Better Than Dead has an incredibly serious premise. The player is put into the shoes of an unnamed girl that some criminals kidnapped. This awakens a hunger for revenge in the girl, and she decides that it’s time for her to stop being a victim. The first level essentially acts as her escape attempt after finding a pistol, and the core gameplay kicks off in full swing right away. As another layer of her revenge, the girl also wears a bodycam—which acts as the player’s perspective—to film the criminals that had dared to torture her.

There isn’t really much more to the story of Better Than Dead; the narrative almost entirely takes place through the environment and the various mission objectives you get. The girl seemingly has a list of people against whom she wants revenge, and each level acts as an escalation in her attempts to get at these people. There are also a few twists thrown your way, like one mission where you have to rescue another girl that was going to be victimized by the criminals, or an escape mission where the gangs you’ve been hunting down have found out where you live.

What makes Better Than Dead a truly interesting experience from a gameplay standpoint is how its gunplay works. The girl isn’t a trained fighter, and as such, you don’t get any form of a HUD to keep track of things like your health, stamina, or even a crosshair with which to aim your shots. Her overall lack of training also means that early levels will largely have you wildly flailing your arms around while firing, hoping that you hit an enemy rather than an innocent civilian. Aiming down sights doesn’t really help either, since the pistol has quite a bit of recoil.

However, the girl’s general incompetence doesn’t really last too long. As you make your way through the game’s 14 levels, you’ll find your shots hitting the right targets way more often. Her improvements are shown in-game in quite subtle ways, like her hands having better control over the gun’s recoil, and even her overall movement speed getting better and sliding on the ground feeling less clumsy.

"The girl isn’t a trained fighter, and as such, you don’t get any form of a HUD to keep track of things like your health, stamina, or even a crosshair with which to aim your shots."

Speaking of which, sliding on the floor is the only other ability you have aside from shooting your gun, and it will undoubtedly end up being your best friend. Pulling off a slide out of a sprint kicks off slow-motion, which helps quite a bit when dealing with the manic pace of combat throughout Better Than Dead. Once the girl’s accuracy improves, the slow motion also helps quite a bit in rooms that are crowded with innocent people, giving you more time to aim for the correct targets.

Better Than Dead also has a hidden scoring system with which it grades your performance. While you don’t get to see how well you might be doing during a level, you get a ranking at the end depending on how much time you took, how many enemies you killed, and how many innocents got caught in the crossfire.

It is worth noting that Better Than Dead is an incredibly fast-paced game, and the title even goes out of its way at times to remind you that trying to take cover and exchanging shots with enemies will likely result in your death. Rather, you’re supposed to be running and gunning, and making full use of your slide to kick off slow motion. Either way, death has the tendency to come quite quickly, and as a result, you’ll find yourself restarting entire levels often. Unfortunately, this was one of my major complaints about the shooter – the complete lack of any checkpoints.

While this wouldn’t really be an issue in most circumstances, Better Than Dead tends to have long levels with plenty of enemies, so the difficulty can often feel quite high, at least until you’ve repeated a level a few times. This trial-and-error gameplay loop works quite well in something faster paced, like the classic Hotline Miami titles, but Better Than Dead takes just a bit too long to get you back into the game following a death. This can make death feel more frustrating than it should.

As for the levels themselves, Better Than Dead opts for a photo-realistic perspective that has been heavily stylized thanks to the fish-eye lens and other distortions offered by the bodycam perspective. Generally speaking, the grounded, dirty levels that take you through the shady underworld of the unnamed city have been realized quite well, which is an impressive feat since it was made by a solo developer. The visual style of the game also pulls off a neat trick where just about everyone’s face has been pixelated, making the game look like a brutal news story you might catch in the evening.

"Better Than Dead opts for a photo-realistic perspective that has been heavily stylized thanks to the fish-eye lens and other distortions offered by the bodycam perspective."

When it comes to performance, Better Than Dead runs quite well. I had essentially zero performance issues throughout my time with the shooter, running it on an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, a Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU, and 32 GB of RAM. The title was able to maintain a rock-solid frame rate of over 80 FPS the entire time, and even when new levels were loading in, I never felt any stutters or hitches. The fact that the performance is this good right off the bat despite it being an Early Access release bodes quite well for the game in the longer term.

