The best current (and upcoming) arena shooters

For a piece of living PC gaming history, get slaying in a Quake match or two. Arena shooters haven’t changed much over the decades, and they don’t need to—their components haven’t lost their influence on nearly every form of multiplayer shooter since the Doom era. We count their evolutions as some of the best of the bunch, but we love throwing modern bells and whistles like loadouts and XP systems out the airlock every once in awhile, too.

Here exists the domain of railgun royalty where mastery of movement, map layout, and pinpoint aim coalesce into a lightning-quick dance of bank-shots and trick-jumps that reward quick minds. There’s a fair amount of modern arena shooters alive today, a majority of them conveniently housed on Steam. Read on for our standout selections.

Developer: Lino Slahuschek
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Release date: Out now (Early Access)
Price: $9/£6
http://store.steampowered.com/app/338170/

If a game of tag used super-accelerated projectile beams instead of hands, its name would be instagib. Once a spinoff mode from standard deathmatch, instagib’s emphasis on juking shots of snap-death before poking someone’s skull across the map deserves full game status. Good news: it’s also theoretically limitless, which means a bunch of bipedal rats zapping each other in giant living rooms and kitchens makes perfect sense.

Like many of the games in this gallery, Ratz Instagib keeps simplicity in mind while smoothly counterparting core arena shooting. Don’t worry about weapons, health packs, armor shards, or damage amps—just grab air with a rail boost and plink away. At this stage of Early Access it’s a good start for developer Lino Slahuschek, who has plans for extra modes, cosmetic unlockables, and more map variety in the full release.

Play it because: “Of Rats and Railguns”; you’re a fan of cheese-based taunts; you’re secretly a cat researching the enemy

Developer: Reakktor Studios
Publisher: Reakktor Studios
Release date: Out now (Early Access)
Price: $19/£13
http://store.steampowered.com/app/324810/

Toxikk’s name wouldn’t feel out of place on a Call of Duty scoreboard, but past the showy label is a shooter tenaciously honoring its roots. Consider Unreal Tournament its heaviest influence: vehicles, double jumping, wall boosts, sprawling outdoor areas akin to UT’s Onslaught mode, gritty city maps, and a focus on clan competition are all in the mix. The lustrous Unreal Engine 4 tops off Toxikk’s tribute with shiny bloom effects, motion blur, and deep colors.

Less stellar is Toxikk playing the nostalgia card a little too strongly. Its debut trailer boasts the discarding of iron sights, skill trees, cover systems, and other modern mechanics in favor of a “no bullshit” mindset spurning the apparent anathema of free-to-play. It’s somewhat weird and rare having a developer trumpet the old-fashioned as a marketing strategy, but that eccentricity hopefully shouldn’t hamper Toxikk’s potential, as it’s really one of the best chances for seeing new ideas blossom from an established legacy.

Play it because: You like a mix of vehicular and foot combat; you think the floor is lava; you’re fond of firing a gun named “Violator”

Developer: Turbo Pixel Studios
Publisher: Turbo Pixel Studios
Release date: Out now (Early Access)
Price: $10/£7
http://store.steampowered.com/app/328070/

I’ll nutshell Reflex with some Quake-speak: it’s a glossier Q3 CPMA. Translation: Reflex is a spiritual and modernized incarnation of the prominent Quake III mod Challenge ProMode Arena (CPMA). Rules turn quite competitive under the mod’s settings; almost every facet of gameplay—air control, damage values, momentum, even weapon swap speed to name a few—is tweaked for deathmatch at supersonic speeds. Reflex reflects those qualities near identically.

After a shaky Kickstarter campaign, Reflex hopped over to Early Access last November with regular updates in the following months. Developer Turbo Pixel’s proprietary engine better accommodates layering extra features such as matchmaking and map editing, and what’s planned looks extensive: regional ladders, LAN support, dedicated servers, co-op modes, custom HUDs, Steam Workshop integration, and other goodies. First up should be repainting placeholder textures to something less spartan.

Play it because: You’ve stapled your finger to your jump key; you think air resistance is a quaint concept

Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Epic Games
Release date: TBA
Price: Free
http://www.unrealtournament.com/blog/

UT is one of the genre’s holy trinity. Even after a decade and a half, we’re still reverentially reminiscing about our favorite arenas and tools of destruction in Epic’s groundbreaking FPS. For me, Unreal Tournament’s greatest achievement is portraying the concept of deathmatch as a blood-spattered spectator sport complete with rising stars, monolithic corporate sponsorships, and officiated leagues.

