Everyone says that shooters are currently in a bad state, but I have so much to play that I’m getting desperate

The internet is certain that the shooter genre is currently in a really bad state. MeinMMO editor Dariusz, however, has a different experience.

“Shooters are dead.” That’s the impression I get when I browse various social networks, forums, and communities of content creators. The sentiment is always the same:

• Game A is dead and the developers messed it up
• Game B is uninteresting because it’s too colorful / too fast / too slow / too unrealistic
• The upcoming Game C will definitely flop

Shortly after, the incessant whining follows that no new shooters are coming out that have the potential to entertain players for thousands of hours over the years.

As a shooter player, I couldn’t be better off.

Whenever I participate in these discussions, I wonder if these people are really shooter players or just hoping for a remake of their favorite game that they played for 7,000 hours and then lost interest in.

Shooter players are currently eating well, and I am tired of pretending that’s not the case.

The big misunderstanding in the shooter genre is that many players behave as if they can’t touch a game again once they’ve set it aside. They act as if they would contract a deadly disease if they played Valorant. Or as if a curse would strike them if they dared to check back into Titanfall 2.

On top of that comes this absurd ignorance with which many gamers decide not to even test a game because it has more colors in the trailer than brown, green, and gray – even though it might even be free-to-play.

I want to play more games than I have time for

Shooters are my great passion in gaming. I learned years ago not to be discouraged by an art style or colorful graphics. I test everything. It doesn’t matter whether it’s PvE, PvP, or PvEvP. This way, I’ve found several games that have really surprised me positively. And that brings me to my current dilemma.

I have a huge list of games I want to play, but no one has the time to play all these gems.

To avoid overwhelming you with the list of games I wanted to play in the past weeks, I’ll throw the games into a collapsible box. Then you can decide for yourselves if you want to check out the list.

Dariusz’s Gaming To-Do List

• Overwatch – I play it every evening for 1-2 hours with friends and don’t want to miss that.
• Gray Zone Warfare – Completely captivated me after the 0.4 update in April and May, and I really want to keep grinding it.
• Rainbow Six Siege – This is by far my most played game, and every few months I get the urge to play a few rounds again.
• ARC Raiders – A great game with unique moments, especially when interacting with complete strangers in voice chat.
• KovaaKs – An aim trainer I regularly play/want to play to get better or at least not worse, and because it has a relaxing effect on me with good music.
• The Division 2 – ARC Raiders and the interimly added hardcore mode of The Division 2 got me really excited to grind again after years of break and refine my build.
• Battlefield 6 – There are always days when I think: “Yes, a few rounds of Battlefield.”
• Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 – Both games pique my competitive spirit, and I actually want to play them properly to find out how good I can get.
• Borderlands 4 – I’m still not satisfied with my build and want to keep grinding, but I also need to finish a few side quests and level up other Vault Hunters who need strong builds as well.
• Returnal – An unbelievably good game that I started playing years after its release and combines my passion for shooters with the gameplay loop of roguelites – which I also enjoy playing.
• Warframe – I’ve wanted to play it more for years, and whenever I finally start actively playing it, something comes up (usually a brand new release).
• Call of Duty Zombies – Just recently I got the urge for the zombie mode, but I only managed to play it for an hour on 2 evenings. Then other, more current games needed my attention.
• Witchfire – I checked it out for an article on MeinMMO and would love to continue playing it, as it has real potential, and I want to see what else awaits me.
• Remnant 2 – This is still sitting on my Pile of Shame. I really want to play it, but that goes for the other games on this list as well.
• Marathon – Currently my favorite extraction shooter (sorry ARC Raiders), and I will definitely play it again with Season 2. Actually, I haven’t finished my to-do list for Season 1 yet, but time

By the way, these are just the shooters I currently have installed and wanted to play at some point last month. The Finals and Apex Legends had no more space on my hard drive. The latter particularly appeals to me because I actually hate battle royale, but I want to be good at least in one battle royale.

I want to have fun, not be an Esports player

Most of these games aren’t new, but many of them receive regular updates that bring me back for a few hours of fun, especially when it’s been a long time since I’ve played them last. Other games I’ve missed or played briefly and want to catch up properly. And then there are the games I just like to play again and again, depending on my mood.

You probably recognize my dilemma.

I want to play many games and also be good at them, but that often requires a lot of time. Time that I don’t have. But here lies the important realization I’ve had and can also recommend to you:

I don’t want to play the aforementioned shooters for thousands of hours, perfecting every mechanic or every hero, and reaching the highest rank.

I had this ambition when Rainbow Six: Siege was still my main game and I played nothing else. Today, I just want to achieve a solid level and primarily have fun. I can now just jump into Overwatch, have a great time for 400 hours, and switch to the next game. Nothing stops me from doing that.

There is no obligation forcing you to find a main game and then play nothing else for 7,000 hours. You can just start a game, play it until you have no more desire, and uninstall it.

What does this mean for you now?

I don’t want to encourage you with this article to play, for example, Overwatch or Valorant, if you can’t relate to the art style or the hero shooter concept. Rather, I hope to show that we shooter players actually have a huge selection of games that continuously receive new content, and we might even enjoy games that we were previously sure wouldn’t be fun for us.

• I love realistic, dark shooters with a rough setting and ideally 1-shot headshots, but when I committed to Overwatch and Valorant, I surprisingly enjoyed it.
• Just a few years ago, I emphasized that I couldn’t stand extraction shooters. Now there are 3 on my list of games I want to play.
• Games like The Division 2 lost me years ago, but that means I can catch up on much more content and even replaying missions doesn’t feel repetitive anymore – precisely because so much time has passed.

If your former favorite game has lost your interest and you feel that nothing is happening in the shooter scene right now, then just try something you have completely avoided for some reason. Maybe it will surprise you.

Have you ever found enjoyment in a shooter you previously thought couldn’t possibly be fun for you? Feel free to share it in the comments!

If you were wondering while reading the article why I don’t have much time to play all these games due to my professional commitments: I also host a server in Conan Exiles and spend way too much time on Forza Horizon 6. But I have also published a review on MeinMMO: Forza Horizon 6 review: My best moments were when I ignored the races and played it like GTA