My top 10 most anticipated shooters of 2021 and beyond

Try to think about what shooters you’re looking forward to right. Now’s actually kind of hard, isn’t it? As our gaming habits have shifted more toward Games as a Service, we find ourselves playing more and more on-going games like Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone and Fortnite on end rather than new games. This has of course, lead to less prominent competition in packed Games as a Service genres like battle royale.

But just because you can’t think of a ton of shooters in development that you’re looking forward to, doesn’t meant that there aren’t any. This is my list of ten shooters that are in development that you should be looking forward to.

1. Halo Infinite

Anyone who knows me knows that my most anticipated game is by far and away Halo: Infinite. Not only am I a die-hard Halo fan that grew up playing Halo: Combat Evolved, was there for the online gaming revolution of Halo 2 and even reads the Halo books, but I regularly play and stream Halo: Master Chief Collection to this day. While Halo 5 was a miss on multiple levels, 343 Industries and Microsoft have been taking their time with Infinite, which is scheduled to launch for Xbox One, Xbox Series S, X and PC later this year.

Halo: Infinite is a spiritual reboot of this storied franchise which acts as both a sequel to Halo 5 but also a starting point for new players. Trading in linear-levels for a more open world romp around a Halo ring, harkening back to Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo: Infinite is taking the series back to the drawing board, re-imaging the game’s environments, weaponry, enemies and sandbox. Infinite could be posed to benefit from the burnout of large scale battle royale games as well, presenting players instead with quicker, smaller scale Arena FPS battles.

After getting tripped up with Halo 5, the team at 343 is looking to redeem itself with Infinite which will launch on Xbox Game Pass and feature free-to play multiplayer across the board, meaning that anyone with an Xbox compatible device can dive in. These factors combined have Halo poised to make a big comeback in 2021, and I will be there on day one, streaming it the second that it becomes available. Halo is the one franchise that still makes me feel like a kid on Christmas Eve and I can’t wait to dive into the series’ next chapter.

2. Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 has had a strange story, and it isn’t even out yet. After the original Overwatch became a runaway success (a surprise for a game that started as a canceled MMO) and established the first significant, mainstream, esports league, Overwatch’s star has dimmed. The game has dipped in popularity, receives minimal content updates and even Overwatch League itself is a shell of its former self. When Overwatch 2 was announced by Blizzard, many fans of the franchise were hopeful that it would be right around the corner and reinvigorate the once thriving community.

Since its announcement however, we’ve seen and heard almost nothing of Overwatch 2. We know that PvE is a big focus for the sequel, that we’ll be able to level up and master our characters, it features some kind of system that will integrate both Overwatch and Overwatch 2 together and that’s about it. Despite Overwatch itself being in maintenance mode, Blizzard has told us shockingly little about Overwatch 2 and much of the momentum around the franchise has dissipated.

With BlizzConline right around the corner, we are likely due for an update on Overwatch 2 and I might go so far as to speculate that we might see a beta before the end of 2021 but fans of Overwatch know how much potential this franchise holds. Regardless of Blizzard’s strange strategy and missteps with the franchise, Overwatch 2 will bring an explosion of excitement when it launches. It would just be nice to see Blizzard do something with Overwatch in the mean time to get people excited again since it has now been confirmed that OW2 isn’t coming until 2022.

3. Back 4 Blood

The cooperative shooter genre has been relatively underserved since Turtle Rock Studios and Valve abandoned the Left 4 Dead franchise but the creator’s of the original zombie-apocalypse romp are back with a spiritual successor, aptly named Back 4 Blood. Not only is Back 4 Blood an homage to Left 4 Dead itself in name and gameplay style, it’s also a bit of a redemption story for Turtle Rock who moved on from Left 4 Dead to create the quickly forgotten and heavily maligned Evolve.

Turtle Rock recently ran a Back 4 Blood alpha test which left a lot of people, including myself, hungry for more. While the gameplay feels right at home for fans of the classic L4D games, the development team has added a few unique twists and taken steps forward. This isn’t just a re-hash of the old Left 4 Dead games, it actually feels like a true sequel.

Back 4 Blood is due to launch this spring and its a game that a lot of us need right now. There’s something thrilling and heart warming about teaming up with a few friends to fight your way through massive hordes of zombies. Cooperative games like Back 4 Blood offer a unique experience that the gaming industry has been lacking for too long and I am looking forward to experiencing it again.

4. Deathloop

Deathloop is the next game from Arkane Studios, the makers of Dishonored and the repeatedly rebooted Prey. Stepping away from atmospheric single-player games, Deathloop is a unique one versus one multiplayer game that sets you in the shoes of one of two assassins caught in a time loop. While one assassin fights through a stylish, almost Bioshock-like dystopian world, fighting to escape the time loop, his opponent seeks to repeatedly kill him, keeping them in the time loop, forever.

While the concept may seem confusing at first, that’s what makes it so exciting; It’s something unique which looks to offer a challenge and style that is all its own. We know what Arkane is capable of thanks to their previous releases which only bolster my hopes for Deathloop.

