The 15 Best World War 2 FPS Games

Hell Let Loose

Hell Let Loose goes for the throat right away: its focus is big 50 vs 50 PvP battles, with USA and Germany as the two sides of the conflict.

It’s not a team free-for-all, however – you are put in a squad and expected to work together to accomplish objectives. Riflemen go in squads of six, armored squads go in threes, and then there are recomultiplayerr duos.

Image credit: Team17

On top of that, units are led by officers, whose core duty is coordinating with other squad leaders over a dedicated voice channel. There’s also a Commander player, who is in charge of the big picture, including tank deployment, air strikes, and more. If you’d love to feel like a vital part of a grander effort, then you should check Hell Let Loose, it might just be the thing for you.

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Day of Infamy

Day of Infamy goes for realism on a level that might attract especially die-hard enthusiasts of the period.

There are very few things between you and war: no crosshair to help you, no health bar, because a single shot can kill you, and don’t go in expecting a kill-feed either. While it’s not an Arma-level simulation, you can rely only on your senses and you teammates.

Image credit: New World Interactive

Objectives ahead of you include classics such as capturing a position and sabotage, but can also involve VIP elimination. The maps are based on conflicts on the European front between 1940-1945, while the arsenal features more than 60 authentic weapons available to over 30 playable units divided between the various historical divisions you can play as.

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Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire

Sometimes relying on classics is the way to go, and Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage under Fire is not the last example of that on this list.

Released in 2003, H&D2 offers a substantial single-player campaign which you can clear both on your own, or as a team leader if you’d fancy some NPC aid. There’s also a good dose of strategic planning via a handy map.

Image credit: Illusion Softworks

There also used to be a multiplayer mode, which could handle up to 100 players at once, but that got cut short when GameSpy servers were closed, but there are ongoing fan efforts to keep multiplayer alive. The Courage Under Fire edition includes the Sabre Squadron expansion, introducing new missions, weapons, and mechanics, substantially expanding the base offering.

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Post Scriptum

Another team-based, realism-oriented World War II first-person shooter on the list, in case the specifics of Hell Let Loose didn’t appeal to you.

Post Scriptum also features large battles (up to 80 players), squad-play and commander-driven strategic gameplay, and a lot of armored vehicles to use in case joining the infantry isn’t your first choice.

Image credit: Periscope Games

Post Scriptum takes players to Operation Market Garden, Plan Jaune, and Operation Overlord, letting them fight over large maps. There are also several player factions to choose from, an authentic arsenal, and built-in voice chat to keep communication healthy between squadmates and officers. Post Scriptum also adds some fortification-building for fans of logistics.

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Call of Duty 2

Another classic on the list, Call of Duty 2 was an all-around improvement on everything that made the original a hit.

The game offers three stand-alone campaigns with several playable characters you get to embody across almost thirty missions. There’s also multiplayer, of course, for up to 64 players with the classic modes like Capture the Flag or Team Deathmatch.

Image credit: Infinity Ward

Although CoD2 is almost 20 years old now and lacks the glitz and glamour provided by modern graphics it’s still a fantastic World War 2 shooter with great level design, solid enemy AI, and immersive audio. If you’d like to relive your gaming memories from 2005 or see where the Call of Duty series came from, there’s no better starting point than CoD2.

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Day of Defeat

DoD started its life as a mod to Half-Life 2, similar to Valve’s other multiplayer title, CS: GO.

The gameplay mechanics are also similar – the player chooses to fight on the side of the Allies or the Axis, selecting one of several classes available for each faction. The battles are most often waged on narrow maps, forcing the players to cooperate to complete their objectives.

Image credit: Valve

The gameplay emphasizes realism, forcing the player to abandon some of their usual multiplayer habits. For example, the stamina bar indicates for how long the player can run, and recovering takes some time. Moreover, the player cannot shoot while running and jumping. DoD boasts faithful representation of WWII weaponry, including such details as the force of the recoil, and accuracy.

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Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is another multiplayer game on our list that emphasizes a realistic approach.

While in Day of Defeat, realism was limited to weapon presentation and behavior, as well as some mobility mechanics, in HoS, almost every aspect of the game is given the realistic polish, making it an engaging but also challenging title.

Image credit: Tripwire Interactive

The first thing the player will notice is the lack of any indicators: health bar, ammo count, or even crosshair. What’s more, health doesn’t regenerate, and the player is only allowed to bandage wounds to stop the blood loss. HoS cover system is also tricky – specific covers can be destroyed or be too small to cover the player’s body. All this requires the player to make quick, on-the-fly decisions.

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Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

According to the version of the history presented in TP: FoL, in 1931, Winston Churchill died in an accident in New York City, causing a butterfly effect that led to the complete victory of the Axis over the Allies.

The game picks up years after the Nazi’s triumph, in 1953. Having taken over Europe, Asia, and a larger part of Africa, Germany attacked the United States, forcing the government to surrender. Dan Carson, a construction worker from NYC, joins the resistance waging guerilla warfare against the occupant.

Image credit: Spark Unlimited

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty includes both single- and multiplayer modes. While the game takes place after the war, it features many “updated” versions of WWII guns, including some that used to be experimental at the time of war. The single-player campaign relies on stealth a lot, with an option to quietly assassinate enemies as long as they haven’t noticed you yet.

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Enemy Front

In EF, the player controls Robert Hawkins, a US war correspondent, who joins up with various resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe, documenting the atrocities committed against the population, and fighting alongside the resistance.

The game’s setting takes the player to places rarely visited in WW2 games, including the occupied Poland, where Hawkins will witness the events of the Warsaw Uprising.