Epic isn’t done with UT, and it’s coming with shock rifles blazing with a new iteration grounded almost entirely in community input. Instead of opting for a closed development team in a studio, the next UT pulls talent from scores of ambitious modders, level designers, concept artists, and anyone else willing to fire up the Unreal Engine and add their mark. The official website houses plenty of sketches, work-in-progress videos, and milestone updates (highlight: the return of the insane ChaosUT mod) all freely viewable.

That transparency and capitalization on modding’s popularity is a wise move on Epic’s part. The absence of a price tag only bolsters UT’s potency against the Call of Dutys and Counter-Strikes of the gaming world, but I hope to see elements of what made those franchises successful—such as skill-based matchmaking— eventually show up.

If you don’t mind creating a free forum account and fishing for the few match IP addresses currently active, you can play an early alpha build right now.

Play it because: You missed UT’s heyday of sniping on Facing Worlds on dialup; you’ll experience a truly collaborative work between developer and community; you’re the alpha and the omega

Developer: id Software
Publisher: id Software
Release date: Out now
Price: Free
http://store.steampowered.com/app/282440/

The freely accessible Quake Live existed in browser format for some time before joining Steam last fall. It didn’t do so quietly: the transition brought along a major update adjusting weapon spawns on certain maps and adding an easier form of bunnyhopping. What caused the most commotion was the inclusion of a loadout system for a few modes where players could change the primary and secondary weapon they spawned with. Id wants an expanded community friendly to beginners, but some fans were flabbergasted at the supposed dumbing-down of a skill-based game.

Still, it’s Quake, and it’s heartening to see id attempting to freshen up its old honored veteran. Admire or revile the changes, but its significant heritage still deserves a match or two.

Play it because: HUMILIATION; you wonder how Sarge keeps his cigar lit; you take part in the undying Unreal-vs-Quake debate

Developer: James “2GD” Harding, FireFrog
Publisher: James “2GD” Harding, FireFrog
Release date: 2015
Price: Free
http://www.reborn.gg/

Comparatively, Reborn is the most abstract selection in this gallery. It’s barely progressed past being a twinkle in the eye of its creator, former pro Quake 4 player James “2GD” Harding. His plans involve some fantastic prototype concepts including character types with distinct movement and weapon traits and collective map editing via Steam Workshop.

Most interesting is a 2-on-2 mode where one teammate controls movement, aiming, and shooting while the other “wingmans” special skills (think jump boosts or bursts of speed) on the same character. If you’ve ever played a single-player game while sharing keyboard duties with a buddy, you’ve grasped the idea.

Reborn’s development is slow going, as Harding only has a single programmer so far coding away the game’s guts, but there’s a playable barebones version available.

Play it because: You’re looking for an interesting take on competitive arena shooting; you like robots; you’re a robot

Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release date: TBA
Price: TBA
http://doom.com/en-us/

Yes, what we know of id’s next Doom is scant, but it’s difficult imagining the elder god of FPS gracing our monitors without a brutal and blisteringly fast multiplayer. Our hopes for our fourth trip to hell are high, and it’s about time we super-shotgunned fellow Doomguys into gory chunks graphically worthy of today’s hardware. id vowed to return to the run-and-gun strafe-show we loved from old-school Doom, so we can finally Total Recall memories of the molasses-slow Doom 3 combat for something better.

Here’s how to speed up the wait: grab Doom or Doom 2 and stick some custom WADs into them. A good start is Brutal Doom (it supports multiplayer!) but be sure to check out Doomworld’s Cacowards for a best-of collection.

Play it because: Uh, it’s freakin’ Doom?

Developer: Team Xonotic
Publisher: Team Xonotic
Release date: Out now
Price: Free
http://www.xonotic.org/

Xonotic arose from the pieces of the shuttered Nexuiz project a few years back, quietly enjoying decent activity and a healthy amount of map variety. Like the upcoming Unreal Tournament, Xonotic’s viability flows from its open-source nature and a reliance on custom community content for fresh maps and modes. The extensivity of downloadable addons makes Xonotic feel like one big buffet. Want low-grav rocketry? How about expert flag-running? Pick a mode, pick a map, avoid the salad bar, and get fragging.

Play it because: You like variety; you enjoy weapons looking like science projects gone awry