Get ready to lock and load as we check out the best PS3 FPS games of all time.
We’re about to crawl through the undergrowth, search for health in the most dangerous of locations, and try to stay alive in terrifying tunnels.
Take a trip to the 1950’s, dodge a rhino, rule an underwater world. The possibilities are endless, and nothing is off the table.
We love coming home and shooting some cretins to wind down after a long day of writing about shooting cretins. It’s the perfect way to unwind!
Still, there are some games in this list that require a little more thought too, perfect for any of you puzzle-heads out there or gamers making the jump from tricky platformers to something with a little more firepower.
So, without further ado, let’s cut the waffle and jump right into some gnarly PS3 FPS games, shall we?
Table of Contents
10. Resistance 3 (2011)
First up on our list of the best PS3 FPS games is the mighty Resistance 3.
Ok, so it’s not as mighty now that the servers aren’t running anymore, but still, it’s a great game to play offline.
The premise – humans have turned into Chimera after being infected by a terrible virus. They’re running around int he 1950’s going wild and causing as much havoc as possible.
Yep, that’s the winning formula for a game to catch the eye of the Retro Dodo team!
The picture below says it all – massive firepower and massive monsters. Oh, and massive explosions too, don’t forget those.
I thing that I like about Resistance 3 is that its set in an alternative 1950’s rather than being in space or hell or a purpose-built arena. It makes it seem more real, more tense.
Especially when you can’t find a rifle and have to make do with a sledgehammer. A hammer against that thing up there… no chance!
Don’t be thinking that your health is going to go up automatically either. Find medipacks if you want to stay alive, be stealthy, and try not to get eaten!
9. Portal 2 (2011)
Portal 2 could well be one of the most intense puzzle games on the PS3. Add in a little light combat with some tricksy enemies, and you’ve got yourself an FPS that will blow your mind.
Or more likely melt it.
For any Nintendo lovers our there, this game looks and feels like Metroid Prime without the hordes of aliens trying to murder you. As the name suggests, players make Portals to different areas and have to move through walls and floors to access new areas.
For example, to hit the button on the left there, multiple portals must be made to direct the laser to the target.
Players might have to access a really high platform by falling through the floor and coming back down through the roof.
It’s all super complex; the devs must have had brains the size of small planets!
While your character is as quiet as a mouse, the little robot that follows you around speaks with Stephen Merchant’s voice. Thats the super tall guy from the UK Office, JoJo Rabbit, and tonnes of other movies and TV shows.
Portal 2 is an intriguing game that still makes me think 11 years later at the time of writing. If you’re looking for an FPS game that really works your grey cells, then this is it!
8. Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
Call of Duty: Ghosts takes the 8th spot in this list of the best PS3 FPS games, and what a title it is! Just check out the gloomy wasteland on the still below and tell me it doesn’t give you chills.
Though to be fair, there is currently a power cut in my house, so that could be why I’m shivering… but I digress.
The United States and a group of South American countries merged into a coalition force have been at war for a decade.
You’ll play as multiple different people to get a general overview of the war as it’s happening, but the main gameplay concentrates on stealth and extraction.
Players mainly work through a campaign where they must find and extract a Ghost operative captured by the South American forces.
I hope it’s not the dog… please tell me the dog got out safely!
Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. One of the main reasons we all love Call of Duty games is the epic multiplayer mode.
Team Deathmatches and Free-For-All battles are back with a vengeance, as well as a new type of capture the flag mode called Blitz
The graphics are slick, the gameplay is tense, and the Guerrilla-esque stealth aspects will leave you taking the long way to the office through the bushes.
7. Metro: Last Light (2013)
Metro: Last Light has one of the best post-apocalyptic vibes I’ve seen in an FPS game. It’s also based on the novel Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky, and you guys know how much I like a book/game crossover.
If you don’t know, then listen to me banging on about a certain title based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s work in our best open world PS4 games list!
Back to Last Light. One thing I love about this game is that players don’t take anything for granted. Some bullets are actually used as currency in this game; that’s how rare ammo is.
So stealth is the best way to stay alive, which means this is another game where I die quite a lot.
How can you move around the mutant-zombie infested subway stations and tunnels without wanting to fire like mad though? It’s suicide either way!
As is walking above the surface. If you don’t have a gas mask or can’t pull one off a corpse, then you’re toast.
The world in Metro: Last Light is one I never want to be a part of, which is why it’s so exciting to play from the comfort of my living room with zero threats.
Ok, the dog gets a little startled when I swear loudly, but that’s about it.
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 takes the 6th spot in our best PS3 FPS games list!
I will never forget the day that this game came out. My college issued a statement because of the poor attendance of most of the students and some of the teachers because everyone just took the day off.
Hey, Call of Duty games are a serious business, and I had to take the day off so I could give you guys a thorough education on it!
