The Best Shooters on Nintendo Switch in 2020

The shooter genre is among the most complex ones, as it includes first-person shooters, third-person shooters, top-down shooters and everything in between. And today, you’ll find out which are the best shooters to play on the Nintendo Switch in 2020.

While the Nintendo Switch is a relatively young console, compared to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, it has received its fair share of shooters, and some of them are very high-quality titles.

Today, we’ll focus on the best FPS on the Switch, as well as third person shooters. Below are the best you can play.

DOOM

DOOM is a series that requires no introduction, as it is one of the franchises, along Wolfenstein, that made first person shooters popular. The latest entry in the series takes everything that made the original games great and brought everything up a notch.

DOOM is as relentless as the original games are. During the course of the game, players will have to find hordes of powerful demons with a variety of weapons, explore locations, collect items to unlock even more areas and so on.

The game also comes with a multiplayer mode, but the experience is as old-school as it can get, so if you’re expecting something akin to modern day FPSs like the latest entries in the Call of Duty series, you will be disappointed.

Splatoon 2

Splatoon is among the most successful Wii U games ever released, but the game failed to become a huge phenomenon due to how little the console sold worldwide. Things changed drastically with Splatoon 2, which took the gameplay formula of the original and expanded it in a lot of interesting and engaging ways.

In Splatoon 2, players control anthropomorphic squids called Inklings, who use colored ink to attack opponents. Inklings can move around in human form, where they can shoot, and squid form, which can be used to swim through ink of their own color and replenish their ink reserve.

Splatoon 2 is made extremely engaging by the huge amount of content, which includes a single-player campaign and plenty of online modes. The fact that the game is being supported often with new weapons and more only makes it more appealing.

If you’re looking to get a single shooter game, you must get Splatoon 2. Its aesthetics may look kid-oriented, but don’t let this fool you: beneath the silly exterior, there’s a very deep experience that can keep you engaged for a very long time.

Paladins

Being a free to play game, one may think that Paladins is a limited game. This is quite far from the truth, as Paladins is one of the best online shooters released in recent times and often considered as a rival to the more popular Overwatch.

Paladins features a lot of different characters coming with different abilities that influence the way a match is played considerably. While most characters aren’t available at the beginning, the game’s progression system is so well done that it doesn’t take too much to unlock more of them.

Building a balanced team is extremely important, as some characters are clearly geared toward support, and can do very little by themselves.

With a variety of play modes, like Deathmatch, Siege and others, and an interesting character roster, Paladins is the game to play for those who cannot live without Overwatch and have no means to play the game on the go.

Payday 2

Like a few other games in this list, Payday 2 is also available on other formats, but the fact that it can be played on the go without any major compromise makes it a noteworthy addition to the Nintendo Switch library.

Per se, Payday 2 isn’t a particularly original first-person shooter. In the game, players take part in a variety of heists where they must explore each location, locate the vault, avoid the security, come back to drill safes, fight cops and make it out alive. While stealth is an option, things often end with a shootout, which can be very satisfying.

While the gameplay loop can get a little stale over time, the huge amount of customization features, as well as touchscreen controls for menus, make Payday 2 one of the best shooters available on Nintendo Switch.

Turok

Turok is far from being a new game, as it was originally released back in 1997 on Nintendo 64, but the new Nintendo Switch release marks the first time the game can be played on the go. And after all this year, it’s still a very good first-person shooter, albeit a little on the simple side.

Turok is an extremely simple first-person shooter, and it plays like games that have been released in the late 90s, like Quake III Arena and the first Unreal.

This means that you have to move quickly through a variety of locations and fight a lot of ferocious dinosaurs. If you feel helpless watching the Jurassic Park movies, Turok will finally allow you to fight back.

The Nintendo Switch release is based on the PC port released a while back, which introduces only some light graphics enhancements. The Switch release also adds motion controls, which aren’t terribly good for a fast-paced game like Turok, but more options are always good.

