zombie-infested bayou with some horrendous bounty targets to hunt down.

These monsters are the same targets for everyone, so players are drawn together and must face off in gunfights that can end with a single well-placed bullet. The sound design is industry-leading, so your every movement becomes a calculated risk. It won't be for everyone, but we think Hunt is a singular experience.

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Gears 5
8. Best for big levels

Classic bombast

A great entry in a storied franchise, Gears 5 moves things forward nicely.

Pros
  • Fun cast
  • Great visuals
  • Smoother movement
Cons
  • Still pretty familiar

Gears of War gets a welcome new chapter in this outing, with new controllable characters and (like others on our list) a new more open approach to its level design. You'll be able to move around large areas to choose where you go next.

What's still there, though, is its punchy combat with powerful weapons and third-person movement that's become slicker and easier to control over time. Gears 5 is a great shooter with a vibrant multiplayer scene (albeit one that will probably serve you up a lot of defeats as you learn the ropes).

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Far Cry 6
9. Best for weapon choice

Exploratory carnage

Check out a beautiful, huge island - then blow most of it up.

Pros
  • Great visuals
  • A fun range of weapons
  • Vehicles for quicker travel
Cons
  • A little repetitive

Far Cry takes it back to a more tropical setting with this entry, and it's a bombastic new playground for you to explore. You get a huge arsenal of weapons that you can upgrade as you see fit, and there are almost countless enemy outposts, roadblocks and camps to clear.

While it can be a little formulaic at times and the story isn't quite the slam-dunk we were hoping for, there's still an inherent joy to clearing a map full of objectives like the one that Far Cry 6 offers up, and we're always game for more.

How to pick your next shooter on Xbox One

As we said at the start of this list, there are way too many shooters to easily choose between on Xbox One. Here are some questions to help you figure out what you want before you waste too much time researching dead ends.

Do you want multiplayer?

Some great shooters offer both multiplayer and singleplayer portions for you to enjoy, but if you're particularly searching for a game to play together with your friends online or in person you may want to make sure that your choice actually has multiplayer options. Something like Battlefield or Call of Duty is a safe bet in those circumstances, but might not hold your attention in singleplayer for too long.

Is an FPS your goal?

Shooters come in a few varieties but the main two types either use a first-person viewpoint or an over-the-shoulder third-person one instead. This is a bit of a difference in style, but, either way, you'll get punchy action depending on the game in question. If you've played one sort or the other in the past and enjoyed it, you might want to do so again.

Have you checked Xbox Game Pass?

Whenever we're talking about buying games on Xbox it's worth reminding you of Xbox Game Pass, a superb monthly subscription that gets you access to a huge list of games as part of the price. Some of the shooters we've shortlisted are included in the service, like Halo Infinite, so you might be able to play them for a lower price than their standalone value.

That said, buying a game fully means you'll always have access to it, regardless of your subscription status on Game Pass.