The Best First-Person Shooter Games for Nintendo Switch & Switch 2

An abundance of third-party support on the Wii U (a console that was largely a commercial failure) left a lot of studios gun-shy about supporting its follow-up, the Nintendo Switch. The success of the Switch saw many of those same studios come around, though, resulting in the console becoming a hotbed of third-party ports that simply hadn't been possible on previous generations of Nintendo hardware. One genre that suddenly thrived on the Switch was the FPS, which hadn't really had a foothold on a Nintendo console since the glory days of the Nintendo 64. The launch of the Switch 2, together with its backwards compatibility with most of the Switch's library, set the stage for the best first-person shooter games on the Switch and Switch 2 to become the definitive console versions of these titles, thanks to the Switch 2 Joy Cons' mouse functionality.

• Release Date — July 23, 2020
• Developer — Crytek, Saber Interactive
• Publisher — Crytek
• Review Aggregate Score — 66% (Mixed or Average)

Anyone who ever doubted the power of the Nintendo Switch can rest easy knowing that it can, in fact, run Crysis. Early 2000s PC gaming jokes aside, Crysis holds up as one of the few "Halo killers" of the era that actually gave Microsoft and Bungie's legendary FPS a run for its money, mostly thanks to some outlandish visuals and performance that put the gaming rigs of the time through their paces, but also for its surprisingly open and freeform aproach to a single-player shooter campaign. The decision to remaster the entire trilogy and release it on the Switch was a stroke of genius that showcased how well all three games had aged, but it's arguably the first game in the Crysis Remastered trilogy collection that still shines the brightest, even if its campaign does degrade into well-tread territory in the second half.

• Release Date — October 28, 2021
• Developer — David Szymankski
• Publisher — New Blood Interactive
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)

Both PC gamers and Switch owners have had the benefit of being privy to some of the best boomer shooters of the last several years, right as the subgenre started to take off in terms of popularity and widespread appeal. But despite being one of the earliest games that could be classified as a "boomer shooter", Dusk is still arguably one of, if not the, best in the subgenre. This Quake-like horror FPS takes a decidedly Lovecraftian turn with both its story and its monster designs, and it's occasionally more scary and unnerving than it is blood-pumping or action-packed. But therein lies Dusk's charm.

There are few horror-themed FPS games as it is, and of the ones that happen to have been released on the Switch, Dusk is easily the best of the bunch. You could grab the two Quake remasters, but Dusk scratches a similar itch with a few more modern flourishes.

• Release Date — May 29, 2020
• Developer — 2K Boston, 2K Marin, Irrational Games, Blind Squirrel Games
• Publisher — 2K
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)

That Switch owners got not one, but two incredible FPS collections from 2K's back catalog on the same day is insane. Looter shooter enthusiasts got the Borderlands Legacy Collection back in May 2020, but those looking for something more narrative-driven and cerebral had the BioShock Collection to pick up as well, which brought together all three games in the legendary FPS/Immersive Sim series (BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite) along with all of their single-player DLC and a slew of improvements specific to the Switch, such as gyroscopic aiming. These games all hold up incredibly well despite the latest of the bunch already being more than a decade old. And while they do receive a slight performance bump on the Switch 2, they are definitely in need of both a 60FPS patch and Joy Con 2 mouse support.

• Release Date — September 23, 2022
• Developer — Bounding Box Software
• Publisher — Humble Games
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)

Bounding Box Software's Prodeus is another of the great boomer shooter titles in the Switch library, games that borrow most heavily from the golden era of FPS design popularized by id Software titles like Doom and Quake. Funnily enough, Prodeus is one of several modern boomer shooters that were originally developed in the GZDoom modding tool used by Doom modders, which results in it feeling and looking like some unearthed hidden gem from the depths of 90s PC gaming. Prodeus is surprisingly fast and fluid despite its old-school visuals, and the weapon and enemy designs are both original and what you'd expect from a boomer shooter aiming for genre authenticity. Notably, Prodeus has received a pretty substantial free update for Switch 2 that sees it running and playing better than it ever did on the original Switch.