Image credit: CI Games

Enemy Front’s gameplay mechanics combine the fast-paced FPS action with stealth and elements of tactics. You’ll be able to use a variety of WW2-era weapons, including pistols, submachine guns, rifles, grenades, and more. The game allows the player to use the environment to their advantage, setting up ambushes on unsuspecting patrols. Enemy Front features a multiplayer mode, where up to 12 participants can fight in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch modes, and other modes.

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Dino D-Day

A less serious take on the events of World War 2, featuring prehistoric reptiles fighting on the front. Using dark arts, Adolf Hitler managed to bring back the dinosaurs and use them as weapons in his armies.

To stand a chance against such a threat, the Allies deployed the extinct reptiles of their own, sending them to battle the Nazis on the fronts of World War 2.

Image credit: 800 North and Digital Ranch

While the story of Dino D-Day doesn’t take itself very seriously, its multiplayer gameplay is more concrete. The player chooses to fight either on the side of the Allies or the Axis. Each side of the conflict has both human and dinosaur units, including species like Velociraptor, Protoceratops, and even the mighty T-Rex. The game features several modes, including typical deathmatches, a variation of capture-the-flag mode, and escort missions.

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Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway combines fast-paced action with excellent tactical gameplay, retelling the events of Operation Market Garden, which could’ve turned the tide of the war.

In Hell’s Highway, the player once again takes control of Sergeant Matt Baker, as he and his squad make their way through occupied Europe. The game’s storyline is based around the events of Operation Market Garden, an Allied attempt at securing the other bank of the river Rhine.

Image credit: Gearbox Software

The gameplay mechanics of BiA: HH remain similar to the previous installments of the series: as Baker, you can command the squad to take action. There are three types of teams, and each has different actions available to them: suppressing the enemy with fire, flanking, and using special weapons like bazookas and mortars. The game features several difficulty levels, with the hardest (Authentic, in which the HUD and crosshair are removed) available upon the completion of the campaign.

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Medal of Honor: Airborne

In MoH:A, you are put in the shoes of a member of the US 82nd Airborne Division, Boyd Travers.

Along with other members of the 82nd, Travers takes part in crucial paratrooper missions of World War 2, including Operation Market Garden and Operation Varsity. Due to the paratrooper missions being the central theme of the game, Airborne gave the player a lot of freedom in deployment.

Image credit: EA Los Angeles

After jumping out of the plane, you can choose their landing zone, designated with flares. From there, you can start completing the mission objectives in any order you want to. A multiplayer mode is also available. It features only one mode in which the players divided into teams of Axis and Allies, fight on a scaled-down map from the campaign mode.

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Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is set in 1943. The player controls B.J. Blazkowicz, a US Army Ranger and an agent of the Office of Secret Actions.

The OSA believes that the Germans want to turn the tide of the war in their favor using advanced science and occult practices. Blazkowicz is sent on several missions to investigate these reports and stop the Nazis from gaining the upper hand.

Image credit: Gray Matter Interactive

The game is based around completing mission objectives and fighting enemy forces, both human and paranormal. You have at your disposal a variety of weapons, ranging from period-accurate pistols, sub-machine guns, and rifles, to experimental heavy machine guns and Tesla coil guns. Return to Castle Wolfenstein features a multiplayer mode, in which the players are split into two teams and must fulfill specific mission objectives.

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Battlefield V

Like Battlefield 1, BFV features a series of short story campaigns, told from the points of view of different participants of World War 2.

These campaigns take the players to various settings, including the Norwegian snowscapes, the North African desert, and the fields of France, among others. These single-player episodes are brief and may serve as a nice appetizer before the main course – the multiplayer mode.

The multiplayer in BF V focuses on a realistic approach to battle, discarding many distracting elements. The ones that remain are the character and weapon customization options, which allow the player to add personal touches to their in-game avatar and their equipment. There are two key multiplayer modes: a battle royale-like Firestorm, featuring the most extensive map in the series’ history, and Grand Operations, in which multiplayer battles are fought in stages.

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Call of Duty: WWII

CoD: WWII takes place during Operation Overlord, which began with the Allied forces’ invasion of Normandy.

The game’s story campaign features the characters of Ronald “Red” Daniels and his squad from the 1st Infantry Division, who participate in the D-Day landings. The campaign takes the player through various battles, including those fought during Operation Cobra, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Image credit: Sledgehammer Games

Gameplay-wise, CoD: WWII remains mostly unchanged in comparison to the most recent installments of the series. The changes include the return of health packs, absent since CoD2 The Big Red One, and the player’s squadmates now providing them with ammunition, health, and other means of support. In multiplayer, players can choose from several character classes and participate in battle royale-like modes. Each Division has several weapon expansions, specific to the playstyle it represents.

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Enlisted

Developed with the creators of War Thunder, Enlisted is an MMO squad-based shooter revolving around the most brutal wars of World War II.

Choose from Germany, Japan, the USSR, and the USA to create your dream army and compete with other players in intense battles scattered around the world. The game features the most brutal confrontations in Tunisia, Berlin, Stalingrad, Moscow, and Normandy – but that’s not all, as players can also design their own missions using developer tools. Combat mechanics are similar to Battlefield, but enriched with the unique possibility of commanding a squad of multiple units instead of just one.

Call of Duty: Vanguard

It is a recommendation for enthusiasts of story-driven WWII games, following the experiences of four heroes coping with the most challenging missions of these grim times.

Image credit: Sledgehammer Games

Meet Polina Petrova, Wade Jackson, Arthur Kingsley, and Lucas Riggs – four protagonists fighting in the most vital missions of World War II to ultimately join forces and create an independent unit. Apart from the single-player campaign, the game features an extensive multiplayer mode involving over 20 unique maps – Zombies by Treyarch Studios included!

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