We’re not going to pretend that the first person shooter genre and your smartphone are best buddies. They’re not.
The FPS genre, as it’s often known, was born on PC and arguably reached its peak with a keyboard and mouse control set-up. With the introduction of analogue sticks, it then made its way over to consoles.
Smartphones have no such sophisticated physical control set-up, which means that all mobile first person shooters are inherently compromised. Them's the grim facts.
Yet those resourceful game developers, bless 'em, have managed to make this tricky action genre work on smart devices - and work well.
What’s more, many of them benefit from Android’s ability to hook up to a wired or wireless control pad.
So let’s take a look at the top ten first person shooters on Android. Because it really is okay to play them now.
Deus Ex: The Fall
By N-Fusion Interactive - buy on Android
Deus Ex: The Fall isn’t a first person shooter in the pure all-guns-blazing sense. But its action is viewed largely from a first person perspective, and you shoot people, so it makes the list.
It’s also one of the most technically impressive games on the Google Play Store. Its dystopian sci-fi tale is gripping, and the options you have for stealth, computer hacking, and generally being a sneaky blighter are pretty unique.
Deus Ex: The Fall is the thinking man’s Android FPS.
Modern Combat 5: Blackout
By Gameloft - buy on Android
Modern Combat 5 is the very opposite of the thinking man’s Android FPS. It’s big, brash, stupid fun with a definite Call of Duty flavour.
That means improbable action movie set pieces, stunning 3D graphics, and more bullets whizzing about than you'll find at an NRA knees-up.
It also sports a very accomplished online multiplayer mode, which will be of interest to any COD fans looking for some portable kicks.
Dead Trigger 2
By Madfinger Games - buy on Android
Dead Trigger 2 has become one of those reference games that people instantly turn to when they get their hands on a new Android phone. That’s because it has adjustable graphics settings, with the top one being very impressive indeed on the right hardware.
But Madfinger’s game is also a very solid first person shooter in its own right. Again, it’s hardly going to win points for sophistication - it’s essentially a jazzed up shooting range, with brainless zombie targets all converging on your position at carefully selected points.
There’s no denying that it’s good slick fun, though, and the controls offer a couple of nice work-arounds to the age-old touchscreen problem.
Blitz Brigade
By Gameloft - download on Android
Here’s another Gameloft first person shooter (it won’t be the last). Blitz Brigade has a very different flavour to Modern Combat 5, though.
This one’s focused on multiplayer team-based play - more Team Fortress 2 than Call of Duty. That means that you work as part of a six man team, capturing control points in a selection of impressively large and open levels.
The art style is spot on, too, with an exaggerated Pixar feel to everything.
Neon Shadow
By Tasty Poison Games - buy on Android
Neon Shadow harkens back to the early days of the first person shooter genre on PC. It’s a futuristic corridor-based blaster with simple gameplay and surprisingly slick virtual controls.
Multiplayer mode also evokes the tense deathmatch gameplay of Quake, Unreal Tournament and their ilk - which is a very good thing.
The game also has some very nifty touches, such as same-handset multiplayer for tablet owners.
Call of Duty: Strike Team
By Activision - buy on Android.jpg "Top 10 first person shooters on Android (6)")
Yes, there is a real Call of Duty game on Android. It’s often easy to forget that, for some reason.
Perhaps it’s because this isn’t quite the Call of Duty you known from your console. It mixes familiar first person shooting with a zoomed-out tactical mode, which won’t be to every COD fans taste.
Still, the FPS action is there in spades, and rather slick it is too.
N.O.V.A. 3
By Gameloft - buy on Android
The final Gameloft game on this list takes another approach again - this time towards emulating (or at least pilfering from) the Halo console series.
That means epic sci-fi action, macho space marines, colourful aliens, and lots of exotic weapons that go ‘pew’ and ‘zap.’
It’s getting on a bit now, but N.O.V.A. 3 continues to impress technically, as well as with its smooth (if busy) virtual controls and frenetic multiplayer.
Half-Life 2
By Valve - buy on Android
We almost feel like we’re cheating by putting Half-Life 2 on this list. After all, it can only very loosely be termed as an Android game - it’s compatible with the NVIDIA Shield and Shield Tablet, and who has one of those?
Still, it’s available on the Google Play Store, so it qualifies. Half-Life 2 also just happens to be one of the best and most influential first person shooters of the past decade, and while it’s been slightly stripped back and compromised here, there’s no denying its enduring quality.
It’s also worth mentioning that Google's new Nexus 9 tablet runs on the same Tegra K1 processor as the Nvidia Shield range, so expect to see compatibility extended soon.
Dead Effect
By Bulkypix - download on Android
Kind of like a combination of Dead Space and Dead Trigger 2, Dead Effect is an enjoyable sci-fi horror that has you blasting space zombies from a first person perspective.
Yes, it’s as silly as it sounds, and the developer won’t win any prizes for subtlety. But it does what it does with a fair amount of conviction.
Point, shoot, splat. It was ever thus.
Deer Hunter 2014
By Glu - download on Android
Fed up of shooting innocent terrorists in the sternum? Want to stick it to mother nature instead? You, my friend, want to play Deer Hunter 2014.
The latest version of Glu’s popular hunting series has you trotting the world in a bid to score that perfect elephant’s head for your mantelpiece.
Rather than going in gung-ho, it’s all about stalking your prey, lining up the perfect kill shot, and taking it with a steady hand. That makes it pretty unique on this here list.