• Release Date — March 20, 2020
• Developer — Midway Studios San Diego, Nightdive Studios
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)

Back when Doom 64 initially came out, reviewers mistakenly wrote it off as a Nintendo 64 port of the original Doom. In actuality, Doom 64 is its own, brand-new standalone chapter in the original Doom saga that takes place between the first two games and utilizes its own unique engine. It's since taken on a bit of cult-favorite status among old-school FPS fans, which was only heightened by Nightdive Studios' excellent remaster of the title back in 2020. The Switch version of Doom 64 is a dream come true for shooter aficionados, especially since there are more options to tinker with the game's notoriously dark visuals. Together with all the other games in the Doom canon, Doom 64 also runs significantly better on the Switch 2, though it doesn't have compatibility with the Switch 2's Joy Cons...at least, not yet.

• Release Date — June 18, 2024
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Rare
• Review Aggregate Score — 97% (Universal Acclaim)

The arrival of the Nintendo 64 catalog onto the Nintendo Switch Online service opened the floodgates for several of that console's best shooters to come to the Switch, which, of course, includes both GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. But for as revolutionary as GoldenEye was for its time, it doesn't hold up nearly as well in a modern context as Perfect Dark, which is surprisingly just as challenging and entertaining today as it was a quarter century ago. Part mission-based FPS and part immersive sim, Perfect Dark incorporates a surprising degree of stealth elements and branching paths to objectives, allowing players to get creative with how they complete each of the game's memorable and challenging super spy missions. The emulation of the original Nintendo 64 cartridge is practically flawless on the Switch (after a few key updates), and somehow even better on the Switch 2.

• Release Date — May 29, 2020
• Developer — Gearbox Software
• Publisher — 2K
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)

Along with the aforementioned BioShock Collection, 2K's other great compilation for the Switch (released on the same day, no less) is the Borderlands Legendary Collection. Bringing together Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Borderlands 2, the Legendary Collection offers some of the best "bang for your buck" of any compilation in the Switch's library, complete with all the DLC for the included games, totaling potentially thousands of hours of looting and shooting content. The Switch versions of these legendary FPS games feature the console's proprietary gyroscopic aiming, which players can adjust to have as a fine-tuning assist or use as full-on motion aiming. Switch 2 players are still waiting on FPS patches and mouse functionality, but there's a chance those additions will arrive alongside the Switch 2 release of Borderlands 4.

• Release Date — November 10, 2017
• Developer — id Software
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable)

The port of 2016's Doom reboot to the Switch was one of the console's earliest and most impressive ports, proving that the hybrid console was capable of more than a lot of players had given it credit for. id Software and Bethesda would continue with Doom Eternal, but it's the original 2016 Doom that stands out as the better game of the two, both in terms of its single-player campaign and its performance on the Switch. The Switch 2 enhancements to both Doom and Doom Eternal provide some welcome polish that sees them running better than ever, and their gameplay is as solid as ever. The continuous movement and "push forward" gameplay of Doom looks and runs better on the Switch 2 than it ever did on the original Nintendo Switch, and it was already an impressive port to begin with.

• Release Date — June 5, 2025
• Developer — CD Projekt RED
• Publisher — CD Projekt RED
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

It's no wonder that Nintendo was touting Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition as one of the flagship third-party launch games for the Switch 2, as it's arguably the ultimate package as far as ports go. Rather than a "Game Key Card", the entirety of Cyberpunk 2077 and the Phantom Liberty expansion have been compressed down onto the physical Switch 2 cartridge, the game runs and looks incredible even in handheld mode, and players have multiple different control modes to choose from, including a hybrid between standard controller movement and right Joy Con mouse aiming. Cyberpunk 2077 sets a high bar for the future of top-tier AAA ports on the Switch 2, and that's without mentioning anything about its content. Both technically impressive and one of the best FPS action RPGs ever made, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is an essential in any Switch 2 owner's library.

• Release Date — February 9, 2023
• Developer — Retro Studios, Iron Galaxy Studios
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Review Aggregate Score — 94% (Universal Acclaim)

Both one of the best games on the GameCube and one of the best games on the Switch, Metroid Prime is a timeless classic that transcends hardware generations. It's an already incredible game that was somehow made better thanks to a subtle upscaling and graphical polish that leaves the core gameplay intact, cementing it as an essential pick-up for Switch owners regardless of their fondness or familiarity with the Metroid franchise.

Although it doesn't feature any additional bells and whistles on the Switch 2 outside of maybe some faster loading times, it arguably doesn't need them, as the original Switch version of Metroid Prime Remastered was already a technical achievement that helped showcase how stunning the original's art direction was. And with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond having full mouse support, there's a chance we may get a patch for Metroid Prime Remastered that brings that feature in the future (along with maybe ports of Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3)