Best free online multiplayer FPS games

*Cue the horror movie music*

Many of our parents are guilty of telling us stories about their limited options for almost everything when they were our age. They tell us these horrible tales of them living life without internet, keeping in touch with people without cellphones and then they hit us with the scariest story of all. They tell us that they only had board games and cards to play on indoors.

Yikes… No video games!

*Now cue the calming music*

Thank goodness this is NOT our reality today, a world without video games. Modern day gamers no longer have to be limited to board games or playing cards. We’ve come a long way since our parents’ days of playing solitaire and checkers. In fact, game lovers today don’t even have to play games alone unless they choose to. Let’s break down a few exciting options for today’s gamers.

What is a first person shooter (FPS)?

When we all speak, text or email someone in our own daily lives, we are communicating in ‘first person’. Why is it considered to be ‘first person’? It’s simply because the only viewpoint that we can all speak or write from is on our own opinions, thoughts and feelings, not someone else’s. For example, a person cannot walk up to a microphone and tell an audience how THEY feel or think. The only words coming from that speaker can his or her own.

We ALL speak, text or write our own words as our own in ‘first person’.

In a shooting game, the first person viewpoint is the same concept. A player in FPS can only shoot a weapon in the game from their own angle and thought processes, never shooting from another player’s angle or gaming abilities. This is considered to be a first person shooter also known as FPS.

What are the best multiplayer FPS games?

Although gamers probably have their own opinions about which FPS games are considered to be the best, it’s fair to say that the best can be ranked by the most popular and/or most frequently played. With that said, here’s a few of the most popular FPS games: Call of Duty, Fortnite, Overwatch, Battlefield 1 and Rainbow Six Siege.

So what’s so great about these FPS games? What’s the mass appeal?

Ever had a HORRIBLE day at school or work and wished you could just scream at the top of your lungs? Ever had your car break down all dressed up on the way to somewhere you were excited to go? Or maybe you just occasionally need to let off a little steam. If so, FPS games are a great way to release those tensions without actually having conflict in your REAL life. Shooting a virtual person is all in the consequence free imaginary world. There’s no aggression release zones in our daily lives, right? In the world of strict bosses or teachers, mean classmates or colleagues, or financial and social pressures of reality, where else can we go wild without punishment except in the virtual battlefields of FPS games?

So imagine this…

You’re a soldier walking alone in the dark at night in a jungle. You hear a sound in the bushes and your heart pounds. You should feel afraid but, for some strange reason, there’s a little bit of excitement. Maybe it adrenaline. Maybe it’s curiosity. But as crazy as it seems, you are enjoying every step as you get closer to the bushes to figure out where those sounds were coming from. You step closer and just as the tip of your combat boot taps the muddy gravel, the leaves of bush suddenly MOVES! Now you realize that you only have about 2 seconds to either shoot or be shot. You lift your gun, aim at the bush and fire. You’re still alive! But, what undercover enemy did you just shoot? Are they dead? If not, will they shoot you? You have no choice but to walk over to the bushes, pull back the leaves and to see who you’ve shot. You take two steps closer, you lean in and pull back the bushes. Thank goodness it was your worst enemy!

But wait…. He isn’t dead!

As you turn to walk away, he shoots you!! This is the excitement of a FPS game. It’s a pure adrenaline rush from start to finish. So playing is fun but…

What cool terminology do FPS gamers use?

Here’s a list of popular gaming terms:

Bots: FPS and battle games have players who are controlled by a computer. These are called bots. It kind of reminds you of the word robots.
Camper or Camping: When we think of the word ‘camping’ we often can think of putting up a tent, sitting out for many ours and if there happens to be fishing, camping may include waiting with hooked bait for a big fish to come in. The gamer terms ‘camping’ of to be a ‘camper’ has a similar meaning. The player patiently waits in a spot on the map and then kills their opponents when they come to that area.
DLC: The content that can be downloaded for purchase.
Nerf/Nerfed: Imagine fighting with your favorite killer gun and suddenly it’s like shooting your opponent with a bunch of cotton balls? This happens when the game creator takes away a weapon’s superpowers to give the game more balance between weapons and players. So now, your favorite weapon has weak power. Your fighting strategy would need to be adjusted to using other weapons now.
No Scope: To kill your opponent, often a gamer must zoom while using their shooting weapon and by then right-clicking. This is how players get a closer look for a cleaner shot. The term ‘No scoping’ is the bragging term for killing your opponent without zooming in first.
NPC: This term stands for ‘non-player characters’. These are all of the other characters in the game who are also the ones who move the story and the game along.
Ping: This is how players measure server to player time increments by number or by a graphic bar. This shows players how well or how badly they are playing compared to others in the game.
PvP: Player vs. player in a game
PWNED: Your player was NOT the champion in this game… No not even by a long shot!
Rage-quit: This gamer term is more like an ACTION! When a gamer experiences a really bad gaming day and shows signs of extreme personal anger of rage, this is rage-quit behavior.
Rubberbanding: “Wait, WHY is my soldier or my tank bouncing back and forth in the middle of a game?” During unforeseen problems with the server, a game can temporarily be stalled and this term explains that short few seconds of disruption that makes the game have a slight delay that bounces around players and objects in the game.