Turok is the perfect shooter for nostalgics as well as for those who just want to blast enemies into oblivion without having to deal with load-outs and the many other mechanics found in modern first-person shooters.

Warframe

Warframe is one of the biggest free to play games currently available on all modern hardware, and the Nintendo Switch version holds up quite well to the other versions, which have been available for a few years.

Warframe is a co-op third-person shooter where players control a variety of space fighters who all come with some unique abilities and features. The game’s world started small, but it’s been expanded so much that it’s impossible to see all it has to offer in a short amount of time.

The Nintendo Switch version comes with almost all of the content that’s been released on other platforms, as well as motion controls and other exclusive features which make playing the game on the go an even better experience.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Like DOOM, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a rare beast in the world of modern first-person shooter, as its main, and only focus, is in its single-player experience.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus follows the events of Wolfenstein: The New Order, with B.J. Blazkowicz once again going after Nazis to make the world a better place.

Keeping in line with the previous entries in the series, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus features a single player campaign that’s not just about killing enemies, as players need to explore locations to the fullest to proceed.

Thanks to the melee, cover, weapons and stealth mechanics, the Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus experience is extremely varied, making it one of the best shooters to play offline.

Overwatch: Legendary Edition

This is THE game that shooter fans all over the world wanted and asked for and probably prayed for and it fortunatelly, made it on Nintendo’s console, eventually.

Better later than never, the Legendary Edition of Overwatch gives Switch users a Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership 3-month subscription, 15 skins and the full experience of finally being able to play Overwatch on Switch.

This is still one of the most fun, intense and popular shooters out there and you’ll definitely enjoy it now that it’s finally available for the Nintendo Switch.

Wolfenstein: YoungBlood

While there are definitely better rated shooters out there – based on both the public’s opinion and that of game review websites – YoungBlood remains one of the most stunning games on the Switch, at least from a visual perspective.

It’s dark and gritty and intense and pretty much far away from your regular Switch game, so for those looking for a more mature environment, as well as action-oriented gameplay, the newest entry in the series is perfect.

It’s not a game without issues – including performance issues being the massive beast that it is – but we still found the game extremely enjoyable and we’re sure you will too.

Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch

A game that doesn’t shy away from throwing an insane array of bloody moves and visuals to the more casual audience of the Switch might be a risk, but in our opinion, it was one well worth taking as Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch is one of the best shooters on te console.

The fact that it’s single player only might be seen as a Con in today’s world where everything – including games – move online, but we personally love our single player campaigns here, especially when they’re as intense as each second in Bulletstorm is.

And what makes this game even better? The fact that you can play as Duke Nukem himself: a perfect character for this game.

Metro: Last Light Redux

We have to admit that we weren’t the biggest Metro 2033 fans when it was originally released, but somehow the sequel was much more enjoyable.

Even though the game itself – like most on this list – is older than we’d like, it’s still a very solid entry for the single player oriented, mature FPS fan.

So turn on the lights in your room, start this intense shooter and enjoy cleaning the post apocalyptic world of the strangest monsters it can spew.

Rico

Even though this game is younger than most on our list today, it still has that cool old school vibe that will make you love it instantly. Pair it with intense combat and more modern features, including co-op play and you have the perfect game for your Nintendo Switch.

I still believe that shooters are made to be played best on PC, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it on other platforms. And even though it gets pretty hectic in Rico and your thumbs will hurt eventually, you’ll always be entertained and satisfied, and that’s all that matters!

Wrapping up

Nintendo has never been known to go hard on shooters and the more casual appeal of their consoles – the Switch included – makes the FPS and third person shooter genres to not be among the most popular.

So even though you don’t really have many options available in this area – especially in terms of games to really take advantage of the unique controls available on the Switch, even the classic games available on the platform are more than enough for us gamers.

If you enjoy reading about the top Switch games, make sure to also check out our previous lists: the best turn based games on Switch, best Nintendo Switch RPGs or the best coop games on the console.