I also have to give a special shout out to the clever use of music throughout Better Than Dead. While there isn’t really any music when most levels start, with the game instead focusing on the environmental sounds of busy streets or quiet ground floors of an old residential building, Once you’ve faced a couple of criminals, the music starts slowly kicking in, putting you in the necessary flow state that you’ll need to take on the game’s challenging levels. The music is also chosen quite well; a hideout, for example, will have a bass-thumping track, while a shootout in the slums will feature more guitars.

My only major complaint with Better Than Dead comes down to the fact that it is an incredibly short game that is packed with strong gameplay elements that could be used quite well with different game modes. While it is an Early Access game, and developer MONTE GALLO has also noted that there are plans to bring in an entirely new game mode that will be a “larger extension” of the core experience, in its current state, you won’t really get much more than an evening’s play time out of it. This is a shame, since the core gameplay is surprisingly addictive, and even just adding an arcade-styled mode where the scoring is more visible could boost its replayability quite a bit.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Forza Horizon 6

Almost five years since we bade farewell to the Horizon Festival, but this time it returns in perhaps the most anticipated location in the series – Japan. Relaxing drives through avenues of Sakura trees in Spring, frenetic Touge battles down winding mountain roads, or just hanging out at Daikoku, showing off your vehicle to all and sundry – that’s only the start. Forza Horizon 6 offers two major avenues to cement your legacy – exploration, gradually defogging Japan and discovering Aftermarket Cars, or racing through the ranks to become a Horizon Legend. Beyond everything else, however, it’s your journey. Fill up the scrapbook with memories. Outfit your garage and build out a base. The choice is yours when it launches on May 19th for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Directive 8020

Say what you will about The Thing, but it reinforced a deep space fear that continues to resonate through gaming – that someone on your crew isn’t who you think they are. Cue Directive 8020 from Supermassive Games, which focuses on the colony ship Cassiopeia as it crashlands on Tau Ceti f. But things take a turn when a horrifying shapeshifting organism begins hunting the crew. Compared to previous Dark Pictures entries, there’s a bigger focus on stealth and combat, not to mention carefully discerning who’s who. Don’t worry if you choose wrong, though, since Turning Points offers a do-over. Directive 8020 launches on May 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PS5, and after such a long wait, we’re ready to be terrified.

MOTORSLICE

Between monsters, robots, zombies and everything in between, who would have thought that construction equipment could be a threat? That’s the premise of MOTORSLICE, which is all about P and her chainsaw-wielding, parkouring self as she battles these massive threats in a post-apocalyptic world. But then there’s the megastructure – a winding, brutalist space that goes on forever. With its minimalistic art style and unorthodox premise, MOTORSLICE could serve up some hack-and-slash platforming goodness when it launches on May 5th.

WILL: Follow The Light

Unreal Engine 5 and adventure games go together about as well as…just about any other genre, honestly, but WILL: Follow the Light has a different aura about it. In a way, it reminds us of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter with its atmosphere, except you’re controlling a father who embarks on a journey to return home and find his son. It’s a tough task, especially when traversing by sea, crossing mountains and confronting the ghosts of the past. Maybe it could be a dark horse in gorgeous narrative adventures. Maybe not. Either way, we’ll find out on May 7th.

Luna Abyss

A game after my own bullet hell-loving heart, Kwalee Labs’ first-person shooter sees you banished to prison on Luna and tasked to venture into the Abyss for some “forgotten technology.” Enter the cosmic horrors, which aren’t known for being deep sleepers (or quiet dreamers), unfortunately, and you’ll have to slowly unravel the mystery of Greymont, clinging onto sanity the entire time. Having thoroughly enjoyed Saros and Metal Eden, I’m keen on diving into Luna Abyss and its crimson-tinged interiors when it launches on May 21st for PC.

Bubsy 4D

Bubsy is officially back, and no one is safe. Launching on May 22nd across every platform, Bubsy 4D sees the orange furball embarking on a new 3D adventure across 15 new levels. And it looks…not bad? Pretty sleek even, right down to the legally distinct “rolling around at the speed of sound” ability. While the prospect of the game as a metacommentary on Bubsy’s reputation is interesting enough, this looks like a genuinely compelling 3D platformer. Color us intrigued, if nothing else.

007 First Light

You only live twice, as a world-famous 00 agent once said, and thanks to IO Interactive, we’ll have the opportunity to look at death through the eyes of a younger, brasher, less cynical James Bond. First Light sees him enter MI6 to earn 00 status, but amid the charming arrogance is a desire to prove himself, and maybe surpass his limits. The building blocks of Hitman are all here – exquisite sandbox environments with numerous opportunities for stealth – but Bond goes beyond Agent 47’s capabilities in every way you’d expect. Parkour, sneaking, bluffing his way past guards and staff, clever usage of Q’s gadgets – and when “license to kill” is active, gunning down anyone that stands in his way with an array of weaponry and CQC tactics. And just straight up throwing empty guns at an enemy’s face. All’s fair in the world of super spies when 007 First Light launches on May 27th.

