As far as online shooters go, Destiny has become something of a gold standard for the genre, including its 2017 sequel Destiny 2. With plenty of online shooters for fans to explore, here are the best games like Destiny that you should try in 2024.
13 Great Games Like Destiny You Should Try in 2024
13. Destiny 2
Let’s get the most obvious answer out of the way first by saying, if you really enjoy Destiny, you should definitely check out its 2017 direct sequel Destiny 2. Launched in 2014, Destiny was the first franchise developer Bungie completed since its ground-breaking Halo franchise over a decade prior. Destiny is set in a vision of Earth where the last free human city is defended by soldiers from various hostile extraterrestrial races, taking the fight to other planets across the cosmos.
Destiny 2 ups the ante from its predecessor, significantly refining the gameplay mechanics and online components, while expanding the world and features that the original game provided. Since its launch, Bungie has constantly provided updates for the game, adding new content and events while tightening the gameplay and overall presentation. The first Destiny pioneered the looter shooter and live service genres while Destiny 2 took that foundation and elevated it to a whole other level.
12. Anthem
BioWare, the creators of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, took their own leap into the looter shooter genre with their 2019 game Anthem. The title refers to a science fiction force found in mysterious relics that galvanizes technology and other scientific advancements in the game, sought after by different deadly factions. Players take on the role of soldiers, armed in powerful exosuits, who traverse the cosmos preventing these relics from falling into the wrong hands.
After a shaky start, Anthem began to solidify into a solid live service experience after several updates produced by BioWare since its launch. BioWare has plenty of experience in building sci-fi worlds and Anthem is just as immersive as its counterparts while the combat mechanics are relatively smooth. While BioWare announced it would cease providing content updates for Anthem in 2021, the game’s online community remains active and the game itself is still available for purchase.
11. Remnant II
Developer Gunfire Games teamed up with Gearbox Publishing for a shooter perfectly suited for the Soulslike generation with its 2023 game Remnant II. The game has players take on a race of sentient plants out to destroy all of reality, battling these enemies across a variety of planets throughout the cosmos. True to its Soulslike influences, Remnant II unfolds from a third-person perspective and has players use a variety of guns and melee weapons to battle through waves of enemies.
Like its predecessor, 2019’s Remnant: From the Ashes, Remnant II uses a system to randomly generate level layouts and enemy spawn points, though it feels more intuitively designed this time around. While players can progress through the game solo, Remnant II also offers cooperative multiplayer so players can team up with their friends in the campaign. With an array of player classes and skills to choose from, Remnant II is a strong sequel that takes advantage of modern gaming platforms’ technical capacities.
10. Borderlands 3
While Borderlands may still be recovering from the hit its cinematic adaptation inflicted on the brand, it still remains one of the most influential looter shooter franchises around. This is especially apparent with 2019’s Borderlands 3, which expanded the scope of the story for next-generation platforms while retaining what made Borderlands such a fan-favorite franchise to begin with. Set on the chaotic planet of Pandora, the game follows four Vault Hunters who rally to stop a devious cult intent on using alien technology from vaults around the planet for their own twisted ends.
Borderlands 3 doesn’t reinvent its own wheel and it’s frankly all the better for it, focusing on the chaotic gunfights and wacky characters while refining the core gameplay mechanics. Players still blast through waves of enemies and the occasional boss fight in its rugged open-world map while upgrading their skills and weapons. While players who didn’t enjoy the first several Borderlands games may not be won over by Borderlands 3, the 2019 game leans into what the franchise does best with solid results.
9. Titanfall 2
After going Xbox exclusive for its inaugural title, the Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment shooter franchise Titanfall went multi-platform for its 2016 sequel Titanfall 2. Like its predecessor, Titanfall 2 takes place in a science fiction world where human soldiers interact with lumbering robotic Titans on various battlefields. In contrast to the first game, Titanfall 2 has a single-player campaign mode, in addition to the usual online multiplayer modes that made the first installment a success.
While the single-player campaign isn’t all that long, its addition shows the length that the developers went to distinguish Titanfall 2 from its predecessor and expand the in-game mythos. What Titanfall 2 really improves on is the versatility and fluidity of its gameplay, providing an all-around rewarding experience no matter how players choose to approach a given skirmish. Polished up and with a significantly heightened scope, Titanfall 2 remains one of Respawn’s best titles.
8. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
The late best-selling author Tom Clancy has been associated with tactical shooters for decades and one of the more recent series to launch under the Tom Clancy banner is The Division, which began in 2016. The game received an ambitious sequel in 2019 with Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, a third-person shooter that features cooperative and competitive game modes while incorporating roleplaying game elements. Set in a ravaged, near-future Washington, D.C., The Division 2 has teams of soldiers fighting to retake the city after it falls into complete disorder following the release of a deadly pathogen.
Operating in teams of up to four, players fight across the American capital, which has been divided into multiple zones, each ruled by a different faction. As players complete missions, they gain experience points to level up and upgrade themselves and their gear while navigating the open-world map. In addition to more traditional online multiplayer modes, The Division 2 also allows players to interact across the main map, either working together or launching raids on each other’s bases to create a dynamic gameplay experience.
7. Killzone Shadow Fall
As hard as it is to believe, it’s been over a decade since Sony did anything with its popular shooter franchise Killzone. The PlayStation’s answer to Halo, the most recent title in the series to date is Killzone Shadow Fall for the PlayStation 4, released in 2013. Set 30 years after the events of Killzone 3, Shadow Fall places a greater emphasis on stealth across a more open-ended map as players battle the merciless Helghast.