There are dozens of other gamer terms that are popular and that can either hurt or help a player’s overall gaming skills. The key is to know how to play and use the terms to their gaming advantage. Because after all, there’s no use in knowing all of the coolest, most popular words but still being a great player.

On Sundays during the fall seasons, as kids, we could often recall in our households having family members who waited all year with excitement for NFL football season! There’d be so much preparation for a big Sunday of football in several of our homes. There was usually lots of good food already ordered before kickoff like chicken wings, lots of chips and plenty of cold beverages stocked up in the fridge. Like online gaming, there were cool words that were common to yell out during the game as football fans watched at home. The funny thing about football fans was that they may have yelled out to their televisions all the popular football terminology like “take it to the end zone” or “sack the quarterback”! However, unless a fan’s favorite team actually WON the game, who cared what cool words were yelled out?

The ultimate key to knowing all the popular terms in gaming is the same as in most sports, to not just yell at the TV all the coolest words but to actually WIN the game itself.

What are the differences in playing web/browser games, mobile games, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo? Each type of gaming system has many differences.

What are web games?

A web game is also known as a browser game. These games are defined as being electronic games being played on the internet hence the references to the web or the internet browser.

Pros: They are easy to download since they don’t need outside software like a CD or a DVR.

Cons: The colors, realistic graphics and true to life imagery experience isn’t always as sharp as the other types of FPS multiplayers.

For example, mazar.io is a great FPS on the web. Grab a buddy and have a duel!

What’s a mobile game?

A mobile game is defined as simply as it sounds. It’s a game played on a mobile device. So imagine having a child on a very long road trip and pure BLISS while the child is entertained by playing a mobile game on most of the road trip! We aren’t always near a PC to play games.

Pros: Mobile games can be downloaded and played wherever we go.

Cons: Due to the size of mobile devices, hardcore gamers may miss playing on a bigger TV screen.

What is PlayStation?

Sony first introduced in 1995 the popular video game console, PlayStation. As a CD-ROM based console, it’s one of the first trailblazers the gaming industry. Ironically, it wasn’t always a CD game. The first PlayStation was either played as a handheld game or on computer desktop. In 2000, PlayStation 2 (PS2) introduced the DVR game since CD’s were becoming obsolete by then. Next came PlayStation 3 (PS3) in 2006 boasting Blu-ray graphics and a much faster processor. The most recent was PlayStation 4 (PS4) which debuted in 2013 that replaced the chip with downloadable app capabilities to be played on mobile devices.

Pros: There are several ways to play PlayStation. Gamers can play PlayStation games on mobile devices or they can opt for the true to life surround sound experience by playing it hooked up to a huge flat screen TV!

Cons: These games can be expensive in comparison to more economical games for other systems

What is Nintendo?

Isn’t it always cool if a hip hop legend like Notorious BIG mentions a game in one if his biggest hits ever? This brings us to Nintendo product series of gaming consoles. Starting us all off in 1989 with the handheld Game Boy and taking us to the next level of gaming with GameCube in 2001, the Nintendo dual screen gaming experience also known as DS stood out from its competition. In 2006, Wii was brought onto the gaming scene and blew everyone away with the bright, clean and realistic game graphics.

Pros: Players love the dual screen gaming experience.

Cons: The games are not as portable as the other more compact systems

What is Xbox?

In 2001, the world was formally introduced to a gaming phenomenon called Xbox that took video console gaming to the next level of excellence. Originally created to compete with PlayStation, Xbox still is a popular option for gamers today since it can also be used as a home entertainment center.

Pros: In recent years, Xbox has streaming video capabilities.

Cons: The games are still expensive compared to other affordable gaming systems.

Ok so now that we are more familiar with the various types of games, here’s the magic question:

What’s a few great multiplayer FPS games that are FREE?

Black Squad
Team Fortress 2
Unreal Tournament
Quake Champions
Planetside 2
Hawken
Paladins: Champions of the Realm
Warface

There’s no denying it…

Trying to choose a favorite video gaming experience isn’t as simple as it was thirty years ago at the local arcade. Now, gamers have plenty of FPS multiplayer systems to choose from. A few games may not be as easily accessible as the others however, the main idea is the same with all the gaming options…

It’s the great escape from our daily reality.

Futher reading

Web game ref

https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/game-based-instruction-college-classroom/2922

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