Tactical shooters have become my favorite game genre. I enjoy the teamwork it takes to overcome the various challenges, and the procedural elements that make it a different experience every time. The more realistic combat experience gives meaning to the decisions you make, unlike the spray-pray-respawn gameplay of abundant generic AAA shooters. There are two main types of co op tactical shooters I’m going to cover, military shooters and police shooters. All of these are indie game titles too, unsurprisingly. Tactical shooters aren’t for everyone, they require a very specific set of skills.

Zero Hour puts you in the boots of a SWAT team in Bangladesh taking on everything from serial killers to terrorists. As a SWAT/police shooter, you have to deal with hostile suspects, surrendering suspects, as well as hostages, adding an extra layer of difficulty to every game. Zero Hour is the first tactical shooter I always recommend to people for several reasons. At a full price of $11.99 USD, it is incredibly affordable, and there are no other tactical shooters out there in this price range, let alone games in general that offer this amount of content. If you’ve never played a tactical shooter before, Zero Hour is also a great place to start because the AI difficulty can be tweaked. There are two levels of difficulty, and they both give a good challenge. Zero Hour is also a great game for veteran tactical shooter fans, offering lots of weapon and equipment options, vastly different maps, and an impressive update schedule that adds more of both and more.

SCP Pandemic is is evolving into a different kind of tactical shooter. Currently it leans into the military tactical shooter category, but with it’s SCP focus, it could easily turn into something else. Currently you assume the role of a task force sent to end the threat of an SCP facility that has lost control of it’s biological warfare program. SCP Pandemic is a tactical horror shooter, where most of your enemies aren’t human. Zombies and other horrific creatures are buried with you in an underground bunker. At $19.99 USD, it is decently priced, but is the most basic in terms of content. There are some other co op game modes, including a wave horde mode and a facility raid mode. While everything is fairly basic, it has received regular updates, and noticeable improvements. In it’s current state, I would probably recommend it only on a sale. I thoroughly enjoy SCP Pandemic, and am most excited to see how the horror elements develop come October 22 when they release their SCP creature focus update.

Ground Branch is a tactical shooter where you take on the role of CIA operatives battling terrorists around the world. It is a military tactical shooter, meaning you take no prisoners and can simply shoot it if it moves. It has a good amount of maps, and you can choose between two game modes, terrorist hunt (Kill ’em all) or intel retrieval (find the laptop). At $29.99 USD it is also probably the best for beginners who aren’t worried about funds as you don’t have the extra consideration of surrendering enemies. Ground Branch is highly customizable including equipment, map settings, and an admin mode for the host that lets you respawn dead players as well as other useful functions. The AI is challenging, and has various difficulty settings, but does have a bit of an aim bot effect. They can seemingly see through bushes and trees, as well as in the dark. The good news is the very next update will begin addressing the bare bones AI. It is still good enough to deal with in the meantime, it’s just an extra challenge if nothing else.

While Arma 3 is undeniably a milsim, it still offers solid tactical shooter options through DLC. Arma 3 is a military tactical shooter, keeping the rules of engagement to shoot-em-all-and-let-God-sort-em-out, which can be good for beginners. In DLC like Western Sahara, S.O.G. Prairie Fire and others, Arma 3 provides sandbox mission experiences for small teams. You have a mission objective, and a massive map and equally massive options at your disposal to complete your mission. Retail price is $29.99 USD, but you still have to buy the DLC, so it’s potentially pricey. Arma 3 is incredibly feature rich even on it’s own or with mods, so price is going to be difficult to compare to others easily. Getting started each game can be complex, going through various menus and screens to set up the DLC, and also finding other players that have the same DLC. It’s the messiest tactical shooter to deal with, but it absolutely has the most gameplay potential as well as replayablility.

Ready or Not is the ultimate tactical shooter experience. Playing as SWAT teams from various police agencies, you tackle gangs, militias, and incidents that will challenge your ability to keep your head in the game. At $39.99 USD, it is the most realistic tactical shooter. The AI is unforgiving, but the most realistic I’ve seen. For newer players, this is going to be diving into the deep end. Enemies will surrender, and then change their mind. Hostages will run around when the shooting starts, or even be targeted by the criminals. I would recommend playing any of the other tactical shooters first, simply to get a feel for the experience. I absolutely recommend Ready or Not, but the difficulty level will feel like running into a brick wall for anyone who hasn’t played a tactical shooter before. The game’s atmosphere is on a whole other level, with grisly and dark environments that give you a hint of real world violent encounters that SWAT teams must deal with. Each map offers multiple game modes like hostage situation, active shooter, and more. Ready or Not offers everything you could want out of a tactical shooter and more, and it’s not even been out a year yet.

All of these tactical shooters are developing faster than others, but they have all steadily produced updates. I think the tactical horror shooter will be the biggest to watch as developments could easily bring in a whole new wave of tactical shooters. Whichever you choose to start with, make sure you bring at least one friend. Using the AI as your backup is going to dramatically change your play experience. Just dig into the experience, test different weapons and loadouts, and keep your head on a swivel. Tactical shooters offer an immersive experience that your average shooter game can’t compete with.