While the single-player campaign, unfortunately, remains the weakest part of the overall game, a recurring trait of the Killzone games, the online multiplayer modes are as sharp as ever. One of the best looking games on the PS4, Shadow Fall is a stunning achievement and its multiplayer modes unfold fast and furiously, leaving players catching their breath and ready to jump into the next match. Hopefully, Sony will eventually revisit the Killzone franchise in earnest but until then, Shadow Fall is the franchise at its peak.
6. Outriders
Publisher Square Enix took a big step into the live service cooperative shooter space with its 2021 title Outriders. The sci-fi shooter has humanity relocate to a different planet after Earth becomes uninhabitable, only to find this new world is far more hostile than they anticipated. To make matters worse, the colonists quickly descend into a bloody civil war, bringing humanity even closer to the brink in this unfamiliar environment.
Played from a third-person perspective and incorporating RPG elements, Outriders can either be experienced alone or alongside up to two additional players. As the difficulty scales up, so too does the loot, rewarding players for their hard work in dispatching waves of enemies. As far as looter shooters go, Outriders doesn’t turn the genre on its head but it does provide a solidly delivered online gaming experience.
5. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six has become a franchise in itself, with 2015’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege serving as something of a soft reboot to the classic tactical shooter. In the face of a global terrorist syndicate known as the White Masks causing violent chaos worldwide, the international counter-terrorism force Rainbow Six is reactivated under new leadership to dismantle this new enemy. Playing out from a first-person perspective, counter-terrorist teams attack strongholds held by terrorist groups leading to fierce firefights with different gear loadouts and careful coordination.
With a variety of maps and game modes, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has only continued to gain momentum online in the years since its launch. True to its title, the game revolves around an attacker-versus-defender premise, and features destructible environments to make the gameplay more engaging and entertainingly chaotic. Placing a strong emphasis on teamwork and tactics like the original Rainbow Six games, Rainbow Six Siege really excels at providing quick combat and rewarding calculated tactics rather than the going in guns blazing strategy that so many shooters rely on.
4. Halo Infinite
When Microsoft’s tried-and-true Halo franchise arrived on the Xbox Series X|S with 2021’s Halo Infinite, it did so with the iconic first-person shooter franchise’s boldest mainline entry yet. The game has Master Chief and a contingent of UNSC forces stranded on a remote Halo ring linked to the malevolent artificial intelligence program Cortana. Master Chief battles through waves of Banished, rogue Covenant forces, as he seeks to learn what happened to Cortana and stop Harbinger, an entity unleashed from the inner recesses of the Halo ring.
Halo Infinite retools its campaign mode to be a guided open-world experience rather than divide the campaign into clear levels, while also allowing for cooperative multiplayer. Halo Infinite’s competitive multiplayer is divided into a whole array of game modes that fans will recognize, from battle royales to team-based games. A return to form for the franchise after the divisive Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite is an accessible and fun installment of the long-running series.
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Call of Duty has been a gaming institution for decades, evolving from its World War II shooter roots to cover everything from blockbuster, globe-spanning action to even science fiction and horror. The shooter franchise takes its next step into the future with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which brings the international clandestine action to the turbulent 1990s. As with the past several Call of Duty games, Black Ops 6 comes with an updated version of Call of Duty: Warzone, its free-to-play online multiplayer experience.
It’s in Warzone that the similarities between Call of Duty and Destiny become more visibly apparent and more than just both games being online multiplayer titles. With a set of missions set within the Black Ops timeline, Warzone is sure to get its own overhaul with the release of Black Ops 6. After the bitter aftertaste of 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 remake, Black Ops 6 is ready to restore luster to the shooter series.
2. Apex Legends
Ever since 2019, gamers have battled in team-based battle royales on a variety of platforms in Electronic Arts’ popular shooter Apex Legends. Players can take each other on in teams of three or two in a science world set in the same universe as Respawn Entertainment’s popular Titanfall games. As with many battle royales, the arena steadily shrinks as a given match progresses, leaving the surviving players increasingly limited real estate space to emerge victorious from the fight.
Since its launch, EA and Respawn have consistently supported Apex Legends with new seasons’ worth of content and events to keep the community thriving and vibrant. The game is a fantastic example of sticking by a live service title years after its debut, with the developers working hard to refine the overall experience. With its memorable playable characters and frenetic combat, Apex Legends has only gotten stronger since it first hit the scene.
1. Helldivers II
Forget the shaky Sony revision in its approach to offering the game on PC because Helldivers II is still one of the best online experiences launched in 2024. The game takes place in a sci-fi world where planets colonized by humans are becoming overrun by insectoid monsters and malevolent sentient robots, prompting shock troops being deployed to wipe out these enemies. Players work together online, dropped into a variety of planets and mission types as they face hordes of enemies from a range of difficulties.
Helldivers II is just a lot of fun and its online matchmaking and mission structure make it easy to pick up and play rather than having to dedicate your time to an entire prolonged campaign. Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has provided a steady stream of post-launch support keeping the game experience feeling fresh and engaging while maintaining smooth online gameplay. A masterclass in third-person online shooter gameplay, Helldivers II is one of the best PlayStation 5/PC exclusive online games in recent memory.
Published: Sep 27, 2024 05:59 am