The Best First-Person Shooters With Superpowers

A good first-person shooter like Doom Eternal or Halo is always fun, especially with the amount of weapons available for the player. However, certain games have taken things a step further for the shooter genre by including powers to wield alongside guns and knives.

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From something as simple as throwing a fireball to something as complex as controlling time, some first-person shooters provide more than shooting enough rounds into an enemy before they drop. In some cases, they are essential mechanics due to the game's structure for stealth, puzzles, or story progression.

10 Destiny 2

Every Class' Powers Can Change With The Seasons

In the long-lasting looter shooter Destiny 2, players can play one of three classes: Warlock, Titan, and Hunter. Each has its benefits, including its abilities and super abilities which are often a mix of science fiction and fantasy, from healing and buffing to barricading.

However, thanks to Destiny 2 featuring subclasses for every season of the game, the player never feels the same, since the game is always evolving. One season may result in the player enjoying cryomancy, while the next might have a better subclass featuring fire abilities. The best part is that players can swap subclasses whenever they see fit.

9 Singularity

Manipulating Time And Space Before Christopher Nolan Did

On the one hand, Singularity features well-made first-person shooter gameplay like Raven Software had done with Soldier Of Fortune and Quake 4. On the other hand, the main character wields a wrist-bound device known as the TMD which allows the player to move objects and certain enemies backwards and forwards through time, similar to what was seen in Christopher Nolan's Tenet.

Not only does time manipulation lead to a mind-bending journey through 1950s and present-day Russia, but it also makes for fun gameplay mechanics in Singularity. An explosive barrel that's thrown at the player can be reversed, sending it back at the enemy that threw it, or the player can cause an enemy to age so rapidly, that it turns into a skeleton.

8 Deathloop

A Time Loop Is More Fun With Technologically Powered Spells

Deathloop is, essentially, a video game version of Edge Of Tomorrow with the main character Cole living the same day over and over. He has to kill a group of mad scientists to stop the loop and, while he has plenty of weapons to help him on his journey, he also has a few abilities known as Slabs to assist him.

Cole can teleport short distances, interlock multiple enemies together psychically so that killing one will kill the rest, and granting Cole enhanced defense and damage are a few examples. Deathloop is often praised for its commitment to the time loop concept, but newcomers should be warned that even with those powers, Deathloop is a difficult experience from beginning to end.

7 Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast

Kyle Katarn Ditches Being Civilized By Wielding The Force With A Blaster

In most Star Wars games, a Jedi character often results in third-person action, but that is not the case with Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. In the third adventure of Kyle Katarn, the player wields a plethora of blasters from the Star Wars universe, from the standard E-11 blaster rifle to the Wookiee Bowcaster.

Jedi Outcast does not give Kyle Katarn his blue-bladed lightsaber until almost the third hour into the game's main story. Along with the lightsaber, Kyle has many abilities via the Force including Push, Pull, Choke, Lightning, Speed, and Healing. Those abilities can also be used when Kyle swaps to blaster gameplay, which is not the Jedi way but makes for fun gameplay.

6 Darkwatch

Hunting Monsters In The Old West With Vampire Powers

Throughout the Darkwatch story, Jericho Cross goes from a regular human to a powerful yet heroic vampire. As a result, he gains the ability to grant himself armor, see his enemies clearly with vampire vision, or even send out a bolt of magic that tracks and chain attacks opponents.

In many ways, Darkwatch is a culmination of supernatural action films at the time, such as Van Helsing, Underworld, and Blade but with an Old West twist. This has led to Darkwatch becoming a cult classic of the PS2 era, allowing gamers to take on vampires, zombies, demons, and more with steampunk weaponry and vampire abilities.

5 Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Adam Jensen Is A Cybernetically Enhanced Superhero

Thanks to augmentation, Adam Jensen is given a set of technological enhancements that transform him into a superpowered cyborg to be reckoned with. Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its sequel, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, feature Adam constantly evolving and acquiring new abilities, from nearly flawless cloaking to arm blades to being able to see through walls.

One of the best things about both Deus Ex games is that players are allowed to go about every mission how they wish. If a player wishes to be quiet and use their cybernetic abilities for purely stealth operations, that is viable. However, for those wanting to go in using their abilities and guns for an all-out warzone tactic, that is also valid.

4 Bulletstorm

A Game That Motivates Players To Create New Fatalities

What makes Bulletstorm still stand out from most first-person shooters is the Skillshot system, incentivizing players to come up with creative kills for more points for better grading and experience. So, Grayson Hunt can slow them down by kicking them, pulling them with a whip, launching them, and sliding into them.

While Bulletstorm allows the simplest option to shoot the enemies while they are slow, there are so many inventive ways to finish the job across the memorable yet short campaign. The environment is filled with hazards to utilize, giving the player a reason to think outside the box and come up with creative methods to take out enemies using the powers gifted to them.

3 Clive Barker's Undying

Cosmic And Gothic Horror Far Ahead Of Its Time

One of the first to mix spellcasting and first-person shooter gameplay, Clive Barker's Undying mixes the Lovecraftian-like cosmic horror that Clive Barker is known for with Gothic horror seen in classic Universal monster movies and the result is an action-horror experience that was far ahead of its time.

The main hero, Patrick Galloway, has all the staple weapons of a classic first-person shooter: a revolver and shotgun. However, he has other fantastical weapons, including a scythe, a dragon gun, and a speargun that can be mixed with different spells to take on hordes of monsters, undead creatures, and the ghostly bosses of the Covenant family.

2 Borderlands 2

Exploring Pandora Is Not The Same Without Power

Rather than have one character with abilities, Borderlands 2, as well as every other game in the series, features multiple to choose to run around the planet of Pandora. There is the Siren with her powerful psionic abilities, the Commando with his summonable turrets, and more.

The main focus of Borderlands is the thousands of guns that can be collected, but every character's abilities are not to be downplayed. As they level up, the skill trees are full of upgrades for the abilities and passive skills that can transform the character into a godly Vault Hunter ready to take on the Hyperion corporation.

1 BioShock Infinite

Vigors Make Going Through Flying City Even Better

While all three BioShock games feature powers and guns, BioShock Infinite is where it is at its best. From the beautiful yet disturbing city of Columbia to what is often considered the best first-person shooter gameplay of the series, BioShock Infinite is beloved by fans as a stellar threequel.

Along with a helpful companion in the form of Elizabeth, BioShock Infinite grants the main character Booker powers known as Vigors. He can throw fireballs, pull enemies toward him with a water tentacle, and so much more, but most famously, Booker can unleash a murder of crows that can peck enemies to death, which is so satisfying when paired with the right gun.

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