The two player co-op mode is still unbelievable today. Me and the Dodo team still take it in turns to join force and fight our way out of trouble when we’re taking breaks between articles!
The tried and tested formula from the COD series is ever present in this game, though new Special Ops Missions brought something new for fans to get excited about.
And the online multiplayer was great while the servers ran. Those days are the stuff of legend now!
It felt like that same level of excitement that we had from playing Goldeneye for the first time, just online and in demolished cities rather than an underground facility.
The PS3 still boasts amazing graphics even in 2022. Ok, so it’s no PS5, but the game itself looks crisp and is easy to play, perfect for nostalgic COD fans!
5. Far Cry 4 (2014)
Far Cry 4 is another game that should definitely already be on your radar. The tale of a civil war between the fictional Kryati army and the rebels amongst the Himalayas is fantastic from start to finish.
Not only is the gameplay superb, but the settings for every single skirmish and stealthy encounter are second to none. Play co-op mode in the main campaign and even get into the nitty gritty of editing maps.
It’s not just the the opposing forces that are causing problems too. It wouldn’t be a Far Cry game without some killer wildlife trying to take you down too.
This game would have ranked a little higher if it wasn’t so similar to the last title. I know, some of you are going to hate me for saying that, but I’m just telling it like it is!
Still, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
Far Cry 4 was a massive commercial success, and gamers far and wide loved both the shock and the fact that anything could kill you at any given time.
Talk about keeping on your toes!
4. Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Fallout: New Vegas provides a different type of post apocalyptic gameplay to to Metro: Last Light. This is much more ‘gun everything in sight’, meaning it’s more of a hit with players that just want to switch off and shoot stuff.
New Vegas is a spin off of the main Fallout series, and it’s actually one of my favourites!
America is barely hanging on after a nuclear apocalypse. Everyone that isn’t already dead is trying to kill each other, and people that are pretty much dead are having a good go at killing you too!
Play as a lone courier carrying a parcel to New Vegas. I’m not talking about an easy drive in an Amazon van here; this is a person who is ambushed and almost killed on a revenge mission.
That got your attention, didn’t it!
While this is one of the main PS3 FPS games out there, it’s also classed as an RPG title. Imagine Bioshock meets Skyrim, and you’ve got the general gist.
Nuclear zombies, epic maps, and bosses that will make your nightmares seem friendly. What’s not to love?
Maybe that last part.
3. Bioshock (2007)
Bioshock regularly features in our top lists here at Retro Dodo and bagged the gold medal in our best Xbox 360 games article.
Still, it’s taking bronze today!
If you haven’t played BioShock, then you haven’t truly lived. This series has amassed so many awards over the years that it’s hard to keep count.
Fans of Art Deco and Film Noir will love this underwater world. It’s like The Shape Of Water got remade as a horror movie… except there’s no fish-person sex.
Hopefully that won’t disappoint you too much.
If you thought that New Vegas was a little frantic and bizarre, then you’ve seen nothing yet.
Move through the Rapture, a kind of submerged hell without brimstone and devils.
There’s demons everywhere, however, so don’t go thinking you’re in for an easy ride. You’ll need to obtain items to create items to beat back the freaks you find around every single corner.
Or, if you so choose, there’s always the option to make the Rapture even weirder and become part of the chaos.
Come on, I know you’re all going for that option.
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
Any list of the best FPS games is going to have multiple COD titles in it, but Call of Duty: Black Ops is my personal favourite.
Sure, Black Ops 2 is one of those influential games that everyone still rightly raves about today, but it wouldn’t be here without the original title now, would it?
And the best thing is that the main guy in this game is the character for the 80’s section in Black Ops 2. You owe it to yourself to play these games in order now you know this!
Black Ops made a whopping $1 billion over its first week. That’s madness!
You play as Alex Mason, a CIA operative thrust into the heart of the Cold War. There’s no flower power here, just covert missions and a lot of amnesia.
Yes, Alex is clueless as to what’s actually happening, which is bad as he’s the one that has to stop chemical weapons being unleashed in the states.
The graphics still blow me away for a game from 2010 too. Just look at how amazing that cityscape is. Don’t look too long or you’ll get shot in the hea… too late.
1. Borderlands 2 (2012)
The results are in, and the winner of our best PS3 FPS games list is Borderlands 2!
This game feels like rocking up to a racetrack with a car that’s essentially a ton of rockets strapped together with a piece of string.
Imagine playing Overwatch after accidentally eating a risotto made with magic mushrooms. It’s crazy, it’s wilder than a mongoose trapped in a potato sack, and it’s full to the brim with weapons that should never exist.
The comic-book style rendered art in this game is what separates it from other titles and allows for that gruesome gameplay to work so well.
Like Fallout: New Vegas, this is an RPG/FPS crossover with side-quests to complete along the way.
Steal weapons from enemies, buy firepower, go invisible, and blast everyone to hell.
No wonder we love FPS games so much!