5. Shadow Warrior 3

Devolver Digital and Flying Wild Hog successfully rebooted the Shadow Warrior franchise in 2013, but appear to be taking it to AAA levels in 2021 with Shadow Warrior 3. If you take a look at gameplay from Shadow Warrior 3, its easy to spot inspiration from Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal. So imagine Doom-like gunplay and enemy swarms, but with a strong blend of humor and customary Eastern style.

While it can be somewhat hard for me to stick with single-player games these days, Shadow Warrior 3 looks to have what it takes to keep me hooked. Couple that with the fact that Devolver Digital almost never misses, and Shadow Warrior 3 could end up being one of the most fun single-player shooters that 2021 has to offer.

6. Caliber

If there is a game on this list that you haven’t heard of, it’s probably Caliber and I wouldn’t blame you for never having heard of it. With that said, there’s two good reasons that its on this list and why it deserves to be on your radar.

The first reason to be aware of Caliber is that it is being published by Wargaming, the studio behind World of Tanks. While I’m not much of a World of Tanks fan myself, there’s no denying that they have built a very successful business model and community that will likely cross-pollinate over to Caliber. Even if there wasn’t crossover itself, World of Tanks is evidence of Wargaming’s ability to build an extremely successful multiplayer game and community.

The other reason to be excited for Caliber is that it’s been widely compared to the Sony’s old SOCOM franchise from the early PlayStation days. When Sony killed off the SOCOM franchise and closed Zipper Interactive, many fans were left with an itch for more of its unique gameplay formula. Caliber looks to fill that exact void; It’s third person, tactical and even looks a lot like the SOCOM games of the old days.

The only weird thing is that we haven’t heard anything about Caliber in over two-years. Hopefully the game is still in active development and we get our hands on it in the somewhat near future.

7. Atomic Heart

While I’m not one for a lot of single-player shooters these days, Atomic Heart not only looks interesting, but has legendary composer Mick Gordon of Doom and Wolfenstein fame working on its soundtrack. Mick’s involvement alone is a selling point for me but Atomic Heart looks to blend Fallout, horror and Doom-like elements for a first-person role-playing hybrid, due out later this year. While the game is slated to feature some sort of multiplayer mode, I’m expecting the focus to be the game’s atmospheric campaign and dystopian setting.

8. Metroid Prime 4

Some might not consider the Metroid Prime games shooters at all thanks to their lock-on mechanic but there’s no denying that Metroid Prime not only successful translated the Metroid formula into 3D, but also set a new bar for first-person adventure games when it debuted on the GameCube. Blending exploration, action, memorable boss battles and platforming, a “true” Metroid game hasn’t been released since Metroid Prime 3 for the GameCube. For reasons beyond me, Retro Studios has been stuck developing side-scrolling Donkey Kong games for the last decade or so.

That changes with Metroid Prime 4 which is back in the hands of Retro Studios after Nintendo rebooted its development and took Namco off of the project. With Retro back on duty, I’m hopeful that they have been saving up ideas to take the franchise to the next level, with Metroid Prime 4 potentially marking the beginning of a new era for Metroid as a franchise. Time will tell but Retro has yet to make a bad game and Nintendo is giving Retro plenty of time to get Metroid Prime 4 in shape to mark a bold return for the series.

9. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

After successfully launching two cooperative first-person shooters under the Vermintide monker, set in the original Warhammer universe, developer Fatshark is jumping into the Warhammer 40,000 universe with Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. This excites me quite a bit because I personally find the 40K universe to be much more enthralling than the baseline Warhammer universe and because the Vermintide games were quite a bit of fun for fans of cooperative Left 4 Dead style shooters.

While we don’t know exactly when Darktide is slated for release, it is scheduled to launch in 2021, putting it in direct competition with Back 4 Blood. Do we have enough room for two AAA, coop shooters? Fans will decide but packing the popular Warhammer 40,000 license certainly gives Darktide a good chance at competing. Given that this will be Fatshark’s third coop shooter also gives us reason to believe that this could be their strongest entry yet now that they’ve had time to hone their craft.

10. Exomecha

I’m going to be honest, we don’t know a whole lot about Exomecha other than it was revealed during one of Microsoft’s Xbox showcases in 2020 and looks like some sort of crazy multiplayer Transformers game. There’s guns, mechs fighting with swords and shields, vehicles and a lot of explosions. It sure does look pretty though. As of now, Exomecha is exclusive to the Xbox series of devices and PC but things seem to be so early for this game, who knows what will happen. Even though Exomecha seems to be coming out of left field, the concept has the potential to fill the void left by the lack of Titanfall 3. Whether or not the development team has the skill to fill the shoes of Respawn Entertainment however, remains to be seen. It’s worth keeping an eye on though and you can sign up for the game’s beta on its website.

MayorReynolds streams every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on Twitch at 7pm EST.