Once Human combines survival, looter-shooter, and MMO ideas into combat that feels surprisingly solid and dependable. Gunplay does a lot of the heavy lifting, making encounters with its strange monsters feel punchy and engaging rather than clumsy or grindy. Paired with a well-paced crafting loop and a polished feel that’s rare for the genre, shooting things here stays fun long after the novelty wears off. | © Starry Studio
Gunplay in Halo Infinite feels sharp and confident, with genuinely dangerous enemies instead of target practice. Familiar foes like Jackals and Hunters demand more respect now, pushing players to think about positioning, timing, and ammo rather than relying on old tricks. Combined with the open-world sandbox and absurd weapon setups, firefights feel chaotic, reactive, and far more intense than classic Halo encounters. | © Halo Studios
Gunplay in Fallout 4 surprises a lot of people, especially once you notice how smooth and confident shooting feels for an open-world game. The weapon variety opens up long-range sniping, messy close-quarters fights, and plenty of room to experiment, turning Boston into a flexible combat playground once the factions are in motion. Even if the RPG side divides fans, the sheer freedom of tools, perks, explosives, and positioning makes it an excellent combat sandbox. | © Bethesda Game Studios
Shooting in Far Cry 2 feels unpredictable, largely because most of the guns you find are old, dirty, and barely holding together. Pulling the trigger delivers huge sound and impact, but the instability keeps you on edge, especially when gunfire echoes across the open world. Weapon jamming pushes that tension even further, turning firearms into unreliable tools that force constant adaptation and make every firefight feel dangerously alive. | © Ubisoft
Gunfights in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 feel heavy, tense, and deliberately unforgiving. Enemies can soak up bullets at times, but it usually makes sense, whether you’re dealing with armored soldiers or mutated horrors that refuse to go down easily. That balance keeps shooting grounded and dangerous, where every encounter feels less like a power fantasy and more like a fight you might not walk away from. | © GSC Game World
Metro Exodus is deliberately harsh, built around limited ammo, heavy weapons, and enemies that can drop you in seconds if you misjudge a fight. Cover can feel unreliable, and firefights are rarely forgiving, but that constant pressure is part of what makes every bullet and decision matter. Shooting isn’t about power fantasy here, it’s about surviving tense encounters where preparation, positioning, and restraint count as much as aim. | © 4A Games
Gunplay here is built around speed, precision, and constant movement rather than raw firepower. The low time to kill keeps every weapon dangerous, where even a basic pistol can drop humanoid enemies instantly with a clean headshot. Combined with the game’s absurd mobility, firefights feel tense and skill-driven, rewarding accuracy and smart positioning over mindless aggression. | © Greylock Studio
Gunfights in Mafia II lean heavily on weight and restraint, making every bullet feel tied to the era it represents. Pistols can feel modest early on, but heavier options like the magnum and the iconic Thompson quickly change the tone with brutal recoil and raw stopping power. Slightly inaccurate enemies and slower-paced encounters give shootouts a grounded, believable rhythm that fits the game’s crime-film atmosphere perfectly. | © 2K Czech
Even if the open world itself can feel thin, the shooting never loses that signature id Software snap and speed. Heavy weapons steal the show, with shotguns and rocket launchers delivering brutal impact backed by slick animations and aggressive feedback. It ends up being a game carried almost entirely by how fun it feels to pull the trigger, especially if nonstop chaos is what you’re after. | © id Software
The rocky launch is long behind it, and today Cyberpunk 2077 delivers a combat sandbox packed with variety and personality. Traditional firearms sit alongside experimental tech weapons, including smart guns that lock on to targets and lean hard into the game’s futuristic tone. Each weapon feels distinct in hand, right down to details like Johnny Silverhand’s pistol, whose flashy reload alone makes it unforgettable to use. | © CD Projekt
Wildlands offers a wide selection of firearms that feel intentionally tuned to behave like their real-world counterparts. Assault rifles chew through enemies at high fire rates but fight back with heavy recoil, while light machine guns trade raw power for control that takes time to master. Strong sound design does the rest, turning bullets cracking past your head and ricocheting off cover into tense, fast-moving firefights. | © Ubisoft
Combat in Days Gone leans toward weight and impact rather than quick, twitchy shooting, which can feel divisive depending on what you expect. Guns kick hard, sound brutal, and physically affect Deacon, making every firefight feel grounded and a little uncomfortable in a way that fits the world. Progression does the rest, starting you off with unreliable junk and slowly turning you into a confident gunfighter through better handling rather than inflated stats. | © SIE Bend Studio
The shift toward more open spaces brings some rough edges, but none of that dulls how good shooting feels moment to moment. Building on the big step forward made by Borderlands 3, the guns hit harder, move smoother, and feel more responsive across the board. It ends up standing comfortably next to top open-world shooters, helped by the fact that few of them offer anywhere near this many weapons to play with. | © Gearbox Software
Every firearm in Red Dead Redemption 2 feels grounded and physical, making it easy to tell a revolver from a pistol just by sound and recoil alone. Gunfights avoid pinpoint accuracy, especially while moving, which turns even simple shootouts into chaotic exchanges where nothing feels guaranteed. That looseness, paired with deep weapon customization, keeps combat tense and makes experimenting with different guns genuinely fun. | © Rockstar Games
Anyone familiar with Kojima’s obsession over firearms will feel it immediately here, where every gun carries a level of detail that borders on obsessive. Since Snake spends most missions sneaking rather than spraying bullets, pulling the trigger feels deliberate, heavy, and earned when things finally go loud. The quiet stretches of Afghanistan and Africa make every shot crack through the air, and the punchy recoil sells the idea that each bullet matters. | © Kojima Productions
Open-world games promise freedom, but great gunplay is what turns that freedom into something memorable. When shooting feels tight, reactive, and rewarding, even a quiet stretch of map can turn into a story worth telling. These games don’t just let you roam, they make every pull of the trigger count.