Thick as Thieves

A new stealth game from Warren Spector and Paul Neurath, whose credits include Deus Ex and Thief, respectively? Say less. Its alternate-history 1910s city and procedurally generated mission layout, which encourages quick thinking and improvisation, initially left us skeptical due to the PvEvP element. But that’s been changed to focus more on single-player and co-op, delivering an experience befitting the Thief legacy, as you hone your skills to become a legend in the business. Thick as Thieves is available on May 20th for PC.

Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core

Have you ever seen all the Deep Rock Galactic praise, heard all the calls of “rock and stone,” but could still never really get into it? Maybe a roguelite spin-off will do the trick. Entering early access on May 20th, Rogue Core focuses on the Reclaimers squad, which the Company calls in when there are some serious threats. In every run, you’ll need to make use of any weapons along the way while battling the Core Spawn and improving your skills. With how much work has gone on since its October 2023 announcement, one can only hope that Rogue Core lives up to the original’s brilliance.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book

Nintendo hasn’t necessarily managed to recreate the magic of Yoshi’s Island, but the Mysterious Book could be a cosy, easy-breezy platformer, much like Yoshi’s Crafted World. The premise this time involves venturing through the pages of Mr E, where Yoshi meets different creatures. Harness their abilities on top of the usual gliding, egg-hurling, and sprinting that the series is known for, and voila (hopefully). Yoshi and the Mysterious Book launches on May 21st, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

Freshen up on your knowledge of the Dark Knight because Batman returns to the video game world on May 22nd. Granted, it’s in LEGO form, but Legacy of the Dark Knight is going out of its way to pull from every single piece of Batman media in existence, from multiple Batmobile types to the bizarre Batmite outfit. If that vast open-world of Gotham, coupled with the Arkham series’ Free Flow combat, wasn’t enough, there are seven other characters, including Catwoman, Nightwing, Robin and more to play as.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

Yes, it’s not exactly all that appealing considering the whole ZA/UM business and how the original Disco Elysium creators were ousted. There’s really no getting around that particular detail. Still, if you’re in the mood for something in the same vein, albeit with an espionage bent and exerting yourself as operant Hershel Wilke, caught up in a conflict between three factions, Zero Parades may suffice when it launches on May 21st for PC.

Better Than Dead

Bodycam first-person shooters are no longer all that new as a concept, but embarking on a quest for vengeance in Hong Kong, hunting down targets while ensuring no one ends up like you? That immediately skyrockets Better Than Dead for us, and the obvious influence of old-school Hong Kong action films just adds that extra bit of hard-boiled grit. It enters early access for PC on May 12th.

Dark Light: Survivor

You’ve swapped between first and third person in Resident Evil Requiem, but how about top-down and third-person (or even between realistic and pixel-like visuals)? That’s one of the many quirks of Dark Light: Survivor, a roguelike survival where you venture on the Phantom Train, venturing through a terrifying multiverse, gathering resources to keep the engine running. Two maps are available when early access launches on May 15th alongside Artifacts, persistent upgrades, weapons, and more. It may be all about the destination, but right now, the journey of Dark Light: Survivor is shaping up into something intriguing.

Withering Realms

From the developer behind the unsettling Withering Rooms comes Withering Realms, where you control a creepy doll ferrying a ghost, as they venture through Penwyll – a town where surely nothing horrible resides. “Bloodborne” is obviously the first influence to come to mind, but the hack and slash action, perspective, and visuals lend an almost Nightmare Creatures vibe to it all. Withering Realms launches into early access in May, and, surprisingly, will be playable from start to finish with plans for 1.0 to launch later this year.

Stickman Mayhem

Stickman Mayhem takes a deceptively simple concept and pushes it to chaotic extremes. Built around physics-driven combat and fast-paced encounters, the game is characterized by a minimalistic visual style that emphasizes its fluid movement and responsive controls. Each fight also features different environmental interactions and ragdoll mechanics, which come together to create moments that are as hilarious as they are intense. If it nails its balance between control and chaos, Stickman Mayhem could become a sleeper hit for players looking for something quick and kinetic.

