Android as a gaming platform, has a long standing relationship with shooting games. This could be because the genre does not require characters to move as much as PC games. This gives gamers more control than the average first person shooting game and increases replay value. In that vein, we are going to review the best shooter games for Android today, this includes first person shooters, sniping games, and even third-person shooters. Here’s our list. Warning: Some of the screenshots as well as the games themselves are extremely graphic.
1-Max Payne
This genre and generation defining shooter was originally released as an iPad exclusive. It later made its way onto all of iOS and Android. When it originally came out on the PC, it took the world’s love for bullet-time shooting as inspired by The Matrix and structured a game around it. Max Payne is a dark, story-driven, noir game where Max is on a mission to avenge his murdered wife and infant daughter.
The game has not changed much from its original 2002 concept. The graphics seem to have been touched-up a bit, but the core elements remain the same. It has no cut-scenes, but comic book panels with voice over and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. Max Payne is popular for all the innovation it brought to the platform.
It is exactly as iconic today as it was at the time of its release and is unlikely to go out of fashion anytime soon. If you have not yet played Max Payne, even today it is a profound experience that sullies future games by comparison.
That said, it is not as easy as playing with a mouse, or even a game controller, but it becomes easier the more you play it.
Download Max Payne From The Google Play Store
2- Grand Theft Auto series
Speaking of iconic games, none enjoys that moniker more than the GTA series. While each GTA game deserves its own entry, it will probably be easier to rank them all as one of the best shooters of all time. For those who do not know about GTA, it is a long running series about characters with questionable morals trying to survive in a crime-infested city. Each game sheds light on a different type of criminal empire. GTA III and Liberty City Stories are centered around the Mafia. GTA Vice City focuses on cartels and GTA Chinatown Wars is self explanatory. However, the genre and era-defining title of the lot, GTA San Andreas is based on street crime. But that description is insufficient.
GTA San Andreas was the first of its kind where you had complete liberty to explore every inch of a colossal world. The game universe includes 3 living breathing populated life-sized cities, a massive desert, a huge forest and rural towns along the way, each with something unique to do. You could even change your appearance based on how much you ate/worked out. The story alone would take hundreds of hours to finish, but if you set out to complete the game, it would take months. The game was the highest selling title on PlayStation 2 upon its release and is still considered the most widely distributed game on any platform.
All these games are shooters, with the addendum of driving, cycling, riding a plane, a boat and whatever else your heart fancies. For those reasons, these are some of the best shooters games for android.
Download GTA San Andreas From The Google Play Store
3- Hitman Sniper
Hitman has been a hit series for the longest time. You are Agent 47, a genetically engineered assassin for hire. The PC and Console versions require additional gaming elements, but sniping has been a highlight of the game. The Android game puts you at a distant perch from a mountaintop mansion full of targets. Each mission requires you to take out a different target in the mansion using different techniques.
You can upgrade your sniper rifle using cash earned from each mission. You can unlock parts by fulfilling special win conditions and eventually you will get the most powerful sniper rifle.
The latest update includes a zombie mode where you are supposed to protect someone from a horde of zombies. All in all, it is a rewarding game in that you actually have to plan as missions proceed.
Download Hitman Sniper From The Google Play Store
4- Modern Combat series
Modern Combat, by Gameloft, is a shooting game with 5 parts out. Modern Combat relies on both sniping as well as other weapons. These games were Android’s answer to the Call of Duty franchise and they answered quite well. The first time you turn this game on, you will feel how this is a gorgeous looking game, with cinematic cameras and quite the atmosphere. There is a coherent story and the multi-player is to die-for (figuratively).
However, all that requires a rather steep learning curve. You are moving with one hand, controlling the camera with the other and you’ll probably need an extra hand to fire because that’s just how the game is designed. The focus of the game was to give gamers a full first person shooter experience on Android. If you find the controls too difficult, you can always connect a controller via Bluetooth and get at least the same experience as a console.
5- Sniper X With Jason Statham
A lot of sniping games are out there in the market with the same premise. You are a sniper tasked with shooting some non-playable characters (NPCs/bots) for whatever reason the game’s story drums up. Along the way you will use different guns to accomplish this. Some of which, you might have to purchase using real money. The game Sniper X adds a slight variation in that formula by adding a celebrity endorsement. In this game Jason Statham assigns you missions.
More than that, the game is fun. The bullet time, the camera angles, the NPC responses all make for an unexpectedly well-rounded experience. The shooting is quite gratuitous, but also fun.
There is a whole sludge of games from the sniper genre. Some make you the good guy, some make you the bad guy, but they’re all basically the same game.
Download Sniper X With Jason Statham From The Google Play Store
6- Sniper Shooter
Sniper Shooter is a seemingly simple game, but is actually more fun than the traditional shooter game. There is an underlying story and the developers undoubtedly worked really hard on the mechanics of the game. The concept is the same as any other sniping game. You are a sniper on a mission to assassinate someone. However, your intel is limited and you are supposed to figure out who your target is based on clues. it is just as easy to snipe the wrong person in this game.
The graphics look gorgeous but are not GPU intensive, so this game should actually work on almost all smartphones. The game has 13 chapters currently. Definitely worth the experience.
Download Sniper Shooter From The Google Play Store
7- Metal Slug Defense
Now, this is not a first person, or even a third person shooter, but it is definitely a shooter, and a classic one at that. Metal Slug was the mainstay of arcade gaming in the days of old. It had numerous sequels and the game aged quite well, up until the mid 2000’s. Then it absconded into relative obscurity. However, with smartphones, the game series is back with a head-to-head combat mode and it is everything you would expect from the SNK franchise.
You start with soldiers, then build your way up to a viable army and try to destroy your opponent’s base before they can destroy yours.
Download Metal Slug Defense From The Google Play Store
8- Deer Hunter
This is an interesting franchise to say the least. It is your typical sniping game with a very well equipped arsenal some of which can only be purchased using actual money, but the focus area is rather unique. You are supposed to hunt animals. It starts off with deer, then coyotes, wolves, lions and different animals as the games progress.
The franchise comes out with a new iteration quite regularly (almost annually) and in the latest version (2017), you can hunt with dogs, customize your weapons and even go underwater. The shooting itself is quite fun, truth be told.
Download Deer Hunter From The Google Play Store
