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If you’re someone looking for an immersive, tactical and realistic shooter game in 2025, things might seem rough at a first glace: with the shelves increasingly dominated by fast-paced, ultra-competitive shooters like Battlefield, Call of Duty or other games of that creed, its difficult to find high-quality games that reward slow, careful and meticulous gameplay and punish the kind of blind charges you see so often in most FPS games. Therefore, this is a list of our top 5 realistic shooter games for 2025.
Ready or Not is a realistic SWAT shooter that focused on various police deployments across a fictionalised Los Angeles. The gunplay of Ready or Not is rough, with high recoil and inaccuracy making for a steep learning curve and making combat feel genuinely unstable due to its unpredictability. Furthermore, NPCs in Ready or Not are unforgiving- they know when they have the advantage and they do well to press it, and while their weapons may be equally prone to inaccuracy and instability, a terrorist or hostage-taken isn’t constrained by the same concern for property damage and civilian lives that you, a Los Sueños SWAT officer, are. That’s not even taking into account the presence of non-aligned NPCs- civilians whose behaviours are equally unpredictable, from complying, aiding the enemy or just being a nuisance by insisting on videoing you and refusing to listen to your orders. That said, the biggest thing about Ready or Not that lands it a comfortable spot on this list is the general environment the game cultivates, from the lighting choices, the ambience, the audio cues that reveal an NPCs movements or from just the general pacing, Ready or Not puts you on edge, makes you feel uncomfortable and really immerses you in the world of a SWAT officer who never knows what’s round the next corner. Whether you plan on rushing in a blaze of “shoot first, ask questions later”-style glory, or be careful and methodical in your stealthy breach of an enemy compound, Ready or Not is an excellent realistic shooter game that feels equal parts gritty and tense as much as it feels satisfying and rewarding to successfully beat.
Bodycame is a very similar game in concept to Ready or Not, but with a very different set of circumstances. Bodycam shares the unstable gunplay and the generally tense settings but puts a completely different spin on it, being an online PVP style game where you fight in teams against enemy forces. Furthermore, while the graphics of Ready or Not don’t necessarily try to be ultra realistic, as the gameplay and general vibe certainly feel immersive enough, Bodycam makes a real effort to be as realistic as possible and really does succeed, with many of the early access footage going viral on Reddit, with some claiming the devs had just filmed paintball games on GoPros and tried to sell it off as their own. Nonetheless, Bodycam creates an environment that feels equally meticulous and tactical as Ready or Not but with a far faster pace, moving to outflank and outmaneuver an enemy team you always know is just around the corner, but never exactly where. Despite still being in early access, Bodycam is available to purchase and has received generally positive reviews, and has an active playerbase meaning matchmaking isn’t as much of a slog as you’d expect from a still-developing game. Overall, for someone who craves the thrills of PVP while sticking with the satisfying realism of Ready or Not, Bodycam is a strong choice.
Moving away from the ultra-realistic, small-scale settings, Squad is a realistic massively multiplayer war simulator set in an ambiguous Middle-Eastern conflict with parallels to the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. With an American and Insurgent force set against each other in a 50v50 format, Squad’s gameplay is centred around the journey of individual squads throughout this battle, from infantrymen sweeping buildings across the desert wastes to tank units evading the dangers of enemy ambushes. Squad’s gunplay is very satisfying, mixing the instability and raw recoil-filled realism of the games above with a more manageable sense of balance that one might find in a game like Battlefield or Call of Duty. The joy of Squad’s gameplay is that it can change as matches change- some days will be high-intensity onslaughts and others will be slow, meticulous hunts. The biggest downside to Squad as a game is its reliance on the Squad mechanics, as if you’re playing alone your fate will be largely in the hands of the almighty matchmaking AI. That said, Squad is nonetheless a great game to play for those looking for a more immersive war game experience that still captures the key essence of on-the-ground, infantry warfare while including other elements like artillery fire, drone strikes and tank gameplay.
Insurgency Sandstorm is a game very similar to Squad on paper- not unlike how Bodycam is similar to Ready or Not on paper- but entirely different in terms of dynamic. Insurgency Sandstorm is, simply put, an absolute bloodbath. The game spares no expense in feeling chaotic, fast paced and riddled with risk while still retaining those key elements of realism from the constant screenshake as explosions burst around you to the gritty gunplay and vulnerability. Insurgency Sandstorm is in many ways Squad but taken into a more familiar ground for your average FPS player, with intense and fast-paced gameplay balanced with realistic elements. Despite being a now 6 year old game, its servers largely remain packed with players, and the developers maintain active support via updates containing new maps and game modes on a regular basis. Made by New World Interactive, the devs behind Warhammer: Space Marine 2 and World War Z, you can be assured the gunplay is equal parts satisfying, challenging and realistic, and overall this is a great pick for anyone desiring a fast paced yet realistic shooter.
Arma is a very different kind of game, and one that reaches a point where it barely falls into the category of a shooter. Arma is in many ways Squad on a larger scale, as instead of individual squads on the battlefield, these are full armies organised entirely by players. Set in a Vietnam-esque conflict, Arma is far more popular not just because of the base game- which is certainly expansive as it allows communities to coordinate both to fight against AI enemies. With a massive emphasis on realism with weapons and vehicle systems that can be difficult to learn, and often requires actual training from other members of the community, Arma does its upmost to be as realistic as possible, even if this means potentially making itself more niche. Part of the great fun of Arma is the many directions it can be taken in, from World War Two, Vietnam, Modern Warfare or even into Warhammer or Star Wars- although support for these alternative universes is limited as the game’s bread and butter is realism and immersion. In short, Arma is essentially a roleplaying game with shooter characteristics, and feels like a wholly immersive and unique experience to any other game.
So there you have it. Whether you're looking to scratch a typical dopamine itch with simply an added sprinkling of realism of you’re looking for a fully immersive milsim experience, the range of realistic shooter games continues to grow, as there appears to be some demand within this market and thus there are ample devs looking to produce new titles to fill the void. Overall, this is a niche that I expect will continue to grow, and should be definitely something for gamers to keep an eye on if they fancy trying something a little bit beyond the confines of their comfort zone.