 Marathon

Whatever happens, Marathon will go down as one of the year’s biggest shooters. Either, it’ll fail catastrophically, or attract and retain a sizeable playerbase – the latter once seeming unlikely, given its controversial development and underwhelming alpha reception.

Bungie has been scurrying away since alleged plagiarism tanked the game’s reputation mid-2025, implementing changes from drastically improving gamefeel, like faster TTK, to darkening its sci-fi industrial aesthetic, reflecting the 90s original. Will it work? Fact is, for every ARC Raiders, you’ve got a Concord; with online shooters, no-one knows which way the wind will blow. Still, Marathon’s post-alpha overhauls might yet secure it a long future.

Halo: Campaign Evolved

You can’t overstate the original Halo’s impact. Revolutionising first person shooters, Halo: Combat Evolved brought refined gunplay, intelligent enemies, and vehicles better suited for mulching alien grunts than traversal. Now, Master Chief’s iconic space opera is returning, faithfully rebuilt and expanded with all-new weapons, modernised gameplay, two-player split-screen, four-player online co-op, prequel missions, and more.

However, Halo Studios – formally 343 Industries – still has a tall order. Halo: Campaign Evolved’s reception was mixed on reveal, with accusations of reused Halo Infinite assets suggesting, if true, that the remake isn’t as authentic as it ought to be. Yet, crossing the frontline to PlayStation territory for the first time, Halo’s remake isn’t just a ploy to entice new players nor level the shortcomings of 2011’s remaster, but to cement the future of one of gaming’s most important franchises.

Better Than Dead

Games viewed through bodycam perspectives feel like they’re having a moment. Their realistic, shaky visuals, so often the lens for brutal, close-quarters shooting, court controversy for being a little too close to the bone. Better Than Dead looks poised to continue bodycam’s notoriety, but its slightly blocky, de-saturated art, deliberately unnatural hand gestures, and gravity-defying floating shrapnel counteract the rawness of its peers like Unrecord or Bodycam. It’s a smaller-scale title, coming only to PC via Steam, but the responsive shooting and action movie-inspired Hong Kong setting suggest a game which could land a sizeable audience.

Resident Evil Requiem

When you think of first person shooters, household survival horror series Resident Evil likely won’t spring to mind. Yet, Resident Evil Requiem ships with an optional first-person view. And, with tons of shooting at the hands of Leon in his action-orientated sections, we felt it worthy of inclusion in this rundown. If you need convincing, Requiem entry has handguns, including the sawtooth-edged revolver ‘Requiem’ that has featured prominently in the game’s marketing a sub-machine gun, shotgun, and a rifle. So, in other words, enough firepower to blast through Leon’s segments like an FPS horror.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando

Saddle up, there’s a new bunch of misfits primed to take on a zombie horde. Yes, on paper you’ve already seen John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, but this upcoming four-player shooter from Saber Interactive does have a few aces up its sleeve. It’ll be deploying the studio’s Swarm Engine, which was used to great effect in Saber’s other efforts World War Z and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Also in the developer’s oeuvre is vehicular puzzler MudRunner, so you can expect countless moments where your squad must winch vehicles through sludge. Famed director John Carpenter lends his creative input and contributes to the score too, giving a distinct aesthetic to what is shaping up to be a mechanically rich shooter.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam

If you can’t keep up with CoD, Hell Let Loose is the industrial war machine in which to spray your bullets. It’s quietly built up a reputation as a hardcore, yet ultimately accessible shooter. And, despite a shift from tactical realism following a developer change, publisher Team17 has greenlit another entry, taking the running and gunning out of World War II and onto a new stage: Vietnam. The explosive fury of Hell Let Loose’s origins is re-established, with Vietnam a sweltering, six-map battle ground for 50v50 matchups. Multiple bands comprise each side, from infantry and recon to mortar squads and helicopter units, meaning this is a multi-faceted, tactically varied conflict that’ll suck away your hours once it all clicks.

DEFECT

Finally, Rainbow Six and Bladerunner combine; DEFECT is a SWAT-sim nestled deep in a dark, cyberpunk world overrun with AI. I mean, of course it’s overrun with AI, but set dressing aside DEFECT packs plenty of variety into its dystopian gameplay. There are smuggling runs, assassination targets, and fugitive hunts which you can take on solo or in PvP and PvE co-op. Multiple warring factions imbue the familiar neon rainfall with chaos; this city’s unravelling in anarchy, and you’ll wield an arsenal of high-tech weaponry and gadgets to clean its streets.

