Most shooters are military based and they are set in the modern world even if they are in different time periods.Call of DutyandBattlefieldare the two biggest franchises but there are also more sci-fi epics likeHaloandDestiny. There aren’t as many fantasy-based games featuring military units in games from shooters to RPGs though.
Of the few out there, these are the ones that stand out. It’s a setting that more games should try to experiment with in the future. That said, let’s go through a plethora of them across a wide range of consoles. Some of them are well-remembered while others are a bit more forgotten to time.
Operation Darknesswas an underrated game when it was released on theXbox 360 exclusivelyand it hasn’t left yet. It was flawed thanks to the camera angles, high difficulty rate, and low graphics for the era, but it was unique at the same time. It was a grid-based tactical game taking place during World War 2. The twist was that players were a part of a commando unit who had werewolf blood and the Nazis were vampires who controlled armies of zombies. It’s a ridiculous plot for a game but it shouldn’t be forgotten just because of a few blemishes.
The Order: 1886was a unique premise for a shooter also involving werewolves. The Order was a secret society of soldiers within the London government tasked with executing paranormal and fantastical entities throughout the years.
It was the evolved form of the Knights of the Round Table from King Arthur’s court back in medieval times. The main enemy that haunted the streets of London in thisgame were werewolvesboth in human and beast form. It was an early PS4 title that never quite got the chance to shine with a sequel much likeOperation Darkness.
Metal Slugbegan in arcades as a seriesof run-and-gun shooters about a squadron of soldiers fighting against the villainous Rebel Army set in a somewhat vague Middle Eastern territory. There have been a plethora of spinoffs with the latest beingMetal Slug Tactics. It’s a tactical roguelike RPG wherein players can arm their soldiers with weapons and gear before a run and then they will go through randomized maps and objectives before they can move on. Most enemies are just human soldiers but weirder foes appear too like aliens and mummies. It’s these elements that set the series about from other run and gun games of the era along with the expressive sprites and the series worked well as a tactical roguelike RPG too.
Last Vanguardis one of the coolest games in early access right now on Steam, which does run on the Steam Deck. Players will awaken in a tank, and come out looking like they belong in World War 1. Also, the arty style is like a combination betweenCupheadandBattlefield 1. The various dungeons and surrounding areas look like the European front too with a bit of fantastical twist. There are robots everywhere and the “human”enemies don’t look quite right.
Plus there’s always this ashy black mist in the air. Something is looming beneath the surface of this Metroidvania shooter/RPG hybrid and without revealing too much, let’s just say players won’t be disappointed in some of the revelations. With future updates, the game could become even more fantastical but as of right now it is still worth recommending.
Final Fantasy Type-0is a spinoffmore known for having a demo ofFinal Fantasy 15included than being a great entry in the series. It’s an overlooked gem about a military academy raising cadets to fight in a seemingly never-ending war over resources and magic. Players took on the role of students from Class Zero, an elite squadron within the school. Players could swap between many characters before a mission began, all of which had a specialty. They had different loadouts of spells and weapons from throwing cards to spears.
Full Metal Furieswas a one-off that Cellar Door Games made in-between their roguelike hit,Rogue Legacy, andRogue Legacy 2. It was about an elite squadron of four girls fighting against human soldiers and robots led by mythical monsters called Titans. One of them was a Minotaur, for example, so the game blurred the lines between cartoony but somewhat realistic battlefields and fantasy lands. Two of the heroines had guns while the other two fought more with melee weapons. For example, Meg was a sniper while Alex was more of a fighter with an axe. The best part was going into thisbrawler with co-opas it supported four players.
TheWarhammeruniverseis massive spreading from tabletop games using miniatures to video games in genres involving shooting, hacking and slashing, and even puzzles. One of the best game adaptations wasWarhammer 40,000: Space Marinewhich took place far in the future with a religious sect of space marines fighting against all sorts of dark forces like orks.
Players were part of a small squadron of space marines who were fighting their best to stop the Ork uprising through any means necessary. It’s a great military shooter with space marines who could go toe to toe with Master Chief fromHalo.
Valkyria Chroniclesis one of the best examples of a military fantasy game as it was a reimagining ofWorld War 2. There were two armies waging war on a European-like war front when a peaceful nation was caught in the middle. Once involved, they took up arms and decided to fight back against a cruel empire. Soldiers were armed with various guns from rifles to flamethrowers and the fantasy aspect came into play with the Valkyrians. They were a long-lost race of supreme beings who had magical powers. However, both sides had a Valkyrian ancestor on their side to fight back, which fit into the tactical gameplay.