NO LAW

Like DEFECT, NO LAW is an FPS gripped by dystopian nightmares. And, also like DEFECT, this one doesn’t have a confirmed release date. That said, conceptually at least, NO LAW’s development looks to be chugging along nicely. Here, you’re a disheveled veteran who’s a magnet for trouble in a metropolis. Locations are always characterful in cyberpunk fiction, and NO LAW’s Port Desire looks a genuine rival for Cyberpunk 2077’s prodigious Night City. So, prepare to leave your morals behind, NO LAW’s branching story, colourful characters, and blazing guns mean it’s primed to find a huge audience.

Road to Vostok 

This hardcore shooter is set in an apocalyptic border territory between Finland and Russia, and it’s here, against dense pine forests and crystalline lakes, that you’ll shoot, loot, and prepare for an expedition into Vostok proper – a permadeath zone where survival hangs by a thread. Road to Vostok might borrow Escape From Tarkov’s structure and hostility, but the sole developer behind it is promising a deeply immersive experience away from the shooting. Dynamic weather, day and night cycles, and distinct seasons bring life to the in-game economy and AI factions. It’s a huge undertaking for one person, so let’s hope Road to Vostok launches to PC without a hitch on April 7th.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

Combining the black and white charm of 1930s rubber-hose animation with the confrontational action of modern-day first person shooting, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire brings something new to the table. This jazz-fueled adventure might be too niche for some, but one thing’s for sure: the hand-drawn animation is undeniably compelling. If the gunplay, noir-esque narrative, and corrupted assailants provide a more serious backbone away from the cartoonish aesthetic then MOUSE: P.I. For Hire might land an unexpected hit for first-time studio Fumi Games. Launching March 19th, this one’s going to be playable on PS5 and Switch 2 alongside PC, too.

ExeKiller

It’s nearly five years since Paradark Studios revealed ExeKiller, but in January this year we got our best look yet at the action-adventure-slash-FPS via an official gameplay overview. We already knew the game plants the gunslinging old West into a scorched desert dystopia, but now, aside from piercing revolver battles, ExeKiller confirms survival mechanics, inventory management, device hacking, and cybernetic implant exploration. It’s a heady mix, made all-the-more complex by Paradark’s pledge for non-linear mission structure. What’s certain is ExeKiller presents one of the most unique offerings on this rundown of new FPS games.

ILL

Team Clout’s ILL pushes realism to stomach-churning extremes. Aided by visceral dismemberment, abhorrent monster design, and claustrophobic interiors, this upcoming horror shooter is not for the faint of heart. What’s most striking, however, is the game’s physics engine, with bulbous, blood-drenched creatures moving with uncanny likeness. Together with suitably squelchy sound design, ILL might just break new ground for reactive body horror in games.

Rogue Point

From the creators of Half-Life remake Black Mesa, Rogue Point is a four-player co-op shooter which indie studio Crowbar Collective say brings classic shooter feel with a modern identity. From footage shared, its colourful chaos certainly looks impactful, albeit laced with schlocky humour. This is more of a sugar rush, one-more-run type deal; entertaining, explosive, and not to be taken too seriously. It’s just here to have fun with your mates. Also, by the time this feature is published, Rogue Point will be out soon – it’s coming to early access via Steam on February 12th.

Witchfire

This dark fantasy RPG FPS blends extraction shooting with a roguelike structure, and it’s been in early access since September 2023. Now, its 1.0 release is on the horizon, launching in full mid-2026. If you’ve played Bulletstorm – arguably one of the most underrated FPS games ever – Witchfire is from the same creative minds, so you can expect tons of imaginative ways to slay your opponents. Numerous playable archetypes, a diverse set of biomes, and an array of enemies have given Witchfire a dedicated following already. Fully realised lore and a complete story are all that’s missing, but they’ll be coming when 1.0 drops.

Valor Mortis

Like Resident Evil Requiem, Valor Mortis arguably isn’t an FPS game. Coming from Ghostrunner devs One More Level, it’s billed as a first-person action soulslike – an intriguing, underexplored undertaking if ever we saw one. Set during an alt-history Napoleonic war, where the stench of death fizzes over sodden battlegrounds, you awaken with supernatural powers and a hunger to cleanse the mire of horrifying monsters. A saber is your primary tool, but you keep a pistol in your back pocket, blasting specifically at the weak points of larger enemies. So, yes, not an FPS in the strictest sense, but there’s shooting so it’s in.

Bonus: Next Call of Duty

Probably boring and more of the same. Oh well.